From Joyce's Recipe Box: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (Variations)

Variations on Chocolate Chip Zucchini Recipe

So, I've been playing around with the recipe I posted a couple of weeks ago and have come up with a few variations that are both healthy and tasty. As you can see in the photos, our little guy's a pretty big fan.

Variations:

You can do any one of the following variations or do them all in the same batch (I like them all in one batch).

1. Oat Bran - Substitute the 1 cup of flour with 1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup organic oat bran (very inexpensive to buy from Whole Foods bulk bins). You may want to increase the sugar to 1/3 cup (optional). Baking may take few minutes longer. Test by sticking a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean.
   
2. More Zucchini - Increase the grated zucchini to 3 cups (about 3 medium zucchinis). This variation makes the bread very moist - more like a cake. You will need to bake a little longer - a total of 1hr 15min to about 1hr 20min.
   
3. Orange Flavor - To the wet ingredients, add 1 teaspoon organic orange extract and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, depending upon your preference (orange & chocolate combo is a favorite of mine).

Below is the recipe I originally posted.

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Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchinis)
1 cup wheat flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 4 x8-inch loaf pan.
2. Beat egg, oil, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl win an electric mixer set at medium speed until foamy. I just used a hand-held mixer...works fine.
3. Add zucchini to egg mixture and stir.
4. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to zucchini mixture, beating continually until well mixed. I usually just pour in a quarter of the flour mixture at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula in between - no need to use the mixer.
   
6. Stir chocolate chips and chopped pecans into batter.
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown. To test, I stick a tooth pick in and see if it comes out clean.
   

*NOTE: This recipe calls for a 1/4 of the sugar (original recipe uses 1 cup sugar to 1 cup flour) and twice as much zucchini as in the original recipe. In addition, I substituted wheat flour for the original white flour. With the chocolate chips added in, I think this bread is more than sweet enough. However, you may want to experiment with more sugar and/or mixing half wheat and half white flour.

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If anyone has other variations of this recipe and would like to share, please post in the comments below...we'd love to share with everyone!

Stuff We Found Today - 04.02.09

Chinese President Hu Jintao, US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador's residence in London, April 1, 2009 - This photo is awesome, had to post.

Family, Kids & Health Stuff

• The Baffling Link Between Vinyl Flooring and Autism - (Ecosalon) "A new study conducted by Swedish and American scientists accidentally uncovered a possible link between an environmental chemical and autism."
• Johnson & Johnson Going Green With 1,4-Dioxane And Formaldehyde In Products? - (The Good Human) "China is now pulling Johnson & Johnson products off their shelves…yet the United States isn’t. Does anyone else find that a tad bit strange?" There's a great recap of all the blog posts regarding this.

Food Stuff

• FDA: How much mercury is in fish we eat? - (Mother Nature Network) "Mercury poisoning can cause severe brain, kidney and lung damage to children and adults, but it’s even more dangerous to fetuses." Check out this chart and list of fish.
• Is Hershey's Chocolate Destroying Rainforests? - (showtheLOVE)
• Test Your Eco-Cred, Win a Fridge During Earth Month at Whole Foods - (Sierra Club: The Green Life)
• Court Rules That Dairies Can't Label Milk "Hormone-Free" - (TheDailyGreen) "Agrichemical businesses win in court, but consumers can still find hormone-free milk by looking for the USDA Organic label." Gosh darn those folks over at Monsanto!
  

Beauty & Fashion Stuff

• When Green Gets Silky: 6 Best Organic Hair Conditioners - (Ecosalon) the Kiss My Face conditioner is definitely a great value and easy to get.
  

Tech & Science Stuff

• Lightning Hybrids Unveils Prototype Hydraulic Hybrid at Denver Auto Show [+pic/video] - (Gas 2.0) Take a look...rather sexy looking car if you ask us.
  

Nature & Environment Stuff

• WATCH: Woody Tasch: Industrial Agriculture Is Depleting the Soil - (Chelsea Green) Video in post.
• Global Warming at Home: Great Lakes Ice Diminishing - (EarthFirst) "It’s happening now, and it’s happening here – right in your backyard. Scientists say that ice cover on the Great Lakes has diminished by more than 30 percent since the 1970s."
• 11 Extinct Animals That Have Been Photographed Alive - (EcoWorldy) "Although fossil reconstructions or pictorial representations can sometimes be difficult to connect with, it’s impossible to ignore the experience of seeing a photograph of an animal on the brink of extinction."
• Downstream Review - (GreenMuze) "Downstream, the short Academy Award-nominated documentary about the Alberta Oil Sands...the second largest deposit of oil on earth is often referred to as the Saudi Arabia of Canada."

Arts, Entertainment & Travel Stuff

• Keira Knightley's Disturbing PSA On Domestic Violence - (Ecorazzi) wow...this is kinda crazy (video in post).
• Corey Feldman Throws Huge Event To Benefit Global Green USA - (Ecorazzi) Hey...if you happen to be in LA on April 10th...
• Cause Marketing Hits The Samll Screen - Viacom Programs Funded by The Gates Foundation - (Ecopreneurist) When it comes to doing good with money...we think Bill Gates trumps Steve Jobs (even though we still love our Macs and iPhones).

Website Stuff

• New Sundance Channel Blog features a Heaping Helping of Green - (Sustainablog) "Billed as “film, art, music, design and more as we see it - filtered through that space between the underground and the mainstream,” the new SUNfiltered blog provides an eclectic range of content… and, as with the company’s television programming, green is a part of the mix."

International Stuff

• Sexy Havana, and Its Seductive Organic Urban Food Production - (Chelsea Green) "If US cities are struggling to figure out how they’re going to survive when the oil runs out, they only need to take a peek at Havana, Cuba—a city that has already recovered from the sudden loss of money, jobs, food, and oil that currently threatens every major American city."

Political & Social Stuff

• G20 Wives Meeting - (Obama Pics Daily) The wives of the G20 leaders had their own get together.
• The G-20 Family Portrait: 2009 - (Obama Pics Daily) Gotta love the pic of Obama with the Italian Prime Minister and Russian President...just a bunch a guys havin' some fun.
• Climate Bill Draft Drops in the House - (Green For All) "Democrats in the House of Representatives released the first version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, aka ACES."
• New climate letgistation overlooks a major GHG source: industrial agriculture - (Grist) "..the bill fails to address greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, factory farms, and animal manure whatsoever—and even goes the extra mile to specifically exempt the entire sector from any type of regulation."
  
• Environment Versus The Bottom Line - Weird Wall STreet Trading Markets - (Red, Green and Blue) "...apparently you can purchase an offset credit to get around the fact that your company is destroying the natural habitat of an endangered species. And, there is an entire market based around this principle." WTF!!
  

VIDEO: Captain Planet - Mission to Save Earth 2, Part 1

Captain Planet fans...episode 2 is here!

"In Mission to Save Earth Part 2, the Planeteers try to leave the island of Commander Clash, but Captain Pollution stands in their way. (He was summoned by the eco-villains after Dr. Blight created evil duplicates of the Planeteers' rings.) Will the Planeteers be able to survive on their wits alone?"

Click on image to view


Stay tuned for more...

Stuff We Found Today - 04.01.09

Obama Supports $10,000 Tax Credit for "Free" Vasectomies...April Fools!!

Food Stuff

• Cozy on (C)up - (ecofabulous) Here's a reuasable alternative to disposable coffee cup sleeve...for the occasions when you forget to bring your own travel mug to the coffee shop.
• There's Good Chews, and There's Bad Chews - (Ecosalon) We're talking about chewing gum. "Modern gum is mostly made up of petro-based polymers. Essentially, you’re chewing plastic...a better option: Chicza, an organic, biodegradable, agave-sweetened gum made completely from chicle tree latex, the old-fashioned way."
• Organic is Not the Answer (by itself!) - (Eco Child's Play) Because "junk food is junk food"...even if it's organic.
• Ben & Jerry's 'fools' us into taking action - (Mother Nature Network) "Ben & Jerry's revealed today that they were behind a website that touted 'perfect milk from perfect cows.' It was there April Fool's joke with a serious message behind it."

Beauty & Fashion Stuff

• Green Fashion Show Opens Miami Fashion Week - (Eco Fashion World)
• BiCoastal Style Gone Green: Doie's Spring 2009 Collection - (Eco-Chick) Lovin' the dresses in this collection.
  

Tech & Science Stuff

• MIT Scientists Build Virus-Powered Batteries for Your Next Electric Car - (Fast Company) is this for real or an April Fool's joke?
• The Electronics Recycling Superguide - (Sierra Club: The Green Life) What to do with your old gadget once you've upgraded to the latest and greatest.
  

Nature & Environment Stuff

• Blue Planet Expedition: Alexandra Cousteau's Study of Water Issues Around the River Ganges in India - (Blue Living Ideas) "This is the the second post in a six post series that follows Alexandra Cousteau’s Blue Planet Expedition, a 100 day journey to 5 continents to study the interconnectivity of water." (video in post)
• How Cigarette Butts Harm the Environment - (EcoWorldy)
• Convenient truths: Climate, scarcity and abundance - (Mother Nature Network) "Al Gore, step aside. Saul Griffith has a slideshow that makes 'Inconvenient Truth' look like a warmup...an accurate model of an individual's contribution to climate change, and how to solve what is clearly humanity's greatest challenge." Video definitely worth watching!
  

Arts, Entertainment & Travel Stuff

• Robert Redford, NBA, And NRDC Team Up For First-Ever NBA Green Week - (Ecorazzi)
• First Look: DiCaprio's TAG Heuer Ads Benefiting Green Charities - (Ecorazzi)
  

International Stuff

• Crazy LED disco: Hight style, low energy - (Mother Nature Network) "Club NOX in Brazil redefines disco style using computer-programmed LED's." For all you international clubbers!
  

Political & Social Stuff

• Reception with the Queen - (Obama Pics Daily) Queen Elizabeth looks so little next to everyone...lovin' Obamas huge ear-to-ear grins in all the pics.
• From United Green: Stimulus Breakdown Episode 1 - Green Jobs Act - (Green For All) Here's series of YouTube videos that helps explain various aspects of the Recovery Act. Great info for everyday Americans.
• Obama Supports $10, 000 Tax Credit for "Free" Vasectomies - (Eco Child's Play) We've been trying most of the Apr Fool's blog posts out there, but this one was just too funny to us - haha!
  

Other Random Cool Stuff

• Eco-easter series: green gifts for under $10 - (Celebrate Green)
• Pauline Tiffen on the Challenges of Fair Trade - (Change.org: Fair Trade) Pauline Tiffen is a Fair Trade consultant and discussed the idea of Fair Trade ownership at debate that took place at the London School of Econmics. (video in post)
• San Fran Quits Junk Mail - (GreenMuze) "...he first city in the USA to give junk mail the boot."

Greening Up Your Easter Fun

Easter is fast approaching, and if you have little ones, you know first hand how excited they are to go Easter egg hunting (translated as candy hunting). Well our good friends over at Celebrate Green have got some great tips on how to make this holiday's festivities not only good for the kids, but good for planet & people, too.

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Easter brings thoughts of spring and rebirth, so there's no reason not to celebrate it with the Earth's best interest at heart. Since for many families, Easter wouldn't be the day without the basket, here's how to transform this traditional hit, into a gift that truly is worth celebrating.

Instead of buying a new plastic or woven basket made in a country far away, this year, how about using your imagination? Choose an item that can hold the goodies, decorate if you like and you've got a unqiue, no-cost container. How fun would it be for your kids to go on the hunt with one of these?

• A purse
• A backpack
• A scarf tied to a hobo stick
• A decorated paper bag or shoe box (add a handle if you like)
• A fabric bag of any kind
• A pot (decorate by drawing on a strip of paper the height of the pot, then fasten with tape)
• A boot (Kids rain boots are especially cute. Tuck some fabric inside to keep goodies clean.)
• A paint can (again, add fabric inside if you like)
• Make our simple fabric basket. Instructions here.

If you're the traditional type and like the look of grass, instead of buying the plastic stuff, why not try:

• strips of fabric
• real grass, either wheat grass or grass from your yard
• shredded recycled paper
• green scarf
• strips of organic nori (seaweed availbalbe in paperlike sheets)
• green napkin, washcloth or dish towel

As for filling the basket, you're probably aware that Easter is the second biggest holiday for candy sales next to Halloween. Sweet treats are fine, but how about choosing high quality over quantity? And just one over handfuls? Fortunately, this year, there are many great Easter treats that are better for kids and the Earth. Here are just a few:

• Organic vegan bunny and eggs from Allison's Gourmet
• Organic jelly beans from Nuts Online
• Baking your own cookies? Pick up organic food colors from the Natural Candy Store which also carries loads of other sweet Easter treats like Easter eggs filled with organic candy

Once the candy is taken care of, you'll most likely want other items to fill the basket. Considering the economy, you might come up with activites you can do with your child that cost nothing, write them on slips of paper and add to the basket. We bet if you ask your children in advance, what special activities they might enjoy, you'll have enough for months of fun. Suggestions:

• Stay up late with you one night.
• Bake something special together.
• Make up a game.
• Make popcorn and enjoy a movie on TV.
• Sleep outside under the stars.
• Have a tea party
• Create a mural
• Create and enjoy an "art" day using only items you have on hand

If you do want to purchase some special items for the basket, instead of heading to the dollar store, consider whether spending $10 on plastic toys that will break quickly is better than spending the same amount on one quality item that your child might enjoy playing with long after the holiday has passed. If you're with us that the latter is worth investigating, here are a few ideas:

• Seed packets and a garden implement or two
• Felted egg kit from A Child's Dream Come True
• Fair trade egg shaker from Down to Earth Toys
• Wooden play eggs from A Toy Garden
• Paper mache nesting eggs from Magic Cabin
• Organic finger puppets from I Play Baby Wear
• Handmade decorative eggs from you or Etsy
• Seeded paper or cards that can be planted from Botanical Paper Works

More ideas for Easter baskets and festivities are available at www.CelebrateGreen.net/blog

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Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and co-authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, available at www.CelebrateGreen.net