Chocolate Zucchini Bread-- YUM!

 

My goal this summer was to teach my 12 year old son how to cook and bake. He is a Boy Scout and will soon be working on his cooking merit badge. He also goes camping once a month and is sometimes required to cook with his patrol (a small group of boys). I figured the best way to help him to excel with all of this, is to teach him at home. My kids have been helping me with dinner at least one night a week and I have been trying to bake with them at least once a week as well. My friend gave us some zucchini the other day, so I figured we would make some zucchini bread. I recently saw a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread, which intrigued me. Every year, we make zucchini bread, so I figured it was time to shake things up a bit. I am so glad we did! The Chocolate Zucchini Bread came out awesome and is absolutely delicious! The bread is very moist and chocolaty! For those of you that have a garden full of zucchini, this is a definite must try! This recipe makes 2 loaves.

 

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder                                                    

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon                                                   

1 teaspoon baking soda                                                    

1/2 teaspoon baking powder                                                                     

1 teaspoon salt                                                    

2 cups white sugar                                                    

3 eggs                                                    

1 cup vegetable oil                                                                     

2 teaspoons vanilla extract                                                    

2 cups shredded zucchini                                                    

3/4 cup chopped walnuts                                                    

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips                                                    

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

 

In large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix well. 

 

In separate bowl, combine sugar and eggs, beat until well blended. Add oil and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in zucchini. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

 

Spoon evenly into loaf pans.

 

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pans; cool completely on wire rack. 

                               

           

 

Our Dino Dig

 

My son wanted to a dino dig, so I decided to put a small one together for him. I combined sand and coffee grinds in a container and then hid some dinosaur skeletons in the mixture. I gave him a paintbrush to help dust the bones off after he found them.

 

 

He had a lot of fun digging for dinosaurs over and over again! I love when an activity that takes me minutes to throw together brings hours of fun!

Refreshing Limeade Recipe

On a hot day, there is nothing more refreshing than an ice cold drink, especially when that drink is freshly made. Today, the boys and I decided to make some fresh Limeade. It was easy to make and the boys had enjoyed squeezing all of the juice out of the limes. I premeasured the water in the pitcher and put it in the refrigerator last night so that it would be nice and cold to drink as soon as we made it. Our limes were super juicy, we actually got 3/4 cups of lime juice from 5 limes! I used the recipe in full and then cut it in half to make 3 quarts.

 

Fresh Limeade Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Fresh Lime Juice (about 5-6 limes)
• 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 8 cups cold water (2 Quarts)

Directions:

Cut the limes in half and squeeze the lime juice into a measuring cup. If you prefer no pulp, you can pour the juice through a sieve to strain the pulp. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Fill pitcher with cold water and add the lime juice and sugar mixture. Stir and chill in refrigerator.

 

Delicious and refreshing!  What more could you ask for on a hot summer day?

Homemade Ranch Dressing In Minutes-- YUM!

 

When we went to grandpa's house the other day, the kids and I invaded his garden and green house. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much ripe for the picking that day, but we did pick some fresh herbs and lettuce. Lettuce straight from the garden calls for salad dressing that is not straight from a bottle. My boys and my husband love Ranch dressing, so I figured I would make some. It literally only takes a few minutes to make it and less than that if you have the seasoning premixed like I do. Click here for my simple Ranch Seasoning Mix Recipe. Trust me, it is totally worth every minute! You can find the recipe for the Ranch Seasoning Mix here.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of Homemade Ranch Seasoning
• salt

Directions

Whisk together mayonnaise, milk, and homemade ranch dressing seasoning mix.  Season with salt, to taste. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days. This makes enough for 4 salads.
*If you prefer a thicker dressing, you can add a little more mayo and a bit less milk. If you want a thinner dressing, add more milk.

Homemade Ranch Dressing Seasoning Mix

 

 

My husband and my kids love Ranch salad dressing on just about everything-- chicken, salad, steak, pizza... The list goes on! I decided to try to make some Ranch Seasoning to try out. It took me no more than two minutes to make and it tastes great. I plan to make some homemade ranch dressing and experiment with it a bit. This mix can also be used to make a delicious fresh ranch dip for vegetables or potato chips by adding it to sour cream. 

 

Homemade Ranch Dressing Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried dill
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

• Add each of the dried spices to a bowl and gently stir.
• Store in a small air tight container or a Ziploc bag in a dry dark place.

*This makes about 8 tablespoons of seasoning. You can cut the recipe in half or double it to make as little or as much as you like.

Shape Button Snake-- Great for Hand/Eye Cordination!

 

This a fun and very simple busy bag activity that I put together for my little one. A busy bag, is pretty much exactly like it sounds,  an activity in a bag that will keep a child busy when need be. Some busy bags are educational, others are just fun. Think fun busy work in a bag! My kids have well over 100 busy bags, I keep most of them away, until we need them. I have a huge tote bag full of busy bags in my car for when we go out to eat or have a doctor's appointment. They really come in handy! I even have some that I keep for traveling and long car rides.  This shape button snake is great to help with hand/eye coordination, learning shapes, color recognition, patterning, and learning the basics of buttoning. This busy bag does not cost much to make, it can be made with scraps that you have on hand or you can pick up the items from a craft or dollar store.

Making this busy bag does require a tiny bit of simple sewing, you have to sew a button on to a piece of ribbon and sew the other end of the ribbon to a piece of felt. The rest is simple, just cut shapes out of felt and cut a small opening in the middle of each shape for the button to go through.

 

 

Give your child the ribbon snake and have them make the snake eat through each shape.

 

 

This activity could easily go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar too!

 

While your child plays with this, you can teach them the different colors and the different shapes.

Older children could practice making a pattern with the shapes or the colors as they put them on. 

This is a fun and easy way to learn, don't you think?