Chocolate zucchini loaf...and a breakfast meal for busy parents

So let's back up for a minute.

I actually wrote the post below last night and didn't publish it since, well...some little people in this house woke up, needing extra cuddles...so publishing it had to wait. Priorities? Well, cuddles always come first. Then I woke up today and the day quickly got away from me since, well...little people need every ounce of my attention, every minute of the day. But just as I was about to sit down to hit "publish" tonight, Terry noticed something on our front porch.

I don't think there is anything better than baked goods showing up on your front porch unexpectedly. Thank you Maja SO much!!

Isn't it just delicious looking? Holy moly...Maja, you certainly know how to bake!

The bread was incredibly delicious and the packaging was quite possibly the cutest thing ever--the little label, brown packaging and card--I just stared at it for a while because it looked so pretty. But when you have a 2yr old eyeing up a delicious zucchini loaf, it doesn't last long.

Thank you for making our night Maja!! What a treat. And so fitting--since ironically, my post that I was just about to publish was all about zucchini bread (a different kind, mind you), buy still...it's like you read my mind. I'm going to need your recipe Maja, because it was just ridiculously good. Seriously. Thank you again! You're an absolute angel.  

So...

What do you do when a huge zucchini shows up in your kitchen one afternoon?
(Thanks Judy for dropping it off!).

Well, you make delicious chocolate zucchini loaf--THAT's what you do.

And what do you do when you have no idea how to make chocolate zucchini loaf? Well, you Google it of course.

And you come up with the most delicious chocolate loaf that you've ever tasted--and you can't believe it, because, well it has tons of zucchini in it. Which totally means that it's healthy, right? Cause it's got like a mound of zucchini in it. So it totally counts as a vegetable, not a cake. The zucchini completely cancels out the chocolate chips. Eat as much as you want. I did.

*Scroll to the bottom of this post for the recipe. I promise you, you won't regret making it. 

Then what do you do when a couple of your friends have recently had babies? Well you share your baked goods.

So instead of making them dinner, I completely stole my friend Kim's idea and made them breakfast instead. Kim made Terry and I a delicious breakfast when Carter was born, so I returned the favour and then also returned the favour to another friend who had also spoiled us with a meal when we were knee deep in newborn not so long ago. Congrats Kim/Jason and Matt/Amanda!

So with a lot of baking, and a few cute labels, I put together a little breakfast basket and headed over to their houses to drop them off.

The bottom of the basket was full of yogurt, berries and granola that I baked up that morning.

Then I baked up some chocolate chip banana muffins to go along side the zucchini bread.

I wrapped the loaf in saran wrap, cut some paper to size and put a cute little bow around it.

And those labels? They're from Dollarama! Don't tell anyone.
(They're tucked away in the wedding section if you want some of your own...but clearly there's no need to wait to get married to use such perfectly cute labels). You'll start seeing these suckers all over my house--on storage baskets, drawers..the possibilities are endless. I just love them.

You want to surprise someone with a meal? Feel free to steal Kim's idea too of making them breakfast. Everyone loves a good meal. Especially first thing in the morning.  

 So...with that said. If you want to make your own chocolate zucchini loaf, here is how I made it. I found it here when I went searching online. Enjoy!!

Ingredients

·         2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

·         1/2 cup cocoa

·         1 teaspoon Baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 1/2 cups sugar

·         3 eggs

·         2 teaspoons vanilla

·         1 cup vegetable oil

·         2 cups packed grated zucchini, I took the skin off but you can keep it on

·         1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

1.       Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl, just till blended. Set aside.

2.       In a medium mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add in oil and vanilla, beat again till well combined and oil doesn't separate after sitting for a few minutes.

3.       Blend egg mixture to flour mixture. Beat till blended but don't over beat. It'll be the consistency of thick brownie batter.

4.       Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.

5.       Pour batter into 2 greased or sprayed loaf pans.

6.       Bake in a preheated 350 dergee over for 50-60 minutes. Test for doneness using a toothpick.

7.       Let cool for 20 minutes in pan before removing to rack to cool completely.

8.       Sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice and serve.