Make believing it's wintery outside

It's been a pretty mild winter--even by Floridian standards.  For the last week, temperatures have been in the 80s and the humidity and bugs are already breathing down our backs.  BUT...last night...last night...the temps fell all the way down to the 40s!  To celebrate I made this delicious vegetarian soup: Barley and Lentil Soup with Chard (or Kale in our instance).  It's easy, super healthy with all the veggies and low in fat but still very filling.  This recipe makes a lot of soup but looking over the reviews it freezes well.

At the farmers' market last weekend, the girls talked me into buying a bushel of zucchini. A week later and we're all sick of zucchini so I started hunting for ways to make something less zucchini-y but still used zucchini.  And I found this: Chocolate Zucchini Mini-Muffins.   I made all sorts of substitutions and our take on the recipe is below.  The girls were skeptical, especially when I subbed in applesauce for some of the oil (zucchini AND applesauce? AND chocolate? AND orange zest? No frosting???....EWWWWW!!!!!"  Have I mentioned that their acquiring reading skills often makes life more complicated, especially when it means reading rude graffiti on Costco shopping carts and freaking out when you start to play fast and loose with a recipe.)  But the muffins turned out delightfully and with a lot less fat and calories than the originals.  

Lighter Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted and cooled)

1/4 cup of plain applesauce

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

2 1/4 cups shredded zucchini

Zest (finely grated) and juice of 1 orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 -1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you want them)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease standard muffin pan with nonfat cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each, then add the buttermilk. Whisk in the zucchini and half the orange zest.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, whisking to aerate. Stir half the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then the other half. Fold in the chocolate chips and distribute the batter evenly into the muffin tins.

4. Bake on the center rack until springy but firm to the touch and lightly browned around the edges, about 22 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely.