One big squash=lots of baking fun!

Happy squash rattle found here

Squash.  Squish.  Squish-squash-squashity-squish-squish-squoosh...

Ok, now that I got THAT out of my system...

I greatly admire people with green thumbs.  I do not have a green thumb.  I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is.  Brown thumb?  No, wait, that just sounds gross...

Anyway, my mom is one of  those people with an amazing green thumb.  I want her to spend spring at my house making things grow.  Another fabulous person in my life whose green thumb I am frequently a benefactor of is my mother in law.  So far this fall, we have enjoyed a variety of lettuce, corn on the cob, and my oldest has enjoyed her tomatoes...I don't know why out of 6 of us, she is the only freak weirdo gourmand who likes to eat raw tomatoes.

Last week, my husband came home with another harvest from my mother in laws garden:

(I actually had to post this photo on facebook to ask what they were.  Yellow squash and the fattest zucchini I've ever seen, as it turns out!)

I cut up the yellow squash, steamed it, and pureed it.  Then I put in in my freezer in 1/2 cup portions.  I knew "Deceptively Delicious" had several recipes that called for yellow squash, and I was excited to try them...So excited it only took me a week to get out the cookbook...oops.  Oh well!

Quick tip:

Yellow squash blends very well into boxed macaroni and cheese, even the white cheddar kind!  When I was pureeing the squash, I took 4 tbsp and replaced the butter in a box of TJ's Shells and White Cheddar:

My little monkeys didn't even notice the difference!  #2 noticed the slight color change, but she said it tasted the same.

I did finally get out the cookbook and defrost some squash today, and here is the recipe I made:

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes Muffins

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup yellow squash pureee
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil  (I think I have mentioned it before, but use canola, not vegetable!  Canola is much better for you.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour (Sigh.  Normally I would use TJ's White Whole Wheat Flour...but when I asked my husband to pick some up, apparently the only words he heard were "White Flour".  So, I in this recipe, I used my last 1/4 cup of whole wheat, and the rest is just white.)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (Ha!  I almost typed "cup"!  Those would have been some nasty cupcakes!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

(The recipe also has instructions for frosting, but I found the muffins were sweet enough without them!  Which is also why I called them muffins...no expectation of frosting if you tell them it's a muffin!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat muffin pan with cooking spray.  (Yet another aside...the recipe claims it only makes 12 regular size muffins, but she must be using bigger muffin pans that me!  I made 12 regular size AND 24 mini muffins!)

2. Put the pumpkin, squash, brow sugar, water, oil and vanilla in a large bowl, and beat until well blended. (I'm just full of parentheses today!  I just used a bowl and whisk, but you could use a mixer...I just didn't want to lug my KitchenAid out...that thing is heavy!)

3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix thoroughly.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Divide the batter among the muffin cups.    For the mini muffins, I used a spoon:

4. Bake until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and spring back to the touch.  10-12 minutes for the minis, and 20-25 for the bigs.  Turn the muffins out on a rack to cool.

Finished muffins:

And the verdict:

Five thumbs, way, way up!  I think the littles each had 5 of the minis for snack!

PS, Quick shout out to all of the MOPS mommies who stopped by, this is for you:

Cute ghost mop found here