Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

No I didn't stutter I just made a delicious cake that happens to have a double dose of chocolate.

Our garden this year decided to produce zucchini the size of my forearm which has meant needing to find many uses for this large squash.

Enter the chocolate chocolate chip zucchini cake.

My children are always fans of cake and adding a little chocolate to it never hurts.

3 flax eggs
1 C vegetable oil
2 C cane sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 C grated zucchini
2 C all purpose flour
1 C white wheat flour (King Arthur is what I used)
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp sea salt (I used pink Himalayan)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 C chocolate chips

Prep the flax eggs first by taking 3 Tbsp ground flax meal and combining with 9 Tbsp water.  Whisk together and allow to sit for a minute or two until thickened.

To the eggs add your vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and zucchini.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, and then slowly incorporate with the bowl of wet ingredients.

Once combined pour in your chocolate chips and mix some more.

You can bake this in either 2 loaf pans or a bundt pan (just be sure to grease and flour the pans).

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour (about 40 minutes if you are using a convection oven).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn it out onto a plate.

I ramped up the dessert aspect of this by adding a glaze.

1 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

I poured this over the top and YUM! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday and be sure to enter my Almond Breeze almond milk giveaway (it ends tomorrow, Wednesday August 8th).

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Back to the Grind...with zucchini

Today was the first day all three of my children were at school. 

My children go to a Montessori school and there is a schedule in which they gradually get all of the kids back into school (I think this is to ease the burden on the teachers just as much as the kids). 

So in honor of their getting back to the grind I snapped these photos this morning to capture the joy (or possibly lack there of as witnessed by my 4 year olds face):

From the grind at school to the grind(er) I made this weekend, first a little background to the recipe:

My husband and I are a great team when it comes to deciding what to eat each week.

We make out a menu, and if all goes to plan we stick to it.

The focus of our meals can be found in our weekly bag from our CSA from Faucette Farms.

This week our bag was full of yummies please indulge me a few photos to share the source of inspiration

Supplemented by our own small bounty of tomatoes from our garden

Yes that is a very BRIGHT red!

This week my intention is to show you how I used the CSA to make our meals, which in turn saves us money.

Our first dish was zucchini grinders.  As a mostly non-meat eating family this is a great choice for a hearty meatless sandwich.

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 medium zucchini
2 medium squash
1 C chopped mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper
onion slices
1 baguette
mozzarella cheese

Chop the zucchini, squash, pepper, and mushrooms and added them to a skillet where they can be sauteed with the black beans in Earth Balance until they are tender and browned at the edges.

While the veggies are browning, toast the baguette opened faced in the over (we chose to broil for about 2-3 minutes).

Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese on top of the bread. 

Top your cheese with your veggie mixture (we had leftover veggies from this which in turn were used in tomorrow's delish dish).

Spoon marinara, or Kitchen Sink Sauce, on top of the veggies.  If you are using the Kitchen Sink Sauce you'll need to sprinkle a little seasoning, I recommend Italian, to give the sandwich extra punch.

Followed by another layer of mozzarella cheese.

Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and gooey.

The sandwich is delicious and filling.  It provided 3 servings for us.

I mentioned this week I would be showing you the ways I use my CSA to create meals this week.  I want to do it to show that you can eat healthy (our CSA is organic) and not spend a ton of money.  For $21.00 a week we get our CSA share.

This will be my first attempt to show people that eating healthy and having a healthier lifestyle doesn't have to be expensive.  There are ways to make it work and to make a healthier you in return. 

Stay tuned this week for some delicious veggie recipes and of course a dessert (or maybe two).

Also I will have a giveaway that I am starting on Friday...so be sure to check it out.

If you have questions please send me an e-mail through my "Contact Me" page.  I love to hear from you all!!
 

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Trip and Treat

It's not even October and I am handing out a treat.

I know, I am super generous like that.

For the boys being at the beach not only meant they got to play in the sand and surf they were able to share their favorite games on the iPad with their grandparents.

The backyard has a wonderful natural area where the kids could run and play all sorts of pretend games.

Ocean City (Maryland) has a boardwalk full of street performers, rides, games, and food you should not eat (DEFINITELY not veg friendly).

We saw a variety of street performers.

There was one guy who made spray paint art in 15 minutes flat

and a guy who made religious symbols in the sand (VERY impressive)

We were lucky to find The Lazy Lizard.

A restaurant situated directly on the water, you could taxi your boat over to it should you choose.

The Lizard had a delicious black bean burger as well as a playground for the kids...now that is a way to pass the time when you are waiting for your food.

The one last highlight of the trip that I want to share with you is Birch's Farm stand.

Birch's was about 2 minutes from our house and offered some of the most delicious and fresh produce (the farm is directly behind the stand).

Local farmer's markets, or stands like this one, are a great way to make your vacation dollars go further and provide you with a much healthier alternative to the grocery store.

Now as promised a recipe!!

While we were away our garden continue to grow.  Like Jack and the Beanstalk we came home to find this

A 12" zucchini.

Holy Smokes just image the fish stories you could make up with this one.

I decided to talk this big monster and the leftover zucchini from last week's CSA and make zucchini bread and some puree (I freeze the puree and use it in muffins when the kids request them).

Zucchini Bread


2 C whole wheat flour
1 C unbleached all purpose flour
3 flax eggs
1/2 C cooking oil
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 C sugar
2 C grated zucchini
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C raisins (which are optional...however are a must for my kids)

The zucchini can be grated by hand or in a food processor.  For me I am old school so I pull out my hand grater and get to work, all the while praying I don't scrape a knuckle.

Combine your sugar, oil, applesauce, and vinegar.

Whip together your flax eggs (3 Tbsp ground flax meal and 9 Tbsp water)

Add to mixture along with zucchini

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and combine

I prefer mini loaves so I divided the batter into 8 mini loaves

Place in 325 degree oven and wait patiently

40 minutes later you get this (well 8 of these)

 This is by far the most moist bread I have ever made.

Give this a try and let me know how it turns out!!!!

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