3 Ingredient Zucchini Brownies

These incredibly moist 3 Ingredient Zucchini Brownies are so easy to make, plus they have bonus hidden veggies... 

A visit to any local farmers' market or perhaps even to your own backyard garden will reveal that one thing is certain- zucchini season is definitely here and they are plentiful! :)

While I didn't plant any zucchini myself this year, I can attest that they can be pertained at both the farmers' markets and grocery stores for pretty darn cheap right now.  And cheap is always good. ;)

But let's be honest- you can only make SO many loaves of zucchini bread and batches of zoodles (have you all seen these??) before you are zucchini'ed out. 

So let's make something chocolaty, fudgy, and deceptively decadent with them instead, shall we?

These super simple and easy zucchini brownies were inspired by my friend Jellibean Journals' recipe for Life-Changing Skinny Avocado Brownies.  Both recipes have just 3 simple ingredients, but have only one ingredient in common- the boxed brownie mix! 

But both variations are delicious, fudgy, and are a fun  & easy way to sneak more veggies into your family's diet... ;)

The Green Giant's GIANT Surprise is....

You guessed it!  New Veggie Chips!

All I can say after my family and I tried their Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips with Sea Salt and Zesty Cheddar Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips is that it takes some real talent to make a snack that is packed full of veggies and whole grains that my veggie-phobic husband and son will actually eat and enjoy. ;) 

Seriously.  I am always looking for ways to hide vegetables into my family's meals and snacks.  And I have been striving to really make some more healthier snacking options for myself.  Green Giant is helping to make this a little easier for me.   

The Green Giant Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips in Zesty Cheddar were mine and baby girl's personal favorites.  These chips have 17 grams of whole grains per serving, are made with real vegetables & are flavored naturally.  These quickly became our favorite afternoon snack to share.

The Green Giant Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips in Sea Salt were my husband's favorite, and this was an absolute shocker for me!  When I first handed him the bag to give him to try, he read out loud "sweet potatoes" and then crinkled up his nose in pessimistic disgust.

Then he tried one.

And then another.  And then another. 

You get the gist. ;)

He was completely surprised by this chip!  The taste was a cross between a sweet, crunchy cracker and a regular potato chip- not anything at all like you would expect from the normal sweet potato chips you are used to eating.  These were light and crispy. 

And might I add, they are packed with 14 grams of whole grains per serving and have 40% less fat than regular potato chips!

I bet you didn't know that the company who has been bringing you nutritious frozen vegetables for years could also make delicious snack chips packed full of those very same good-for-you veggies, now did you? ;)

Want to check out some of the other surprise talents that Green Giant has unearthed recently?  

Find even more of the Giant's favorite surprise talents on the Green Giant YouTube Channel.

Have your own surprise talent that you would like to share with the Green Giant?  Visit the Green Giant Facebook page to submit yours.

Want to try Green Giant's new Veggie Snack Chips?  CLICK HERE to get a printable coupon for 85 cents off your first bag! :)

Do any of you have a surprise talent that you would like to share?  Please feel free to tell me all about them in the Comments! 

Thank you to The Green Giant™ for being a sponsor. Show the Giant your surprise talent at www.facebook.com/greengiant

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Bread

I have been going to great lengths lately to "hide the veggies" from my son (and ahem, my husband) in my cooking and baking.  My son will eat broccoli.  No problem.  But anything else green?  Forget about it.  My husband is even worse.  I could never get him to willingly eat broccoli.  Or anything else green.  After making a chicken casserole, I will find my husband's plate empty of all but the veggies he has pushed to the side as he navigated his dinner with his fork.  

I have recently discovered that vegetable purees are an excellent accomplice in helping me hide the vegetables from the two guys in my life.  Inspired by a post from You.And.Me.Are.We about Chocolate Zucchini Bread and my favorite recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread from Once Upon a Chef, I decided to combine the two to create my own moist, rich, chocolaty, veggie-laced concoction.

What you will need:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup of peeled, chopped zucchini- then pureed

1 egg

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a loaf pan.  Combine all your dry ingredients through the salt in a medium bowl.  Mix thoroughly with a whisk.  Set aside.

Next peel and chop 1 cup of fresh zucchini.  It took about half of a larger zucchini to make a cup.  Using a food processor or blender, blend the zucchini chunks until smooth.  

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg.  Then the zucchini puree.  

Add your mashed bananas and vanilla to the larger bowl, and beat to mix well.  

Add your dry ingredients a third at a time to the zucchini/banana mixture, beating after each addition. 

Once your batter is mixed well, stir in the chocolate chips.  Now, you can opt to leave these out, but why would you?  Pssssttt...  I saved you a lot of fat and calories by replacing a lot of the butter and eggs with pureed zucchinis and mashed bananas.  Go ahead and add the chocolate chips. ;)

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick near the middle of the loaf.  If it comes out clean, it is done!  Once baked, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This Chocolate Banana Zucchini Bread was AH-mazing.  It was crazy moist and oh so decadent.  I have made the Chocolate Banana Bread recipe from Once Upon a Chef a number of times for my husband and my son.  In fact, they often request that I leave a couple of bananas to ripen just so I can make them this bread. :)  My son didn't notice any difference at all.  My husband actually had a piece and told me it was the best of this bread that I had ever made.  Hehehe... No, I did not tell him what was different about it.  In this case, ignorance is definitely bliss. ;)

Pinspiration in the Kitchen- Good Eats Meatloaf

The word "meatloaf" doesn't exude too much excitement.  It is one of those meals that has been a staple on the tables of mothers, housewives, and grandmothers for years.  Most of the time it is just an over sized, glorified hamburger patty.  Like Randy famously said in A Christmas Story- "Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf."


For years I have been on the search for a meatloaf recipe that my family would willingly eat without having to coax them by saying "show me how the piggies eat."  I think that I have finally stumbled upon that very recipe on Pinterest- Alton Brown's Good Eats Meatloaf recipe- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-meat-loaf-recipe/index.html

I actually only made half of this recipe.  I was pretty sure that my husband and I would be unable to eat an entire 2 lb meatloaf in a few days. ;)  And even though the recipe called to just finely chop the veggies in the food processor and NOT puree them, I did puree them.  Great trick for mothers (or wives) of children (or husbands, not naming any names here...) that hate vegetables. Plus, I think the pureed veggies made the meatloaf just that much more moist.


The Good Eats Meatloaf was tasty.  The husband loved it (didn't even notice the hidden vegetables! Shhhhh...) and I actually really enjoyed it.  I didn't even need extra ketchup squirted on top and served on the side for dipping- a first for me when it comes to meatloaf.
The glaze was sweet and just a little spicy.  I think I have finally found my go-to meatloaf recipe. ;)

To go directly to this pin for repinning, click here- http://pinterest.com/pin/203295370649479445/