Last week I went to cook dinner, but decided I didn’t want what I had planned. So I just threw something together and it turned out sooo good!!

Turkey & Portabellos in Garlic-Wine Sauce

• a pound of turkey, cubed
• 3 portabello mushrooms, cubed
• 1/2 c cooking sherry
• 1/4 to 1/2 c of flour
• dash of nutmeg
• couple dashes of oregano
• granulated garlic
• pepper

1. Brown turkey, until just cooked through. Add mushrooms, cook for just a couple minutes.
2. Season with garlic (plenty), nutmeg, oregano and pepper, then lower heat.
3. In a small bowl, mix sherry and flour. Pour over turkey.
4. Let simmer for a couple more minutes until the flavors infuse.

Yes, another zucchini recipe! Luckily this one is a main dish. I heard someone mention doing this once, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I didn’t use a recipe, but just threw it together, so the measurements are kind of a guess.

• 1 1/2 lbs low-fat ground turkey or beef
• 32 oz sugar-free pasta sauce
• lg container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 very large zucchini (medium ones), sliced lengthwise, 1/4 in. thick
• 2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp each basil, oregano, and parsley
• salt and pepper

1. Brown meat; add garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Add sauce.
2. Mix 1 c mozzarella cheese, ricotta, eggs, basil, oregano and parsley.
3. Pour enough sauce in a baking dish just to cover bottom. Layer zucchini, cheese, then sauce. Repeat until all used.
4. Top with remaining mozz. cheese.
5. Bake at 375 F until bubbling and zucchini is soft.

It’s surprisingly good. The only thing I would do differently is broil the zucchini slightly before cooking. Some of the pieces of my zucchini were still a bit more crisp than I would have preferred. I made a HUGE pan becuase I had a ginormous zucchini from the garden, so you may want to buy more zucchini than you think you’d use, just in case. I even had a couple slices leftover; I cubed them and threw them on top.

I decided to take some snacks to the beach with us, so I made some healthy banana bread and this one. It’s a whole wheat, sugar free zucchini bread.  It went so fast, it was gone before I knew it! I’m planning on making more today, since we have so many zucchini in the garden.  The recipe makes 2 loaves, so I always freeze one and save it for winter when squash is so expensive. The other loaf disappears within 24 hours. It’s really great with a little low fat cream cheese. So here it is!

• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 c splenda
• 1 c applesauce*
• 1 T vanilla
• 3 c shredded zucchini
• 3 c whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix eggs, splenda, oil and vanilla. Stir zucchini in. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Stir into large bowl and combine until just moist. Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

*if you really want this “no sugar”, use unsweetened applesauce. I’ve also used cinnamon applesauce, and it works deliciously, too.

We decided to try our hand at a garden this year. First one ever. There’s quite a few foods that grow well in the area, so we figured we’d better get those first, then expand next year. We planted zucchini, pumpkins, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. And a couple watermelon plants.

The zucchini, pumpkins, and cantaloupe plants are absolutely huge. We’ve began harvesting our zucchini, which Pierce finds very fun. He loves carrying these 18-inch zucchini up to the house. Our neighbors came by a couple days ago with a bag of the same vegetable; they have way more than they can eat (2 adults, a small child and a baby).

Sooo….I’m left with more zucchini than I want to eat plain! I checked out some recipes and found one that appeared appealing, so I thought I’d try it out. I’m all for experimenting with recipes and trying something new. It was actually a chocolate zucchini brownie recipe, but it came out more cakey. But quite good!!

Here’s the recipe in case anyone’s interested. I tweaked it to fit my lifestyle (used ww flower for white, splenda for white sugar, and applesauce for oil).

1. 2 c ww flour
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4. 1 c splenda
5. 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
6. 2 c shredded zucchini
7. 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
8. 2 eggs
9. 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the wet. Then combine them and mix well. Pour into a 8×10 baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes.

And, I assure you, you can’t taste the zucchini; great way to make a healthy dessert!