How to Make 4 Different Kinds of Zucchini Chips

I know what you're thinking... zucchini. Blech. Not everyone's favorite vegetable and I can relate. The only time I can remember liking zucchini was in the 7th grade when we made zucchini brownies in Home Ec. (does that class still exist in schools nowadays?). So when I saw this post by TheCopperCollective on how to make tasty zucchini chips, I'll admit... I was curious. Will the different flavors mask or enhance the flavor of the zucchini? And the comments on the original post are all over the board when it comes to how long it takes to actually make them, so I figured I'd give them a shot and give you some pointers on what NOT to do!

There are four different kinds of chips I attempted: salt & vinegar, chili powder, curry powder, and parmesan cheese. In order to make these I used:

*Salt

*Vinegar
*Chili Powder
*Curry Powder
*Parmesan Cheese
*Olive Oil
*Pepper
*Bread Crumbs
*1 medium zucchini (which makes a little over 100 chips!)

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. I know, I know, the original post says 450 but it's nonsense and I'll show you why later. 350 degrees and grease your cookie sheets (PAM works fine).

Slice your zucchini really thin. Thickness is totally up to you. The super thin chips tasted most like actual chips but they burn very quickly if you're not paying attention. Most of mine were about 1/8" thick. If you have one of these handheld slicers, it's freaking amazing (I bought the Zyliss 2-in-1 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $20 when I just wanted a toilet paper holder...). I sliced the zucchini over 100 times in less than a minute!

Next, take however many you like and add them to a bowl with about a Tablespoon of olive oil. Coat all the slices in the oil.

For the parmesan, curry, and chili chips, I followed this same process: add 1/4 cup of grated parmesan, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, 1/4 teaspoon of salt (the original post says 1/2 teaspoon but I found they were too salty with that much!), and a dash of pepper to a small bowl. Dip the zucchini slice in the bowl and cover both sides.

Once covered, place the slices on the prepared baking sheet. If you want to add curry or chili powder, now would be the time to do it.

Now here's where it gets a bit tricky... see, the original post said 450 degrees for 25-30 minutes. So, I placed them in the oven and walked away. After 10 minutes, they were burnt to a crisp.

So here's my advice: keep a very watchful eye on these. I came up with a plan that might not work for you (because you have better things to do than hover over an oven), but here's what worked for me.

1. Place the chips in the 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes or until they start turning golden brown
2. Once the time is up, take out the pan, flip over the slices, and bake another 3 minutes

This seemed to do the trick... for me. Now your oven may heat differently than mine, your slices may be thicker/thinner than mine, so this is definitely a trial and error process. Don't be upset if your first batch has chips that look like this...

...rather than this. They can, and do, become crispy with enough time.

As for the salt & vinegar chips, I placed my zucchini slices in a bag with vinegar for about 45 minutes (the original post recommends an hour). I found after 45 minutes, they were definitely flavorful! Just lay them on the prepared cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt, and follow the same baking times as before!

If you put them on the fridge, the cat can't get to them!

And there you have it kids - delicious, flavorful, and healthy zucchini chips! How long do they keep? Well, I put mine in a plastic bag and the next day, they were all chewy, not crispy, so I recommend eating them the same day!

What flavors would you like to try or recommend?

TOTAL COSTS: Depends on chips -
$.99 for salt
$4.79 for vinegar
$3.99 for chili powder
$5.99 for curry powder
$3.50 for parmesan cheese
$1.99 for olive oil
$1.99 for bread crumbs
$.99 for 1 zucchini
Pepper already on hand but really, it's just a sprinkle

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About an hour and a half (to make over 100 slices with four flavors!)
15 minutes to prep zucchini
1 hour, 10 minutes to make all 100+ slices

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 4 out of 5
They're not impossible to make, trust me, but it is trial and error in the beginning. You don't want them to burn but you don't want them to flop around. You want them to be flavorful but not overpower your taste buds and leave you gasping for water. Once you figure out what works best for you, they're very easy to make, just don't give up on your first batch!

Cellulite Body Scrub

We're getting close to bikini season (or it's already here, depending on where in the country you live) and we all gave up on our New Years resolutions months ago. Or maybe just me. In any case, things like stretch marks, cellulite, and body fat are probably going to come to the beach with you. Or me. It's inevitable... I mean, who can buy just one box of Girl Scout Thin Mints?? It's impossible! So when I saw this post from PaulaParrish on how to make a cellulite body scrub with ingredients in your pantry, I had to give it a shot.

Go to your kitchen cupboards and pull out:

1/2 cup of fresh coffee grounds
1/4 cup of sea salt
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of sweet almond oil or olive oil

Combine the coffee, sea salt, brown sugar, and oil in a bowl. I thought this was going to smell a lot better than it actually did... maybe too much of a good thing?

Anyway, mix until thoroughly combined and pour into a container (I used an old Ball mason jar). Keep this in a cool, dry place (so... not the bathroom, unless you're planning on using it).

3 things I did not expect:

#1 - This is a pretty rough exfoliant so be gentle or your legs and behind will feel like they are being rubbed with sandpaper. On the other hand...

#2 - Since all the dead skin was scrubbed off, my legs felt much smoother!

#3 - This makes quite the mess in the shower. Little coffee grinds got all over the shower walls and it looked like I was trying to drown an ant colony.

3 reasons why this may or may not actually work for you:

#1 - The original post said to use twice a week but who knows how long it takes for results to show.

#2 - Everyone's diet is different. The vegan, health-conscious, 8-glasses-of-water-a-day reader might try this and not see any results (maybe because they don't have a lot of cellulite). Or maybe they will?

#3 - The freshness of the coffee grounds will depend on the benefits of the caffeine. Who is to say how "fresh" the grounds should be before it loses its effectiveness? A week? A month?

I tried this and honestly, I didn't notice any physical difference, other than my legs were smoother. So it wasn't all bad!

TOTAL COSTS: About $10
$3.49 for coffee grounds
$1.99 for sea salt
$2.49 for brown sugar
$1.99 for olive oil

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
It's quite easy to combine four ingredients in a jar and apply it in the shower so it can't hurt to try it!

Orange Candles

I found two different examples of candles made out of oranges, one from 9gag and the other from Pinterest, and I wanted to test them against each other to see which would prevail. I figured these were cheaper than any Glade air freshener, since all you need are an orange and olive oil for one and an orange, whole cloves, and a tea light candle for the other. You will also need a sharp knife and a big spoon to help gut the oranges.

So which works the best? Olive oil vs. tea light cloves candle... place yer bets, folks!

We'll start with the tea light cloves candle - start by cutting the orange in half. Using your knife and spoon, remove the inside of the orange so all you're left with are two hallowed out oranges peels.

Take one half and cut out a small circle.

Flip it over and add your cloves around the circle. Be careful because it could easily tear!

Place a lit tea light candle inside the other half, place the cloves half on top, and voila! Your house will smell like the holidays! Needless to say, this one was a complete success.

TOTAL COSTS: About $10
$.99 for a navel orange
$4.50 for whole cloves (of which you only need 8-10)
$5 for 100 tea light candles at IKEA (of which you only need 1)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 10 minutes
Half of that time was spent carving out the orange!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
It's not difficult but you do want to be careful when using sharp knives and not hurting your fingers when pushing in the cloves.


Ok folks, lets give it up for our other contender: the olive oil orange candle

Just like before, cut the orange in half and scoop out the inside.

Make sure to leave the stem in tact and try not to get any olive oil on it when you're pouring it in.

Light the stem and voila!........ I said... voila!... ok, so after 10 matches and my house smelling like smoke, this didn't work one bit. I tried pouring out the olive oil and it still wouldn't catch. Maybe if you dry out the inside of the orange completely, it'll have a better chance of catching the flame but this one was busted for me.

TOTAL COSTS: About $3
$.99 for a navel orange
$1.99 for olive oil

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
The hardest part was trying to get the stem to catch fire. If you want to give it a try yourself, it doesn't take that long and you might have better luck!