Lately (Summer 2014)

I can't believe it's the last day of August. Tomorrow is September, summer is officially over, and all I have to look forward to is...

-the leaves changing color

-low humidity

-baking with pumpkin

-going to Cancun in October!

-breaking out the long pants. Hoodies. Boots.

-football

-chilly morning runs

-not having to run the air conditioner

-root veggies coming into season! 

-feeling the desire to turn the oven on again

-jacket weather

-apple cider

-Halloween

-all my shows coming back!

Ok. I must confess. I don't hate fall, and I might even be looking forward to it a little bit. But just a little bit. Don't worry summer, I will miss you! To gear up for the switch in seasons, I thought I'd share some summer happenings-

My little bro came out to visit in August. He arrived in Kentucky to relax for a week, right before he went back to school. He's a high school teacher and basketball coach. A little gearing up before the school year, if you will. We had a great visit, with lots of running, sight-seeing, Cincinnati Red-ing, swimming, and eating. Oh, plus an inordinate amount of video game playing. Ok, so I wasn't involved in that part! Haha. This picture was taken at The Yardhouse, a great bar and grill right next to Great American Ballpark. I mean, look at the size of those beers! Heaven...

The hubby and I are never ones to be serious!

Summer is watermelon season, and guess who loves watermelon? My crazy puppies. I couldn't cut into one this summer without being harassed. Come to think of it, they do the same whenever they hear a banana, a bell pepper, or a carrot on the cutting board. At least they're healthy monsters :)

Giz can't jump as high to get his watermelon, but he tries his best!

Sometime during this summer, I was out running by myself. It was a fairly hot day with high humidity, and the 5-miles I ran might as well have been 26.2. It was a miserable run, what with sunscreen-soaked sweat dripping and stinging my eyes every 2 seconds. But I pushed through, and as I was walking to my car, I froze. About 10 feet from my car was this baby bunny. He was so adorable. I'd barely taken a picture on my phone where there was a sudden rustling near me. Something sprang out of the bush close to where I stood, almost making me jump 10 feet in the air. It was his momma. She ran (hopped?) over to him, and they ran (hopped??) away. It was a sweet moment in nature, and it made melting away on that run almost worth it. Almost :)

Gizmo's selfie.

Haloti's selfie. I can't decide whose I like better!

A Chinese fortune I received. I normally roll my eyes at these silly, traditional scraps of paper stuffed inside those crunchy cookies, but I liked this one. In fact, I even put it in my wallet. A positive affirmation to keep on keeping on. 

Bib and goodies from our 7-mile race.

Crossing the finish line of that 7-miler. I'm so super-proud of that time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I am not a born runner. It's never come easy to me. In fact, I always tried to avoid sports involving running as a kid. Soccer. Basketball. Track. I stuck to volleyball. Minimal running. However, with the proper training, I'm slowly and steadily getting faster. I may never run a marathon, but I've come a long way since that girl that started out last September not able to run 1 mile. I couldn't feel better about my accomplishments this year.

A brotherly tongue bath is the way these pups start most days :)

To celebrate this holiday weekend, we had a family cookout at the hubby's sister's house yesterday. Everyone in the family has busy, full lives, so we really relish the time we all get to spend together. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, stuffed our faces with cupcakes, and even managed to take some family pictures. Oh, and if you thought I was the one to remember to take pictures, you would be wrong. So woefully wrong. LOL.

Happy Labor Day Weekend friends! I hope anyone and everyone is sending summer out with a bang. Because, before you know it, there will be pumpkin on this blog :)

Udon with Thai Pickled Cabbage and Grilled Chicken

Ohhhhhhh. 

This cold pasta salad is gooooood. So good. I'm a big, big fan of pasta salad. I have a friend that can't stand the taste and texture of cold pasta, and I'm afraid I can't relate. I can't even relate a little bit. I could eat cold pasta salad for breakfast, lunch, dinner, 4th meal, and beyond. The taste? Yum. The texture? Hits the spot. I can sympathize with my friend though, because there are plenty of yummy foodie things that I can't stand. Rosemary, for one. Beets. Liver. The hubby's green juice he makes in the morning. It's funny how one person's filet mignon can be another person's, well, liver and onions. 

Let's talk Thai Pickled Cabbage. I saw the recipe on one of the blogs I follow, Sidewalk Shoes, and I knew I just had to try it. Pam made it sound right up my alley. And it twas'. We've got lots of access to cabbage right now, with it being proliferous at the farmer's markets. Plus, the hubby's uncle grew some. I thinly sliced a whole head, and got it into that delicious pickling liquid as soon as I could. I ended up letting it pickle for 2 weeks, mainly because that's how long it took me to get to it! That 2 weeks did that cabbage good. Upon opening that jar, I was hit with sweet, salty, and earthy scents wafting up at me. And wow, does this cabbage ever have flavor. It adds so much to the salad. If you decide to make this dish, do not (under any circumstances) skip the pickled cabbage. 

When I first made the cabbage, I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for. I finally decided on a pasta dish, and since the pickled cabbage is cold, I deduced that the dish should be cold as well. I picked up a package of udon at the grocery store, a thick Japanese buckwheat noodle. All that was left to do was add a chopped, grilled chicken breast and some shredded carrot. Oh yeah, and make some sauce. I ended up making a saltier sauce to balance out the sweet and spicy of the pickled cabbage. It worked perfectly, the taste ended up an exercise in balanced Asian fusion. I sat down with a plate for lunch one day, and after a few slurps, it seemed the pasta had disappeared. Almost embarrassingly fast.

Oh, how I heart Asian food!

Happy Friday of a long holiday weekend! What does everyone have on tap? The hubby and I are nutty coocoo, and we are running another race tomorrow. I'll be running my first 10K. Funny how I ran a 7-miler before I ever ran a 10K. I'm excited, and a little nervous. The course is a little hillier than I'm used to, but hills are good for you. I really need to run more of them, I just get so comfortable at my little training spot. I haven't made a goal, because I'm not sure of what it should be.  The hubby and I ran hard last weekend, resulting in a little fatigue this week. We ran twice, and both felt hard. We did some cross-training at the gym yesterday, and today is just yoga. I'm going into the race with fresh legs, but I'm still unsure. Especially with a hilly course. I'd like to come in at 1 hour, but again, I'm not sure if that's realistic with the hills. I guess we'll see, won't we? We've also got a family cookout later after the race. I'll be preparing cupcakes today, yay for baking! I'm going with classic chocolate cupcakes, with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. Perfect for the kids.  After the cookout? The hubby and I will be parked on our couch, either asleep or awake cheering on the Ducks. I can't believe the Ducks are playing at 10:30 Eastern time. It'll be a miracle if we are able to stay awake for that. Then, there's Sunday...

Sunday is draft day! 

Yep, it's that time of year again for fantasy football! I can't wait to pick my team, because as of this very moment, I have not one clue of the direction I'm going. And I love that. One of our couple friends participates in the league with us, so they'll be here with us and we are making a tail-gate worthy spread. My girlfriend is making a taco dip and salsa, and I'm planning on whipping up bacon and cream cheese-filled jalapeños. And of course, there will be beer. No draft is complete with a cold brew!

Happy Labor Day Weekend friends!

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

Thai Pickled Cabbage-

1/2 cup lime juice

3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp kosher salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1 head cabbage, thinly sliced

1 small jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced

Salad-

10 oz udon noodles, prepared according to package directions

1 cup carrot, shredded

1 chicken breast, grilled and chopped

Sauce-

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey

sesame seeds, thinly sliced scallions (optional-garnish)

Directions:

1. Prepare pickled cabbage- in a large mason jar, combine lime juice through garlic. Put lid on jar, and shake thoroughly. Open jar, and shove cabbage and jalapeños in. Cover, and shake. Place in fridge for 2 weeks, shaking every once in a while. 

2. In a large bowl, combine noodles, carrot, and chicken. Drain cabbage, and add to bowl. 

3. Prepare dressing- in a small bowl combine soy sauce through honey. Whisk to combine. Drizzle dressing over salad, toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and scallions, if using. Serve immediately.

Printable Recipe

Thai Pickled Cabbage recipe adapted from Sidewalk Shoes.

Love this recipe? Try these!

Grilled Chicken Chow Mein

Hoisin Chicken with Spicy Cucumber Salad

Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Pork

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Caprese Salad

Well.

Harrumph. 

I don't have anything to talk about. I've been sitting here for over 45 minutes, staring at my pictures. Actually, that's not true. I opened up my blog, stared at it for 5 minutes, and then immediately opened a new window to FaceBook. I think the reason I can't think of anything to talk about is because I'm so mad. Friends, I'm honestly thinking about getting rid of FaceBook. It's an addiction that I think my life would be better without. I've been noticing a pattern over the last couple of months. My current morning routine is to make coffee, feed the dogs, and sit down on the computer to catch up on news, FaceBook, email, and blog stuff. I can be in a perfect mood upon sitting down, and immediately become irritated and angry over the sheer load of ignorance and brutality that people post on social media. Is that really the best way to start the day? It's something I'm considering. 

I know you're sitting there thinking, "Geez, what happened?". Here's the thing- nothing. Just the same old stuff. People being cruel to people they don't know. Friends posting completely isolating and hostile political messages. And the thing I can't get over the most- the criticism of the ice bucket challenge. Really??? I've never seen so much backlash over a charity event. One of my "friends" posted a rant saying that ALS is rare, and why would anyone donate to such an obscure and meaningless cause? Talk about blood boiling. Another posted that ISIS is out there recruiting Americans and beheading innocent people, yet Americans just keep ignorantly pouring ice water over their heads. Wow! I was floored. ALS does matter. It does kill people, and in a slow and horrifying fashion. One of my high school teachers passed from ALS. He was the P.E. teacher, a former high school and college football player, and probably one of the strongest men I knew in my childhood. It was devastating and absolutely heartbreaking to watch this disease destroy this man as it took his ability to walk.  We had to watch this former football hero, who had once had the strength and size of an ox, take to a wheelchair. What came next were the tremors and the inability to control your body. The inability to move your mouth to talk. The inability to move a finger or wiggle a toe. These people become prisoners of their own bodies and brains. How can anyone sit there and say that they don't matter? ALS may be classified as a rare disease, but I guarantee if you or someone close to you was touched by this disease, you would think it mattered.

Yes, there are problems in the world. Yes, there are people that want to kill Americans just for being Americans. But you know what? They aren't going away. There will always be threats. That's just a fact. Humans have been destroying each other since the beginning of time, and you think we'll ever stop? This is just a fact of life, but why focus on it? After all, that's what these terrorists want. They want Americans to panic, quit going about their daily lives, and to cower in fear. They want Americans to only focus on the ugly stuff in life, rather than how beautiful life can be. There's nothing I can do about what they want. I instead choose to focus on what's important in life- my family, my friends, my dogs, my home. And for me, a big part of what's important to me is helping other people. I'm been so fortunate in this life, I only wish everyone was so lucky. 

So I will continue to pour buckets of ice water over my head. I will continue to snap up coupon items to donate to homeless shelters and animal shelters. I will continue to sign up for 5K's benefiting ALS, multiple sclerosis, Hodkin's lymphoma, and other rare diseases. They may be rare, but to the person suffering, it does not feel rare. It feels all too sadly and completely real.

My apologies for the rant, but you know, not even the most prolific food blogger thinks about food 24 hours a day. Much as I wish that I did :)

So, Caprese Salad! My tomatoes started coming in (YAY!) about 9 days ago, and I must confess, I've been eating a lot of Caprese Salad. Because as you know, I also have waaaaay too much basil. For me, this is the perfect lunch. I always seem to be getting lunch around 1-2, and dinner is usually around 6. Needless to say, I don't do big lunches. Give me a few tomatoes, some good quality mozzarella, and plenty of fresh basil. I'll be happy until the dinner hour. This salad is super, super easy to make. Slice the tomatoes, cover with a bit of cheese, then top with basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. I suspect even the most kitchen-challeneged cook should be able to complete this dish :) Summer is the best time to make it, because let's face it- garden fresh tomatoes are the bomb.com and supermarket tomatoes in the dead of winter are, well, mealy. They just don't have the flavor of summer tomatoes. So make this today with your summer bounties!

Happy Thursday friends! One more day till a long, holiday weekend! :)

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 medium sized tomatoes, thinly sliced

5-6 fresh mozzarella balls, halved (ciliegine-size)

Handful of basil leaves

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Place sliced tomatoes on a plate. Place cheese halves on top of tomatoes. Top with a basil leaf.

2. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil and vinegar together. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

Looking for other tomato, mozzarella, and basil dishes? Try these!

Rotini with Salsa di Limone

Pizza Margherita

Grilled Tomato-Basil Bread

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I cannot believe it's almost the end of August. Wasn't it just yesterday I was planting seedlings, heading back outdoors to run, and dreaming up new popsicle flavors? That's the tough part of having a favorite season, it goes so fast. However, there's something that begins at the end of summer that (in my mind) is almost a consolation prize for summer being over...

FOOTBALL.

Oh yes. We love football in this house. Our fantasy football draft is on Sunday! I love me some fantasy football. We play in a small, 8-team family league that's just for fun. We are no "The League" here. We are goofy, we take kickers when want, and no team is complete with 3 defenses... I'm just kidding about the defenses, but we don't take ourselves seriously. Most girls aren't that interested in fantasy football, but I think that's a travesty. I've found I'm more into football since I started playing fantasy. It gives you a reason, a purpose to watch games and it's made me expand to watching other teams that I usually wouldn't watch, just to root on a player. Girls, I highly recommend playing. I swear, you'll want to watch some football on Sunday. With some beer and a piece of this pizza in your hand, right??

This pizza is perfect for football season. We first started making it years ago, actually a couple months after we got engaged. The hubby and I went to Whistler, BC with my brother and his girlfriend, for some much needed skiing and relaxation. We always stay in our timeshare in which every room has its own little kitchen, and it was on this fateful trip that Buffalo Chicken pizza was born. In those days, the pizza was modest. Made with a can of Pillsbury pizza dough, a chicken breast, a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, and a bottle of buffalo sauce. Simple and to the point. The recipe has definitely evolved over the years into the magnificent work of art that it is today. It's homemade dough, all the way now. By happy mistake, I left my pizza dough rising in the fridge for 3 days. It turned out to be the best dough I've made. It was perfectly elastic, yet held it's shape. All I did was put the pizza dough on my board, and used my hands to knead it into the perfect circle. Not too thin. No tears (tears, like cuts, not tears that I cried!). It was pizza dough nirvana. 

I may just let all my dough's rest for 3 days now :)

So... the draft. I'll be the first to admit I paid no attention to the offseason. None. I found the hijinks of Donald Sterling and the Clippers more newsworthy than the NFL's offseason. HA! I'm just kidding, but seriously, I don't know what's going on. No clue who my first draft pick with be, no running-back must-haves, and really, I'm not up to date on the injuries. I've got some studying to do. That probably won't happen. I say I'll study every year, only to never actually realize the goal. I fly by the seat of my pants every year, and take whoever sounds good at the moment. My strategy is bona-fide, I've even won a couple of years. It's most likely the road I will take again this year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. As far as fantasy players goes, I fall somewhere between Taco and Ruxin. I'm into it enough to care and tinker with my roster every week, not so into it I over-think everything (You "League" fans will appreciate that reference!).

There's one more awesome thing that comes with football season every year... College football! No fantasy football there, just good, old-fashioned, teeth-gritting love of the alma mater. Our first game is on Saturday, and the hubby and I can't wait. 

Make this pizza! And, GO DUCKS!

Ingredients (makes 1 large pizza):

Basic Pizza Dough

buffalo sauce

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

5 mozzarella bocconcini balls, halved

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

Directions:

1. Prepare pizza dough through Step 4.

2. For Step 5 of making the Pizza Dough, spread buffalo sauce over the unbaked dough. Sprinkle the pizza with chicken and celery. Place mozzarella balls haphazardly over the pizza. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella and blue cheese evenly over the pizza. Drizzle a small amount of buffalo sauce (1-2 tbsp) over the pizza. 

3. Bake under broiler for 5-7 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and crust has begun to brown in spots. 

4. Slice and serve!

Printable Recipe

Looking for other buffalo sauce recipes? Try these!

Buffalo Shrimp with Creamy Blue Cheese Slaw

Buffalo Ranch Popcorn

Buffalo Chicken Mozzarella Melts

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesdays, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

Strawberry Orange Popsicles

Happy Friday! While it may be the end of August, technically it's still summer. I still want to make popsicles! Food bloggers be breaking out the pumpkin and spice recipes, while I'm still enjoying popsicles, salads, and grilling. I'm not ready for fall yet, I'm still growing summer veggies! I stopped fertilizing my tomatoes last week, trying to kick-start the ripening of my fruit. It's definitely working, all my tomatoes are starting to change color. Yesterday I harvested a pink beefsteak tomato that was the size of my hand. It was huge! No plans for the giant tomato, I'm still pondering that one. But as I was saying, I don't want summer to end. 

Summer is hands-down my favorite season. I love the sun, the warm balmy air, the uncontrolled jungle-lushness the forest around our house gets, growing vegetables, mowing the lawn, and sipping beers out on the patio. I love wearing shorts and tanks, and feeling the sun warm my skin. I love the optimistic mood summer always brings. I'm always sad when summer winds downs. Thankfully, it's still full-on summer here. And full-on summer means popsicles!

I'm still smack-dab in the middle of my summer strawberry affair, so I always have strawberries lying around the house. And strawberries pair so very well with orange. There's only 3 ingredients in these healthy pops- oranges, strawberries, and honey. They are so light and refreshing, and 100 times better than store-bought. Popsicles are so easy to make, most of the work is hands-off freezing time in the freezer. The results are so worth it. One tip- fresh orange juice is one of those juices where the enzymes degrade fairly quickly, leaving your juice with a bitter flavor. Once you've made the orange pulp, get it into those popsicles molds as soon as you can and into the freezer. This helps stop the degradation of the orange juice and thus, helps preserves the flavor. 

In case you were wondering, my freezer is full of homemade popsicles during the summer :)

My very first 7-mile race is tomorrow! I'm feeling a little nervous, which is normal. I am feeling very prepared though. Extremely prepared. I'm crossing my fingers the humidity is low, however it appears at this time it's going to be really high. It'll be a struggle for me, but definitely a struggle I can overcome. It's crazy how much the humidity affects me, but it's very detrimental to my performance. However, I was thinking back to last year at this time when the hubby and I first decided to get into running. I couldn't even run a mile! My first 5K was Path to the Cure in late September 2013. My finishing time was 37:34, which I obtained with a combination of running and walking. On Wednesday, our workout was to run a 5K. I ran it in 27:41! I was so freakin' proud. I've come a long way in a year, and I couldn't be more proud of myself. Running has given me a sense of accomplishment and peace that had been sorely lacking in my life. And tomorrow? Tomorrow, I go after a new goal. I'd like to finish the race in 1 hour and 20 minutes. I think I'm ready.

Just excited. And anxious. But mostly excited :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients (makes 8 popsicles):

4-5 medium size oranges, peeled and sectioned

2 tsp honey

5 strawberries, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Combine oranges and honey in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.

2. Distribute orange mixture among popsicles molds. Place 2-3 strawberry slices in each popsicle. Insert wooden sticks into each mold. 

3. Freeze until solid, 6-8 hours. Run molds under warm water to free from molds. Store in freezer. 

Printable Recipe

Looking for other popsicle recipes? Try these!

Nectarine Yogurt Pops

Minted Cantaloupe Popsicles

Watermelon Kiwi Ice Pops

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Treasure Box Tuesdays

Zucchini Cookies

If you're alive and have a pulse, you've likely seen these Zucchini Cookies floating around on FaceBook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. This is an extremely popular recipe right now, and seeing how it's zucchini season, I just had to give it a whirl. And I'm glad I did! These aren't your mama's Zucchini Cookies. They taste more like an oatmeal spice cookie than the traditional fare. Soft, moist, and deliciously spice-y from the cinnamon and nutmeg. I gobbled up these cookies with and without the frosting. 

A couple of tips- I didn't want my cookies to fall apart due to moisture, so I shredded my zucchini and let it sit in a colander for an hour or two before making the cookies. Just to let some of the water drain. Also, these cookies do not spread. I was able to bake 12 to a cookie sheet. Unless you want little round ball cookies, you might want to press them down a smidge after putting them on the cookie sheet. The dough is pretty crumbly when you are done, so I chilled mine in the fridge for about an hour before rolling the dough. Although the dough was crumbly, the dough remained in balls after rolling them. I baked mine just until they were brown around the edges. You know me and overdone cookies :) I ended up with chewy, moist cookies. So yummy.

So, funny story. The hubby had decided that the screen protector on my iPhone needed to be replaced. After cleaning the phone, and then replacing the screen, he left the phone sitting on the counter. It was an odd night where he was working, which means we would be talking on the phone sometime later that night. When that time came and the hubby called, my screen wouldn't light up. It was just dark. I couldn't get the screen to come on. When I finally did get the screen to come on, I got scrolling black lines. Never a good sign. After some finagling, I got the screen on and was able to call the hubby. He advised me to turn the phone off and he would look at it in the morning. 

I had a bad feeling...

The next morning, the hubby examined the phone and was definitely reluctant to tell me that he thought the screen was broken. After my sullen reaction and some time spent on the phone with Apple, we up and decided to drive to Lexington. Only a 2 hour drive on a random Tuesday. We went on the off chance that whatever happened to my phone was covered under warranty and they would replace it for free. And guess what? 

It sure was! Apple replaced my phone for free! I was only phone-less for less than 24 hours. Pretty darn good if you ask me. The hubby and I stopped by Whole Foods while we were in town, which I was stoked for. We scored a major haul, leaving with fish, lots of specialty cheese and pasta, condiments I can't find in my area, some snacks, and the absolute best find of the day, cheese rinds. Yep, you read that right. Cheese rinds. They were selling Parmigiano Reggiano rinds in their own containers! About 8 cheese rinds for $5. Normally, each rind is attached to $11 piece of cheese so you can see how much money I saved to get my rinds! I was soooooo excited.

After the excitement of my rind-find, we decided to celebrate. We stopped in a little pub called Saul Good. We were really impressed with this bar. The decor was strange upon walking in, so we weren't sure what to expect. The dining room looked like a fancy ballroom with chandeliers, yet everyone in the restaurant was wearing jeans and t-shirts. The patrons all wore jeans and t-shirts. The menu was bar food. We were intrigued, and decided to stay. It was definitely worth staying for! Local craft beer to wash down Chicken and Waffles and a Blue Cheese Burger. Everything was quality, and really not like the standard frozen food the restaurants around our area sell. For such an impromptu day, it felt festive. A date day instead of night, if you will.

A brand-new FREE iPhone, gourmet ingredients to play with for the blog, dinner and drinks with the partner in crime, and a beautiful, scenic drive in from the country. Yeah, it was a good day :)

And just like that, we are on the cusp of another weekend. How does that happen? This summer has been hectic. I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done most days. It makes me wonder how people with jobs and kids get everything done. It's just me, the hubby, 2 dogs, and 1 job between the 2 of us, and I still don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. I really admire those of you that do it all. Supermoms. I don't know how you do it. 

On that note, I'm leaving you :)

Happy Thursday!

Ingredients (makes 3 dozen cookies):

Cookies-

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1 1/2 cups quick oats

Frosting-

1/2 cup butter, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp vanilla creamer

Garnish- nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour through nutmeg. Whisk to combine. 

2. Cut in shortening. Add egg and mix well. Fold in zucchini and oats with a spatula. Place dough in fridge. Chill for 20-30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 375º. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Remove dough from fridge.

4. Using a 1-tbsp cookie scoop, drop 12 cookies onto cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 7-10 minutes, or until edges are just brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting. 

5. To make the frosting, combine butter, sugar, and creamer in a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium-high until frosting is creamy and fluffy. Spread unto cookies, dust cookies with nutmeg (if using). Store in an airtight container.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Chef in Training.

Looking for other zucchini recipes? Try these!

Mini Chocolate Chip Zucchini Loaves

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Treasure Box Tuesdays