Green Tomatoes?!

Gardeners don't waste any of their crop if they can help it. Is it any wonder that Southerners learned how to fry up green tomatoes into delicious-ness? Why waste something that tastes great? By this point in the summer, we've gorged on the red and yellow ones, and now that cooler weather is (perhaps) on the horizon, we're willing to sacrifice some green ones before they ripen.

So, you have some green tomatoes from your garden or a CSA box (like mine from the Colvins!) or even from a local produce stand because you were curious. What can you do with them besides fry them? Glad you asked!

Try one of these recipes--two are for condiments and two are for baked goods. All freeze just fine (bonus!).

Green Tomato Ketchup (tastes almost like BBQ sauce)

Green Tomato Relish (tastes similar to salsa)

Green Tomato Bread (kind of like zucchini bread)

Green Tomato Cake (like an apple spice cake)

Rich People Problems

First of all, let me say that I don't usually identify myself with "the rich." (And certainly not, "the rich and famous.")

But today, I was really struck by all my "rich people problems." Consider:

We were out--completely out--of milk, eggs, bread, fresh fruit. ACK! What in the world do we eat for breakfast? for lunch? Grocery is now on the "urgent-must-do-today" list. And yet, here's what we could have eaten...just off the top of my head and working from what we still had on hand:

• smoothie with yogurt and some frozen fruit (which we actually did eat for breakfast)
• oatmeal cooked with water (which we also ate)
• cooked grains with dried fruit (I have rice, oats, farro, bulgur, ...)
• potatoes with vegetables
• cheese and crackers for lunch
• peanut butter and crackers for lunch
• fresh vegetables for any meal
• cheese quesadillas for any meal
• noodles with butter and salt and cheese on top 

For dinner, I had several options since I had chicken and sausage in the freezer, several bags of dried beans/lentils in the cupboard, the aforementioned grains, cans of tomatoes, some pasta, some fresh AND frozen vegetables, chicken stock, .... 

In short, if we were willing to be a little untraditional for our breakfasts for a few days, we could have eaten well on what was in the house. Not to mention my steady supply of fresh vegetables every week (admittedly, I'm bartering blogging services for these--but that implies that I have the time and means to blog--still a rich person's situation.)

Despite this abundance, in middle class American rich people fashion, we went to not just one, not just two, but three grocery stores. Why? Well, because I got better prices/quality on certain things at certain stores... duh! But consider:

• the transportation I had to each of these stores (implying bus fare, working car with gas, etc.)
• the time I had to do this (admittedly, I am NOT a marathon shopper and these went fairly quickly... still....)
• the money I had to do this: good prices are still prices and still reflect money I was planning to spend
• the store options: I have enough stores near me to be picky on where I go--and all of them carry abundant groceries including lots of fresh ingredients
• the storage space at my house: to bring home a week's worth (or more) of groceries, many of which require refrigeration or at least air conditioning in order to stay fresh for more than a day or two, means that I have a big enough house/electricity/etc. 
• the supplies I had on hand: for me to be able to get those good prices on random ingredients also meant that I had enough ingredients on hand (i.e. chicken, etc.) that I could afford to buy a few things we're not necessarily planning to eat up this week. And that I could afford to buy a lot of fresh fruit. A LOT, I tell you. It's almost embarrassing how much. I should confess that there are more peaches than the ones reflected in the picture above. What can I say? Those SC peaches are amazing.

So, yes, I believe we're definitely in the rich people camp when compared to most of the world. And in light of that, I chose not to complain about hauling in bags of groceries in the heat, about driving to a grocery store, about the rising cost of groceries. Prices may be going up, but we are still far better off than so many. 

Afternoon Tea (and Snack)

Prompted in part by some of my summer reading as well as my long-lived love affair with the idea of the British tea time, my kids and I have begun having afternoon teatime every afternoon.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I often had a vague idea of a looming need for something snack-y, hadn't planned for it, was up to my elbows in something messy in the kitchen or a lengthy edit of some homework paper of my own, and just threw the critters something moderately wholesome while they watched their afternoon TV show.

NO MORE. Our teatime plan has helped solve the late afternoon hunger strike as well as keep food out of the rest of the house. No more

• string cheese wrappers, 
• animal cracker crumbs, 
• apple cores, 
• bits of sticky raisins, 
• or the unrecognizable crumbly surprise 

await us in the evening when we sit down to watch some grown-up TV. This is the only snack we have; even at the grocery store (where, I confess, I formerly offered some sort of food-based reward for good behavior), we picked out a snack that we would have that afternoon at teatime--NOT one we would eat when we got to the car. No more food in the car. Aaahhh....

Our teatime no doubt sounds more elaborate than it really is. Essentially, at around 4:00 (when the kids' rest time ends), we have a small snack plus a beverage. Portion control is key here; I want them hungry by 6:30 (when we usually eat dinner), so I'm okay if they aren't "full" after their snack. And I make it feel like a treat--we often don't have dessert, so this is a fun way to bring in some sweet treats. I'll have to do this earlier on school days this coming year; the kids eat lunch at 10:30!! So, we'll probably have something slightly larger at around 2:00 or 3:00.

What do we eat? If I have time, we eat something that we can eat leftover for breakfast the next morning (I have more time in the afternoon to bake up some muffins than I do first thing in the morning!). I usually offer some sort of fruit, some sort of starchy thing, and/or some sort of protein.

What do we drink? Hot or iced tea, lemonade, juice, or water--really, whatever we have on hand or have time to whip up. I predict some hot chocolate or hot chai in the cooler months ahead.

Incidentally, this has become a terrific way to use up bits and pieces--waste not, want not! I use small plates and a few pieces of something go much further than they might at a meal time.

Here are some of our recent teatime snacks:

• Slice of French bread smeared with Nutella (this was a huge hit) (1 slice/kid)
• Small piece of coffeecake with some fruit (I got 16 pieces out of an 8x8 pan)
• Pistachio nuts and some fruit
• Muffin with some fruit
• Trail mix
• Graham crackers with peanut butter and brownie crumbs on top (2 squares/kid)
• Bread pudding
• Banana bread with cream cheese and some fruit
• Various snack cakes with some fruit

What will you serve at YOUR teatime?