Hayley Staley
Hayley Staley



One of life’s great mysteries: my kids have willingly licked the bottom of their shoes, but if I serve them a delicious home-cooked meal? "EWW."

I keep telling Bill that I'm going to make a list of all the gross things our kids put in their mouths as toddlers, then hand it to them when they’re older. As someone who went through a global pandemic as a first-time mom with a 4-month-old, and then survived the relentless back-to-back preschool colds, anytime a random dirty object gets licked, I have to take a deep breath and center myself.

Before having kids, I had this unrealistic idea that because I cook well, our children would automatically love everything on their plates. How naive of me to assume picky eating was a result of parents not knowing how to cook!

Cooking is still a joyous thing in our home, and we love getting our kids involved. They love helping in the kitchen, especially using our spice blends to season dishes. We’ve noticed that when they help prepare a meal, they are much more likely to actually taste it, which is a huge win in our book! Whenever feeding them nourishing food gets frustrating, I just focus on those small wins and remind myself that this phase is temporary. One day they’ll be teenagers eating us out of house and home, and hopefully, our kitchen will be the gathering spot for them and their friends because they know where the best food is.

This brings me to today's recipe! Summertime is my favorite time to make zucchini bread. Zucchini is such a rewarding plant to grow. You get the delicious squash and those incredible squash blossoms.

I whipped up this quick bread using our Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour (which I developed after years of failed gluten-free bakes), loaded it up with shredded zucchini and chocolate chips, and spiced it up with our Gingersnap blend.

 

Our Gingersnap blend is a sweet combination of organic Ginger, Maple Sugar, Saigon Cinnamon, and Allspice. It's my absolute favorite of our sweet blends for baking. Fantastic in cookies, cakes, breads, muffins, or even sprinkled over coffee and ice cream.

The warm spice in this bread adds a richness and depth you just don't get from classic zucchini bread. It’s a delicious twist on a summer favorite, and I hope your family loves it as much as ours does!

Happy cooking,

Hayley

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