It's been a while!

We have had a busy summer! Our bees are doing great, and it looks like they will put enough honey by to make it through the winter. (We are still going to feed them, just in case!). They have been buzzing around the neighborhood doing what they do best, and the results are showing in our garden.
It started with the marble size peas we pulled in. I didn't take a picture because we ate them all in one sitting..they were like candy.
And then the zucchini started rolling in. I have dubbed this year the Zucchini Apocalypse. I planted 12 seeds I saved from a zuke a friend gave me last year. I didn't do much when I saved the seeds..rinsed, dried and threw in a paper bag. I thought maybe three or four would grow, but all 12 grew. I watched in fascination as they slowly took over a corner of the yard.
They bloomed in to giant yellow flowers and I did a little happy dance. I watched in glee as our bees threw parties in them, flying out with their little legs loaded with pollen. At times they actually looked drunk buzzing around the patch. Here is the result of that much pollination, some good soil, and some water:

Yes, three zucchini equals five pounds. And they are sweet and not mushy. One friend said she thought they were watermelon. We have harvested probably close to thirty pounds at this point. People see us approaching with bags of zucchini and they run away.

The first batch was made in to some amazing Carrot Zucchini bread. I have 4 more pounds frozen, and about 5 pounds worth dehydrated (makes an amazing lasagna, see recipes at the end of this post!)

Once the zucchini apocalypse is done (I counted twenty more small ones today) it will be the tomatoes..which are huge. Pulled in about a pound of green beans today, most of them at least seven inches in length. (Good thing we just got a pressure canner!) Next come the pumpkins (some are already turning orange, and it's the beginning of August.). And after that more peas! I didn't plant near enough in the early Spring, we have a whole bed full of them now for Autumn harvest. 

Our bees are intimately tied with this, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't stand by the hives and thank them for their amazingness. 

The garden takes up quite a bit of time. This year most of the country is in a drought, and everything in our yard that hasn't been hand watered is almost dead. It's depressing after all the hard work we put in to turn our dirt lot back yard in to a green paradise. Next year I guess. 

Today I experimented with making nut butters. They are expensive at the health food store, and I wanted to try my hand at making them. It's so easy I will never spend money on a jar of natural nut butter again! Today's creation was Cinnamon Honey Walnut Butter. So many good for you ingredients, and it tastes DIVINE. Can't wait to smear it on some toast or apples. 

Before It Goes Bad Veggie Lasagna

I use this recipe to use up all of our veggies before they go bad.  What doesn't get used in the lasagna gets blanched and dehydrated (no waste!) This lasagna also works really well with dehydrated veggies, they soak up the sauce and become very savory! You will need:

1 small onion (red, white, yellow...any are good in this!) Chopped fine

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs minced garlic

Black pepper to taste

1 pound (ish) of spinach or kale

1 medium container cottage cheese

1.5 cups pesto

1 pound grated mozzarella cheese

Assorted veggies (zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes, squash..experiment and see what you like!) sliced in 1/4 inch slices or chopped. Can easily use dehydrated veggies)

2-3 Roma tomatoes, or garden tomatoes

1 package fresh baby bella mushrooms

*1 Box lasagna noodles. 

Preheat oven to 450

While waiting for water to boil for noodles (put a dab of olive oil in the boiling water to keep noodles from sticking together) heat olive oil in a large deep skillet. Saute onion in the oil until soft. Add garlic and black pepper, stir in. Chop or shred spinach/kale and add to pan. Cook until slightly wilted. Add cottage cheese and pesto. Set aside. Add noodles to boiling water and cook until barely flexible (overcooked noodles are hard to handle) While noodles are boiling, slice veggies and set aside. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil. Once noodles are done, drain and cool enough to handle. Line bottom of pan with single layer of lasagna noodles. Top with a layer of veggies, then spoon some of the cottage cheese pesto mix over them. Sprinkle some mozzarella lightly over the top. Continue layering noodles, veggies and sauce mix until you reach about 1" from the top of the pan. For the final layer, place noodles, and a generous amount of mozzarella over top. Add slices of tomatoes and  mushrooms. 

Place in hot oven for about 30 minutes or until mozzarella gets bubbly and slightly brown. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. 

* If you are on a gluten free diet, you can use zucchini in thin, length wise slices in place of noodles. It is more fragile to serve though. A great way to use up all that zucchini from your garden!

Zucchini Carrot Breakfast Muffins

These are great for a quick breakfast that you can grab before you run out the door. They also freeze well. 

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C Regular Sugar

1/2 C Olive oil

3 Eggs

1.5 C Whole wheat flour

1.5 C White flour

1/4 C. Ground flax seeds

1/4 C. Ground Hemp Hearts

1/4 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Baking Soda

1 t. Sea Salt

1 t. Cinnamon

2 C. Grated raw zucchini

1 C. Grated Carrot

1 C. Raw walnuts (optional)

1/2 C. Raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

Add ingredients to bowl or mixer in order of recipe. Line muffin tin with papers, or grease. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake approximately 40 minutes, or until fork inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes approximately 12- 16 muffins.