Photo Credit

This is a situation that happens to me often: I set to make something only to find that I do not have all of the ingredients on hand.  Most times instead of looking for alternatives I give up on making what I set out to cook.  This general recipe for muffins is almost a God-send for me.  It gives the flexibility to work with the ingredients I have on hand.

This general muffin recipe comes from the Tightwad Gazette:

2 to 2 1/2 cups of grain (flour, etc)

1 cup of milk

up to 1/4 cup of fat (butter or oil)

1 egg

up to 1/2 cup of sweetener (sugar, honey, etc)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

up to 1 1/2 cups of additions (nuts, blueberries, mashed banana, etc).

To make, cream fat with the sweetener.  Add the egg and continue beating, add milk then flour and baking powder and salt.  Then add the addition of your choice and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until center is cooked.

That’s it!  Isn’t that simple?  Keep this recipe if you are stumped by missing ingredients sometimes.  Also keep it if you don’t know what to do with overripe bananas or frozen blueberries.

The zucchinis are here and by the truckload. This is what I made for dinner last night: zucchini soup and zucchini dinner rolls.

The soup is incredibly easy to make. In a large pot, I added two tbs olive oil and a quarter onion diced and cooked until translucent. To this I added 8 cups of cubed zucchini and 4 cups of water plus two chicken bouillons. Bring to a simmer and let cook until the zucchini is cooked through. Then I turned into puree in the food processor. I returned this to the pot and added one can of fat free evaporated milk. This makes the soup “creamy” while being “waist” friendly. Add salt and pepper to taste and cooked until warm.

The Zucchini rolls are easy to make as well. You will need:
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 package rapid-rise dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup warm water (120-130F)
1 tbsp vegetable oil.

In a colander, combine the zucchini and salt and set aside for 30 minutes. In a large bowl combine the 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and all but one tbsp of the cheese. Press the zucchini to drain well. Add zucchini to flour mixture and combine evenly. Stir in water and oil and mix until you have a soft and manageable dough. Turn into floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Use as much of remaining flour as necessary. Shape dough into ball and place in lightly oiled bowl (I used Pam). Cover with clean cloth and set in warm place for 20 minutes. Meanwhile spray with Pam a 12 muffin-pan. Punch the dough down and divide into 12 pieces. For clover leaf rolls like the ones I made, divide each piece into thirds and make three small balls and place balls into a muffin-pan cup. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Cover the pan with a clean cloth and let rise in warm draft-free place until rolls double in size or around 40 minutes. Bake at 400F for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with a finger tip.

I want to credit my friend the chef for the zucchini soup recipe. You can add frozen corn kernels for an extra bite. I also keep cooked shredded chicken in the freezer that I add to homemade soups like this one.

Finally, I want to leave this post with a funny. I told my husband the name of this post and he asked me how come I didn’t make it a triple whammy? It seems I forgot the dessert: zucchini bread. His favorite way to eat vegetables.

I was asked by a couple of readers to share the recipe I used to make Peach Butter earlier this week. This recipe comes from The Ball Blue Book of Preserving. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to can food items. I paid around $7 for it and it is an excellent reference for food preservation.

Peach Butter

Yields 4 pints
4 to 4 1/2 pounds peached (about 18 medium sized peaches)
4 Cups of sugar

To prepare pulp: Wash and blanch peaches. Put peaches in cold water. Peel, pit and slice peaches. Combine peaches with 1/2 cup of water in a large saucepot. Simmer until peaches are soft. Puree using a food processor or food mill, being careful not to liquefy. Measure two quarts of peach pulp.

To make butter: Combine peach pulp and sugar in a large sauce pot. Cook until thick enough to round up on a spoon. As mixture thickens stir frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process two minutes in hot boiling-water canner.

Recipe Variation: For spiced butter add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon or any combination of these spices when adding sugar.

In this household everyone loves Falafel, which is a great accomplishment since my husband is not big on beans at all. Here is my favorite Falafel recipe from Allrecipes. I love making this when I am getting overflowed by cucumber from the garden.

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying

Cucumber Sauce

• 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don’t use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.
4. In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Check out more recipes using beans at Frugal Upstate.

This recipe comes from April 08 Food and Wine Magazine. I tried it today and I must say it is really good. The buttery beans are counterbalanced by the crunchiness of the celery and the tartness of the lemon-Dijon dressing. It’s also a double dipper frugal dinner: beans and tuna in one dish!

This is another one of my quick dinner recipes.

1/2 lb italian sausage
1 large sweet potato diced (1 cm)
1/2 medium onion diced
2 garlic cloves minced
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded white cheddar
1 tbsp olive oil

I start by cooking the sweet potato in the microwave steamer for about five minutes. Don’t cook it all the way through you wanted a bit “al dente” so it finishes cooking in the skillet. Drain well after steaming.
Heat up the olive oil in an oven safe skillet at medium heat. To it add the onion and garlic and cook until just starting to get translucent. Add the sausage and cook until starting to brown. Add the cooked sweet potato and finish cooking the sausage. Allow the sweet potato to finish cooking, while you do this the sweet potato will also pick up some of the sausage flavor. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and milk, add shredded cheese. Pour this mixture in the skillet and allow to cook at medium-low heat until most of the egg mixture has set. Then finish cooking in the broiler set high until top is golden brown.

Note: A flavor variation suggestion is Spanish chorizo with red potatoes. When available I add spinach to add more veggies to the mix. Also feel free to use whatever shredded cheese you have available.

Approx cost: 50 cents for 4 eggs, $1.25 for half pound of italian sausage, 0.79 one lb (approx) sweet potato, $1 4 ounces shredded cheese, for a total of $3.54. Add a salad and you have dinner for four.

Do you have any good egg recipes you would like to share? Check Jenn’s website and leave a comment or link back your recipe if you have a blog.

This picture borrowed from Tammy’s Website

It has been a very long time since I shared a recipe but I feel I have to share this one. I got this recipe from Tammy’s Recipe website. She really does have tons of great recipes if you are looking for new ideas.

What I love about pepperoni rolls is that they are fun to make, if you have kids this is a recipe that’s easy for them to help with. They are yummy and they are easy to eat. So easy, you may end up eating extra.

Here are some pics from yesterday:

Preparing dough with the filling:

Rolling the dough:

Cutting the rolls (Use dental floss to do this; it really makes it easier):

Ready to rise before baking:

Give them a try, I promise you will love them!

I would like to draw your attention to Tammy’s Website. She has a very nice compilation of recipes and they are great. I just made her Challah bread and it is incredible! I have been experimenting with Challah bread recipes for a long time. I started experimenting making my own Challah since I found the most delicious Challah at Wegman’s (at $4.xx a loaf) but who cared it is so good!! Tammy’s recipes is so good and very similar to the Challah used at our favorite sandwich shop in Chicago: The Bagel.
I intend to indulge on her Apple Challah next and give her Pita Bread a try. That’s another type of bread I have tried to make very unsuccessfully a few times.

She has many other types of recipes posted so please search her recipe index.