Back To School, Summer Harvest Pie & Zucchini Spice Bread

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw

I have been pretty emotional this week. It finally hit me… my Baby is off to HIGH SCHOOL today!!! When did that happen? Today I officially have 1 kid in high school and the other has headed into her last year of elementary. Everything is moving so fast.

I am a middle Mom. Plastic cups are a thing of the past but I still need to cut the crust off of the sandwiches. They are hovering somewhere between total independence and complete reliance. Neither of them need me to walk them to the school doors but thankfully they both leaned over for a kiss before they headed off into the unknown. HBear wouldn’t even let me take a picture on the street in front of the school! The closest I came was a picture in the car as she basically tucked and rolled so nobody would see her leaving… Mom’s Minivan 😫😂.

I have so many mixed emotions! Overall, I feel excited! I’m excited that this is a full out non-Covid year. SBean will spend her last year of elementary school actually experiencing elementary school! I am beyond excited that HBear is done with middle school and is ready to meet the challenges that high school will bring! When I spoke with her guidance counsellor about getting her into a different elective he asked us what the goal of high school was. I said, “I’m not worried about academics. HBear is smart. Really smart. My main goal for her is to have fun. Meet “her people” and to get involved.”

He explained that at the end of last year they took a poll of all the grade 12 students and asked them what advice they would give themselves as they walk through those doors on their first day of grade 9. 75% of the students said they would have gotten more involved. Kids have their whole lives to buckle down, I want my children to experience the FUN of school. Make those lasting memories and to enjoy all the opportunities that school has to offer. Good luck to my 2 Loves and ALL the kids going back to school this week! Enjoy everything!

And hugs to all those Moms and Dads that are watching their babies go off on their own and wondering, where the time has gone…💛.

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #292: NYC Spit or Swallow HERE! This week, it’s us & the Hachey’s to talk about their trip to NYC & Boston! Topics: choir, Tom’s celebration, on the road, Chick-Fil-A, bag check, walking NYC, subways, Times Square, the Edge, Starbucks, river cruise, SOW, concerts & trips!

I got a GIANT zucchini from the our neighbour the other day and have been finding tons of new ways to use it! This recipe is DELICIOUS! It’s like a crustless quiche! I used up all the late summer harvest bounty that early September has to offer but I added mushrooms because I had them 😀. We bought some extra Chilliwack corn cobs a few weeks ago and we roasted them and then froze it. I always add Tabasco Sauce to my egg dishes, add as much or as little as you would like! I doubled this and made 2 pies, 1 without mushrooms for the Kids. My recipe below will just make 1. We cut the leftover pie into pieces and froze them for easy weekday breakfasts 😋.

Summer Harvest Pie

½ tablespoon oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, diced (reserve some for topping)

1/2 white onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup grape/cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup zucchini, sliced & halved
6 large eggs
¼ cup milk

10 drops Tabasco sauce (or to your liking)
2 tablespoons flour
5 basil leaves, julienned
1 cup cheese, shredded & divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I always put a pyrex dish of water at the bottom of the oven to keep my pie moist!

Grease a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. I use a glass oil spray bottle that I got on Amazon! We LOVE it! It gives a great mist of water oil you choose and there is less impact to the environment!

You can get it HERE!

Add oil to a large skillet and place over medium high heat. Once hot, add garlic, white onion, and green onions and sauté until fragrant.

Then add in mushrooms, tomatoes, bell pepper and corn; season with a little salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften.

Remove veggies from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, basil, 1/2 cup shredded cheese and a little salt & pepper.

Add all of the veggies to the greased pie pan and spread out evenly. top with zucchini slices.

Pour egg mixture over the top of the veggies. Sprinkle the top with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

I am always on the hunt for new zucchini bread recipes! Of course sometimes the best recipes are the tried and true recipes from legends like Martha Stewart. My Nana got me a Martha Stewart magazine subscription every year for my birthday for almost a decade. Her recipes are just classic and this loaf is going to be my go-to zucchini bread recipe for a LONG time. Actually, this might be the bread that the Kids make with their Kids one day!!! It’s that good!

Zucchini Spice Bread

Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 3/4 cups zucchini

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly coat a loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla, and eggs.

Into a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and stir to combine well. Stir in grated zucchini.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in centre of loaf comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack, then reinvert, top side up. Cool completely before slicing.

This week I was feeling pretty emotional. I did some outside yoga and took advantage of sleep in mornings for lots of cuddles. HBear went to her new High School for a quick tour and a meeting with the guidance councillor to change a few things on her tentative timetable. It was amazing! She got into all the classes she wanted and is excited to see how it is going to be! We labeled all the school supplies, tested out the new sofa bed, sorted socks while we watched Drumline, did the annual dentist appointments, hit up the library for some new books, and switched to fall scents. Ninja took a day off and came to the beach with us and we rented a paddleboard and had a great day! SBean started gymnastics this week and she is so excited to get started with her team! Over the weekend my Sis and her family stayed over and we went to the funeral of our friend Tom. It was great to see all the family even though it was under sad circumstances 💛. Ninja went golfing with our BIL and his parents and the Kids made a fort and played then we all went over to J’s place for her Mom’s 80th birthday gathering. It was nice! We hit up Patio Burger to check off SBean’s last summer bucket list item and then up to Munson Mountain to watch the sunset, HBear’s final check off on her list! We ended our summer holiday with a swim at Grandma and Grandpa’s and with full hearts 💛.