A tasty treat!

I am fortunate in the fact that I married into a family who likes to garden. Although, I enjoy fresh from the garden produce, I never had the desire to grow my own. I have always just resorted to going to the Farmer's Market in Flint or Frankenmuth. Despite my lack of interest in preparing the soil, weeding, chasing away rabbits and deer and plucking vegetables from a garden in the sweltering summer sun, I have always planned on planting a garden with my kid(s) when they reached about 2 or 3 years old. I think it's a great lesson in Science and Agriculture which is very important when you live in the New Lothrop area which is such a rich farming community and has such a great history in Agriculture. As for now, I am very lucky to have in-laws who garden and share their fresh produce with us.

Last summer, I benefited greatly because right when all the zucchini, beets, carrots and squash were ready is when Jude started eating solids. I was given tons of fresh produce and turned it into baby food puree in my Magic Bullet for Jude. Not only was it a huge cost savings, but it was also reassuring that I knew what was going into what my baby consumed. In addition, I think starting on such a wide variety of fresh foods is what makes Jude such an adventurous eater. This child does not turn away anything! He is only under 16 months and already eats salads for heavens sake! (This makes me proud).

Anyways, yesterday when I picked Jude up from my mother in laws work (she owns a Greenhouse), she had a huge basket full of produce for me. I came home with seven types of peppers, two kinds of green beans, tomatoes and zucchini. I was thrilled to get zucchini because I just stumbled on a recipe over at Inside BruCrew Life I wanted to try. They are called Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies and oh my were they to die for. They may be my new favorite cookie. If your child doesn't like veggies, this is a great way of tricking them into getting a few servings.

First, I creamed 3/4 cup of shortening.

Added two Eggs.

Grated two cups of zucchini. (look at the beatiful color-that's what you get when you use fresh ingredients).

I added 2 cups of sugar, 3 3/4 cups of flour, 1 tsp. of baking soda and 1 tsp.. of salt along with the grated zucchini to the shortening and egg mixture. I blended all these ingredients together to make a dough like consistentcy. I must note that the mixture is less dry than your normal chocolate chip cookie dough. (I think its from the liquid from the zucchini-but it didn't affect the way the cookies turned out).

I then stirred in two mashed bananas and a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Just take a spoon and drop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

The insructions say to cook on the cookie sheet and keep in an airtight container overnight becuase the flavor is much better the next day. We ignored the last part and took one straight from the cookie sheet and gave it a try! They were great! I can only imagine what they taste like today!

And here is the reward - delicious soft cookies!