Zucchini Banana Muffins

[This post is typed in pink in support of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.]

Last summer I couldn't pin enough new zucchini recipes to keep up with my zucchini plants. This summer, I was getting zucchini from my sister, since my plants didn't do well at all. This is a wonderful recipe that I pinned from Jessica at "How Sweet It Is". Her blog is absolutely gorgeous, full of pictures that I don't even think to take when I'm baking (and I love taking pictures of food)!

This is my second time making these delicious, healthy muffins and I ended up adapting the recipe a bit this batch. I did some substitutions and additions and they came out great. I'm sharing the recipe that I ended up baking and the one picture I took.

But seriously, check out Jessica's blog and tasty pictures!
Whole Wheat Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins | How Sweet It Is

If I were to put all the main ingredients in the title of this recipe, I would have to call them:
Whole Wheat Zucchini Banana Applesauce Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins.

     3 c. whole wheat flour
     1 c. all purpose flour
     2 tsp. baking soda
     1/2 tsp. cinnamon
     1/2 tsp. salt
     
     2 large eggs
     2/3 c. packed brown sugar
     2/3 c. milk 
     1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 
     1/2 c. butter, softened (one stick)

     1 1/2 c. zucchini, grated (do not squeeze dry)
     2 small-medium bananas, mashed
     1 c. applesauce

     1 c. crushed walnuts
     1 c. chocolate chips

Mix the first 5 dry ingredients together and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Add in milk, vanilla, and butter; mix until smooth. Stir in zucchini, bananas, and applesauce. Slowly, mix in the dry ingredients. Then add desired amount of walnuts and/or chocolate chips.

The zucchini and fruit measurements are an approximation of what I mixed in. If the batter appears thick or clumpy (mine did the first time I made it because I had packed the zucchini too much in the measuring cup), you can add more applesauce or milk til you see the right consistency. Applesauce is often used as a substitute for oil, so it will make the muffins more moist. If it seems too 'soupy' add a little more flour.

Line muffin tins with liners and fill about 2/3 - 3/4 full with batter.
Bake at 350°F for about 17 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
Let muffins cool completely before eating.

These muffins make a quick, healthy breakfast. The recipe made about 30  muffins and I froze most of them so I can just grab a couple on my way to work when I don't have time for anything else.

Play with the ingredients to find what you like best - I've made similar muffins that also had carrots and raisins in them and couldn't believe how amazing they were packed with healthy foods! If you want some more zucchini recipes, check out my pinterest board "Eat It!"

Container Gardening

I remember many summers spent planting seeds, weeding, and enjoying the delicious taste of fresh, home-grown produce.
I think I've mentioned that my Mom home schooled all five of us kids for several years. She was always looking for different ways we could learn things, so school was kind of year-round. We didn't always have the book work, but she liked being able to use things (like gardening) to share with the State how and what we were learning.
I remember we had a couple of areas around the garage to plant, but the space wasn't very large and my Dad didn't have the time (or maybe he didn't want to) to dig up more of our just acre-sized yard. Our neighbors had a larger garden area and after Mr. Mustico passed, his wife was more than happy to let us use it. Those summers, my favorite things to grow were corn and beans!

Since I've been moved out for a while (and my family stopped gardening years ago), I was missing the lettuce that was always ready to be cut and eaten. Last year, I decided that I really wanted to try growing some veggies, but I didn't want to ask my landlord if I could dig up the yard... I started reading all about container gardens and decided that was exactly what I would do!

I already had an old, slightly broken trunk that I could repurpose and I could almost see the lettuce growing in it.
I also planted tomatoes and zucchini. For the zucchini, I used some boxes that I had left over from moving and painted them to hide "Captain Crunch."
Although the tomatoes didn't do as well as I'd hoped, the zucchini produced enough for me to share with several people!

This year, I was excited to get planting again. I still had the trunk from last year, and my sister found me another trunk at a garage sale (I'm still looking for more!). I knew I wanted the same three veggies, but maybe with the extra trunk, I could do more.
I asked my dad to help me create chicken-wire-bottoms that wouldn't fall through, like last year. And for the smaller trunk, he drilled holes in the bottom to allow drainage.

I then lined the chicken-wire-bottom with newspaper so that the dirt wouldn't fall through and water could still drain. And filled the trunks with dirt. The large trunk used two 40 lb. bags of potting soil; the smaller trunk was about one and a half bags.

I didn't really want to paint cardboard boxes again; and while they worked well last summer, the clean-up was a bit of a mess. So, I decided to use the large trunk to hold both zucchini plants and planted the salad mix in something a little smaller - after summer clearance is a great time to buy planters if you don't have them already!

Ok, so here's a "before" picture of where I put all the plants...

so many weeds and what's that mess of bricks the previous tenants left?

I wanted to make this area a little nicer, but was hesitant after my last attempt when planting tiger lilies. Once I started pulling out the bricks, I realized there was great dirt there - a perfect spot to easily plant tomatoes!

I've read several from several sources that marigolds near tomato plants helps with a variety of things; so I've got four tomato plants and marigolds on either side of them. We'll see if they do better than last year.
I haven't decided what to plant in the small trunk yet...
Do you think I should try green beans? peppers? carrots??
I even have more small containers that I could probably use. As someone else said, container gardening is addicting - I don't want to get into too much. I know that my biggest struggle last year was watering, but this year I have a hose hooked up and it should make it a lot easier than filling the watering can inside several times for one watering cycle!

Being still new to this, it is definitely a learning process, but it's such a great excuse to be outside every day that I'm able to find much more patience. And watching a zucchini turn from a flower to the size of my 11-year-old nephew's calf is a pretty awesome thing!