Zucchini Round Up {sweet, savory, I've got it!}

Once upon a time, I had a garden. It was glorious. I also had more zucchini than I could possibly dream of, and was determined to use.it.all. I thought with the summer veggies starting to come into season, I would do a little round up...

Oven Baked Zucchini Fries

Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread

Stuffed Zucchini

Strawberry Zucchini Marmalade

Zucchini Yeast Bread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (egg free)

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini 'pasta' (delicious!)

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies with dried fruit

Amazing Zucchini Muffins

Feel free to add to the recipes in the comments!

Shake your booty with Scott®

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

We all know that Scott Paper Products can CLEAN your booty, but right now, with the special savings going on at Dollar General, Scott® can help you shake your booty too! For FREE! Dollar General is THE place to get your Scott® products for a steal of a deal! See, right now when you purchase $6 worth of Scott® products at Dollar General, you’ll receive 3 FREE Music Downloads! That's right, FREE. 

You can choose from any of these Scott® products: 

- Scott® 1000count bath tissue, 9 pack 
- Scott® 1000count bath tissue, 4 pack 
- Scott® Towels (Mega Roll, Choose-a-Size) 6 pack 
- Scott® Extra Soft Bath Tissue, 12 pack (Big Roll)

With summer here, and the kids out of school, our paper product usage is going to double. I take that back...it's going to triple. I mean seriously, with 3 kids at home all day, there are going to be triple the spills, triple the toilet tissue usage, triple...everything! My kids will use paper towels for everything...if there is a tiny spill, they get 10 paper towels (I am so glad they came out with choose-a-size rolls!), if they want a snack...they put it on a paper towel, and don't even get me started on how many paper towels we go through with our not-so-potty-trained dog.  Yep, I think you get the picture! With all that, getting a great deal on paper products sounds good to me. Not to mention, we go through a ridiculous amount of TP. Not just for the obvious reasons either...we all have allergies, and 9 times out of 10, one of us is grabbing toilet paper to control the sniffles and drips. TMI? Probably so.  

Thankfully, I have a Dollar General nearby and the prices can rarely be beat, but now they have the added bonus of free music too! The free music offer is only availabe in-store, so you should head on over to take advantage.  I know I will be stocking up on toilet paper and paper towels to get us ready for the summer. At least now, I can sit back and listen to some free music...that is unless my tween daughters find out that I have free downloads available. They would have their boy bands downloaded faster than I could log on to my computer!

Not your average Strawberry Shortcake

Did you know today is National Strawberry Shortcake Day? I know right?! I'm learning that there is a day for pretty much everything. Luckily, I have just the thing to share with you on this special day. Actually, I made it to take to a family celebration of a VERY special day. June 10th marked the 3 year anniversary of my Dad's life saving stem cell transplant!!! My Dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in October 2009 and his only hope of survival was a transplant. You can read more here and here if interested. Each year that passes is a miracle and we make sure that we get together and celebrate.

Notice the heart shaped strawberries? And of course, the number 3. Made with love, baby :-)

This is like a strawberry shortcake, but made about 10 times better with the addition of cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened. Condensed. Milk. It bears repeating. I could drink the stuff. I knew when I saw this over at The Better Baker, I had to give it a try.

Strawberry Spectacular 

from The Better Baker

1 Angel Food Cake {prepared} I used Duncan Hines
1 (8 oz) box of 1/3 reduced fat Cream Cheese
1 (14 oz) can fat free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (16 oz) container lite Cool Whip (large container)
2 (10 oz) containers frozen strawberries in their juice, thawed*
fresh strawberries for garnish (if desired)

*I could only find the Food Lion brand strawberries, and they came sweetened with sugar or with Splenda. I used the ones sweetened with sugar. I think you could use fresh strawberries as well. Just slice fresh strawberries, sprinkle with sugar, and let hang out in the fridge overnight so they will produce some juice, then proceed with the recipe. However, I haven't tried this, so I can't speak from experience.

Break angel food cake into bite size pieces into a 9" x 13" dish. Fill the pan about 2/3-3/4 full...you want to have room for your strawberries and Cool Whip. I used almost my entire cake, minus about a 2 or 3 inch slice that *accidentally* got eaten while I was making this.

Cream together cream cheese & sweetened condensed milk until smooth and pour over the cake.

Pour both containers of thawed strawberries evenly over the cream cheese/milk mixture - juice and all!

Evenly spread Cool Whip over strawberries.

Let chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, then top with fresh strawberries if desired before serving.

I made my cake, topped it with the cream cheese mixture, and stuck it in the fridge overnight. The next morning I completed the assembly and it sat for a few hours until time to enjoy. I think I could have made the whole thing the night before without any problem. I was worried about the cake getting too soggy, but it wasn't soggy at all. The Angel Food Cake holds up well to the toppings.

I recommend making this for National Strawberry Shortcake Day...or any day for that matter!

I'm linking up at (Monday) The Tumbleweed Contessa, Holly's Stamping Addiction, The Dedicated House, Homemaker on a Dime, Skip to my Lou, Making the World Cuter, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, This Gal Cooks, Watch Out, Martha!, Huckleberry Love, The Newlyweds Pilgrimage (Tuesday) Naptime Creations, Mandy's Recipe Box, Blessed with Grace, Love in the Kitchen, Memories By the Mile,Inside BruCrew Life, Sarah Lynn's Sweets, BeBetsy and VMG206, The Real Thing with The Coake Family (Wednesday) Fluster Buster, Mostly Homemade Mom, Adorned from Above, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ginger Snap Crafts, Hungry Little Girl, Naptime is My Time, Cherished Handmade Treasures, The Wilderness Wife  (Thursday) Project Inspire ,Joyful Homemaking, Designed Decor, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, The Mandatory Mooch,  The Busy Bee's, Lamberts Lately (Friday) Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Simple Living and Eating, Just Us Four, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo, Diana Rambles, The Better Baker,Craftionary, One Artsy Mama, The Best Blog Recipes, One Creative Mommy, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Close to Home, 30 Handmade Days, A Peek Into My Paradise,The Jenny Evolution , Walking on Sunshine(Saturday) Lemons for Lulu,  Or So She Says..., Six Sisters' Stuff (Sunday) Mommy's Sweet Confessions 

Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I love the convenience of a crockpot. It's great to use all year round...in the winter for soups, stews, chili and other warm comfort foods, it's great during spring and fall when schedules are super busy with sports, working outside, etc, and it's AWESOME to use in the summer because it prevents you from having to stand over a hot stove, or heat up the house with the oven.

I have a Pinterest board devoted to crockpot/slow cooker recipes, so you may want to check it out, and my blogging friend Tiffany at Eat at Home is running a fabulous series this summer called 75 Days of Summer Slow Cooker Recipes. Yep, that is 75 recipes in the crockpot! The series is underway, so be sure to check that out as well.  

Now, what about this beef stroganoff?

It may not be the prettiest dish to look at, but it was definitely good to eat! I have labeled this one a keeper for sure.

Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

 from here

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Golden Mushroom Soup (I used Campbell's)
1 large onion, diced
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup water (I think wine would be good too)
8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 reduced fat)
garlic salt and pepper to season meat

Add all ingredients to slow cooker EXCEPT cream cheese.  Mix well. Cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, cut cream cheese into cubes and add to slow cooker. Stir everything together and increase temp to high. Leave for about 10 minutes until cream cheese is melted into sauce. Stir again, and serve!

I served mine over brown rice that I prepared in my rice cooker and canned green beans, so this was pretty much a hands off dinner! Nice! 

Side Note - I had been at volleyball practice with my kids when I made this, and when I got home, my husband had already eaten about half of it before I ever got to the cream cheese step. He said it was really good that way too!

I'm linking this recipe up at - Adorned from Above, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ginger Snap Crafts, (Monday) The Tumbleweed Contessa, Holly's Stamping Addiction, The Dedicated House, Homemaker on a Dime, Skip to my Lou, Making the World Cuter, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, This Gal Cooks, Watch Out, Martha!, Huckleberry Love, The Newlyweds Pilgrimage (Tuesday) Naptime Creations, Mandy's Recipe Box, Blessed with Grace, Love in the Kitchen, Memories By the Mile,Inside BruCrew Life, Sarah Lynn's Sweets, VMG206, The Real Thing with The Coake Family (Wednesday) Fluster Buster, Mostly Homemade Mom, Adorned from Above, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ginger Snap Crafts, Hungry Little Girl, Naptime is My Time, Cherished Handmade Treasures, The Wilderness Wife  (Thursday) Project Inspire ,Joyful Homemaking, Designed Decor, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, The Mandatory Mooch,  The Busy Bee's, Lamberts Lately (Friday) Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Simple Living and Eating, Just Us Four, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo, Diana Rambles, The Better Baker,Craftionary, One Artsy Mama, The Best Blog Recipes, One Creative Mommy, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Close to Home, 30 Handmade Days, A Peek Into My Paradise,The Jenny Evolution , Walking on Sunshine(Saturday) Lemons for Lulu,  Or So She Says..., Six Sisters' Stuff (Sunday) Mommy's Sweet Confessions 

New Cascade Platinum & Instagram Contest

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I have a dishwasher (thank the good Lord above!) and I use it. I mean, I use it A LOT. With 3 kids, and the frequent cooking and baking that goes on in my kitchen (not to mention the endless stream of cups and glasses that my kids use...does anyone else have this problem?!) I run my dishwasher every day. Sometime twice a day! Therefore, I'm was all for trying out the new Cascade Platinum, that professes to:

• Power away tough, 24 hour stuck-on food (YES! I admit, there are many nights when the dinner dishes have to wait until the next day before I have the time and energy to tackle them.)
• Eliminates the need to pre-wash dishes (again, AWESOME! It's such a waste of time and resources to have to wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher!)
• Helps maintain the look of new machines and helps prevent additional hard-water build-up (we have hard water, so this is a very good thing.)
• Delivers exceptional dishware shine (Do you really want to eat off something that doesn't look all that clean? Of course not. And I take lots of pictures of food, do I want spots and mess left on my dishes? NOPE.)

Speaking of taking pictures of food, Top Chef judge and editor of Food + Wine magazine, Gail Simmons, has partnered with Cascade to talk about food presentation! She is giving lots of helpful tips, and recommends the Cascade Platinum for a sparkling clean presentation. You can learn more by watching videos on the Cascade YouTube page and on the link on the Cascade Facebook page.

Since we are learning all about clean and sparkling presentation perfection with Gail Simmons, Cascade is also offering a "My Platinum" Instagram contest! Fans can upload photos according to the weekly contest themes, and the contest runs for 4 weeks. Each week, 2 people will be chosen to get a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher! There will also be a grand prize winner that will win a Platinum kitchen makeover!! I want that! Learn more about the Cascade Platinum Contest, get registered, and start uploading those photos! Make sure you include hashtag #MyPlatinum and tag @MyCascade.

Hurry, because the contest is already underway! Week 1 ended 6/9, but the entry period for Week 2 is 6/10-6/16. The theme is My Platinum Bite where you can submit photos showing your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware! Week 3 is My Platinum Clink and Week 4 is My Platinum Table. Get all the details HERE!

As far as my thoughts on Cascade Platinum...I've used it a few times so far and I definitely think there is less 'residue' left on my dishes. I was having an issue with stuck on "stuff" if I didn't pre-rinse really well, and I have purposely not pre-washed (just a light rinse) when using this just to see how well it works. No crud on my dishes! Which means, I'm using less water (without all the pre-washing) and it takes less time to get the dishes done. My dishwasher looks nice and clean inside, but it is fairly new, so it hasn't had a chance to accumulate build-up and stains. Hopefully by using Cascade Platinum, I can prevent it from happening all together. Now, if they will come up with a way for the dishes to put themselves away....

It's National Iced Tea Day!

Yes, one of my favorite beverages has it's very own day!  I'm all for a big glass of sweet iced tea, it's a part of my Southern roots! But today, I thought it would be fun to share some other iced tea recipes.
Grown up iced tea.
Yes ma'am.

Like this Tuaca Tea

• 1½ oz. Three Olives Mango Vodka
• ¾ oz. Tuaca, ¼ oz. Sweet & Sour Mix
• Splash of lemon-lime soda
• Mix in a glass filled with ice
• Garnish with a lemon wedge

or this Tokyo Tea

• ½ oz. Three Olives Dude Vodka
• ½ oz. rum
• ½ oz. gin
• ½ oz. 1800® Tequila
• ½ oz. triple sec
• ½ oz. pineapple juice
• Mix in a glass filled with ice
• Garnish with a pineapple slice

I don't know about y'all, but this sounds pretty amazing. Of course, you might be saying...these don't actually have tea in them. (imposters!)  So, how about this one...

LA Iced Tea

• 2 oz. Three Olives Grape Vodka
• 4 oz. sweetened iced tea
• Mix in a glass filled with ice
• Garnish with a lemon wedge

I can think of a lot of occasions where a little vodka spiked iced tea would be a very good thing.  Of course, not everyone is a lush drinks alcoholic beverages, so this Southern Iced Fruit Tea may be just the thing. I'm pretty sure I'm making this for Father's Day weekend. I think it sounds delicious and refreshing for the summer!

What about you? Are you iced tea drinkers? Go get you a big ol' glass of sweet tea and celebrate National Iced Tea Day!

The alcoholic beverage recipes and photos were provided by Three Olives® Vodka, which is a super-premium vodka brand and offers over 20 different flavors like Cake, Bubble, Dude and S’mores! The brand’s flavored 70-proof vodka is 35 percent alcohol and its 80-proof clear vodka is 40 percent alcohol, with natural fruits infused into most of the flavored varieties. Three Olives also lends itself readily to cocktail mixing, blending easily with lemon lime soda, fruit juices, club soda, or one or two more nuanced mixers (like iced tea!)  I was not compensated in any way for this post, I just thought it would be fun!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's no secret that we love muffins around here.  We are not such a fan of bananas, but when you put them in bread form with a little chocolate...well, that's a whole other ball game!  I made these quite a while ago, and realized I never posted them, so here ya go, just in time for the very wet weekend (if you live in the path of Tropical Storm Andrea, which we are currently getting the effects of. Rain, rain, and more rain. Yuck.)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

adapted from here. My changes are in italics.

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup stevia)
1/3 cup canola coconut oil, melted
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Lightly grease 12 cup muffin tin or use cupcake liners.
Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the sugar, oil, and mashed banana.

Add chocolate chips, water and vanilla to the sugar/banana bowl.

Now, add the flour mixture and mix everything well.
Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. (You will probably have extra batter for a few more muffins)

Place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your muffins.

I'm linking up at -