Photo quality courtesy of my smart phone.

Even though it’s the middle of winter and many of you are in the midst of a blizzard, I’ve been craving Zucchini bread. Yes, Zucchini Banana bread to be exact. You are pondering, “Isn’t that the stuff we only make during the blazing hot months of July when we can’t get rid of it?”

Well, the old adage, “We want what we can’t have,” is alive and well.

I still have a few bags of shredded zucchini left in my freezer, but I actually just bought some at the store (gasp).  Do you know how painful that was? I will definitely know to freeze more  next summer.

Last week I shared about my big push to lose the extra pounds I have put on over the last few years, and shared about our plant based beach weekend, mixed in with a few good Chili Cheese Fries. 😉 (Thanks to many of you for sharing in the comments. We’re on this journey together.)

My friend, Karen, served this delicious Veggie Egg breakfast casserole during our beach weekend away.  It’s very similar to one that I make, yet I’ve never dared omit all the meat, and focus solely on veggies, namely zucchini. She did, and the result was an incredibly delicious vegetable breakfast casserole that everyone devoured.

What I enjoy about egg casseroles is that they are so forgiving. If your desire is to focus on adding in your favorite vegetables, use the basic recipe, but throw in the veggie produce that is on sale, or pin this when your garden bursts and you need ideas. You’ll see that I put in a lot of optional preferences. Honestly, even the spices can be mixed and matched. If you are omitting dairy, you do not need the small amount of milk (it’s just to make sure there’s enough moisture to cover the bread), just substitute water and use a cheese alternative.

It’s been fun for me to narrow down recipes that really work with the varying cycles of my The 17 Day Diet.

Since it uses bread, it obviously will be used during days 18+ when carbs are slowly introduced back into the meal plan, but there are so many breads on the market for different food leanings (gluten free, spelt, rice etc), that it’s a great large group gathering recipe.

One bite into this Veggie Egg Casserole and you’ll realize this healthy living isn’t nearly as bad as you once thought.

Do you have any amazing vegetable based recipes that you’d like to tell me about.

I’d love to add to my repertoire.

I can’t wait to see what you are cooking up for Tasty Tuesday.

I hope it’s a lot of wonderful comfort food that’s keeping these cold days a bit cozier.

(Remember to link up to your recipe, link back here to beautyandbedlam.com and share the love.)