Fruits of our Labor

This year we were able to plant a nice garden in our backyard.  It already had a perfect spot.  Brendan prepared the soil, and I planted all of the plants.  That's about all I did, but Brendan watered and took care of it.  It has done really well.  We have had lots of zucchini, and after a while we stopped picking them and they grew to be enormous.  My sister, Dawn, gave me a great zucchini lasagna recipe.  I didn't get a chance to take a photo, but it is delicious.  Try it.  We also grew beets, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, rosemary, basil, pineapple sage, yellow squash, and tomatoes.  We planted lots of different kinds of tomatoes, and they are delicious.  

Recently we've been eating lots of tomatoes.  We've been having BLT's, bruschetta, and marinara sauce.  I made my own sauce with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden and let it simmer for a few hours.  I also made my own whole wheat pasta.  I even ground the wheat into flour.  I have a Kitchenaid attachment for pasta, and I love it.

Zucchini Lasagna

2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4 cups zucchini, sliced
1 egg
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 32 oz spaghetti sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
9 lasagna noodles
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook lasagna noodles and set aside.  Saute onion and garlic in olive or vegetable oil.  Add Italian seasoning.  Add zucchini and cook until tender.  Add egg, Swiss cheese, and cream of celery soup to vegetable mixture.  Set aside.  Combine spaghetti sauce with vinegar.  Place 1/2 of spaghetti sauce mixture on bottom of 9x13 pan.  Next place a layer of 3 noodles on top of sauce.   Place 1/2 of vegetable mixture on top of noodles.  Sprinkle with  1 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Repeat with noodles, vegetable mixtures and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Top with remaining noodles and cover with remaining sauce.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional five minutes.  Let sit for fifteen minutes before serving.