Cheesy Zucchini and Rice

My friend Juli gave us some of her extra zucchini a little bit ago and they were huge!! I used some of it to make her zucchini soup recipe which is already on my blog and also fantastic. View it here. Then I put the rest in my food processor and split the rest up between some zucchini bread and this yummy rice!

You can't tell from the picture but there is over 3 cups of zucchini in there.  My kids didn't even notice.  Just gobbled it up with no questions.  It took about 5 minutes to throw together once the rice was cooked and it's totally from scratch. No cream soups or anything like that!  Yum :)

Cheesy Zucchini and Rice
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups rice (uncooked)
3 cups grated zucchini (I used a food processor)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar (grated)
1 tsp. garlic powder (or more...I like garlic!)
salt and pepper (to taste)

In a large saucepan add rice to chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and cook rice until most of the liquid is dissolved.  (Check the rice packaging for approximate cook time).

Turn heat to low. Add zucchini, butter and milk. Stir until butter is dissolved.  Slowly stir in cheese. Add garlic, salt and pepper.  Serve warm.

Coconut Banana Upside Down Cake

Yes, this tastes as good as it looks! So delicious.  I made it for a potluck and after trying a piece I was a little sad that I had to share the rest.  The caramel like topping melts down into the cake making it super moist and delicious.  You wont even be able to tell it's a boxed mix. If you like coconut, or cake, or sugar in general, you'll love this recipe.

I found it on the Girl Who Ate Everything Blog! You can click the blog title to view her recipe. I've also copied it below with a few minor changes I made.  Give it a try :)

It was so easy to make and looks pretty fancy.  Full disclosure though, when I turned it out of the pans only about 5 bananas stayed on the cake.  The rest were easy enough to pull out of the pan though and place back on the cake.  The caramel like topping is still creamy enough that the bananas sink back into place and look fab.  So give it a try!

Banana Coconut Upside Down Cake
1 yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 water
small box of instant vanilla pudding mix
6-7 bananas (sliced 1/4 in. thick)
2 cups shredded coconut
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large stand mixer, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, sour cream, water and instant pudding mix.

Grease two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. (She suggests 8 in. but I used 9 and it turned out fine. If you have 8 in. pans it would probably make the topping thicker)  Layer bottom of both pans with sliced bananas. 

In a small saucepan, melt butter and add brown sugar and lemon juice.  Stir until completely melted and combined.  Pour sauce over bananas.  Top each pan with 1 cup of the shredded coconut.

Divide cake batter in half and pour into each pan.  Spread evenly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Let rest 5-10 minutes and invert on serving plate.  As I said above, many of the bananas might stay in the pan simply pull them out and arrange on cake.  Enjoy!