Monday, February 25, 2013

Using up Zucchini

  Now a post about using up zucchini might seem a little strange in the month of February - but I have my reasons. Zucchini always seems pretty easy to come by in the summer (whether it be from our garden or from generous friends and family) and so since I hate to waste (or turn down free, good for you food) I try to use the zucchini as much as I can which includes grating it up and freezing it to use throughout the winter.

  Well, now is the time to use up that lovely frozen zucchini. In some of the years past the zucchini would get frozen and pulled out occasionally to use to make zucchini bread or something like that but then come summer I would discover many packages of zucchini still sitting in the freezer (which by the way I did use - I don't like to waste!). But I am working on getting better at using up the zucchini throughout the winter.

   Here are some of the ways I have been using it lately:
  • In our pancakes. Just add a bit (This morning I put in around 1 cup with the 4 cups of flour that I was using) to the batter and cook as usual. I don't generally think there is much need to adjust the recipe - just add the shredded zucchini.

  • Add it to your yeast bread that you make. It does leave little green flecks (since I shred it with the peeling still on it) but otherwise doesn't really change the flavor.
  • Add a bit to your hamburger when you brown it for tacos or for making a casserole.
  • Make Zucchini patties. Here is the recipe (along with other ideas for using zucchini). They remind me of onion rings and I think they are yummy!
  • Make zucchini muffins or bread. There are many recipes out there for this one.
  • Add a little bit to your scrambled eggs.
  • Add some to your meatloaf or meatballs.
  • Use it in cake - especially chocolate cake. It makes it moister and I love it! Our favorite recipe for that is in this post.
  • Include it in pies and crisps (for the most part it will blend in very nicely with the other fruit).
 Zucchini has Vitamin C, Vitamin K, riboflavin, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Potassium, magnesium and much more.  I doubt that the frozen stuff has as much as it does when it is fresh but since zucchini is so easy to come by (at least for us), it is quite good for you and does not have an offensive taste I think it is very worthwhile to freeze and eat.

   Maybe this post doesn't seem very useful to you right now because you may not have a bunch of frozen grated zucchini as I do - but I thought it would be good to bring it up now during the seed buying time as we get ready for planting. If you want to grow as much of your own food as you can I do heartily recommend adding zucchini - it is very easy to use and to store for later use and it is easy to grow and good for you. It is a winner in my book!

I am linking up with the Homestead Barn Hop hosted by The Prairie Homestead and New Life on a Homestead. 

7 comments:

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Stephany Z said...

Thank you, Abbi! We love using zucchini through the winter too. My husband loves fritters with our vegetable dinners, and I add either corn, shredded squash or shredded zucchini. I use the recipe from Simply in Season.

angie said...

I recently made a crustless zucchini pie that was yummy. I don't have any zucchini in the freezer and Aldi has stopped selling it. I will need to wait until it returns to the farm markets.

Abbi said...

It is fun to hear the ways you like to use zucchini too. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!

The crustless zucchini pie sounds interesting. What are the other main ingredients?

I think the fritters would be yummy!

HoneySage said...

Thank you for reminding me to open the freezer and do something with the 13 bags I have left...LOL! You are spot on with the chocolate cake idea!

Texas Homesteader said...

I was blessed with lots of zucchini from the garden last year (as opposed to the prior year with squash bugs got the ENTIRE harvest) Not wanting to waste it, I shredded & froze. But I don't want to make sweets out of all of it, and we've been underwhelmed with the texture of the previously-frozen zucchini for casseroles, etc. I cannot wait to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing. (visiting from Homestead Barn Hop)

~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
www.taylormaderanch.com/blog

Nola said...

Oh thank you for the reminder. I have lots of zucchini to use. I moved a few months ago and things have been hectic for me in my life...and things like this get sort of forgotten in the process. I need to use up a lot of freezer stuff.

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