Since I don't have a camera right now...

I thought I'd bore you with some recipes I've tried/want to try. The pictures are courteousey of http://allrecipes.com

Our squash and zucchini are in full bloom right now (scroll down if you want to see a picture of the mutant spawn of our squash and zucchini plants). At church the Relief Society handed out some Zucchini recipes. We've tried a couple and they've been pretty good. My mom wanted to try this California Zucchini Bake, that I wasn't thrilled about, but I decided to make it to appease her. IT WAS AMAZING! It actually made it into the book of recipes I love! My step-sister was over at the time we made it an I sent her home with a plate. She called as soon as she got home saying I needed to send her the recipe because it was so good. So I thought I'd pass it on.

Seriously, try this. Amazing!

California Zucchini Bake

1 lb. Ground beef (I used Turkey burger)

3 each Zucchini, sliced thin (I used 3 massive zucchini's)

1/4 cup Green Onions, sliced

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Chili Powder

4 oz. Green Chilies, diced

3 cups Rice, cooked

1 cup Sour Cream

2 cups Cheese, divided

about 1/2 - 1 tsp. Salt

about 1/4 tsp. Pepper

Saute the beef, zucchini, green onions, salt, garlic powder and chili powder in a lightly greased skillet until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender crisp, stirring frequently. Add green chilies, rice, sour cream and 1 cup of cheese. Turn into a greased shallow 2-quart casserole. Arrange tomato slices on top and season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese browns.

Amazing....

As I said before, the Zucchini and Squash plants are in full bloom. Consequently I plan on trying the following recipes in the next couple days:

Summer Squash Puffs

quart oil for frying
4 summer squash, cut into chunks.
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup dry corn muffin mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy skillet or deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C). Place the squash in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and mash. In a bowl, mix 2 cups squash*, onion, and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, corn muffin mix, baking powder, and salt. Thoroughly blend the squash mixture into the flour mixture. Drop the squash and flour mixture by rounded tablespoons into the hot oil, and fry until evenly brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels.

**I'm very excited about this recipe! It just sounds so good! I'm not a big fan of frying food because it's messy, but I'm going to try it! Click here to see the original recipe.

Summer Squash Bread

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I used 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded summer squash

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two bread pans. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs until fluffy. Beat in the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold in the squash. Transfer to the prepared bread pans. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

**This should be an interesting bread to see the difference between zucchini and squash when it comes to bread. It looks like a pretty basic quick bread. I need to use up squash, so I'm going to make this in a few minutes. Click here for the original recipe!

***I made it and it's pretty good. It's really moist. I had to cook it about 15 minutes longer because of the applesauce. You can't really tell it's squash. It's very similar to zucchini bread.

Summerly Squash

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 small yellow summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes. Mix in the zucchini, yellow squash, bay leaf, and basil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf before serving.

**I don't anticipate this being amazing, but just a good squash/zucchini recipe. Click here for the original recipe.