Happy Independence Day

In honor of July 4th, I had my family dress in a red theme on Sunday. Happy Independence Day from my family to yours.

One of us was pouting. Can you pick out who?

 

Independence Day Bread

When life brings you zucchini, make zucchini bread. Well, a dear friend and neighbor brought over a bag of zucchini and eggplant last night and my husband's first statement was "you should make zucchini bread." He grew up loving it, so last year I got the recipe from his mom and made several loaves. While looking for that recipe I found one I had ripped out of Parents Magazine last May. This one includes blueberries too, which I also have in the refrigerator, so I decide to try it. Because I take after my mother, I cannot follow a recipe exactly. There must be some substitutions, so I'll give you the recipe first, and then what I did.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread ~ those gorgeous berries make the zucchini way less noticeable ~ as stated by Parents Magazine, and yes so true. It is very good bread.

• 1 cup all- purpose flour
• 1 cup whole- wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 1 loaf pan or 3-4 mini loaf pans. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl and wet ingredients in small bowl. Stir wet into dry. Carefully stir in blue berries and zucchini. Bake large loaf 1 hour and mini loaves 40 minutes. Ready when toothpick in center comes out clean.

 

MY VERSION

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt ( it's the only "coarse" salt in my cupboard, so I used it)
• 3 liquid eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded zucchini picked by a super sweet friend
• 1 cup blueberries picked by my family from my moms bushes

The mixture looks really thick to me before adding in the fresh stuff, but after folding the rest in it seems to get loose enough to work with. I prepared as above and made 4 mini loaves in my first batch which came out rather short, so I made 3 in the second batch and they were perfect. My mini loaves took just 30 minutes to bake. After cooling I placed them each in a ziplock bag and tied a few with some red, white, and blue ribbon I picked up at a yard sale. After supper the girls and I delivered 5 loaves to extra special people in our community to wish them happy independence day, and to treat them as sweetly as my dear sweet neighbor had treated me.

 

The Good Lord said "love thy neighbor as thyself." Matthew 22:39

 

If we all did, how sweet the world would be...

 

July 4 Diaper sales

Don't miss the holiday diaper sales going on now.

Kelly's closet is offering a free diaper with $39 purchase - and don't forget free shipping on orders of $49.99. Above is the free KaWaii diaper and 2 microfiber inserts I received from the father's day sale. Little prince charming and I like it, except that it just fits him now at around 21-22 pounds. I hope he will become less round and get more use out of his one size diapers.

Abby's Lane newsletter has a code for $5 off a $50 purchase plus you can use the 5% off coupon code. They always have free shipping in the US. I love them for allowing you to combine all the coupon codes all the time. You cannot combine certain sales with the codes however.

I've also shopped with Kissed by the Moon. They have a neat sale right now where you can get 12% off with code VACATION or use code FREEBIE to get various free items depending on the amount of your purchase. Check for exclusions.