Putting the first harvest to use, Right Away!

Don't mind the bite marks...I will explain those shortly!

Simon, Rylee, Maggie and I headed out to the garden and were very happy to look into our zucchini plants to see that three nice zucchinis were ready for harvest!

So, they look nice and intact at the moment, but why did they end up having all those bite marks? Well, much to my surprise and delight, and just a tiny bit to my chagrin, Ry and Simon decided they looked so delicious they couldn't wait to taste it! They decided that raw zucchini straight from the garden is quite delicious.

Okay, I admit, I had a taste, too. Raw zucchini totally ROCKS! Fresh, crunchy, still slightly warmed from the sun. These kids are onto something. Cutting them up and eating them raw is a great option. I did, however, have an inspiration for at least one of these wonderful zucchinis. I carefully cut off the bite marks and put Rylee to work using the cheese grater. Well, she agreed to the task, as long as I let her have the top of the zucchini to herself.

After finishing her raw zucchini snack, she set to work.

This pile of grated zucchini has so much potential! Zucchini pancakes, zucchini bread, zucchini pizza dough...but the thought I had in mind appealed to everyone: zucchini chocolate chip cookies. You can't go wrong with a classic childhood favorite, enhanced with some freshly grated zucchini, right?

We waited for the little ones to get up from their naps before we started mixing up our cookies. Ry, Maggie and Simon made the first batch, and then Bennet made his own batch with gluten free flour (he has a gluten allergy). He was so excited to be cooking! And even more excited that something he planted months ago in our kitchen, while snow was still on the ground, had grown something that he could eat!

Once all the cookies were baked and cooling, the kids could barely wait to taste them.

Huge success! But then, I don't suppose you can really go wrong with butter and chocolate filled cookies. This was the fate of one zucchini, but what about the others? Rylee took one home with her, and she claims that she ate the whole thing herself, raw. Sounds good to me! One is in the crisper of the fridge, waiting for its fate. And we keep checking our small zucchini patch for signs of more of this beautiful green vegetable..we have big plans for whatever zucchini comes our way!

To make our scrumptious zucchini chocolate chip cookies, follow this LINK to our recipes!