One way to lose weight faster is by “going vegetarian” one or two days per week!  I could never be a 100% Vegetarian or Vegan, but I see no problem going meatless a day or two per week.  You can cut out so much more fat by doing this and it’s very healthy for you!  Cutting down on your red meat is great too, but some days a big huge bowl of salad is all I need.  I love my Super Healthy Salad Recipe!

Salads aren’t the only way to go vegetarian though.  Try my Creme of Vegetable Soup Recipe for example, the entire family cleaned their bowls (including the teens) and everyone was full for hours.  The previous week the Broccoli Bake Vegetarian Casserole was the same way!  Once you get used to cooking this way a day or two per week (like we have) – you’ll have a stockpile of vegetarian recipes you and the family love in no time at all!

We have a garden, and it hasn’t been as great this year because there were so many cold days in May and June, and torrential rains just before July.  So it seems as if a lot of the plant growth has been stunted a bit, but I did manage to pick a pretty good sized Zucchini yesterday!

It seems like kind an annual tradition to make Zucchini Bread with a zucchini from the garden, but this year my wife and I are on a diet.  So – what to do?  We decided to make it sugar free with Xylitol.  Last year the Zucchini bread had a bitter aftertaste because we used Nutrasweet (which stinks for baking).  I have to say – that this recipe with the Xylitol tasted EXACTLY like it had 100% sugar in it!  This was the first sugar free dessert or snack I ever tasted that was actually better than the real thing.

You’ll need the following ingredients -

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts are great)
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups Xylitol sugar free substitute
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp margarine
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup canola oil
• anything else you might like, such as dried cherries, raisins, etc.

Grease and flour 2 standard size loaf pans.  Pre-heat oven to 325.  Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon) in large mixing bowl.  Beat the eggs, vanilla, Xylitol, and mararine together, then add the sifted ingredients to it and beat well.  Stir in the zucchini and nuts until it’s all mixed.  Split the batter between the two loaf pans.  Bake 40-60 minutes depending on your oven and location, ours took the entire 60 minutes.  When a knife comes out clean (just a very little bit on it) you know they’re done!

The oil and the eggs do add some fat grams to this of course – it you wanted to play with the recipe some and take out the oil and substitue with applesauce and something else you probably could, but it just wouldn’t be as moist I don’t think.  If I only get a treat once a week or so on this diet, then a little oil won’t kill me.  I used our 50/50 Canola and Olive Oil blend and it worked great.  Even the next day – the very little that was left was moist and unbelievably delicious!