Good and Cheap!

So many times, in an attempt to save money, people resort to highly processed food.  Leanne Brown created this cookbook as part of her master's thesis so that anyone could eat real food on a budget of $4 a day!  AND it is a FREE download.  

Flexibility is the name of the game here.  Brown says this is an “idea book.”  The recipes are not strict, and, yes, please substitute with whatever you have or whatever is in season!  You may read a recipe and get ideas for magnificent variations.  Her work here is inspiring! 

There are beautiful photos on every page which makes it all look so appealing, and they are written in a way that is easy to understand.  These are dishes that anyone can make!  I can envision every member of a family taking a turn at these meals.  

Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive, y’all, and it doesn’t have to be hard.

Click here for the download link.  Good and Cheap download

(It is a google drive link.  After it opens, to download it, hover your mouse toward the bottom of the picture and there should be a download link.  It might look like a downward arrow or something similiar.  Keep it on your computer, and don’t try to print it out; just save it.)

I originally read about Good and Cheap on The Salt on NPR.  
You can check that story out by clicking this link.  Cheap Eats

What To Do With All Those Cherry Tomatoes!

My favorite variety of tomato to grow is one called Sungold. It's an orange cherry tomato that is delicate and sweet with just the right balance of acid. It also bears gobs of fruit and keeps going until frost. It doesn't succumb to early blight, late blight, or not-living-right blight. It just keeps going! The skin is so thin that if we get a lot of rain or if it gets overwatered, the skin will burst. It is the most dependable and delicious tomato I have ever grown. I can't give a higher recommendation than that.

So now you're growing it or some other great-tasting cherry tomato, and you have no idea what to do with all these tomatoes. Here are some things I do. (None of them involve Ranch Dressing.)

• Eat them right off the vine. Just please make sure you are not ever, ever, EVER using pesticides on them!
• 
  Make a fresh sauce for pasta.
  Cut the tomatoes in half and put in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder or fresh garlic, and lemon juice. Drizzle on a little olive oil if you like. I usually have a little oil from roasted garlic.
  You can also add any other herb that you like. I use basil or cilantro and thyme. Sometimes I add cumin. Use what you like.  Let it sit for at least 15 or 20 minutes in a bowl.
  Cook the pasta. (I like angel hair for this.) Drain and put on plate. Spoon the tomato mixture on top. The warmth of the pasta will slightly warm the tomatoes and will finish bringing out all those luscious flavors.  I like to add parmesan, but grated sharp cheddar is great too!
  
  
• Roast them!  Heat the oven to about 450 degrees. Wash the tomatoes and put them whole in a black skillet. Drizzle some olive oil over it and add a fair amount of salt. If you have fresh garlic cloves, peel them and put them in whole. Cook it till everything gets darker. You want some caramelization; that's where the best flavor is! The tomatoes will burst on their own. You can stir as you see fit to get browning on more side.  When it's done, you can use it over pasta or on bruschetta... I promise you will lay up in bed thinking about this stuff; it's that good! If you don't need it that day or if there is some left, just put it in a jar in the fridge. It will keep for at least a week-maybe more.

• Blister them.  Heat a skillet to medium and drizzle olive oil across the bottom. Throw in a single layer of cherry tomatoes and toss them.  Add salt and and let cook for a few minutes giving them just enough time to start to slightly brown on the bottom before tossing them again.  Add garlic powder here.  Just before you remove the tomatoes from the pan, take your spatula and sort of smash a few just enough for them to burst.  Serve over hot pasta or even on toast.  Finish by drizzling a little fresh lemon juice over the dish. 

• Dry them. You know those sun-dried tomatoes that are so expensive? You can easily make your own, and cherry tomatoes will taste better dried than paste tomatoes! Drying really concentrates the flavor. Think tomato raisins.You will need either a dehydrator, or some folks use their oven at a low, low temperature with the door propped open with a wooden spoon. I only have experience with a dehydrator.  Cut the tomatoes in half. I like to sprinkle a little bit of salt, but that's just me. Put them in single layers on dehydrator trays. Eight hours will probably be enough. You want to pull them out when they are leathery—dry but bendable but not brittle. Put them in a jar and keep in the fridge. They will last for months! My favorite ways to use them are on pizza or pasta. Some folks reconstitute them, but I'd rather just throw them on just like they are.

I love tomatoes. If you are reading this you probably do too. The number one vegetable people grow at home is tomatoes because you can't BUY one that's even comes close to one you grow at home.  

Roasted Garlic - So Easy!

You've heard of some people giving a recipe but leaving out one ingredient so the person trying to replicate it will never get it as good as the original?  I never do that.  Well, almost never.   Roasted garlic is one ingredient I often leave out of the telling.  Sometimes it just is too much trouble to explain quickly.  And often the other person's eyes will glaze over because it SOUNDS hard.  It's not hard.
Y'all THIS is my secret ingredient in the best guacamole!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Get a head of garlic.  Hold it sideways on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut across the top just deep enough to expose the top of each clove.  If you miss some little cloves, just go back and cut the tops off of them.

Now set the whole bulb in a skillet (it doesn't HAVE to be a skillet, but I think it's better) and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the whole thing.  Put it in the oven and start checking it at 25 minutes.  I think it may take between 30 and 45 minutes.  It is ready when the whole thing has gotten a little darker and when you squeeze a clove, it is soft.

After it cools enough for you to handle it, just turn it upside down over a dish, squeeze each little clove out of its paper packet!  This is so cool because you didn't even have to peel the cloves!  While they are still warm you can actually smash them into a pulp if you want to.  I usually slice them.  You can use whatever amount you need right now and put the rest into a small jar and cover with olive oil. You can put the whole cloves in and slice them as you need them or slice or smash or dice first.

It must be stored in the fridge where it will keep for weeks.  The olive oil will get firm when cold so when you need to use some you'll need to set it out or run warm water over it if you forget like I do.

Now you have roasted garlic ready for whatever recipe AND you have LUSCIOUS roasted garlic-flavored oil!  Use it on everything that's not sweet is what I say!

I use it on any pasta, even just pasta, roasted garlic and oil, and parmesan cheese; on pizza crusts, particularly the edges; for dipping bread; and for guacamole

This is another "little thing" that makes a big difference