Lemon Twist Hummus and Zucchini Bread

The kids are back in school, after school sports are in full swing and we seem busier than ever. We're still trying to enjoy every second of the summer weather though and our garden is finishing up from a great harvest. We're typically not as good about preserving things from the garden, but this year we tried to stay on top of it and we've got rows and rows of freshly canned tomato soup, pickles, jalapenos, carrots, onion and zucchini in our food storage. The zucchini is still growing and we shred and freeze as much as we can.

Dinner in the Garden 2014

For the last couple years, each summer we have hosted a dinner in the garden where we set up a formal dinner outside and celebrate the wonderful foods that we are growing in our own and local farmers gardens. We missed last year with all of our remodeling so we were excited to get back on our normal routine.  I love creating the menu and cooking some fun new foods and sharing them with our friends.

Crispy Sweet Potato and Zucchini Pancake

 

If you've seen the recipes I typically post, you obviously know that I'm not Diabetic. But the Virtual Potluck group is celebrating World Diabetes Day and our challenge was to share a diabetic friendly recipe! We're also working with two great companies, Anolon and Microplane so that made the challenge even more interesting. Best part is, you'll be able have a chance at winning the tools that we used for this dish!

Squash Blossom and Quinoa Stir Fry

Most years we plant a few zucchini plants in our garden but this year we chose to go with some new vegetables and didn't want the zucchini taking over. We figured we could always get it fresh from the farmers market or from friends whenever we needed it. Well, I was working in the yard a few weeks ago and I looked behind our shed and saw this:

Zesty Zucchini Twist

It's that time of year. Gardens are in full swing and we're enjoying the great fruits, vegetables and herbs that we've got planted this year. We didn't plant any zucchini this year though and while I don't miss having the glut of squash this time of year, I do miss the challenge of coming up with new recipes to use it all up.

Zucchini Cornbread

Since my last post utilized the beautiful squash blossoms, I knew the zucchini wasn't far behind. See, right now it's the time of year that people are still excited about zucchini. Soon people will be trying to get rid of the stuff and using all kinds of recipes to try and use it all up.

Housewarming Party

We just moved into our new home about a month ago and we hosted a housewarming party this last weekend. I was excited to make some new appetizers I had found and I knew that it was going to take quite a lot of time to get them all baked and put together. My plan was to work on them Friday afternoon and evening and then get it all finished up Saturday morning before the party. However, early Friday morning, a Tornado hit our neighborhood! There was no major damage to our house but it took out a few of our trees and I spent most of the day cleaning all of it up.

Can't Go Wrong with Fried Food

Anyone that knows me knows that I love just about anything fried. Not the healthiest choice but it just tastes so good. We went to a parade last week in Lakeville and there were food stands all over so obviously I came home craving something fried.