Squash Days of Summer

It’s the heat of summer, but the gardening is great for the most part. I have struggled with my squash this year and had an early onset of squash bugs. I reseeded and another wave of squash bugs are here now. I am patient and will keep reseeding and we will see where that leads. I hate to give the bad boys notoriety by posting their picture but I want to show you what to look for. They lay their eggs on the bottoms of leaves and they are just tiny little brown spots, as you can see the little gray babies emerge rather quickly and grow into these ugly monsters shown in the photos. Most gardeners have an abundance of squash so I am going to share some of my favorite recipes for the net few days. A squash a day keeps the hungries away!

Yellow squash, whether straight neck or crooked neck is one of the healthiest squash available. Not only are they delicious but it is high in vitamins A, B6 and C as well as folate, magnesium, fiber, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium and manganese. That is a powerful pack of nutrition from one veggie. All of the vitamins are important but the manganese is a mineral that boost bone strength and helps the body’s ability to process fats and carbohydrates and glucose. They also contain coumarins which interact with other nutrients to act as anticoagulants. The blood thinning effects make them beneficial for combating high blood pressure. Unlike other vegetables they are low in calories. They are free of saturated fats and cholesterol so it is a good weight loss food.

The first recipe I am going to share is one of my favorites. It’s not the healthiest, but I love it. Even for the pickiest eaters you can sneak squash in and they will never know it is there. These little sweet muffins are simple and quick to make. I freeze squash in the freezer in the portions needed for this recipe to make it a snap to make. I hope you enjoy! Check back for more delicious squash recipes.

Squash Muffins

Ingredients:

1 lb. yellow squash*

½ c. butter melted

1 egg slightly beaten

1 ½ c. all -purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Place approximately one inch of water in a saucepan and add squash. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer approximately 5 minutes just until tender.. Drain and mash. Stir in the butter and egg. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in squash mixture just until moistened.

Fill greased muffin tins ¾ full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Makes approximately 1 dozen.

*After the squash is cooked it measures approximately 2 cups. I cook lots of squash at one time and measure and freeze them in 2 cup portions for use year round. Enjoy!!!

Read your kids the Children’s book, Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash by Sarah Weeks and then spend some time together making muffins.