So Zucchini Bread either sounds like the weirdest thing in the world to you or you are like “I LOVE Zucchini bread. I had that all the time growing up!” Well, for me, clearly it is the latter. Zucchini or Banana Bread lasted all of fifteen minutes in my house. Usually my brothers ate the majority of it slathered an inch thick with cream cheese, but needless to say, it was definitely a family favorite.

I am starting to realize that Busy as a Brie has featured a lot of zucchini along with coconut, corn, and mango, so I promise to branch out of my comfort zone, but this bread is just too good to let wait til a further date.

I don’t like my breakfast breads super sweet, so believe it or not, 1 cup of sugar  makes a mildly sweet treat. You can always add in a half cup of sugar if you have a sweeter tooth than I do. Also, I usually try to add in whole wheat flour and cut the fats, but in all my recipes, you can always use 100% all-purpose flour and/or omit the applesauce and replace it with equal parts butter or oil. It’s just simply that I bake so much, I would weigh 500 pounds if I didn’t make some changes.

For the Recipe, click here:

Zucchini “Fit-In-My-Bikini” Bread

I’m dreaming in mushrooms at the moment. This quiche combines the meatiness of the shitake with a creamy blend of cheeses and the sweet savory goodness of leeks. Ivan definitely ate it up… of course he also suggested I put crumbled bacon all over the top. Figures, but this is an awesome vegetarian breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I made my own pie crust, which surprisingly came out yummy, but don’t attempt this unless you have some patience. The dough really needs to be refrigerated overnight or at LEAST put in the freezer for an hour before it’s rolled and fitted to the pie pan. If you are itching to eat, I would recommend a prepared 9” savory pie crust. This will be just as good, and foolproof!

Shitake and Leek Cheesy Quiche

6 eggs

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Jarlsburg cheese, shredded

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced lengthwise and cleaned

4-5 oz. shitake mushrooms, sliced fairly thick

1 tbsp white truffle oil or olive oil

dash of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (If you are making your own pie crust, work on that first unless you did it the night before which is recommended!)

Boil a pot of salted water. Place the leeks into the water for 5 minutes. Remove with tongs and place into a prepared ice water bath (this shocks the leeks to keep their bright green color.) Remove from the ice water bath and dry with paper towels.

In a sautee pan, heat oil. Add the mushrooms and allow to sweat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of nutmeg. Add the leeks and cook an additional 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. Place the prepared pie crust (or homemade pie crust) into the oven for 10-12 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine first eight ingredients and mix lightly until fully combined. Spoon leek and mushroom mixture into the heated pie crust and pour in the egg mixture to cover completely. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly before slicing!

Savory Pie Crust (adapted from Emeril)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 stick (4 oz.) cold butter, cut into pieces

1/2 tsp salt

dash of each of the following: dried oregano, paprika, dried thyme, garlic powder, and black pepper

4 tbsp ice water

Combine all the ingredients except the water in a food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the water slowly, pulsing until the dough forms a ball. Wrap with wax paper and refrigerate overnight or freeze for at least 1 hour. Roll out to fit 9” greased pie pan and crimp edges.

Confession: I dressed up as an organic ear of corn for Halloween as a child and wish I still had the homemade costume my mother slaved over. So really, my loyalty to corn is unquestionable. In Boston, every Sunday morning, I looked forward to stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts and getting a coffee and corn muffin… sort of an indulgence that I have been missing since I moved. So, I came up with this recipe to satisfy my need for a crumbly corn muffin and also not pack in more calories than 25 donuts! You can sub in all purpose flour for the whole wheat flour, but personally, I just love all that graininess!

Sadly, I don’t think people share my love of corn and it’s not gonna win the veggie contest, so I had to sneak this in here before I get bombarded with mushrooms or some other less worthy veggie.

Crumbly Corn Muffins

1 cup stone ground cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1/2 cup raw cane sugar (or refined)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 - 3/4 cup unsalted canned corn

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer or separate bowl, combine applesauce, buttermilk, egg, sugar and oil. Using the paddle attachment, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Add the corn and mix just to incorporate.

Line a muffin pan with foil tins. Fill each tin 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (You can also just grease the muffin pan, but I find the tins make it easy to remove them from the pan and it makes cleanup super quick.)

I am a monster fan of zucchini. I always have one in my fridge and I usually eat the entire thing when it comes time to consume! This morning after my spin class, though I wanted to dive into the leftover pancake batter, I decided not to render my workout useless and make something healthy. This was delicious and filled me up for some afternoon shopping with the hubby.

Zucchini and Ham Scramble

1 whole zucchini, sliced

1 piece sliced ham, torn into small pieces

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp chives

salt

pepper

2 tsp olive oil

splash balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the zucchini and chives. Season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until almost translucent. Crack two eggs into the pan, scrambling with a spoon. Cook until eggs are opaque. Add the ham and heat through. Add the splash of balsamic and after leaving over heat 5 seconds, transfer immediately to a plate. Serve sprinkled with fresh chives.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of breakfast foods. I tend to get so excited about cereal that I forget about everything else, but I realized the other day that because of this, my husband doesn’t get any breakfast love. I think he despises cereal as much as I love it! So, I got up early this morning and whipped up some blueberry pancakes and I gotta say, I had a bite of one and it was darn delicious!

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup butter

2 cups buttermilk

Fresh blueberries

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Place the eggs, butter, and buttermilk in the bowl of an electric mixer and blend. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Using a 1/3 cup measure, pour batter onto a buttered, heated skillet. Sprinkle on blueberries. Cook 2-3 minutes each side.

Serve with maple syrup and/or fresh whipped cream.

I am pretty sure that the pouring rain in Vegas right now is a minor miracle. People are acting like the world is ending. Seriously perfect day to make something hearty. I decided instead of granola bars, I would make granola to spice up my yogurt in the morning.

I used salted Natural Peanut Butter, but you can use unsalted if you like. Just adjust the added salt to taste. You can also toss in some chopped dates or add extra nuts. I just kept it simple and yummy.

Peanut Butter Granola

2 cups old-fashioned steel cut oats

1 1/2 cups natural crunchy peanut butter, lightly salted

1/2 cup Agave Syrup

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup raisins

1 tsp millet

2 tsp flax seed (brown flax best, at Whole Foods in the Bulk section)

Flaked sea salt, to taste

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread oats, dried fruit, millet and flax on a cookie sheet (also chopped nuts if you are using). Toast in the oven for about 8 minutes or less til the oats are golden, but not burnt. Meanwhile in a sauce pan over low heat, combine the peanut butter and agave until smooth.

Place the toasted mix in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle (or you can use a hand mixer on low setting.) Add the peanut butter and agave and mix til combined. The mixture should be slightly crumbly. Place in the freezer til cool.

Store in the freezer or fridge and enjoy on Greek yogurt, with milk or on ice cream!