Baked Stuffed tomatoes

Every year we get a little bit better at growing tomatoes. The first couple of seasons I tried gardening, the yield was rather pathetic. Over the years I've learned that you need to have plenty of sun, deep watering but not too much watering, soil prepped with without compost, which was doing the most damage and being dummies we just added even more the next year. Finally we sought advice at a local famer’s market (I mean who better to know?) And this year we have a bunch of excellent tasting tomatoes even this late in the season. So many that we are a little overloaded at the moment. What to do when you have a bounty of garden tomatoes? Stuff them of course!

Baked Stuffed tomatoes

Ingredients

• 5 large tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 3/4 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
• 1 cup grated provolone
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the tomatoes in half, horizontally. Use a small spoon to gently hollow out the inside of the tomatoes, discarding the seeds and reserving the pulp and being careful not to puncture the outer shell. Chop the reserved pulp and put in a medium bowl. Add the parsley, bread crumbs, cheese, and pepper and mix gently to combine. Place the tomato halves in a buttered casserole dish, and fill with the bread crumb mixture. Drizzle the top of the tomatoes with olive oil. Bake until the tops are browned, about 20 minutes.

Cooper’ Cafe Caramel Corn

My parents are no strangers to making a dollar stretch, both of them being children of the Depression and having raised kids on a minister’s salary. Since both I and The Husband work for non-profits and really like to live the high life with supporting our RV habit we have to watch our pennies. Some of my favorite recipes on this site are those inexpensive dishes that I make for us practically every week. We don’t want our kids to suffer from our frugal ways so I like to offer a homemade treat now and then. And let’s be honest fresh Caramel Corn is always way better than something you’d buy in a store made by Lord knows who and it sat there Mercy only knows how long. Note that I’ve used real vanilla extract, not the stuff that is imitation. It does cost quite a bit more but I think it really makes a difference. As I balk at the price tag on it at the grocery store I remind myself that I’m only going to use a little bit at a time and not guzzle the bottle like cheap wine.  Caramel corn is a sweet treat that costs very little to make. It's portable and tasty, and makes a convenient treat for kids on the go. Buy regular popcorn kernels and prepare them in a traditional air popper for the most cost-effective results (as compared with microwave popcorn).

Cooper’ Cafe Caramel Corn

2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. real vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
8 qt. popped popcorn

In a saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, salt and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for approximately five minutes and remove from heat. Add baking soda and vanilla and stir well. Carefully pour mixture over the popcorn, stirring well until the kernels are evenly coated. Spread the glazed popcorn evenly along two large cookie sheets and bake in a 250 degree F preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes. Stir occasionally during baking. Remove from heat and let cool. Break into pieces and store in airtight containers.

Tofu Parmigiana

My mother is a vegan and in the 70’s the tasty vegan options we can find in grocery stores just weren't out there. Slimy fried tofu still in a pool of olive oil wasn’t very appealing. Also well, mother wasn’t much of a cook. Let’s just put that out there. She was a “modern hip college class taking animal loving career making gal” and nobody was going to find her slaving over a hot stove. Then I came along and what do I spend most of my time doing? A whole lot of slaving over a hot stove. One large step for feminism and then two steps back. Sorry mom. Anyway animal agriculture is a wasteful way of producing food, because feeding farm animals uses water, land and fertilizer that could be used to directly produce human food. Animal waste is also the main cause of pollution in rivers and groundwater. For that reason and the fact I’d never eat my dog and really once I looked at the dog and the cow, I decided that eating mammals just wasn’t going to work for me. So at 7 I gave up red meat. We do eat chicken and fish but I’m trying to decrease the amount of that we do eat simply because of the impact on the earth. So tonight fro dinner here’s to good ole’ tofu!

Tofu Parmigiana

• plain dry breadcrumbs ( I make mine from whole wheat bread “ends”)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 14-ounce package firm or extra-firm water-packed tofu, rinsed
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup marinara sauce (prepared if you’re in a pinch)
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Combine breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Cut tofu lengthwise into 4  pieces (“steaks”) and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides of the tofu with garlic powder and salt and then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they release their juices and begin to brown, 4 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the tofu “steaks” and cook until browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip over and sprinkle with Parmesan. Spoon the mushroom mixture over the tofu, pour marinara over the mushrooms and sprinkle mozzarella on top. Cover and cook until the sauce is hot and the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes. Scatter with basil and serve.

Band, lice and the common cold

Band season is going to kill me. This is my daughter’s 2nd year in marching band – two more years to go.  I know I will grieve deeply when there are no more 6 am rehearsals or sectionals until 9 pm, to deliver her to or pick her up from….no more trips to the music store for repairs, reeds, or special socks…it’s just right now, sitting in a football stadium on a hot early fall night is the last place I want to be. Especially since I’m under the weather.
In actuality it’s not the bakes sales, the shuttling back and forth this time. It’s a cold. The kind that makes your nose drip and your husband cough all night so you don’t sleep kind of cold. My throat is so raw it hurts to breathe and I can barely speak yet everyone keeps asking me questions. Like “do you still have kids with lice in the preschool?” Where did this plague come from that has infected all the family members except Josiah? The Band. The kids had it last week and Ken brought that along with a sign up sheet for Competition day home from a Band Boosters meeting last week. First the kids all had it, then the Boosters got it and now the Boosters of the Boosters have it.  I’m trying to keep it together but now that I’m dizzy it’s getting hard I’m counting the hours until the weekend. Josiah quipped to his afterschool teacher “My mom’s sick and she still went to work.” Great. It’s a little like saying, “Mom had to crawl out of the garbage compacter room from Star Wars”. I can see me collapsing of Friday at 5:30. “She only lasted five days. But the sea monster with the huge tentacles stuck it out.”

I love that Hannah Rose is very enthusiastic and involved in band.  Often all Band Geeks talk about is band, band, and more band. She dreams about band, all her friends are in band, and she can't wait for the next school day so that she can play in band again.  The rest of the family, we’re just a back drop for The Band.  Like the night The Husband brought home The Crud. He went to pick up HR and was gone for 3 hours. I was livid. I was mad for 2 days while this Band Bug formed in his lungs and made him sick. However last Friday he came home from working late really sick so I hurried make him soup and a hot toddy. Argh.

First since Kennie and Hannah Rose had it I went into Nurse Mode. I pulled out all the over the counter meds, soup recipes and a full case of Sprite. How many people clean out their medicine cabinet/storage/cardboard box of medicines regularly?  I do.  Twice a year, usually at the fall and spring time changes.  Keep those snide anti “Martha Stewart” comments to yourself.  This certainly is important. I was ready. Until I got it. And I reached for the box of Dayquil and it was put back into the cabinet. Empty. There is only ONE person in my house who would do such a thing and that’s the same person who has been coughing half the night. The Husband.

So here I was “sick as a dog” only to find that the flu/cold medicine and worse yet, that the Pepto Bismol had separated into two murky looking halves in one bottle. Desperate I grabbed some Nyquil and set off for work. Yes, fearless fans, I got behind the wheel. I was smart enough to just take a half dose but still I  found the medication I took did not work and found myself sicker than when I took it.

 Yet I am at work. Things are not going well but it’s better than the DOL investigation. We had a horrible week at the preschool and I have had a teacher out for 2 weeks with back problems. We also had a child infested with lice and when her grandmother discovered she had them it was somehow my entire fault personally. I was on the phone with her for hours over the first few days of the week and as the children one at a time showed up with them, I had to finally remove the class from the room and have the carpets cleaned, the class fumigated and took everything fabric to the Laundromat to have it sent through twice. Our washer/dryer broke down and the teacher who has the unit in her closet is walking around mad too like I came in during the night, tore up the machine and waited to see just how furious she’d get. Yes, for this I get up at 6 AM and work 10 hour days. To make other people unhappy. The teacher with the health problems will not be allowed to return so I start the interview process all over again. Today I’m interviewing a research assistant from the Physics Dept. from a local university. It shows how disparate we both are. Without even meeting her I know she’s not qualified and I’m sure she does as well. I just hope I don’t sneeze or cough on her, I’m afraid I’ll make her sick too.

In the meantime I have a crockpot of soup waiting for me at home.

Creamy Chicken 'n' Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup grated carrot
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 cups homemade chicken broth
• 2 medium potatoes diced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup half-and-half

Directions

• Cook rice according to package directions.* Meanwhile, in a large saucepan with a dab of butter, cook onion and carrot in butter for 2 minutes, until soft. Stir in the broth, potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Check and cook 3-7 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.
• Drain rice if necessary; fluff with a fork. Stir chicken and rice into potato mixture; heat through. In a small bowl, combine flour and half-and-half until smooth. Gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. 

*If you’re going to use the crock pot all day put the rice in uncooked. Skip the cooking rice bit and add it to the crock pot with the other prepared ingredients.

Bikes. bread and being a bitch...

On Sat we had a tight schedule with bike pick-ups; drop offs at Green Lee's (repair shop) chores, Hannah Rose's band practice, lunch, laundry and hopes to make it to the fair. I ran at 11 to Kroger’s and said "I'll be about half an hour can you help bring in the groceries?" Sure, great plan. "While I put them away and fix lunch you can pick up Hannah Rose" etc. etc. etc. ending with going to the fair about 1:30.

So promptly at 11:30 I return. No Ken no Josiah. Keys in the car door. Back door open, lights on. In the yard no Ken. Neighbors? Nope no Ken or Josiah. So I call no answer. I bring in the groceries, put them away fix lunch. Now it's 12:15 and I figure he went to get HR. At 1 still no Ken, no Josiah and now no HR. 1:15 she calls from the school, she's still there and the band director needs to leave. So I turn off the stove, run and get her. Come home still NO KEN....I call again.

Hannah Rose said something about him saying that he was fixing the fence when she called and SPOKE to him about being picked up. I run the sides of the fence. Nope still NO KEN....so about 2 hours later I realize the bike shop is going to close with Josiah's bike in it so I run off to Green Lees. As I speed around the corner I nearly run over a man dragging a half of a tree down the street.

You guessed it. Ken. So I pull over, wind down the window to really scream at him and after a few choice things are said I see Josiah and a 78 year old sweaty horrified Mrs. Wallace. Mrs. Wallace says "I'm so sorry I kept him too long; don't be mad since my husband died I have such a hard time keeping up with the place."

Great, I might as well be riding a broom. So Sunday I take over some homemade Sour Dough bread, peppers and tomatoes from our garden and ring the bell on Mrs. Wallace’s house. She is cowering as she answers the door. I hand her the bag and cheerfully apologize for chewing out The Husband in front of her. She launches into a speech about what a good man he is and how much he's helped her and how she misses Her Henry and how you don't know what you have until the man you love is gone. Then she tells me how dear the days are how you never know how much time you'll have and to make the most of it because you'll never get those Golden Days back.

By the time I left I was ready to cry and really needed a nice piece of homemade bread maybe topped with a home grown tomato. And a glass of wine.

Getting Started with Homemade sour dough bread:

Some of the best starters have been specifically developed to provide predictable results. Buying a tried-and-true starter is your best bet, although you can begin your own with very little trouble. Yeast and bacillus are everywhere in our environment, including the water and milled grains used to make most starters. It is possible to mix together just these two ingredients, and create a new starter in a number of days.

Recipes for Success

Regardless of the source of the yeast, there are a few things to keep in mind when making a starter from scratch.

·         Use non-chlorinated water: adding chlorine to your starter will almost certainly destroy the very organisms you are hoping to nurture. Use distilled or filtered water, or simply leave tap water open to the air for 24 hours to evaporate the chlorine.

·         Choose unprocessed grains such as whole wheat or rye flour for the best results when beginning a starter. You can switch to bread flour or all-purpose flour after the first few feedings.

·         Don't starve the yeast. This is a common mistake. Even if you do not see any activity, the starter must be fed every 24 hours in the beginning. Stop feeding the yeast, and you'll end up with a stinky gooey mess, as mold and "bad" bacteria take over your starter.

·         Store in a glass or ceramic container at room temperature, and cover with a loose-fitting lid or a piece of damp cheesecloth.

Maintaining Your Starter

Usually a feeding consists of stirring in amounts of flour and water equal to the amount of starter you have. For instance, if you have 2 cups of starter, stir in 2 cups flour and 2 cups water. This may have to be adjusted slightly to maintain the consistency.

Tips for Refrigerated Starters

Most home bakers store starter in the refrigerator. This slows down the growth of both the yeast and the bacillus. A refrigerator will keep your starter at temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees F (2 to 3 degrees C). Growth will slow quite a bit, but not completely.

·         Feed the starter right before placing in the refrigerator, and whip with a wire whisk to incorporate oxygen.

·         The starter will need to be fed once a week. If you will not be using it, discard half, measure, and feed accordingly.

The starter should be fed at least once, and allowed to reach peak activity before incorporating into a recipe. (This will take about 6 to 8 hours.) For the best flavor, some bakers recommend building the starter up with several feedings in order to bring the yeast and bacillus to the highest possible level of activity. Since there are many thousands of organisms per gram of starter, you can use very small amounts of starter in this process.

·         Remove 2 tablespoons from your starter, and mix with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Continue feeding at 6 hour intervals until you have made enough starter for your recipe.

·         After the first feeding, maintain a ratio of 1 part starter: 1 part flour:1 part water per feeding, effectively doubling the starter each time you feed it.

Whole Wheat Band Bake Sale Brownies

I ran into a fellow band booster at the high school Saturday and her question to me as I headed home with a very tired Josiah in tow cracked me up:  “Why are you leaving? Don’t you live here?”  Yeah, that about sums it up.

I try not to whine too much (or too loudly). Forgive me if it seems like I complain about band season.  I truly love band seeing the band at games and practices and watching the birds begin to fly south while I’m at the band field and running back and forth from the band fields to drop off bake sale goods and coming home from games to scarf down a quick meal so that we can head back to the band field again or packing food so we can eat during half time…

I’m serious.  Supporting Fulton sports teams and participating in the games with Hannah Rose is so stinking much fun!  I can’t stay away and if Fulton has away games, I try as hard as I can to watch the games on the TV sports hoping to catch a glimpse of her on the field. I’m so proud of her and her devotion to her fellow band members. Even if their new uniforms look like something from Star Trek.  

But yes, August through the end of October is just a little bit hectic for us.  I was actually trying to finish the Clean Office project I’m working on by November.  I’m pretty sure that is not going to happen.

So today, I’d like to give a little shout out to God.  We’re heading toward the end of September - and I’m still standing.  How about that?!  Through umpteen jars of apple butter, dozens of band games, countless bake sales and missing band socks - I am surviving. Better than that, I’m loving’ it. 

In honor of the Bake Sale I’m sharing my favorite brownie recipe:

Whole Wheat Brownie Recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 to 4 eggs
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour 

Directions  Preheat oven to 350F  Melt butter and stir in cocoa. In a bowl mix together sugar salt flour. Add butter/cocoa. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Mix until all ingredients are blended. Pour into greased 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the sides of the brownie just start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool, then cut.

Cottage cheese lasagna

If like me you are a bit of a cheese fan then there is an alternative to the full fat hard cheese as a snack. Cottage cheese is not only delicious but also low fat so can be eaten without all the guilt of eating the full fat cheese. Cottage cheese can be mixed with sweet corn or chopped tomatoes, peas or any other chopped vegetables to bulk it out. My hubby likes his with pineapple. Cottage cheese is a cheap snacks option as you can buy quite large tubs for a fraction of the cost of normal cheese. I love mine in lasagna so much the time I made it with ricotta I didn’t like it!

3 Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 (32 ounce) jar Spaghetti  Sauce (or make your own)
• 32 ounces cottage cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• salt to taste (if using)
• ground black pepper to taste
• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1.    In a large skillet over medium heat  pasta sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

2.    In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.

3.    To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.

4.    Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.