My Favorite Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!!!

I wish I could tell you that I developed this recipe, but this recipe is just perfect the way it is.  I try to find ways to sneak vegetables into my desserts/muffins so they are not empty calories.  These particular muffins are great to make for a kids birthday party at school because they are grain-free, gluten-free and nut-free.    They also taste great for a quick breakfast on-the-go.  You can make-ahead and freeze, pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds and they taste like you just pulled them out of the oven.  When I make these for breakfast I will cut the chocolate chips in 1/2 or even just eliminate them.  They taste just as good without the chocolate chips, but make it a great treat for a birthday party.  

I sent these into school for Gracie's 8th birthday this past year and all of the kids loved them.  They had no idea what they were eating!!!

Check out the recipe on one of my favorite websites Against All Grain.  Danielle Walker has a host of great allergy friendly recipes on her site.  I've also downloaded her Cookery App and bought her cook-book.  I use them both weekly!!

Enjoy!      - Becca 

What do you do with all of your Squash and Zucchini in the Summer?

We love the summer because we always have a ton of fresh vegetables on hand.  We joined Good Work Farm CSA this summer and their weekly share has been absolutely amazing.  We would like to say that since we live on a FARM we grow this enormous garden, but we've quickly learned that God did not give us the gift of growing vegetables after trying to plant a huge garden that went belly up.  However I'm happy to say we love making all kinds of new things with the abundance of fresh vegetables in the summer.  We had a ton of Zucchini and Summer Squash on hand, so Chris decided to throw together Lasagna, but instead of the noodles we used Zucchini, Squash and Eggplant!!  The end-result was an empty pan and everyone wanting more!

We hope you enjoy this recipe.  This will definitely be added to our staple of favorites.

Warmly,

-Chris & Becca Lynde

Summer Lasagna

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of De-Cased Chicken Sausage
• 2 Small to Medium Sized Eggplant - Peeled and Sliced into 1/4 inch thick coins
• 2 Medium Sized Zucchini - Sliced into 1/4 inch thick coins
• 2 Medium Sized Yellow Squash - Sliced into 1/4 inch thick coins
• 1 1/2 Jars of Tomato Sauce - Either your favorite Recipe or your Favorite Brand of Sauce
• 1 6oz Bag of Organic Part-Skim Shredded Mozzarella - We used Nature's Promise
• 3/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese 
• Organic Non-Stick Olive Oil Spray
• Salt & Pepper to Taste

Instructions:

Step 1:  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 9 X 11 Glass Pan with Non-Stick Olive Oil Spray.

Step 2:  Add 2lbs of De-Cased Chicken Sausage to an oiled pan.  Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium until cooked through.  While cooking, make sure you break-up sausage so it resembles ground turkey/beef.  You can also use a ground beef or ground turkey in place of the chicken sausage.

Step 3:  Layer the bottom of the sprayed pan with a variety of the vegetables.  Be sure when you are layering you cover the entire bottom with the vegetables, by overlapping them so you do not see the bottom of the glass pan.

Step 4:  Add a thin layer of sauce to cover the vegetables.  

Step 5:  Add 1/3 of the cooked meat.

Step 6:  Top with 1/4 c Parmesan Cheese and 1/3 c of Mozzarella Cheese.

Repeat Steps 3-6 two more times.

Step 7:  Bake for about 30 minutes or until you see bubbles around the sides of the pan.  Make sure vegetables are tender and cheese is melted through.  Test with a knife to see the tenderness of the vegetables.

Step 8:  Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.