I'm Back...With Goods from My Garden and Some Great Zucchini Recipes!

Hi all! I know that I promised a post from the farm, but I never imagined that this week in my hometown would be so incredibly busy! I managed to squeeze in a camping trip, a day of shopping with my sisters, a photo shoot with my children and all of my nieces and nephews, a morning of corn picking and freezing, and my cousin's wedding into the week. Plus, I worked a little bit while I was home too. I did a Pampered Chef party on Thursday and taught a cooking class at a local kitchen/cabinetry store yesterday. Busy, busy! I'm working on getting all of the pictures together for one BIG "Post from the Farm" tomorrow.


After 4 hours on the road today, I returned home to my garden this evening. When I'm home, I like to spend a little time in my garden every night after dinner. I really missed this nightly ritual while I was away. I was so excited to see that I had green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, more radishes and lettuce, peppers and zucchini ready to harvest tonight. I also had a whole lot of weeds to pull!

Here are some pictures of what I picked tonight.

The cucumbers. I'm hoping to make pickles tomorrow.

Lots of lettuce.

Check out my first tomato from the garden! Tomatoes fresh from the garden are THE BEST!

Oh, and these giant zucchini. They weren't even ready to pick last week before I left. The tiny zucchini were still attached to the flowers 9 days ago. Now they are enormous!

After all of the junk that I ate today (Breakfast at a local diner with my parents before we left this morning, fast food for lunch on the road, and a couple of cookies from a gas station) I decided to make a salad from my garden for dinner. It totally hit the spot!

Now that I'm home, I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the "stuff" that has piled up during my week away. I know that I need to make a meal plan and shop for groceries too. I did come up with a rough meal plan based on the items in my fridge, freezer, and garden. Tomorrow night I'm making my Grandma's Zucchini Casserole for dinner. If you haven't tried it yet, this recipe is a winner!

If you're picking a lot of zucchini in your garden right now or if you're buying it up at inexpensive, seasonal prices because you just "love" this versatile vegetable, then here are some recipes that are definitely worth a try!

Zucchini Ribbon Primavera



Zucchini Skillet Dinner



Saltimbocca of Zucchini



Skillet Lasagna



Baked Penne with Summer Squash, Tomato, and Basil

Garden Summer Squash with Noodles

Farmer's Market Salad

Oh, and this Farmer's Breakfast Casserole.

And don't miss out on this one....



Bacon and Tomato Cheese Toasts. Deee-licious!

AND....

Vegetable Soup which is perfect to make right now while the veggies are fresh and inexpensive. And you can freeze it for later!

While zucchini plays the starring vegetable role in many savory dishes, it's great for baked goods too! Try these:



Zucchini Bread AND...




Chocolate Zucchini Cake


I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Stay tuned for my latest "Post from the Farm", plus I'm making pickles this week....