WHERE WERE YOU

when I needed you?

I decided this fall to add excitement to my life by switching some of the traditional fall canning recipesto explore more freezing recipes of fresh fruit and veggies.  I entered the guessing game of finding the answer to how many, or how much of the fresh ingredient equated to the commercially canned variety enabling me to convert some recipes.  I have always wondered about substitutions, above and beyondthe herbs.  One thought always leads to another.

All of this was available in a long forgotten, hidden on the bookshelf, publication from Oregon State University in 2012.  The publication is titled 'The Healthy Recipe Cookbook'.  I have no idea what guided my hand there.  The publication turned out to be the answer to so many of my questions.

Winter is approaching and we wonder will it be tolerable, or will we be questioning if we should be out shopping.  Maybe it's time to take stock of our pantry and just be prepared.  

On this day I wanted to use the last of the fresh tomatoes from my garden.  I was curious about the tomato sauce recipe because it had a list of ingredients that were different from my traditional recipe.  It included fennel seed, red wine, bay leaf, honey and balsamic vinegar in addition to the traditional Italian seasonings.  In this case it wasn't a conversion of canned tomatoes to fresh but the equation of 2 cups fresh, chopped, equals 3 medium fresh.   I cooked the tomatoes with skin on, then blended the finished sauce.

 Finding the Substitutions List and the Equivalent Measures List was like finding gold.  In guiding me to the approximate measurement, I also found the following very helpful for future use.

BROWN SUGAR - 1cup  --  1 cup white sugar, plus 2 Tablespoons molasses

BUTTERMILK - 1cup  --  1 Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus milk to make l cup

GARLIC CLOVE, small  --  1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, or 1/4 teaspoon instant minced garlic

HERBS - 1 teaspoon dried -- 1 Tablespoon fresh, finely cut 

MILK - 1 cup  --  1/3 cup nonfat dry milk+ enough water to make one cup or 1/2 cup evaporated milk + 1/2 cup water 

TOMATO SAUCE - 2 cups  --  6-ounce tomato paste, plus 1 cup water 

As I started going through my spice selections I regret I didn't plant basil this year.

SO--guess what is heading up the 2024 seed order list.

For healthy recipes check out www.foodhero.org