End of School Celebration Recipes

What a delight it has been cooking with students again this semester! From tasting fresh herbs to learning how to make hummus and healthy cake it's been great!

For our last week of school we made a Garden Lasagna full of veggies! Some of the classes got to bake chocolate donuts too!

Here are the recipes that you can enjoy all summer long!

Heirloom Chocolate Cake (9-12 servings)

2 ounces 70% or higher dark chocolate, divided

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup canned pumpkin or applesauce

1 organic egg

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup coconut sugar (can add extra if newer to healthy eating)

¼ teaspoon stevia powder (I used NOW® brand organic)

3/4 cup garbanzo bean flour, sifted

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash cinnamon, optional

Directions:

1) In a 2 quart saucepan, melt 1 ounce of chocolate with the oil. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Add to the saucepan vanilla, pumpkin, and coconut sugar. Stir them in with a spatula.

2) In a mixing bowl, sift the stevia, garbanzo bean flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and set aside.

3) Whisk the milk and egg into the wet mixture until smooth.

4) Whisk in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Whisk just until combined.

5) Pour into a 9x9x2 inch glass pan coated with non-stick avocado oil spray. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. OR grease a silicone donut pan and pour the batter evenly into the donut mold. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes until done.

6) Melt extra dark chocolate to drizzle or spread on top, or top with unsweetened shredded coconut and berries to serve!

Garden Lasagna (6 servings)

1/2 - 3/4 pound organic lean grass fed ground beef, turkey OR venison, fully cooked & drained

6 ounces Banza® (garbanzo bean) penne or rotini pasta

1 medium-large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove

1 red bell pepper, sliced

6-8 medium-large button mushrooms, cut in half, optional

½ medium zucchini, sliced

1 cup black olives, sliced (optional)

1 Tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon fennel seeds

1 jar Organic Marinara (no sugar added- such as from Aldi)

1 8 ounce can organic tomato sauce, no sugar added

1 cup shredded cheese: organic mozzarella, parmesan or goat cheese, optional

Directions:

1) In a large stainless steel pot, fully cook and drain the meat.

2) Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse. Set aside.

3) In a food processor, pulse to finely chop the onion and garlic clove. Add to the pot. Pulse the bell pepper slices to finely chop them. Add to the pot.

4) Pulse the mushroom halves, (if using) to finely chop them. Add to the pot. Pulse the zucchini to finely chop. Add to the pot.

5) Sauté the vegetables with the meat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the liquid.

6) In the pot, add the olives, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, cooked pasta and the meat-vegetable mixture.

7) Pour the marinara and the tomato sauce into the pot and stir to combine.

8) Pour into a large 9x13x2 inch glass baking dish sprayed with avocado oil non-stick spray and sprinkle with cheese. Garnish with fresh Italian herbs if desired (oregano, basil).

9) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and dish is bubbly.

Happy cooking!

For more tasty recipes. check out our Cook 2 Flourish Cookbook!