Thursday, September 5, 2013

zucchini saves labor day - cookies - salad - lasagna - oh my



that's it, i'm sold.

zucchinis are totes.

i made three recipes over the weekend with these bad boys.

first came the cookies - and i made em TWICE.

second came the salad instagram inspo from my northern wisconsin neighbor and fellow food amabassador, the lovely Thippi Flickenstein.

third came the metamorphosis of her salad into my lasagna.  i love transformers.

there is nothing better than stretching some fresh produce, saving some bucks and your meal planning sanity.  i hope you think these recipes are the cat's banana hammock too.


gf oats.  but i didn't have enough!!!!


so how about some quinoa flakes?  can you believe they make this stuff into flakes and flour!?  you can get either in bulk at whole foods.


my sugar sugars.


dough deliciousness.


three thumbs to the SKY!!!!!  mac is really playing it cool.


you must check out the original recipe and see what i did to it.  i didn't plan on changing it.  but when i went to collect my ingredients, i simply did not have enough so i improvised and swapped out a few more... oh yea, my kitchen=art class.

totes zucchini cookies
adapted from two peas in their pod's zucchini cookies

2 c gf flour blend
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
whisk up together in a bowl until combined.

8 T coconut oil (softened like room temp butter)
1 c coconut palm sugar
1/2 c organic sugar
cream together with a stand or hand held mixer.

2 lg pastured and organic eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c shredded organic zucchini
add above ingredients into creamed sugar and coconut oil.

1/2 c gf old fashioned oats
1/2 c unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 c quinoa flour or flakes
dump the flour blend/soda/sea salt and the above ingredients into the bowl and mix until well combined.

3/4 c mini chocolate chips (enjoy life brand)
yea, don't forget these:)

preheat oven to 350 degrees (i used my convection setting).  Bake for 8 min.  if you use normal oven setting, prob 12 minutes... just check it before you wreck it.


so then came this sweet facebook post from Thippi and i whipped up her little dream boat on labor day.



Thippi's cucumber OR zucchini salad

2-3 lg organic cucumbers or zucchinis sliced, halved or quartered
1 pint garden cherry tomatoes halved
3 T fresh basil roughly chopped
3 T fresh mint roughly chopped (thanks becky for sharing your garden with me!!!)
3 T fresh parsley (i didn't have any)
1/2 c capers (oh just add as much as you want)
1/4-1/2 red onion thinly sliced (ditto)
1/2 c each evoo & balsamic vinegar (i think... i honestly just eyeballed it so you can do that too!!)
s&p to taste

mix it all up.  dunzo.

and then when you have leftovers... chop it up all nice and fine and make some lasagna!!




freshly chopped organic spinach.


blurred spinach lines.


here is the lasagna recipe inspo from ohsheglows.com.

before you get all crazy on me and freak out, i too would have slapped you across the face if you told me to make a lasagna without cheese.  so here's the dealio: i still top mine off with some really great italian imported sheep's cheese called cacio de roma (it acts just like mozzarella) and perhaps a little romano, maybe manchego... oh yes please.  goat and sheep's cheeses are the only dairy we have in the house nowadays and we use as little as possible... kinda like sugar:)

do i miss all the cheese in my life?  i truly love it so.  and here are the reasons we aren't a big cheesy family anymore:

#1 i do not miss my zits.
#2 abbie prefers a cheese free and cow's milk free environment.
#3 mac has an intolerance to cow's milk (he is fine with goat and sheep).
#4 tommy loves the cheese we buy.
#5 this rabbit hole i like to read about on the milk debate.  oye.

poor chris.  he still loves my "old" lasagna and really misses it.  he says this one gets sort of close... thumbs up and sideways from my four love bugs.  my mother and father-in-law came over and shared this dish with us too!  mary is a big fan of zucchini (yes!) and larry i love you for eating it and it was a big complement when you said, "it's not bad lindsey!"  i loves you for eating my new all veggie and gluten free creation.

so there you go.  if you have a reason to knock out or limit the cheese in your life, this is a way to go.

or, simply use your own tried and true recipe and add in the zucchini and spinach.  here is the lasagna recipe that i used to make.

no matter what lasagna floats your boat, go get your apron ON!!  it's your from scratch lasagna creation, and you make it the way YOU WANT:)  i hope i gave you some inspiring ideas!

...sorry i forgot to take a picture of the finished creation.  this place just gets too busy sometimes:)






ps

i couldn't resist.  my green smoothie looked like our lake:)  so gross but sooo good.

and you MUST bookmark this handy definitions list compiled by kidsorganics.com.  i sure did.

annoyed by hearing "gluten free" yet?  HA!  here's mark sisson's take on the gluten free trend.  


hangin onto summer's last breaths.  cheers babycakies.

xoxo

8 comments:

  1. I just had dinner and now im hungry again!
    Clever to use them with the cookies!!! :D

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    1. Thanks Noelia!!! They are the bomb!! You must let me know if you try them:)

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  2. i love the "lake" smoothie!! good stuff with that one (; and thank goodness a lot can be done with zucchini because lord knows it is the abundant veggie of the summer!

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    1. Hahahaha, I knew you'd love that one!!!! I've got zucchini's coming out of my yin yang!! hollah that!!

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  3. Okay, so life got too busy with school starting for me to comment after you re-posted my 1st comment (thanking you for this blog, ideas, etc) & personally it was on the beet postings and I think they taste like dirt, so this one is much better! YOU made my day posting my comments - thanks again! Also we're like almost neighbors (we live nw burbs but close to the city), I also have a graduate degree from NU, lots of ways I feel I was meant to find your blog, anyway...

    Enough of that, where did you find GF lasagna noodles? I've not seen them, but if you say Whole Foods, I'll have to wait till Nov when we get one less than a mile from my house!

    Going to make cookies now, but with raisins (weird kiddo dislikes chocolate). Thanks!
    Alyssa

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    1. OMG, we are almost neighbors!!! Who would have though Alyssa!!! I'm so glad I made your day too:) AND YOUR A WILDCAT!?!?!? Ok, that is really crazy!! Are you going to Homecoming!? I would love to try and meet up!! I like the Tinyada brand lasagna noodles and you can find them at Target which is great!!! Ohhhhh, and raisins would be delish in those cookies!!!

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  4. That article is awesome. This is my favorite part:

    My favorite thing is when “concerned health experts” caution against starting a gluten-free diet without talking to your doctor, paying for a test to determine a gluten allergy, and consulting with a registered dietitian. As if giving up bread, pasta, and cake for more animals and plants is a dangerous undertaking that requires professional assistance. As if removing gluten and feeling loads better only to feel terrible upon a chance reintroduction is an unreliable way to determine if you should go gluten-free.

    Have had to explain this to so many. What do you think my 8 year old is missing? Pasta, goldfish, pretzels...

    And why the anger?

    Love that it's getting more and more mainstream though! Feel better knowing things will be easier for my guy and the choices he'll need to make.

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    1. YES YES YES!!!! I have been thinking the VERY same thing but have never articulated it as well as you just did for me!! It drives me cray cray. I also wonder at the words of caution that removing gluten from your diet could CAUSE an intolerance. What!? Why would someone develop an intolerance if they didn't have it in the first place? So then if I stop eating a seasonal fruit or veggie (because it's out of season), when it comes back into season I could have an allergy/intolerance to it if I don't eat it regularly?!?!?!? I don't know... food is food, right!? Your body either likes it or not and if it doesn't, you should stop eating it probably:) Oof, I always say food is in the same category as politics and religion. It's one HOT topic:) And yes, how wonderful for this information to be more mainstream. I really feel for the thousands of people before us that really could not find an answer nor shop for food without fear of contamination! Loved your comments and sorry it took me a bit to respond, so excited to hear from you again:) Feel free to email me anytime personally at lindseyshifley@me.com!

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