Make your own pumpkin puree

I know there are some of you who would ask "What's the point of making it, if you can buy it in a can?", well if the huge loss of vitamins and minerals doesn't disturb you maybe the fact that your canned pumpkin could be over two years old may rattle you a little bit. Anyway why pay extra for something that easily makes itself while you are cooking something else? Also your whole house may get that nice pumpkin aroma, which is quite festive.

How to make Pumpkin Purée:

Cut your pumpkin in half crosswise and remove the seeds and fibrous material. A melon baller works great for that. Cover the cut side of each half with aluminum foil, and place the pumpkin halves on a baking sheet, foil side up. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 90 minutes, or until the flesh is fork tender. Remove from the oven and cool. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and mash it in a food processor, or puree it in a blender with a touch of oil. Sometimes your purée maybe watery,so drain it in a cheesecloth-lined colander. Your yield should be about one cup of purée per pound of pumpkin.
And that's all there is to it.....

Who is ready for spring?

For all of you who are sick and tired of citrus, winter squash and collard greens - I am so with you on this.
I can’t wait for spring and thought it may be a good idea to peek a little into what’s to come.
March is a great month in the produce department because after three months of relatively little variety ( citrus, citrus, citrus and winter squash ad nauseum) new things are all of a sudden in season. It hasn’t quite happened in my local stores but for me the absolute indicator for the change of seasons and the arrival of spring are the aptly named “spring onions”.
So let’s see what we will be able to purchase for a reasonable price:

March:

Fruits: pineapple, Mexican mangos, citrus (especially Valencia and Blood Oranges), rhurbarb

Veggies: spring lettuce, endive, artichokes, mustard greens

April:

Fruits: pineapples from Hawaii, asparagus, avocado (haas), rhurbarb,mangos, first strawberries (careful!)

Veggies: asparagus, spring cruciferous - especially broccoli, first summer squash, spring onions (with green tops), garden peas, romaine lettuce, artichokes, new potatoes, spring carrots, spinach

Forever Lemon!

I am very careful when I endorse any product. First of all because most items that would be worthy of endorsement come without marketing or hype - broccoli, onions, quinoa etc. But once in a while I find something that makes a difference especially in my budget and then it’s time to share.
I am big fan of citrus - if you missed my enthusiastic endorsement - read it here. To keep lemons and limes fresh is not as easy as one would think. First of all, I find that regular lemons at 3 for two dollars - this week at the local supermarket - are really a rip off and second these lemons rarely make it past two weeks in the refrigerator - so really not a good deal. On the other hand a squirt of lemon makes so many things more tasty. For instance if you are trying to cut back on your salt intake, nothing works better than a squirt of lemon in your stir-fry or salad dressing to wake up the flavors. And here is the other problem - whereas uncut lemons last at least a couple of weeks - a cut lemon is do or die. If you don’t use all the juice - the lemon will not last more than a day or two in the fridge.

When I came across the little yellow and green bottles in my health food store’s produce section I actually was a bit turned off by the fact that they managed to come up with yet another plastic product - but since actually having had a chance to use them I have to admit that I am hooked. These little marvels are extremely convenient - the juice is from organic lemons - usually way out of my budget range - and they last forever. On the container the advertised expiration date is 6 months - and I am pretty sure they could go even longer. There are no preservatives other than citric acid and you do have to keep them in the refrigerator - always a good sign - if something has the ability to spoil it means it is not quite dead.
For about 2$ you buy yourself two months worth of lemons - even if you use as much as I do. Like I said: I am hooked!

The 10 Commandments of the Frugal Vegetarian!

1.Buy in Bulk:

The basis for your everyday meals shall be found in the bulk section of your health food store. If your store does not have one – switch stores! You’ll be amazed – alternately buy online. If you have the inclination and the space to store, 25 pound bags of your staples you can save an extra bundle.This is one online source Bobsredmill.com but there are many others.


2. Organic or not organic - that is the question.

You shall shop organic only what you must and can. It’s easy to get caught up in the organic black hole – financially speaking – but if you avoid – the dirty dozen as they are often called – you’ll lower your pesticide exposure by about 90% – that’s already pretty good. Check out this handy Wallet Guide.

3. The four Seasons:

What’s in season – when produce is out of season prices can quadruple – why go there – who needs asparagus in November?

4. You are the Boss!

You shall enjoy the freedom of changing recipes at will – Rachel Ray, Emeril or the Naked Chef can all go jump in a lake – you are in charge – and you can make changes! I know this sounds obvious but a lot of people fret over one ingredient and spend way too much money on one miniscule speck of an ingredient that barely registers on the palate – instead of seeing the big picture. This somewhat excludes spices because…

5. Learn your Spices

You shall learn your spices, spice-mixes and how to use salt. The reason why restaurant meals are so “wow” sometimes is that professional chefs (who are by the way constantly on a budget) – really know seasoning. I would recommend organic spices because they are usually inexpensive anyway – wrong place to save – and they are not irradiated. A little spice goes a long way – and salt has had a bad wrap – it is vital to survival and as long as we cook fresh and add salt ourselves there is almost no way to really go overboard. The “bad” salt is the one hidden in canned and over processed food that needs all the salt it can hide in order to taste like anything at all.

6. Come on go ahead and give it a try!

You shall give store brands a fair try out – that goes hand in hand with buying in bulk – since store brands are just that – the big chain supermarket bought something in bulk sometimes from the very manufacturer of the name brand – and markets it to the customer directly. Not particularly everybody’s first choice - but let’s get real here! For the frugal vegetarian products of note are – store brand soy milk, store brand tofu and some store brand cereals. Give it a try, you might like it. Also you will reinforce the impression of the big chain that there is a market for healthier foods, encouraging them to do more. A special mention to Whole Foods who although they don’t have a bulk section – shame – their own brand 365º features a lot of organic products that are quite good.

7. Point in Case

Look for case discounts – often 10-20% – if you know you’ll need 10 packages of soy milk every week to feed your family’s ferocious appetite for milk – buy by the case – also eliminates schlepping every week. Sometimes you have to outright ask for the case discount – stores don’t always promote this service.

8.Set your inner Farmer free!

You shall try to join a local CSA or Food Co-op – Lots of like-minded people – local produce in abundance – work exchange – need I say more. Go to localharvest.org. to search for a local CSA.

9. Substitutions will be extra!

You shall be wary of too many meat or cheese replacement products – they are usually quite pricey and zap up your budget quickly. Nutritionally, many of these products are suspicious and over-processed.

10. Snacks anyone?

You shall watch out for snacks that may be zapping up your $$$. All these meal replacement bars some of which run up to $4 or more seem very little food for a lot of money. Think about it – $4 buys you almost 3 pounds of rice – that could be your rice budget for the whole week! Three meals based on rice for a family of four --> about 3 pounds!