Avocado Zucchini Pasta and Blueberry Muffins

Ah, the end of the summer.

I know in the last post I went on about how summer was over, but this time I really mean it.

(Note: this is not our dog. This is a random beach dog.)

Summer is really ending. John and I went to Lake Huron for Labor Day, and everything. We decided to go to Ipperwash Beach, the site of a WWII army base that now features a dog friendly beach with free parking! Everywhere on Lake Huron takes about the same amount of time to get to, and the beach itself was lovely, so we will definitely return.

John and I completely forgot to bring our beach chairs or umbrella, so we sat in the shade beneath some beach vegetation until the sun moved too far to the west. It was still a relaxing and beautiful afternoon. I love Lake Huron. 

Tonight, John and I had what I'd like to call the Last Summer Dinner of the Year. We made two summery recipes that came up on my feed reader this week.
First: Julienned Zucchini Pasta with Avocado Sauce, from Oh She Glows.

(Also featured: random counter items, including the Centennial IPA from Founders that John and I shared while preparing dinner, in a new-to-us Apricot Brandy glass from Talize, part of a mixed group of glasses I bought for a grand total of $2.) 

Angela, who writes Oh She Glows, posted that she bought a julienne peeler. It's like a regular peeler, but with teeth. It easily juliennes things like squash, cucumbers, and carrots. You could use it for salad toppings, but, like Angela, I saw it and thought of veggie "pasta." A spiralizer would do the same thing, but the peeler is much cheaper ($7 for the peeler, vs. $25 for the spiralizer). I took her suggestion and made the easy avocado pasta sauce (avocado + basil + oil + garlic in the food processor) for this raw zucchini pasta, and it was a total success. We each ate an entire zucchini for dinner, along with half an avocado each. Lots of raw vegetables in this meal! 

 I think you could easily heat this very briefly in a pan and top it with basically any pasta sauce. It's perfect for the end of the summer when zucchini is still plentiful.

Since our pasta was really squash, we decided to have "pasta" with a side of carbs, in the form of these Blueberry Corn Muffins from Daily Garnish. These muffins only have a 1/4 cup of sugar and not much oil. Instead, they get moisture and sweetness from the blueberries and corn. I ate three and could have kept going, if it weren't for all that common sense I have.


Now that it's September and there are only a few hours of Labor left, I really am excited for fall! One more post about summer running, once I get around to writing it. After that, I'll start blogging about pumpkin scones, or the 100 sweet potatoes I plan on eating this month, or how cheap acorn squash is. You know, whatever's par for September.