What’s better than a campfire?

S’MORES, of course!

When we moved to West Virginia last year, one of the first things we did was buy one of those firepit things for the back yard.  It’s our first backyard, afterall, so we wanted to enjoy it fully!

So now, every time we have a fire, my kids ask me to make s’mores.  How can I say no? 

It’s such a simple request, really.  All I need is some Hershey chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers – and they’re on their way to JOY!

LOL

My kids get to roasting their marshmallows while I prepare the crackers and chocolate.  I use one square per cracker, because I am FRUGAL and like to make things last.  They (murder) toast their marshmallows and then bring them to me when they’re still nice and hot, so it will melt the chocolate and then I squish it all together with the 2nd cracker.  They they snatch it out of my hands and gobble it up!  I maybe – MAYBE  - get one or two but they can plow through the entire bag of marshmallows in less than an hour (if I let them).  It’s a fun time and they love it!

 

Mom Bloggers Club wants to know what YOUR favorite way to make s’mores is (and this post is an entry)!    Visit them here, and of course, be sure to visit http://www.smoressmiles.com/ where you can instantly win 1 of thousands of prizes!

Zucchini Pancakes

Oh, the zucchini.  When planning and planting our garden this year, I wanted to plant the things that I frequently would purchase at the farmer’s market in New Hampshire when we lived there.  Being that there are simply NONE here that are actually held at a convenient time (i.e. weekend), I wanted and needed those homegrown veggies in my back yard.

Oh did I get them!  The plan was for zucchini, summer squash, watermelon, corn, tomatoes, green beans – and of course, the kids HAD to plant pumpkins.  Well – I planted for the size of the garden, NOT the size of our family.  So now, the squash and zucchini have come in IN SPADES and I’m struggling to find ways to use them before they go to waste.

I LOVE zucchini, but my family not so much.  I seriously underestimated just how “not so much” meant until I started trying to feed it to them EVERY.Single.Night.  Ok, so then I started looking for recipes, and this one stuck because I figured, if it doesn’t LOOK like zucchini, maybe that will work!

And it mostly did for them.  For me? TOTALLY.

I adapted this recipe from cooks.com, though.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1950,138191-232201,00.html

I used about 2 cups of grated zucchini  - which was about ONE zucchini (seriously!)

1 1/2 c. grated zucchini (absorb moisture in paper towel, if too wet)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg
Optional: onion, garlic salt, parsley, cheese for flavor

 

I put the zucchini in some paper towel and squeeeeeezed all those green juices out of there.

Also, because I was making enough for 5 to go with dinner, I basically doubled the recipe, and it wound up making about 10 pancakes.

Grate the zucchini and then squeeze out the juice.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg, flour and baking powder. At this stage, if you’re going for add-ins such as what I did, add it now.  When everything else is blended, add the zucchini.  Thi consistency should resemble pancake batter.

Heat your skillet and add some sort of something so these don’t stick.  I used canola oil.

Pour the batter into the size you want – they don’t spread unless you help them – which helps them cook evenly as well.  Cook until browned on each side.

I also added about 1/4 of a small onion, and chopped it tiny, tiny, tiny – but the onion definitely added something yummy to it!  I also added about 2 tsp of minced (from the jar) garlic.  Salt and pepper, of course.  So so easy to make, and then as suggested, I served them with sour cream. I loved the addition of the sour cream – the kids, not so much – but what do THEY know? :)

Next time, I’ll add some parmesan cheese, I think – just didn’t have any that night.

Definitely worth the “effort” and simply an awesome way of disguising veggies at dinner!