What to Do With All That Yellow Squash

Years ago when we lived in Missouri I had a friend who taught me all about gardening. Those were the days when our oldest children were barely school age and we had lots of time to drive back and forth to each other's houses, which was fifty minutes one way. Our whole families enjoyed each other so much and had so much in common, it was not unusual to find us making the trip more than once a week, sometimes just for an evening of playing cards and hanging out. Those were days of forging a life-long friendship. (Our 18yo/19yo daughters just talked on the phone tonight sharing from the depths of their hearts, still!) I have said that I know our friendship is honored in heaven because they always know when they need to pray for us even if we haven't talked in months.

-

About now you are wondering about the title to this post thinking, "I thought this was about yellow squash?" Well, here's the connection. You can find quite a few items in our food repertoire that directly descend from these friends. Two of these items are standard summer fare at Shadybrook Acres, iced mint tea (from fresh mint leaves) and squash bread.

-

I just made four loaves of squash bread yesterday and the only reason I still have one left is because I beat them off of it. We grate up our extra squash and put it in freezer bags in 2c. portions so we can make it in the winter also, but it's synonymous with summer around here. It's called 'bread' but it's more like cake. Definitely not low sugar or fat! It's like zucchini bread but sweeter and more moist than any I have ever had.

-

Beat 3 eggs until frothy.

Then add:

2 c. sugar

2 c. grated squash

1 c. oil

2 tsp. vanilla

-

Mix and then add:

3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. cloves

-

Mix all together and then pour into two medium loaf pans. Bake for one hour at 325.

-

Another way I've been using squash is simply sauteing thinly sliced squash, onions, mushrooms (and sometimes peppers) and chicken together and seasoning it with Lawry's poultry seasoning and garlic salt. Then I melt some cheese over the mixture and wrap it all in a whole wheat tortilla. For my own servings, I've been using Pam spray instead of butter, low fat cheese and low carb/low fat tortillas and it ends up being a lot of food for very little calories.