Zucchini Bread

As I'm beginning to type this post, I wonder if I've ever put a recipe for zucchini (my husband likes to annoy me and pronounce it "zoo-chin-eye" or "zuck-chinny", depending on his mood) bread.

Ah, well. If so, sorry--here it is again!

I made this bread out of necessity. I found a zucchini in my garden that was bigger than a large eggplant. This guy was a total behemoth, and I knew that the only way I'd be able to successfully use it was in a bread or muffin.

Turns out, this bad mamajamma made 6 cups of grated zucchini--or enough for 4 loaves of bread when following the recipe below.

I decided to use half and freeze half, as I'm sure I'll want some zucchini bread again during the winter.

The recipe I used was from one of my absolute favorite blogs/recipe collections: Simply Recipes, by Elise.

I didn't change a thing, but I'll copy the recipe below for your viewing pleasure. I love Elise's cooking--she's methodical and analytical. Basically, she's the blog version of Cook's Illustrated.

Simply Recipes' Zucchini Bread

Makes 2, 9x5" loaves

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups grated, fresh zucchini--I pressed a little (but not all) of the water out
2/3 c melted, unsalted butter*
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt*
3 cups flour (I used bread flour, because it's all that I had)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

*I only had salted butter, so I omitted the pinch of salt---everything came out just fine.

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F, butter/grease 2, 9x5" loaf pans
2. Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until combined.
3. Mix in the grated zucchini and butter.
4. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the batter, then combine.
5. Add 1 cup of flour at a time, and completely mix in before adding the next cup. The batter will be considerably thicker now.
6. Mix in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
7. Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Set the pans on a cookie sheet (this makes getting them in and out of the oven easier, and if you have any spills, they won't burn in your oven).
8. Bake 50 minutes. Check with a toothpick in the center to make sure the bread is cooked all the way through. If it's still gooey, put back in the over for another 5 minutes.
9. Cool in pan for 20 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Oh, lawsie. It's been a while (again). You see, I had to do this thing called graduate. 

And once I defended, a fog lifted. I started enjoying my life again, which is a weird feeling, y'all. I haven't enjoyed cooking (and most other normal things) for probably over 2 years. Graduate school will do that to the best of us: suck out the fun in life and replace it with misery and fear.

But, y'all aren't here to hear me whine or rejoice---you're here to get your grub on. Boy, do I have a treat for you!

I love eggplant parmesan, but it is a real pain in the rear to cook (the eggplant sweating, frying, blah blah).  The taste, however, is to die for. The hubcap and I are trying to incorporate more healthy protein into our diet, and when I found the recipe for Skinnytaste's Baked Chicken Parmesan, I knew I had to give the recipe a shot.

This baked chicken parmesan is simple, fast and satisfying--what more could you ask for? I like to serve it with either a fresh garden salad or steamed broccoli--yum!

Baked Chicken Parmesan

(adapted from Skinnytaste's Baked Chicken Parmesan)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breast filets, halved to make 4, thinner filets

2 Tbs butter, melted

1/4-1/3 c breadcrumbs or panko (I tried it both ways--I actually prefer the extra crunch of the panko!)

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese, divided

1/2-2/3 c pasta sauce (use as much as you like, really)

1/3 box of Barilla angel hair pasta

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Brush both sides of each breast filet with butter, then dip in the mixture of breadcrumbs and about 2-3 Tbs of parmesan cheese.

3. After assembling all of the chicken breasts onto the baking sheet, spray the top again lightly with cooking oil.

4. Bake for 450F for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up the pasta sauce in a saucepan and cook the angel hair pasta per the package instructions (it cooks quicker than normal pasta--about 5 minutes in boiling water should do it!)

5. After 20 minutes, flip the chicken breasts over and add 1 spoonful of sauce and a dash of parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 450F for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and gooey.

6. Serve over a bed of angel hair pasta layered with a bit more sauce--and perhaps a bit more parmesan cheese on top if you're like me and adore parmesan (or, let's be honest, really any cheese that crosses your path).

Bon Appetit!