Recipe: Zucchini carrot bread with chocolate chips and walnuts

I have a serious problem. I can't stop baking. 

This week I started intense potty training with Ali. He'll be 3 in December and I am hopeful to have him trained by his birthday. We're doing the cold turkey method, no pull ups. It's supposed to be the most effective and quick which it has proven to be, but it also is the most exhausting, mentally draining and is a likely candidate for extreme forms of torture. Let's just say I did NOT need to be baking while trying to accomplish this task. 

So despite a serious backache from all the bending down to clean and jerking out of the way to avoid being sprayed on it's been a decently successful few days. He's learned to keep his number twos in the toilet and number ones are getting better. Enough toilet talk. I know that's not why you came here. 

This recipe is a bit more involved than others I've attempted before, mostly because of the added step of grating zucchini/carrots and that probably took me longer as I did it while running back and forth between the kitchen and bathroom. Nonetheless, it came out tasting pretty delicious and my chocolate loving husband/child have already devoured more than half of it (IN ONE DAY). This is a great way to get picky eaters to have their veggies without knowing it! 

I also used baby carrots not whole carrots (gasp unhealthy I know, I like the taste of chemicals what can I say) and grating those is a torturous task in itself. I would say you could barely taste the carrot so maybe using real carrots is better? Or just use more? You try it and tell me!

Again, I like to tamper with recipes online to make my own so this is a blend of 1 2 and 3. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
•  1 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1½ cups grated zucchini
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour 2 loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fully combined and slightly lightened in color.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk flour mixture into sugar mixture until fully combined. Add in the grated carrots and zucchini and walnuts. Stir until evenly distributed.  
4. Divide batter evenly among the loaf pans. Top with chocolate chips and more chopped walnuts, I also like to top with a little brown sugar to give it a crunch. Bake for 45 minutes on lower rack, rotating halfway through if necessary. Turn off stove and leave in oven to cool for 5-10 minutes to ensure it is cooked through.
5. Cool loaves in pans about 20 minutes before gently and carefully removing. Bread may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or frozen, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for 4 months. 

Eggplant Parmesan

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that I also made Eggplant Parm for dinner. Because I've totally lost my mind. Peeling the skin then slicing and bread crumbing the eggplant, its just all so much more time consuming than ordering pizza, which I probably should have done.  But the end result really was worth it. 

Attempt this when you have a solid 1-1.5 hrs on your hands. 

We bake, not fry, our eggplant slices  which makes me want to believe this is a healthy recipe but it tastes SO darn good to be called that. 

I'm too tired to write out the whole thing, but they do a good job of that Here. To add in more veggies I threw some frozen broccoli and sliced mushrooms into the canned tomato sauce. Also, while I put the eggplant slices to bake I roasted 3 garlic cloves on the side, then crushed and added them into my sauce. Wow does that pack in flavor or what! Hubs better get ready for roasted garlic everything.

I left my dish in for longer since I love me some burnt cheese topping but you can probably pull it out once the cheese starts to bubble. 

And since I clearly cant sit still for an idle moment, I leave you with a depiction of what I did with most of our time spent in the bathroom this week:

Filed under things you discover in the toilet - Ali's momma is a Play-Doh artist!
 Homemade fondant cakes here I come!

Food talk

SAHMhood has brought me to the one thing I love most: Food.

The first week we got here there wasn't much in the fridge to welcome us. Hubs had been living off canned sardine sandwiches (SO disgusting I have no idea how he can tolerate the stench let alone ENJOY it!) and ramen noodles. So, the first night he made me his 'gourmet' version of shrimp ramen noodles. It was great, but eventually I needed real food.

The second night did get better, we have some pretty amazing neighbors (parents of a friend) who sent over homemade biryani which definitely hit the spot. Once we ran out I started cooking. And it hasn't quite ended.

Here's what was on our plates this week:

Colorful breakfast of all my favorite fruits. We found this delicious Peach Butter at a rest stop in Georgia. It claims to be from a local farm, regardless it tastes amazing when drizzled on top of fruits.

I do love my friend Pinterest for all the overeating it inspires. I find most my recipes there, but they all end up altered as I have trouble following directions.
This is Spinach stuffed chicken in a garlic sauce topped with sauteed mushrooms over egg noodles.
My alteration: I seasoned the chicken like a blacken chicken recipe (tons of cayenne and paprika, hint of basil and thyme) and added cheddar cheese

Another breakfast favorite: spinach and broccoli omelette topped with grilled shrimp and cheddar cheese 

  This here is Stuffed Eggplant.  Yes I have an obsession with foods that have the word "stuffed" in them and also with cheese topping on everythingggg.

my alterations: no breadcrumbs or parmesan cheese (because we didn't have any), add in cumin powder, coriander powder, cayenne pepper to the ground beef , not necessary but I added in diced mushrooms and tomatoes to the mix too.  I love me a side of sliced avocado just because. 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! :)