Another veggie that has been making a weekly appearance in my CSA box has been zucchini. As much as I love sauteing them up with summer squash, garlic and onions, I was craving something a bit sweeter and thought it was the perfect time to bake a loaf of zucchini bread. I’ve made this loaf a little heartier by tossing in more chopped nuts and zucchini than most recipes call for, and to brighten up the flavor a bit, zested a lemon into the batter. Result: deliciousness.

What’s your favorite zucchini bread recipe? Or how do you use up the copious amounts of zucchini growing this time of year?

Hope everyone had a lovely Fourth! We made a very last minute trip to Maryland to celebrate with the family, which has been lovely. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that our baby girl waits to come till we get home!:)

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On my drive back from visiting family in South Carolina there are tons of little roadside stands just South of the North Carolina state line. This time of year, I can never pass that strip without stopping at one to pick up at least one basket of peaches. They have to be one of my favorite things about the season. It takes a lot of restraint for me to resist eating them all before I can bake up something delicious, but I always try and set a few aside.

If you’ve been a reading my blog for very long at all, you may have noticed that I love my cast iron skillet. I’d definitely say it’s my favorite kitchen tool, and I’ll use it every opportunity I can. Something about it’s rustic, old timey feel maybe? Whatever it is, if you don’t have one, I encourage you to go out and buy one pronto.

Here I’ve made something similar to a cinnamony-peach loaf, but thrown it in a skillet and topped it off with an oat and sugar crumble and sweet drizzle. It turned into more of a desserty dish (hence the “cake” in the title), but we also enjoyed it as a next-morning breakfast.

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I’m back! Hopefully you haven’t all lost faith in me by now.:) Between moving and getting the baby’s room ready…my poor little blog has been ignored. If you are still reading…thanks for your patience.:) We’ve been enjoying living in our new town and exploring local restaurants, shops and farmers markets. Which by the way… there are so many of! I think I’m in dream land. We are mostly all settled in now, with the exception of the yard and guest/baby room. But we still have a couple more months to tackle those things, thankfully.

I’m usually a pretty healthy eater, and being pregnant has motivated me to watch what I’m eating even more, but I think there is something about knowing I really shouldn’t eat 5 cookies that makes me crave them even more. I came across this recipe last week and I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical at first. Does a vegan, gluten-free*, healthy cookie sound like it equals not-yummy to anyone besides me? But in my desperation to satisfy my cookie craving I whipped some together, only making a half batch…just in case. Once I pulled them out of the oven and took a bite I was in awe. These cookies truly are magical. So magical that I ate 5 and felt no guilt. Who could with this ingredient list?

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As you may remember from me mentioning in a previous post, Madhava Agave Nectar very generously sent me a selection of their products to test out in my recipes. I’ve been very pleased with their agave, which doesn’t surprise me considering the great reviews Madhava has received. I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with different recipes and I’m excited to share some of my results with you!

Last week I had some lemons on hand, and despite the rainy cold weather, I wanted to try out some sorbet.  I used the light agave and it worked wonderfully with the sorbet, and I liked how I could omit the sugar completely. I didn’t have any mint leaves on hand, but I’m thinking next time trying out lemon and crushed mint sorbet? Either way, I’m loving this refreshingly sweet & tangy dessert.:)

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m so ready for spring. We had a very brief glimpse of warm, sunny weather, but it seems like winters come back all over again. Our little produce market around here has drastically shortened their hours (understandably so) due to the slim pickings we currently have, and even when they are open it’s a sad little selection to choose from. Does anyone else feel uninspired in the kitchen? Please give me some tips for surviving till spring if you know of any!:)

One thing I can always count on making year-round is some variation of banana bread. It’s one of my favorites because it’s simple, delicious and comforting. I threw in some chopped up dark chocolate in this loaf and in my opinion, it’s better than ever.

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