The Last of The Zucchini

I ripped out the zucchini plants a couple weeks ago.

I won’t lie, I wasn’t even sad about it.

In fact, it felt pretty good.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love, love, love zucchini. 

I love how easy it is to grow and how quickly it grows.  I love how I can use it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, as a side dish or dessert.  I can cook zucchini on the grill, in a skillet, eat it raw, bake it, whatever!  I love that it freezes really well and I can enjoy them throughout the winter.  I love the different flavors like lemon, red pepper flakes, parmesan or dill that I can add to zucchini to give it dimension. 

See?  There’s lots to love about zucchini.

But there’s just this one little thing… by September, I am kind of sick of zucchini. 

Yes, they grow fast, but they produce A LOT of zucchini for A LONG time. 

There comes a point (… say, two weeks ago) when I am just simply over it. 

I can’t possibly run another zucc over the grater for baked goods.  The thought of zucchini with dinner makes me so not excited for dinner… which is weird as every fifth thought in my head is about what I am going to be eating next.  I don’t even want to look at the plant in the garden for fear of seeing a zucchini ready to be picked.  And, if I do look at the plant and a zucchini is ready for harvest, it will likely be given to the chickens.

A normal mid-summer sight on my counter top.

So, while the zucchini plants have now made way for some fast growing fall crops like radishes and arugula, their memory lives on in my freezer.  I have gallon bag after gallon bag full of grated zucchini in 1/2 cup portions for baking, long slices for zucchini lasagna and grilling (grilling in the snow is actually fun… and makes you tough), and little disks that are great for sautéing.

The freezer is crazy stocked with zucchini, corn, peas, beans, and cherry tomatoes.

And that last zucchini I picked didn’t go to the chickens.  I embraced it as the final one and the end of a great season by creating these cute little mini muffins.

I try to make easy grab and go breakfast for Adam, especially this time of year.  His days are long thanks to gearing up for harvest so a little sustenance first thing in the morning is good for him.  These zucchini mini muffins fit the bill.  He can grab a handful and pop them on his way to the office.  They are also perfect for a kids lunch box or you could amp them up with some flax seed for an added boost of nutrition.

Zucchini Mini Muffins

2014-09-11 14:05:32

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Ingredients

1. 6 ounces of all purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3. 1 tsp baking powder
4. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 1/4 tsp ground allspice
7. 2/3 cup shredded zucchini (I use the grater tool on my mandolin. You could also use a cheese grater.)
8. 3 TBS canola or vegetable oil
9. 2 TSB butter, melted
10. 2 TBS milk
11. 1 tsp vanilla extract
12. 1 egg, slightly beaten
13. Cooking Spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray mini muffin sheet.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In a different, large mixing bowl combine wet ingredients with the zucchini. When combined, stir in dry ingredients.
4. Portion into mini muffin tin.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean of the center of a muffin.

Notes

1. If you wanted to sub flax seed for butter, do it with a 3 to 1 ratio. So, 3 TBS of flax seed for each TBS of butter.

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