Guest Post from The Naptime Chef

It is with Great pleasure to give you a guest post from the lovely Kelsey of Naptime chef, she cooks yummy food for her family while her little one naps, you will adore her blog...

Ever since I discovered Chow & Chatter I have been a big fan of Rebecca’s site. I mean, what is not to love about a mother and nutritionist doing her best to feed her growing family delicious, healthy food?! 

Like Rebecca, as a home cook I strive to create delicious and accessible family food that appeals to the foodie in all of us. I love the small scale and intimacy of home cooking, and have always subscribed to the adage “food is love.” Whenever I cook for family and friends I strive to create savory meals that convey warmth and happiness from my kitchen.

The Naptime Chef™ started because of the birth of my daughter. Nothing throws a wrench in your cooking style like the arrival of a baby, and I was no different. I love to cook and bake, but with an infant I had no time or energy! I would start thinking about dinner at 4:30pm and, totally overwhelmed by the prospect of cooking from scratch, end up ordering delivery instead. It was awful. About three months after she was born I started “reworking” my favorite recipes to figure out how I could make them while she napped and complete them in the evening. After all, my tastes hadn’t changed, I still wanted to eat and make good food! 

Once I figured out how to make all my favorites I was thrilled. Shortly thereafter I went to playgroup and told my friends about the lasagna I had recently made, they looked at me like I was crazy. I realized that they were struggling with cooking at home while caring for their young children, so I started The Naptime Chef™ to help them. 
I purposely publish recipes that can be prepared ahead of time and completed in the evening, or whipped up on a moment’s notice. I want all home cooks to get excited and realize that is possible to cook delicious food with children at home, you don’t have to give up being a foodie just because you are a parent! Remarkably, many adults with grown children have told me that my work has reminded them of the joys of home cooking, and has motivated them to get cooking again. 

Naptime Chef Favorite Zucchini Bread
an old favorite recipe from Mom 
2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted 
1 1/2 t. baking soda 
3/4 t. baking powder 
1 t. coarse salt 
3 1/2 t. cinnamon
3 eggs, room temperature 
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. plain applesauce (not low-fat) 
1 1/2 c. sugar 
2 c. freshly grated zucchini 
2 t. pure vanilla extract 

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 (two) 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, or one large loaf pan. 
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. 
3. In a separate bowl stir together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Make sure it is fully combined. 
4. Carefully pour flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring until completely combined. 
5. Pour entire mixture into loaf pans, making sure there is an even amount of batter in each. 
6. For Zucchini Bread bake for 40 minutes or until set in the middle.