The Ripening

My bell peppers are starting to ripen. I love having red peppers as well as the green.

What I hate, is the waiting. They stay green for so long before they start to turn red, yellow, orange, purple, or whatever color you have.

My daughter prefers the green for snacking. But, the sweetness of the fully ripe pepper is great in cooked dishes.

The white powder on my plant is Diatomaceous Earth. It's organic and tomato horn worms and grasshoppers have been my enemy in the garden this year.

So, if you want ripe peppers and think they will never turn, just wait and wait.
And wait a little more.
They will get there.

Zucchini Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

These are really tasty. They are also a great way to use any zucchini, should you find yourself with an abundance of it.

This recipe is wheat free. Instead of wheat flour, oat flour and a small amount of ground flax seed is used.


Oat flour can be bought. You can also make it by grinding it finely in blender, food processor, or spice grinder.

You will need muffin tins and cupcake liners for 18 regular size cupcakes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/ 175 Celsius.


CUPCAKES-

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups oat flour
1/3 cup ground flax seed, also known as flax meal
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt, optional
2 teaspoons cinnamon
heaping 1/4 teaspoon allspice
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil, orange juice, and almond extract.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. 
Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix well.
Add the zucchini and blend that.
Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners. They will be about 2/3 full.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until the cupcakes test done when using the toothpick test in one.
Take out of the oven, but leave in the pan for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove from pan to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Frost.

CARAMEL FROSTING-

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 to 2 cup powdered sugar

In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar, and milk together.
Bring to a boil and stir for two minutes.
Take off the stove and stir in the vanilla extract.
Let it cool to just warm.
Stir in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time until you reach a frosting like consistency.
Frost each cupcake.
As the frosting cools all the way, it will get thicker.
So, either use a little less powdered sugar and frost when totally cool OR frost before the frosting is completely cool.
I frosting mine with the frosting slightly warm.

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You may use all-purpose wheat flour. Instead of the oat flour, use wheat all purpose flour and don't use the flax meal.
Also lower the baking powder to just 2 teaspoons.

Dried Zucchini Chips

I am a lover of all things zucchini and when I heard about making them into chips, I knew I had to try them.
They are not baked or fried like a traditional chip. These use a food dehydrator.
They don't get quite as crisp and crunchy as a regular chip, but they are still pretty tasty.

You will need a food dehydrator, or the lowest setting on the oven you have.
You will need a mandolin, food processor with slicing disk, or a knife for slicing the zucchini.

Ingredients:
3 medium zucchini, cleaned and sliced thin- I sliced mine about 1/8" thick.
a few Tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper, or other seasoning as desired

Slice the zucchini and put in a large bowl.
Drizzle over the olive oil and  sprinkle lightly with seasonings.
Work the oil and seasoning into the slices so they are fairly evenly coated.
Set your dehydrator to 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spread the zucchini out in a single layer. I used 4 trays.
Dehydrate for 4 to 5 hours.
Take out and store in covered container.
Best eaten within a couple days.

This will be enough for 3-4 people.
If you use your oven, check them often and turn them. They will take about 2-3 hours.
Don't go heavy on the spices. The flavor intensifies as the chips dry.

Frugal Me Fridays- School Lunch

My daughter just started back to school this week and it made me think that taking your lunch to school or work would make for a good frugal topic.

My daughter is now a junior and has been taking her lunch since elementary school.

Packing a lunch is not only more economical, it can be healthier.

Most schools rely heavily on processed foods and making a lunch can be as processed or as fresh as you want to make it.


If I had to pay for my daughter to eat at school, it would cost me almost $3 a day.
Packing a lunch doesn't cost much of anything depending on what you choose to send.
The cost of the groceries can be absorbed into the food budget and you may not notice a difference.

You do have your start up costs.
You should have a lunch box or bag.
You need some containers for food and drink, as well as a wide mouth thermos for anything that needs kept cold or very hot.
An ice pack is also a good idea.

I like to send leftovers.
Heat them up.
Before you put them in the food thermos, heat the thermos with boiling hot water for about 10-15 minutes.

Make up a big batch of pudding that you divide into containers to last the week.

You can do a lot of prep the night before so it doesn't take much.
Finish it up while they are eating breakfast.

I even saw an idea once for sending a hotdog to school.
Fill a big thermos with boiling water and add the hotdog.
Pack a bun separately.
At lunch, the child can take the hotdog out the the thermos and put in the bun.

If you have a garden, send some fresh veggies.
Green pepper slices or cherry tomatoes or even carrots.
If you don't have a garden, check out the farmer's market in your area.

I also like to send popcorn sometimes.

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Have a great Friday!

Frugal Me Fridays- The Food Dehydrator Investment

I love my food dehydrator. It isn't something I use every day, but it has paid for itself in many ways.

A dehydrator will cost anywhere from $50 for a simple one to well over $150 for a big box dehydrator.
For my needs, I went simple.
I can buy more trays, should I ever need them.

If you plan to dry herbs, make sure you get a digital thermometer instead of one with a dial.
The digital is a bit higher priced, but it is more accurate.
With herbs, just a little too high of temperature and they will get ruined.

Today, I am planning to make some zucchini chips using the dehydrator.
I will have to let you know the results.

The dehydrator can save you a lot of money and you will end up with something a lot more nutritious.
Both are big wins and totally worth it.

Grow your own herbs and dry them.

Get bananas when they are marked down or free and make banana chips. They taste so much better. If you look at banana chips from the store, you see oil in the ingredient list. Because, they have been fried too.

You can dry all kinds of fruits or puree the fruit and make fruit leather-also known as fruit by the foot.

You can make your own meat jerky.

Try vegetable chips in it instead of frying or baking if you are into raw foods.
I have read about lots of foods done this way, but not white potatoes. I am not sure about that.
But I have read about using kale, sweet potatoes, and zucchini. You could do garlic and onions also.
Pretty much what you want to try.

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My husband is finally settling into his new job. It has been quite a change. After 7 years of works overnights, he is now on days. Rearranging my schedule has been something too. He will also have normal weekends so that will be nice. I have not had a day during the school year when I got to just sleep in.
When Kiddo was off on the weekends, he was coming in from work and I'd wake up.
His new job is a pay cut, but closer to home.

Have a great Friday everyone!

My Heirlooms!

I am excited.
My Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes are finally ripening.

They look a bit different than the standard tomato. They have green shoulders, but are still ripe.
The red is a deep, dusky hue instead of just red, red.
They have a complex flavor that you have to try to really understand what I mean.
The smell is just incredible!

This year I grew Rutgers, Delicious, and Cherokee Purple.
All three are considered heirloom.
I think of the Cherokee and Delicious as more so than the Rutgers.
The Rutgers was developed in the 1940s so it is old enough to be considered heirloom.

When you buy the plants, heirlooms cost no more.
Many times, when you buy the seeds, heirlooms have more seeds per packet.

I love when the tomatoes are ready.
Time to make salsa- fresh and canned.
Can tomatoes for the coming seasons.
And just eat them!

This is a summertime favorite for my daughter and I. We slice up some tomatoes and cucumbers, sprinkle with salt and enjoy!

Do you have a favorite kind of tomato?
Do you have a favorite was to eat them?

Have a great day!

Layered Zucchini

I love this time of year! This is when my garden really starts to hit it's stride. One of my garden favorites is zucchini and I use it in as many dishes as I can.

This year I have four plants and, so far, they are all producing.
I am bringing in about three to four zucchini a day.
It's time to get cookin'!

Layered zucchini reminds me of lasagna a little bit.
Instead of the noodles, you use zucchini.

Layered Zucchini:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/175 Celsius.
You will need a large saucepan.
You will also need a colander, a small bowl, and a skillet.
To bake, you will need a greased 8" square pan.

Ingredients:
6 cups sliced zucchini- 3 or 4 medium/small, 5 or 6 small, OR 1 large
1/2 pound ground turkey OR ground beef
1 cup spaghetti OR tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano OR 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves OR 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup ground flax OR dry bread crumbs
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese   

Directions:
After you have sliced 6 cups of zucchini, partially fill a large saucepan with water and salt it. Bring the water to a boil and add the zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes. Any longer and the zucchini will be too soft.
Drain. Cool.
Crown and crumble the ground turkey in your skillet. Stir in the tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt, and garlic powder. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the egg, cottage cheese, and parsley.
Get your baking pan and layer half of the zucchini in it.
Sprinkle with half of the ground flax
Cover that with half of the cottage cheese mixture, half the ground turkey mixture, and half of the mozzarella.
Repeat, except do not add the rest of the mozzarella yet.
Put in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Take out and sprinkle with the mozzarella and put back in the oven for a few minutes- just to melt the cheese.

Serve.
This makes enough for 4 or 5 people.

You can buy flax seeds or already ground seeds.
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Have a great day!