I love going to the garden and picking my own vegetables. Fresh from the garden produce tastes amazing. Last summer I shared with you my favorite refrigerator pickles recipe made healthy. When I picked the first batch of cucumbers last week, I planned to make pickles again. After I got started, I realized I did not have much honey on hand, so I decided to try something new. I substituted coconut palm sugar for the honey. The coconut palm sugar gave the pickles (and onions) a darker, carmel coloring, and a slightly different flavor, but they are very tasty. I would not hesitate to substitute again. Last year my garden would not cooperate with producing zucchini. That is not the case this year.So I am in the process of finding new ways to use zucchini. One recipe I found that has already become a hit with my family is Crusty Parmesan-Herb Zucchini Bites. Melinda substituted Mozzarella cheese the other night for parmesan and said that was yummy too.

I had bananas that were ready to be made into bread and looked for a recipe that also used zucchini and found this Zucchini Banana Bread recipe. It called for 3 bananas and I only had two, so I added more zucchini to make up for the third banana. I substituted coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar in the recipe. I also added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder (just because…) We just taste tested and the loaf probably won’t be around very long in my house!What are your favorite recipes for summer garden produce?