Healthy Chocolate Zucchini with added Veggies (Sweet potatoes and Avocado) Gluten free

 

 Happy August! This summer goes by way too fast for me such a beautiful time of year. If you  are like me, I’m always trying to find more ways to incorporate vegetables into my diet. These little muffins fit the bill. I think the avocado added to it nice dimension of moistness to the muffin. You could throw in some chocolate chips for extra chocolate flavor. I especially liked them the second day after they had been stored in the fridge. The flavor was amazing. I like true muffins a little less sweet, but you may prefer a sweeter muffin and add a whole cup of honey. 

I hope you enjoy them like I have. 😉

2 Cups zucchini shredded

2 Cups sweet potatoes shredded

4 eggs

1 avocado mashed

2 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla  

2/3 Cup honey or 1 cup for more sweetness

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 c oat flour or flour of choice

1/4 C cocoa powder 

* Optional 1/2 Cup mini dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Makes 24 small muffins

Mix the wet ingredients together with a large spoon. (First 7 ingredients) Then stir in the dry ingredients just until completely moistened. Stir in chocolate chips if desired. Pour

prepared muffin cups. Place pan and preheated oven. 

Bake 12 to 15 minutes depending on your oven. 

Delicious Zucchini(Bread) Waffles (Gluten Free)

It is a wonderful idea to find ways to add vegetables to the foods you make. My daughter was talking to me about the idea of starting at breakfast and adding the vegetables to what you are making. Great way to start your day. So I did that today and they were delicious. I have always loved zucchini bread this is a great way to capture the flavor with out all the sugar. 

You can either use gluten free flour or whole grain. I tried both and they worked great. I have a Cusinart waffle maker that makes them crispy on the outside and soft inside. Yum!!!

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free flour * or whole grain flour
1 1/2 cup water
1 egg
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of coconut sugar or other sweetener
1 cup grated zucchini
2 Tablespoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of chia * optional

Directions serves 2-3

1. Preheat waffle iron and spray with non stick cooking spray.

2. Pour all the ingredients into the bowl and stir just until all mixed.

3. Pour on to hot waffle iron and bake to desired doneness.

4. Take out and enjoy. I have frozen the leftovers and put in toaster when I was ready to eat them. I love them with apricot jam.

* I used gluten free Namaste flour.

Squash Parmesan (Gluten Free)

I thought it would be fun to make a gluten free dish with squash substituting the squash for the pasta. I have seen it done with thin strips of zucchini I thought it would be fun to cube the squash. I really liked it. I just used my food chopper and it was a quick and easy process.
 

Ingredient  Serves 4

Spaghetti sauce:

1 onion, chopped in small pieces

2 T minced garlic
1 T olive oil
2 15 oz cans of whole tomatoes
1 T Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 T dried parsley
1 T basil or 3 basil leaves (I actually put in both because I love basil)

1. Cook the onions and garlic in olive oil in a skillet till tender.
2. Chop up tomatoes in the blender.
3. Add the remaining ingredients along with tomatoes to onion and garlic. Cook until nicely thickened. the longer you let it simmer the better the flavor.

Squash

3 T olive oil2 yellow squash

2 zucchini 

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp salt

Parmesan cheese

1. In a skillet heat  up the oil on medium heat, and then pour in the squash and salts. Cook until still firm but softened. (Al dente)

 2. Then take off the heat. 

3. Scoop on to plates and then pour sauce on top. 

4. Grate on parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy

Tossed Salad with Light Vinaigrette

We have enjoyed this delicious salad the last two Sundays. The thing I love about it is you get to enjoy the wonderful flavor of the vegetables and it tastes great. It is also wonderful because it is a healthy dressing too. Great way to eat a lot of vegetables

Ingredients

2 C spinach

2 C Romain or your favorite greens

1/2 red pepper sliced thin seeds removed
1/4 purple onion chopped up
1/2 cucumber chopped up
1/2 C cut up celery
3-4 small peppers chopped up
1/2 zucchini chopped up
other options chopped up purple cabbage

Dressing

1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C vinegar
1 T honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves


Directions

1. In a blender blend all of the ingredients for the dressing until all smooth.

2. Put all the ingredients for the salad in the bowl starting with the greens on the bottom.

3. Then drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad and serve.

Vegetable Lentil Salad

This salad is a great way to eat a lot of vegetables in a healthy way. I loved all the color in it. When you eat a rainbow of colors you know you are getting a nice mixture of nutrients. You get a added bonus of lentils, chia, and quinoa. You get some nice protein in it. I have a nice hand chopper that cubes the vegetables. That makes it really easy. You can find it at Walmart or any store that carries kitchen tools. This is so healthy and good. Winner! Winner!

Ingredients

1 C lentils cooked
1/3 C quinoa cooked (red adds great color
1/3 C chia *optional
1/4 C chopped purple onion
1 sweet potato cooked and cubed
1/4 C yellow pepper chopped in cubes
1/4 C red pepper chopped in cubes
1/2 C zucchini  chopped
1/2 C avocado chopped
2 Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1/4 C cilantro chopped up
juice from one lime
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions
1. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl except juice, salt, pepper and chili powder.
2. Then squeeze on the juice and pour in salt, pepper and chili powder. Toss into salad.
3. Serve at once for best results or cover in an air tight container and put in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Keep leftovers in airtight container in the fridge.

Tomato Basil Zucchini Soup

We have a very large amount of Roma tomatoes this year. Tomatoes are what grow best for us. It sounded really good to make some soup on Sat. It had been rainy in the morning. I loved this soup. It had such a wonderful flavor. Yum! I even had some cold yesterday. 

Ingredients Serves about 8.
3 lbs Roma tomatoes (Little less or little more works too)
1/4 C olive oil = 4 T olive oil
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
2 T olive oil
1/2 yellow onion chopped (I just chopped in the blender)
1/4 purple onion chopped up
3 garlic cloves pressed
1/2 a zucchini sliced up
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 fresh basil leaves (if you have them)
1 T dried rosemary
3 to 5 T dried basil leaves
4 C water (add more if it is too thick)
Directions
1. Heat oven to 400. Toss tomatoes that have been sliced in 1/4 pieces, into a bowl with olive oil 1 T basil and a little salt and pepper. Spread on cookie sheet. Roast 45 min. Don't let them burn.

2. In a large pot heat on medium heat onions, garlic with and oil,  and red pepper flakes until golden brown. Add zucchini, red pepper, and spices, and let cook a couple minutes. Then add the water. Then add the oven roasted tomatoes too. Bring to boil and then simmer about 35 minutes or until thickened. The flavor gets better as it cooks. I put the large chunks of vegetables and some liquid, into a blender and pulse for a few seconds.

3. You can add more spice if you prefer. It is wonderful to have extra! I love this soup and it freezes well for lunches! =)

Chocolate Zucchini Quinoa Bread (Gluten Free)

So do you have a lot of zucchini from your garden. This is a great healthy way to use it. It is even gluten free. Today I should be finishing up the quinoa recipes for the book. It has been interesting learning about all the things I can make with quinoa. The book is going to be gluten free for those of you who are trying to eat gluten free. It will be coming out around the first of the year. We will keep you posted. It will have a large assortment of recipes.  It is a great way to use up some zucchini without a lot of sweetener. Hope you have a great weekend.

Ingredients

1/3 C coconut oil
2/3 C honey
2 eggs
2 C grated zucchini
2 T cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 + 2 T quinoa flour (You could replace w/  a different wholegrain flour)
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Directions Bake 350 makes 1 loaf

1. In a bowl beat together oil, honey, eggs, and zucchini. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl pour in all the dry ingredients and stir with a wire whisk.
3. Combine the two mixtures together into one bowl. Just stir until all combined.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan. Place in preheated oven. Bake about 50 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool a few minutes and then take out of pan and cool on cooling rack.

* You could put in a square pan or muffin pans instead of loaf pan.

Zucchini Carrot Muffookies (Whole Grain)

I hope the name of these puts a smile on your face like it does wit me. My daughter Deanna came up with a name for these. She said they were a combination of a cookie and a muffin. It is fun to come up with names instead of the traditional names. I am all for that plan. These were a hit with my family. My husband was sneaking a couple before  got a picture of them. I managed to save a couple for the picture. This is a great way to use your zucchini out of the garden too. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 whole grain flour (I used spelt flour)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 T cornstarch
1/2 C coconut oil
1/2 C honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C grated zucchini
1 /2 C grated carrot
2 C oatmeal
1 C dark chocolate chips

Directions  Heat oven to 350

1. In a bowl pour in the flour, salt, cinnamon, soda, cornstarch, and blend until all combined with a wire whisk set aside.
2. In a separate bowl beat together oil, honey, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Pour in the zucchini and carrots and blend until combined.
4. Stir in the flour mixture too.
5. Then stir in the oatmeal and then the chips. Let sit to thicken a couple minutes.
6. Scoop on to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or on a greased cookie sheet.
7. Place in heated oven and bake until light golden about 10 min.
8. Cool on cooling rack and enjoy. Store in airtight container.

Summer Vegetables Quesadillas

Quesadillas are always a big hit at our house. So I thought it would be fun to add some Summer vegetables that are available right now. I love all the flavor that it adds to the quesadillas.

Ingredients

6 whole grain tortillas (make your own whole grain tortillas)
3 T oil (I used grape seed)
1 C chopped zucchini chopped
1 C yellow squash chopped
1/4 C purple onion chopped
2 green onion chopped
1/4 jalapeño chopped
1 C chopped red peppers
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 C chopped cilantro chopped
1 tomato chopped up
1 C chopped cooked chicken * optional (for non vegetarian version)
1/2 C cheese ( I used mozzarella)
Salt and pepper to taste

garnish: 
chopped tomatoes
cilantro chopped
plain greek yogurt
salsa

Directions     Serves 6

1. Heat a skillet on medium heat put in zucchini, yellow squash, onion, green onion and jalapeño. Cook until softened. Stir in the lime juice
2. Toss in the tomatoes,  and optional *chicken and cook until just heated thoroughly. Take off the heat.
3. Place skillet on medium heat. Cook 2 tortillas on both sides until light golden. Place one on the skillet and then distribute 1/3 C of vegetable mixture on to the tortilla. Pour on 3 T cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Cook on both sides. If you have a quesadilla maker or tortilla maker to cook it in that would be easier.
4, Take off the heat once the cheese melts. Garnish with toppings and serve.

Fall Squash Medley

Looking for ways to use your summer squash? We have had a lot of crookneck squash from our garden. We have enjoyed eating it. I have found I just wash the squash and leave the skin on. My preference is to not have mushy squash, so I cook it till is just barely soft (al dente). I also like it not cooked a lot because it keeps its pretty bright colors. Here is one way that my family really enjoyed.

Ingredients

3 T coconut oil or olive oil

1/2 white onion chopped up small peieces
4 garlic cloves minced
2 C sliced washed mushrooms
2 C chopped up crookneck squash
1 1/2 C chopped zucchini
salt and pepper to taste
herbs of choice I used some fresh thyme and marjoram

Directions

1. Heat up skillet to medium heat pour in the oil. Let it heat up.
2. Stir in onion and garlic cook about 2 to 3 min.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook another 2 to 3 min.
4. Stir in the squash and cook stirring often. Cook until the squash is just soft.
5. Add salt,  pepper and herbs of choice. Dish into serving dish. Grate cheese on top if desired.
Serve right away.
*If you have left overs they would be delicious in your pizza or spaghetti sauce. Yum! 

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup (Gluten Free)

I wanted to make a nice dinner for my father in laws birthday. I decided to make a nice soup. It was so creamy and flavorful. I had wanted to make clam chowder, but realized I didn't have clams so I came up with this instead. You can add the vegetables you have on hand. Celery would be great in it too. The nice thing is I made it gluten free, so my mother in law could enjoy it too. Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients: served about 8 servings
5 T butter or coconut oil
3/4 to 1 white onion chopped in pieces
3-4 potatoes peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 C zucchini small pieces
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1 scallion chopped in tiny pieces
4 large carrots peeled chopped small pieces
2 C water
1/2 C quinoa flour or another whole grain flour
5 1/2 C milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 pint of whipping cream
2 tsp thyme
fresh herbs 1 tsp each marjoram, oregano, and basil *optional
2 tsp sea salt with iodine
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 C cooked brown rice
more salt and pepper if needed

Directions:

1. Heat butter or oil in large cooking pot. Add all the vegetables and cook on med heat till softened. For about 8-10 min.

2. Then stir in water until heated and stir in quinoa flour, until it is all mixed in and smooth.

3. Stir in milk, cream, herbs, pepper and salt. Stir in brown rice.

4. Cook on med low. Do not let it boil. Cook for 5-10 min. Then turn down to low until ready to serve. (I had it on low for about 1 1/2 hours. It is nice to have time to have all the flavors work together.) You could put it in a crock pot as well.

Italian Harvest Soup and 300th Post Giveaway!

This is our 300th post! Time has really flown. We will be giving a $10 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected comment. Just leave a comment telling us how we can make our posts more useful for a chance to win. We'd love to hear about what kinds recipes you want to see more of, etc. We will take comments till Friday! Thanks for reading!


I happy to report that my son's collar bone is making progress. He made it through a day of school, so things are looking up on that front. It is a great time of year to be making some wonderful soups. Some of my family members are not big fans of soup, but I try to slip them in for dinner every once in a while. :) I have found the smaller the pieces of vegetables the better. This soup has a great assortment of a lot of vegetables. It is always nice to get a nice variety all in one shot. I have never put spinach in a soup before. It was a nice addition. Here is another great soup recipe.

Ingredients:
2 C chopped celery
2 large carrots peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 large onion chopped
2 T grape seed oil or oil of your choosing
4-6 cloves of garlic minces
1/2 to 1 pepper green, red or yellow chopped up
6 C water
1 28oz crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
4-5 oz fresh spinach chopped up
2 C grated zucchini
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for garnish optional
optional* crackers, hard crusty bread or tortilla chips to serve with
(You could add some meat if desired)

Directions:

1. In large pot pour in oil. Heat up oil on med. heat. Pour in the onions, celery, and carrots. Let them cook and soften. Stir them occasionally.

2. Once they have softened add garlic, and peppers. Let them cook 3 min.

3. Then add water, tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn down the heat and then let it simmer 30 to 40 min.

4. Then add chopped spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 5 min until completely heated. Serve with grated Parmesan on top if desired. You can serve with crackers, bread or tortilla chips as well.

Vegetable Lasagna

I have not made lasagna for a while. It was fun to make it again. It was nice way to use a lot of vegetables. I figured I had used about 5 vegetables, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, and crook neck squash, That made me really happy. You could put in even more. :) I threw in a small amount of meat to make my son happy. Which it did. He really liked it, he had 2 big servings. That was a success. I have made vegetable lasagna before. I liked this version with the vegetables shredded and added into the sauce. It blended together well. The whole family was happy with the results. I don't cook the noodles ahead of time. The sauce just gets absorbed into the noodles and they cook while you bake it. It was a great meal! The leftovers made a wonderful lunch too. :) Here is another version of lasagna with homemade ricotta!

Ingredients:

favorite spaghetti sauce (I made some with Roma tomatoes, herbs, garlic, onions, and fire roasted tomatoes. I let cook for together for about 4-5 hours. I made extra and froze some of it for a quick meal later.)
1/3 lb lean ground beef browned and added to the sauce * optional
1 zucchini shredded
3 carrots shredded
1 crook neck squash
1 24 0z cottage cheese
1 pkg lasagna noodles
grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions: heat oven to 350

1. Prepare spaghetti sauce if you make homemade. The longer it cooks on low the better the flavor. Add a lot of yummy herbs like, oregano, basil, garlic, rosemary, marjoram, thyme etc.

2. Mix all the vegetables and meat with the sauce. Let them cook together for a few minutes.

3. Pour some sauce at the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. (My sauce was not really thick, some of the water gets cooked when it cooks into the noodles. I used stoneware and loved how it cooked) then place some noodles on top of it. (one layer).

4. Then put on another layer of sauce and then a layer with the cottage cheese.

5. Then the noodles again. Put the noodles in a different direction than you did the first time. Vertical or horizontal. Then put on another layer of sauce. Then I grated on some fresh Parmesan.

6. Cover the pan with foil and let bake about an hour, or until the noodles are soft. In preheated oven. Let cool a few minutes and serve. The combination of all the flavors was fantastic. Happy Eating!


* Great way to use our summer squash. We are loving it!

Oh so good ! Wholegrain Chocolate Zucchini muffins

These are wonderful moist muffins. They are sooo good. They have the perfect combination of choclate and zuchinni. They have a lot of healthy ingredients as well. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 egg
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C honey
1/3 C almond milk
2 T coconut oil
1 1/4 C grated zuchinni
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C whole grain flour ( I used 1 C Kamut and 1 C Spelt)
2 T cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C dark chocolate chips* optional

Directions: Heat oven to 350 Bake 10- 15 min..  Make about 2 dozen mini muffins.

1. Mix all the wet ingredients together by hand, egg, applesauce, honey, milk, oil, vanilla and zuchinni. Set the mixture aside.
2. In another bowl whisk together, flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon. Fold into the wet mixture until combined. Fold in chips if desired.
3. Grease muffin pan. Put the batter into the muffin pans and place in the oven. Bake and then enjoy!

Healthy Zucchini Wholegrain Bars

This was another great way to use your zucchini. It could be called a cake as well. You could also put it in a bread pan and call it bread. You can use the name that best fits the occasion. It would be great for breakfast. I sent some in my children's lunches today. :) It is always exciting when I taste that first bite and it tastes really good. They turned out really moist. It reminded me of this recipe. I recently bought a 13x9 stoneware pan. I had been told from a friend that stoneware makes whole grains turn out better, when they are cooked in stoneware. I have been very pleased with the results.

Ingredients:

3 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1 T baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg * optional
2 eggs
2 1/2 C coarsely grated zucchini
1 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 C chopped nuts *optional

Directions: Heat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 pan or pan of your choosing.

1. Measure and pour all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk together.

2. In a separate bowl beat together the remaining ingredients. Then slowly add the dry ingredients being careful not to over mix.

3. Pour into greased pan. Bake until a light golden and cooked all the way through. About 20-25 min.

Zucchini and Tomatoes with Brown Rice and Parmesan Cheese

This was another way to use vegetables that are a good price right now, or better yet in your garden. The combination of the flavors was fantastic. The trick was to cook it enough that it was tender, but not mushy. I love being able to keep the colors bright too. It makes the food so much more appealing. It was a nice healthy meal.

Ingredients:

1/4 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 onion chopped up small pieces
3 C chopped zucchini
6 ripe Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1/2 to 1 green pepper diced in small pieces
6 basil leaves torn in small pieces
1 tsp sea salt w/ iodine
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
herbs of your choice 1/2 tsp of each oregano, rosemary and more dried basil (if you want)
2 1/2 C cooked brown rice
1/8 C water
fresh grated Parmesan *Optional

Directions:

1. In a skillet heat up olive oil and then add garlic and onions. Saute about 3 min.

2. Then throw in the zucchini, peppers, Saute another 3 min. Then throw in the remaining ingredients except for the Parmesan. Continue to stir the mixture for another 5 min. Then pour in a little water. Put on the lid and let cook on med. heat for 3-5 min.

3. Take off the lid and let dry out and cook to desired tenderness. I like it still slightly firm and still colorful.

4. Serve on individual plates and grate on the cheese if desired. Serve warm.