Anything but Fried Green Tomatoes

So, last week, we had a little Severe Weather Alert popping up on the computer (I love the Forcastfox plug-in- since I never watch the weather on TV it tells me everything I need to know.) telling us there was a possibility of frost during the night. I panicked a little and quickly Googled what I should do about my poor tomatoes- my tomato plants were loaded with green fruit that had yet to ripen!

Some sources suggested elaborate heating and/or insulating methods to try to buy the tomatoes some time. But plenty of other people had recipes for what to do with all those green tomatoes. Many of the recipes were for fried green tomatoes- something I've never had, but that I'm not especially interested in. Some of the more interesting ideas were:

• faux berry jelly, using raspberry gelatin to trick you into thinking you're eating... raspberries. I was kind of intrigued by this idea.
• green tomato salsa
• green tomato soup

What I ended up making was a couple loaves of green tomato bread, using this recipe. All the recipes I saw had a lot more sugar than I am accustomed to using in baked goods- 2 whole cups of white sugar!?! (The recipe I used called for a cup of Splenda in place of one cup of sugar-- but don't even get me started on Splenda.) But it definitely tasted really, really good, and my husband and kids were asking where it went when it was all gone, after like, a day. (To be fair, I only let them eat one loaf- the other one is in the freezer for later.) But if I make it again, I will definitely be scaling back on the sugar content.

I also made a rice and chickpeas dish with the Roma tomatoes that ended up being red, and my cherry tomatoes that were still green. My husband really loved it and I did too.

Chickpea and Green Tomato Rice

• In a large pot, saute an onion and a little garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil until clear.
• Add about 4-5 Roma tomatoes (or equivalent amount of other tomatoes) sliced into quarters.
• Pour in 2 cups chicken broth and a can of chickpeas (drain liquid.)
  
• Add 1 cup green cherry tomatoes, cut in half, and a cup of corn kernels (frozen or canned).
• Heat mixture until boiling, then add a package of rice pilaf or 1 cup other form of rice.
  
• Simmer until rice is tender. Add pepper, oregano, basil to taste and serve.

The point is, not to be afraid of those unripe tomatoes in the garden. As long as they don't freeze while they're outside, all they need is some cooking to become part of a tasty meal.

Nummy Banana Bread and/or Muffins

Yesterday, I was making bread, and I decided, since I am heating up the oven anyway, why not make something else? With some overripe bananas on the counter, and a couple more in the freezer, it seemed like a good time to make some banana bread.

The recipe I have been using for a while is here, but I made some significant tweaks (adding whole wheat flour, using yogurt instead of applesauce, adding spice, reducing sugar...) to it, so it's basically a new recipe. I also doubled it, so it makes 2 loaves or 24 muffins... or, what I ended up doing, one loaf and a batch of muffins.

Nummy Banana Bread/ Muffins

4 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 mashed bananas
1/2 cup yogurt (plain, vanilla, or banana)
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/4 cup stir-ins (optional- I used flax seeds... you could use raisins, chocolate chips, crushed nuts..)
1/2 cup granola cereal (for topping- also optional)

1. For this recipe, the oven needs to be preheated to 325. I wait to preheat my oven until I am almost done prepping the recipe, because either I am a very slow baker or my oven heats up very quickly, but the oven is always ready before I am. Spray whatever pans you are using with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs for five minutes. They will be fluffy and creamy.
   Then add the bananas, yogurt, milk, oil, and vanilla, and beat them together thoroughly.
3. In another large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well blended. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended. Add any extra ingredients and fold them in.
   
4. Pour batter into pans. Top with granola if desired (I used Post Trail Mix Crunch cereal that I got for free at CVS a couple weeks ago.)
   Bake loaf for about 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean; muffins should be ready after 25-30 minutes. Take out of pans and allow to cool on a wire rack.
   

I thought the addition of the wheat flour and the reduction of the sugar was really successful- the texture was very similar to the original recipe and we didn't miss the sugar at all. The texture is different than most banana bread/muffins- it's a little lighter with a slightly crunchy crust. We all really liked this recipe, although my husband had no idea they were banana muffins- I think with the addition of spices, the banana flavor is sort of subtle. So if you really like a strong banana flavor, I would eliminate or reduce the cinnamon & nutmeg.

Confessions of a Reluctant Baker

Not my actual baked goods... :-)

My first post to this blog was about my experiments with making granola bars and jam muffins-- which might give you the misleading impression that I've always been this avid baker-type person. But baking is quickly becoming a new hobby of mine, one that my whole family is coming to appreciate (and my husband is starting to brag to his friends about!)

My mom is a pretty highly skilled baker. She doesn't bake often- she usually bakes special cookies, pies and cakes for holidays, and they tend to be quite impressive. So I guess I have always associated baking with fussy special occasions, lots of calories, and lots of work. When I was a kid I used to bake brownies, muffins, and quickbreads- nothing healthy. When I was in my early twenties and quite poor, I did bake my own bread for a while, but gave it up. I baked birthday cakes, usually from a mix, and some quickbreads or Christmas cookies around the holidays, but that was the extent of my baking life. The flour and baking powder in my cabinet tended to stay there for a long time, untouched.

I think I started to develop an appreciation for baking after Thanksgiving this past year, when everyone in my family started to look glassy-eyed when I brought out the leftover sweet potato casserole. Even I was starting to get sick of it, and I loooove sweet potatoes. So I did some Googling and found a recipe for sweet potato muffins. They were delicious, everyone loved them, and I was happy that I didn't have to waste food. (In case you haven't noticed, my frugal pet peeve is wasting food.)

From that point, whenever I had overripe bananas or bruised apples or some other food item that no one wanted to eat anymore, I was making it into cheap and healthy baked goods. I found other sources of ingredients, too. I work at a school and often there is leftover produce from school lunches (the kids don't want the veggies and fruits with their meals) or leftovers from classroom parties. Most of the time, this extra food would go in the trash- instead, I turn it into applesauce, carrot bread and banana muffins.

I've only recently started baking bread again- my whole family loves it. My kids would rather have warm slices of homemade bread with homemade jam than almost anything in the snack cabinet. I've been a serious coupon user for about a year now and I've always tried to stockpile granola bars, crackers, and other healthy-ish snacks. But really, even with coupons and a good sale, a box of 6 prewrapped granola bars (with all kinds of additives and crazy ingredients) can be a dollar or more. I haven't worked out the exact costs of my baking endeavors, but I know I'm making delicious, healthy food for pennies. I was just reading Amy Dacyzyn's Complete Tightwad Gazette and she shared a similar comment from a reader:

"It's not accurate... simply to compare the cost of home-baked bread to that of store-bought bread; the actual savings is much greater. Because home-baked bread is so good, it tends to displace not only store-bought bread but also more expensive and often less healthy snack foods such as cookies or crackers. Another family I know that switched to 100 percent home-baked bread a couple of years ago makes the same observation- they noticed a significant drop in their food bill."
- The Complete Tightwad Gazette



The key is, sticking with ingredients that are inexpensive and readily available. If I'm in a baking mood, I look for recipes that have ingredients I already have, or make an appropriate substitution. The flour that sat in my cabinet for months (years?) has long since been used up. I want to try to find lower-cost sources of basic baking ingredients. I have an associate BJ's membership thanks to my mother, and their prices on yeast are great but I can get better deals on flour and sugar at Walmart. I have bought flour, sugar, honey, and dried fruit with Register Rewards and Extra Care Bucks at Walgreens and CVS, but their prices tend to be higher than the grocery store. I just found out there is a wholesale restaurant supplier in my area that sells to the public, so I want to head out there this week and see if they have any better deals (although my husband has expressed some concern about the logistics of storing a 50-lb bag of flour!) There is also an Aldi that opened recently, about twenty miles away, so I will check that out also.

photo by Peggy Greb source ARS license Public Domain