zucCHIni part 3, and some other stuff

I told you there would be a plethora of posts on zucchini. As there is still half of the foot and a half long zucchini brought to me the other day. 

Today's recipe? Zucchini brownies.

Now, before you get all wow-veggies-and-desserts-DO-NOT-mix on me, this recipe was recommended to me by the entire Marketing department at work. As in, multiple of them have made this recipe and they have all consumed them. So I figured I'd give it a shot. Because honestly, I had the aforementioned attitude about desserts and veggies.

But these brownies... wow. I mean, WOW. You honestly cannot even tell there is zucchini in them. They are so good. Delicious. Delectable. Out of this world. They had better have them in heaven...

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 walnuts

Frosting

• 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9x13-inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla until well blended. Combine flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan (I omitted the nuts).

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. 

4. Frosting: In a medium bowl, melt together the 6 tbsp cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend the powdered sugar, milk, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Nutritional Information

209 calories per serving. (Except I didn't get how many servings it is... I'll look for it.)

Okay, for reals. They look amazing don't they?! 

Feel free to compliment my amazing baking skills.

So other stuff: while these were in the oven, Sean came over for dinner (as he does every night), and surprised me with flowers! So sweet :)

Then we made grilled cheese and tomato soup and side salads. 

While we were making the salads, Sean decided to whittle a snowman out of a carrot. 

Seriously? He is so talented.

Isn't that little guy so cute? I had a hard time eating him, until he got covered in ranch dressing and I couldn't really see his face anymore.

In other news, this is what else we've been up to lately:

A trip to the ER for a torn AC and less than a week later, a crippling head cold that went to my lungs and triggered my asthma. Love it...