Spend Now, Save Later - Zucchini

This morning I bought zucchini at the market for 4lbs / dollar. 

That's a pretty great price and I love being able to spend a little more when items are on sale and build a food storage to have for later. 

As much as I love fresh fruits and vegetables, they spoil unlike canned/packaged food. You can stock up on fruits and vegetables when they are in season and store them by canning or freezing them. The National center for Home Food Preservation recommends blanching before freezing. See http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/squash_summer.html for additional details. 

Squash and zucchini are summer vegetables and can be very inexpensive in season. They are only around 20 calories and 1.4gm fiber per 1 cup and are high in calcium.  

I am going to use some fresh zucchini this week in my dinner meals and then freeze the rest for later.
Here are some meal ideas to use fresh or frozen zucchini:

• If you cook foods like macaroni & cheese - toss chopped zucchini in the last 2-3 min of cook time for the noodles and prepare the rest according to package directions
• Make zucchini muffins or bread using shredded/grated zucchini fresh or frozen (if frozen, may want to pull from freezer an hour or so in advance from using)
• Toss chopped zucchini into soups or stews
• Pull chopped zucchini from the freezer, then cook in the microwave 2-3 minutes. Add to blender or food processor and toss in spaghetti sauce or other sauces
• Add fresh zucchini to pasta or green salads 
• Slice zucchini in long pieces and toss with cooking spray or 1 tsp olive oil, then add salt/pepper (or other spices) and throw on the grill or saute in a pan 
• Grill without 1 tsp olive oil and then drizzle with some good balsamic vinegar when cooked (this is my personal favorite)
• Make zucchini pancakes by adding grated zucchini to pancake or waffle batter
• Build your own shish kabobs with zucchini chunks, onions, peppers, tomatoes or your choose your own favorite vegetables (use wooden skewers and let the kids help - they often eat foods better they helped to prepare)

Hope this gives you some great ideas to add one more (serving of fruits and vegetables)!