Zucchini and Tomato (Crustless) Quiche

This is such a summer dish. My apologies. I am so ready to head into Fall myself, but I need to clear out some old recipes. Plus, I'm saving up a bunch of the things I've made to hold a Pumpkin Week! That's right. A pumpkin recipe everyday for a week. I know it's not too original (everyone and their mother does it), but I think it's great. I love it when other blogs do it, so now I will too!


In the meantime, you'll have to deal with some end of summer recipes I have left. I am excited for fall baking, though, so I don't feel like writing too much about summer, teehee.


This quiche was all I ever could have hoped for. I, personally, prefer crust-less quiches. The crust completely throws off the whole quiche experience for me and I want none of that. Also, I got to use up zucchini, a ton of tomatoes (the love of my life), and a bunch of good cheese. The product was amazing. I am never able to wait for it to be cool, so I did end up burning my mouth a bit. I have a very sensitive mouth.

The juiciness from the tomatoes and zucchini really came through and made the quiche totally fresh tasting. It held up beautifully and was cooked to perfection. This was my first attempt at a quiche and I was not disappointed!


Sometimes I really frustrated myself. I cannot for the life of me find where I got this recipe from. This kills me. I do this way too often, and even after taking the time to try and hunt it down again, I just can't seem to find it. Grrrrrrr! Here are some things I remember being in the recipe, however. This is very lame of me to do, so please don't hold it against me!

Crust-less Zucchini and Tomato Quiche

3 cups zucchini
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 chopped onion
2 cups shredded cheese
eggs
salt
milk

Ugh. That's all I got=( I'll be back soon hopefully!

An Update & Zucchini Cupcakes

School's here. I already told you that, but now it's official.

Volleyball is in full swing. Well It's actually been in full swing since July, but now that I have to deal with school AND volleyball. My free time is limited. When I do have this rare free time, baking just doesn't seem to fit. Practice is right after school and I get home at 6. Then it's shower, food, homework, and what little else I can fit in. It seems like baking may need to take a bit of a back seat.

Weekends you say? We have all day tournaments every Saturday. Which leaves Sunday for homework and errands. I'm going to try to do some baking, but when I can. I don't want to overwhelm myself, or buy ingredients I never get around to using.

Another bit of news. I don't want to go into too much here, but I have a bit of a food allergy. I've been dealing with it for quite a while. And when I say this, I mean it. Food and eating are obviously two loves of mine, but unfortunately they don't love me. Without going into too much (and we still don't know completely what it is that affects me or the extent of it) I cannot digest many foods well. I get a mixture of painful heartburn to unpleasant and more than average "burp-like" responses, as well as a burning throat and upset stomach. There isn't too much rhyme or reason to which foods cause it or which symptoms I'll have, but we do know it's been going on for a long while and isn't stopping.

In an effort to finally do something about this, I'm working to isolate the problem. This is not an easy thing to do. My first attempt: going gluten-free. Many people are gluten-free, whether it's due to disease or diet. It's a tough transition, but there is enough out there that I am able to still have food options. When it's difficult is eating with others. At our senior retreat, pizza was bought for the whole class. Uh-oh. Long story short, my BFF's always have may back and turned what could have been a really painful experience (both digestively and socially), into a hilarious lunch where I sneakily ate some gluten-free food I hid in my purse. I love those girls!

But still, I don't believe avoiding gluten is the solution. There are foods with wheat gluten that I can eat, and I feel fine after doing so. Like the bagel I ate this morning. I had no problem whatsoever. And then there is peanut butter. The love of my life, peanut butter. It basically destroys me whenever I eat it. =(((( I tried organic almond butter (almonds are not legumes like peanuts) and I still felt a little upset afterward. Oh! And I had one measly slice of a cucumber onetime, and it was soooo painful! Whyyyyyyy??? And I always eat Clif bars as a safe food, but then onetime I had one (though it was on I'd never had before) and it hurt me. Weirddddd.

This is a pretty personal problem and maybe I shouldn't be sharing it, by why not? It is something I'm dealing with and I don't want to be ashamed or embarrassed. By typing this out it is really helping me to take a good look at what is happening with me. Though it is clear the causes are still unknown, I'll just take it one day at a time.

What does this mean to you? Nothing. But it does mean that the things I bake will be very selective, or what I bake may "hurt" me, in a sense. A lot of baked goods seem not to effect me well. Then again, some have no effect.

The bottom line: I don't have time to do all the baking I wish I could, though I will still try! However, if I do bake, it may not be in the best interest for me or my body. But.... I could never go cold turkey with my love of bake goods. That's like telling the muffin man he may want to consider a new day job. Not happening. So you'll see me posting, but more infrequently.

I'm still checking your blogs, though, and I'll try my best to comment like usual!

The excess of summery zucchini led me to make an item reminiscent of Fall. I made a small batch, but these were so good. Moist to a tee and the cream cheese frosting is beyond good. If you're not in the mood for them right now, keep these in your back pocket. You will not be disappointed.

If you search for this recipe online, you're not likely to find it. Her online zucchini cupcake recipe is different than the one from her book. The one I am posting is the one from her book.

Zucchini Spice Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 cups packed grated zucchini
1 cup walnuts (about 3 ounces), toasted and coarsely chopped

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended; whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in zucchini, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in walnuts.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use an offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Frosting:
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Zucchini Whoopie Pies!

Have you noticed a theme lately? I'll help you out a little with this one, it's zucchini. Neighbors are lovely, lovely people.

So whoopie pies... I don't think I've ever had one before to tell you the truth. The only ones I have come in contact with (which haven't come from my kitchen) were all chocolate. Blech. Making zucchini whoopie pies was a great way to try them out and use a flavor I knew I would like. I was really excited to try this recipe!


Gourmet's website was laid out really nice for this recipe, which I liked. My only issue: what size do I make the cakes? They say to use a 1/4 cup amount, but I thought eye-balling it would be okay. I got some pretty huge pies in the beginning. I quickly learned to scale down the size or else no one would eat these monsters! (Well of course they'd still be eaten, but they'd be so intimidating looking!)

See the difference? On the left are the monsters, while on
the right I attempted some regular sized ones.

These were very tasty! I ended up eating many more than I originally intended. Isn't that always the case with me?! I did give some to my neighbors; they loved them=) However, (and there's always a however it seems) I thought the cakes were a little tight? Like they weren't exactly as super soft or spongy as I would have liked. I think it was they amount of walnuts and the way I chopped them. I was sure if I was supposed to chop them super fine, or leave them in big chunks=/


For my first whoopie pie attempt, I'd say it was a success! Making them zucchini was a great choice (and a good excuse to make a cream cheese frosting).P.S.- I*'ve never used the word 'whoopie' as much as I have in this post.

These were the giant ones

Zucchini Whoopie Pies from Gourmet

For cakes

• 2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (10 ounces)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup walnuts (4 ounces), chopped

For filling

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt

Make cakes:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Butter 2 large baking sheets.
  
  
• Squeeze handfuls of zucchini wrapped in a kitchen towel to remove moisture.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt until combined. Whisk together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined well.
• At low speed, mix in flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until smooth. Mix in zucchini and walnuts until just incorporated.
  
  
• Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until tops are puffed and golden and spring back when touched, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer with a spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Make filling:

• Beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt with cleaned beaters at medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Assemble pies:

• Spread a rounded 2 Tbsp filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

Whoopie pies keep, chilled in an airtight container, 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Garden Zucchini Bisque

I'm so behind on my blog posting, which saddens me as I'm sure it saddens you. Lots of things are happening and I'm slowly settling into a new summer routine.

At the beginning of summer, the month of June, I kept an uber-lazy schedule. Wake up whenever (which usually was still early-ish since I'm not much of a late sleeper), watch the Ellen Degeneres Show, check Facebook, read food blogs, blog, eat (and eat and eat), bake (some days), attempt my summer reading, ... and other lazy activities followed by possible plans with friends for the evening. Nothing real structured here people.

So after the crazy spurt of vacationing in early July, I've come back with somewhat of a scheduled summer.

6:45- Wake up and sleepily get ready for volleyball
7:05- Leave house for YMCA
7:30- Volleyball practice starts
9:30- Leave YMCA for home
OR (most days as of late)
9:30- Leave YMCA to go babysit at my aunt's
10:00- If at home, watch Ellen and eat breakfast
-If babysitting, watch shows on Hulu and eat breakfast
11:00- 3:00- Blog, read blogs, Facebook, settle disputes among little cousins and their neighborhood friends, BAKE
3:00 or 4:00- Return home and relax for a bit. Read.
6:00- Plans with friends or nap time.
9:00- Read a bit and SLEEP. Waking up super early makes me especially tired.

Then throw in college visits, random Student Ambassador events (a society which I am the president of), and other stufffff.

So in spite of all this free time or lack there of, here are some unappetizing photos I took of a soup that was actually rather delicious. I would liken it to that mushroom soup you get at the beginning of your 50 course meal you receive at any Japanese steak house or place where they cook your food in front of you. However, this isn't that. It is zucchini, with a good deal of mushrooms mind you, and flavorful onions, that isn't anything over the top, but simply delicious if you happen to have extra zucchini lying around. It can be made in a snap to. It's mostly all ingredients you should have on hand anyway.


Garden Zucchini Bisque
from Land O Lakes: Treasury of Country Recipes

Ingredients:2 tbsp butter
2 c sliced zucchini (1/8' thick)
1 c mushroom (1/4' thick)
1/2 c onion chopped
1/4 c chopped parsley
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
10 3/4 oz chicken broth3/4 c whipping cream
pinch of pepper

In a 3 quart saucepan, melt 2 tbsp butter; add zucchini, mushrooms, onion, and parsley. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisply tender (6 to 8 mins). Meanwhile, in a 2 quart saucepan melt 3 tbsp butter over medium heat; stir in flour until smooth and bubbly (1 min). Add chicken broth; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until soup is thickened (5 to 7 min). Stir in cream, pepper and zucchini mixture. Continue cooking until heated through (5 to 6 mins, I let mine go a little longer).

Zucchini & Onions with Mozzarella

So I'm back from vacation with a new lease on life. I've been doing some thinking and I realized I want to try to get back to cooking. At least cooking more. I have pretty much completely stopped cooking and it's pretty sad. I am obsessed with baking but it can't replace having nice home cooked meals. I need to eat a bit healthier instead of loading up on the sweets basically.

Where is this coming from? The wisest woman there is: Oprah. Haha I'm actually serious. While on vacation I read "O's Guide to Life". There were some pretty interesting stories and overall I really liked it. It is a sort of compilation of stories and articles from her magazine, with Dr. Phil and Howie Mandel making guest appearances. But there was one story I liked in particular and I wish I could find it online. It talks about this "Power of Three Technique". I know these things are really cheesy and it seems like anyone can come up with these things, but I really liked the idea of this one.

Basically, at the beginning of every month you make three changes. If you can do something for 28 days, it becomes habit. So in this way, you can develop good habits. This does seem like a tricky thing since it can even be hard to do something for a week, but it's worth a try. So I began to think of three things I would like to change for this month of July (It could probably be considered cheating since it's halfway through the month now.) So what did I decide? Keep in mind, this is kind of a personal project. I might not reveal what I change each month but I'll try and stay open with you guys.

1) Make my bed everyday- It's pretty sad that I don't do this already, but it's something simple that I can start with.

2) Eat a piece of fruit everyday- I'm really happy about this one. It's been great trying to keep this one and it has allowed me to try a ton of fruit I never had before. Like peaches. I also have been eating raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and i just recently bought a mango which I can't wait to try. This is huge for me.

3) Make dinner during the week- This is kind of a vague one, but I didn't wan to give myself too many restrictions; that would only make it harder for me keep to it. So, whenever I can, I will make dinner more. Then I'll be able to post those recipes for you guys.

So I hoping to give this a try and see how it goes. So far so good, but I would really like to keep it going for many months and see what kinds of changes I can make to better myself. Anyway, now for my first "dinner" recipe. (Read the note at the bottom to see why dinner is in quotes)

When making this, I thought bread crumbs would be a good addition to the top to give it a bit of a crunch. I added them right at the end with a tinsy drizzle of butter over them. After having a bite, I found this was a GREAT idea and went back and added even more all over! So I put this addition into the recipe below. Also, if you'd like, bacon would be a good addition. I don't actually like bacon, but the rest of my family said they could see it in there.

Zucchini & Onions with Mozzarella

from Land O Lakes: Treasury of Country Cooking

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
3 c sliced zucchini (1/8 inch thick)
1 c sliced onions (1/8 inch)
1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/4 tsp oregano
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
2 med ripe tomatoes cut into thin wedges
1 c shredded mozzarella

Handful, or four, of bread crumbs

Directions:

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients except tomato and cheese. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is crisply tender (7 to 10 min). Add tomato wedges; sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs. Cover; let stand 2 min. or until cheese is melted.

It's really that easy. This took no time to make and was really great.

Note: We had this as a main dish because no one was too hungry, but this is in no way a good main dish. It would be best served as a side, a delicious side that is.

So overall I really liked this dish and remembered why I love zucchini so much)

MSC: Zucchini Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

When I heard what the month of September's cupcakes were going to be, I was ecstatic! Zucchini cupcakes not only sound delicious, but healthy too! Of course when I spread the monumental amount of cream cheese frosting over it, well that's another story.

To make these cupcakes is extremely easy. You really can't go wrong. Grating the zucchini was a breeze, just use a regular cheese grater and go to town, skin and all. The spices smell so aromatic as you add them in. My favorite part, though, was the toasted walnuts. Pop some walnuts in the oven and in a few minutes you can take your cupcakes from good, to AMAZING!

I took these to a family reunion and they were an immediate hit. Of course you're hitting only a small demographic of people on account of the zucchini, which is tragic. My dad of course said they looked wonderful, but no way would he even try a bite. Way to encourage my love of baking Dad.


I will admit these are extremely addicting and one cupcake will soon be followed by another until you lose count of how many you've actually had. Or maybe you made yourself forget on purpose?... Anyway, I made these ahead of time then froze them for two days. The morning of the day I needed them I took them out to thaw. I made the frosting the night before and refrigerated that. Unfortunately, it was extremely hot that day and the Battle with the Frosting began. Using the semi-frozen cupcakes to my advantage I was able to frost about a dozen before I was met with dripping frosting. Keeping calm (yeah right.), I just plowed on. Since I was transporting these to the party, I put ice packs between the Tupperware. They were perfectly fine by the time we got there and ready to be eaten!

I am so thankful to Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures for choosing this month's recipe! I am a big fan of hers. You can find the recipe on her blog. Also, go here to see the Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club's official blogspot along with the other baker's who participated in this challenge.

Up next, September's bonus bake: Banana Pecan cupcakes with caramel buttercream.