🌱 Zucchini Mania: Our Family’s Favorite Recipes 🌱

This time of year, our garden is overflowing with fresh produce, and we’re loving every bit of it! Right now, zucchini and tomatoes are coming in by the basketful, and we’re finding new ways to enjoy them while remembering some of our old family favorites. From smoothies to spaghetti sauces, roasted soups to stir-fries, there’s a lot of garden-fresh goodness in every meal.

We hope these recipes inspire you to enjoy your own garden produce and spark some new ideas for using all that fresh, organic food.

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🥣 Roasted Vegetable Soup

This simple, nutritious soup is one of our family’s go-to snacks.

Ingredients

• Zucchini and tomatoes, coarsely chopped (slightly more zucchini than tomatoes)
  

• Small onion (green tops and all) per casserole dish

• Small amount of green pepper (just enough for flavor)
  
  

• Garlic to taste (fresh or dried)

• Olive oil or bacon drippings
  
  

• Salt & pepper
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
   

2. Place mostly zucchini and plenty of tomatoes in a casserole dish. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic, then toss everything with olive oil or bacon drippings, salt, and pepper.




3. Roast uncovered for 35–40 minutes, stirring a few times while roasting, until vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized.

   
   

4. Transfer roasted vegetables to a blender and pulverize until smooth.
   
   

5. Serve straight from the blender.
   

Family Note: One of our daughters has been eating the leftovers for breakfast and is requesting more—she’s loving this healthy snack!

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🍝 Roasted Zucchini-Tomato Spaghetti Sauce

One of our daughters experimented with this recipe last week—it was such a hit we’re making it again today! The house smells amazing while the vegetables roast, and the flavors blend beautifully.

Ingredients

• Equal portions of zucchini and tomatoes
  

• Small onion (green tops and all) per casserole dish
  
  

• Small amount of green pepper (just enough for flavor)
  
  

• Garlic to taste (fresh or dried)
  
  

• Olive oil or bacon drippings
  
  

• Fresh or dried herbs: basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme
  
  

• Salt & pepper
  
  

• Meat of choice (we usually use sausage or beef)
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
   

2. Place zucchini, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and garlic in a casserole dish. Toss with olive oil or bacon drippings, herbs, salt, and pepper.
   
   

3. Roast uncovered for 35–40 minutes, stirring a few times while roasting, until vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized
   
   

4. Transfer roasted vegetables to a blender and pulverize until smooth.
   
   

5. Brown meat separately, then stir it into the sauce.
   
   

6. Serve over zucchini noodles or pasta.
   
   

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🥢 Green Bean, Zucchini & Tomato Stir-Fry

This is an old family favorite that we hadn’t made in a long time—and it’s so good to have it back on the table. Cinnamon plus bacon gives this dish its unique and wonderful flavor.

Ingredients

• Equal portions of fresh green beans, zucchini (diced small), and tomatoes (diced medium)
  
  

• Bacon, as much or as little as you like

  

• Reserved bacon drippings
  
  

• Cinnamon, generous
  
  

• Salt, to taste
  
  

• Cooked zucchini rice (add small diced zucchini to rice while cooking; optionally season with cinnamon, salt, and chicken bouillon)
  

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside, saving the excess bacon drippings.
   
   

2. In the same skillet with a little of the bacon drippings, stir-fry green beans until tender but still fresh. Add most of the cinnamon and salt now, tasting and adjusting as you add the zucchini and tomatoes.
   
   

3. Add diced zucchini and cook until warmed through (still fresh and crisp).
   
   

4. Turn off the heat and add diced tomatoes.
   
   

5. Mix in the crumbled bacon.
   
   

6. Serve over zucchini rice.

Family Note: This last week, one of our married sons stopped by with a question and when he found out what we were having for lunch, he asked if he could join us—it is so delicious!

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🥤 Morning Shakes

We love, love, love our morning shakes! They’re packed with nutrition and keep us full and satisfied for a good part of the day. Everyone in the family has their own favorite combinations.

Ingredients (customizable for each person)

• Frozen zucchini chunks (used like ice)
  
  

• Fresh or frozen greens (kale, spinach, finely chopped carrot tops, beet greens, etc.)
  
  

• Frozen fruit of choice (apples, rhubarb, peaches, bananas, berries, mango, etc.)
  
  

• Liquid base (water, milk, almond milk, or juice)
  
  

• Shake powder or protein powder of choice (optional)
  
  

• Optional daily supplements: collagen, minerals, etc.
  

Instructions

1. Place liquid in the blender first.

   

2. Add frozen zucchini, greens, and fruit.
   
   

3. Add shake powder or protein powder and any daily supplements if desired.
   
   

4. Blend until smooth.
   
   

5. Adjust thickness with more liquid or zucchini chunks as needed.
   

Family Note: The kids say Mom’s chocolate shake looks green because it has so many greens! We store a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and greens to last us through the year. Last year we ate up every bit of what we had, and these shakes are still a favorite!

✨ Zucchini chunks act as ice, keeping the shake cold and creamy without watering it down, and the mix of greens gives a lasting full and satisfied feeling.

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🌻 Closing Thoughts

It’s such a joy to sit down at the table this time of year and know that so much of what we’re eating came straight from the garden. These recipes have been a fun way for us to experiment, revisit old family favorites, savor the flavors, and add a few seasonal harvest dishes to our table.

If your garden is overflowing with zucchini and tomatoes like ours, I hope these ideas give you some inspiration and help you enjoy every bite of your harvest. And if you try any of these recipes—or put your own twist on them—I’d love to hear what you create. After all, the best part of cooking from the garden is sharing the goodness with the people you love. 🌱💛

Garden, Cleanup, Work, Family, and Fun

Saturday was such a beautiful day and many energetic and able children were home and available. We did our normal Saturday routine and cleaned the house, bedrooms, bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, etc. Then we went outside as a team and worked hard.

 

Each family member gets a daily assignment during the week and on Saturdays we usually have more to do. This week, we have been weeding the garden, mowing grass, planting blackberries, and building wire fences to support grape vines and blackberry canes. Others are assigned to house duties such as making lunch, caring for and watching baby Emma, doing dishes, and keeping the house in order. They all take turns on the various assignments, but some naturally gravitate to certain jobs.

 

 

Joshua enjoys using the lawnmowers and keeping them full of gas. He has taken on most mowing assignments and is very capable and enthusiastic in doing so. He gets up early while it’s cool and mows with a smile on his face. This week he has mowed so much area; I’m nearly out grass. It looks great, and he’s done a wonderful job. Grass grows back fast though.

Rachel and April like to work inside, make lunches, and tend little Emma. They take their turn weeding and doing other outside chores. Jared can also make some pretty tasty food and enjoys cooking. 

Everyone pitched in together and weeded most of our planted garden. At this point we have onions, garlic, rhubarb, peas, spinach, lettuce, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes. They just turned on the irrigation water, and we are in the process of planting carrots, potatoes, beans, kohlrabi, green peppers, and beets. About the first week in June, we will plant tomatoes and many types of squashes - pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.

This past week, Jared and the boys helped me plant blackberries, tear down an old fence, and salvage some of the steel posts. We used the posts and some extra wire to support the grapes vines and blackberry canes. It’s all coming together, the plants are growing, and we are excited.

 

After work, we played, rode four-wheelers and motorcycles, jumped on the trampoline, played basketball, and added on to the clubhouses. It’s great to work together and play together.

It’s Time to Start Planting the Garden

With a little bit of warmth and sunshine, it feels like springtime. Most everyone enjoyed working in the garden and playing in the fresh cool dirt. We tilled the ground and planted several hundred onions, some peas, and a little spinach. Many hands make the work go faster and easier.