Busy day

On the way to my veggie garden this caught my eye from the perennial bed

And once in the veggie garden I was pleased to find lots to pick.  This week has been so warm and the tomatoes are responding.

2 Arkansas Travelers, 2 Green Zebra, 1 Roma, 24 Cherry, 2 Cubanelle Peppers and 2 handfuls of Green Beans

And now that the picking is done it is time to prepare the produce.  The cherry tomatoes are going into a salad for the weekend so those go into the fridge.  I have to find a use for the peppers and Green Zebras so those went into the fridge for now.  The Roma went straight into the freezer for canning in a few days.  The freezing makes it easy to peel once it defrosts. 


The green beans however will be blanched and frozen for future meals.   Here's how:

Boil  Water

Clean and remove stems

Place beans into boiling water for 2 minutes

Place in an ice bath for a few minutes, until cold

Dry

 Place in a freezer bag, label, date and stick into the freezer until you are ready to use them.

I also decided that in order to make room in the freezer for the beans I needed to take out the bananas I had put in there.  My trick is to take the over-ripe bananas left at the end of the week and stick them into the freezer, unpeeled.  When I have enough bananas, I make banana bread.  I tried a different recipe today.  I had four bananas so I decided to double the recipe that I had, which called for 2.  The recipe is from Cooking Light.  I found the recipe in "The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites" cookbook.  Banana-Oatmeal Loaf is found on page 56.

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup regular oats

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)

1/3 cup low fat butter milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large eggs, lightly beaten

cooking spray for pans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk together.  Stir in oats.

3. Combine banana, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.

4.  Add flour mixture and stir until moist.

5.  Spray pan with cooking spray.

6. Place batter into pan and bake for 55 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean when inserted into loaf. 

7. Let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. 

I amended the recipe by using a small loaf pan that held 6 loaves.  Since I doubled the recipe, 6 was exactly right.  I also used a large ice cream scoop to fill the pan.  Each loaf received 3 level scoops.  Baking for 55 minutes was still the correct time despite the smaller loaves.

Another trick I used involved the buttermilk.  Since I usually do not buy it when I only need a small amount, I added one tablespoon of white vinegar to the measuring cup and then filled the cup up with milk to the amount of buttermilk called for in the recipe.  Then let it sit.  I let it sit for about 15 minutes.  If you do this step first, then when you get to the point where you need the buttermilk it will be ready.  It will be thick like buttermilk.

Making buttermilk with vinegar and milk

Mixing up the wet ingredients

Add the dry ingredients and mix

Spray pan with cooking spray with flour

Scoop batter into pans; 3 level scoops each

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, take out of oven and cool on racks.  Eat and enjoy!