Pumpkin Fruit Leather/"Jerky"

Dear Turkey,

If you bought this much

Fruit leather, it would cost, like,

A million dollars

How To Impress Your Parents

Dear Turkey,

Here is another one of my famous money-saving tips: if you are in the mood for Asian food, ask your parents to take you out to get some; that way you can order lots of different dishes at no cost to you. If that doesn't work, here is a Plan B to impress them. They'll be so amazed that they'll be sure to take you out to dinner next time.

First, the miso. Since they are paying, be sure to get delicious barley miso. Put it in a pot with water, spinach, straw mushrooms (from a can), tofu, and green onions. Heat until almost boiling (don't kill it!). Remember, for miso, more is more. 

Sesame noodles: cook one bundle of soba. Combine the following in the blender: 3 T tamari, 2 T mirin, 2 T rice vinegar, 2 T peanut butter, 1 T sesame oil, 1T honey, 1 T minced garlic, 1 t chili oil. Toss with the noodles. 

Dumplings always impress people. For the dumpling filling: 1/2 block extra firm tofu, 2 T ginger, and 1/4 c celery, all minced. Then microwave some spinach to yield about 1 c wilted; cut it up with scissors. 

To that mixture, add: 1 T mirin, 1 T tamari, 1 T cornstarch, 1 T lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. 

I wrapped them in pot-sticker wrappers (from the store). 

Steam (for wusses), or fry until deliciously black. You will need to use the lid of the pot as a shield. 

For the sauce: 1/4 c tamari, 2 T rice vinegar, 2 T lemon juice, 1 t minced garlic, 1 T sugar, and 6 ginger slices.

Parents are impressed. 

For dessert, you are tired, so they will buy the gelato. 

I moss you,

Tofu 

Hummus...and...Muffins!

Dear Turkey,

Here is another one of my world-famous money-saving tips:

Hummus (aka "ha" in baby-language) is expensive. If you make it yourself, you will save lots of money. Especially if nobody likes your version except you and it takes you many days to eat all of it.

So, I am trying to improve my hummus. Here are my suggestions to myself: more salt and more oil. In the meantime, you can enjoy this healthy version; don't be fooled by the fact that it looks like an ice-cream sundae:

Puree the following in the food processor: 1 big can chickpeas (drained and rinsed), 2/3 c tahini, 1/4 c lemon juice, 2 t minced garlic, 1 T salt, 1 t cumin, 2 T olive oil. For the sauce, stir some paprika into some olive oil. 

Since it looks like ice cream, you will be in the mood for some muffins for dessert: 

Fluffy lemon muffins that my mom hates:

Combine (for 24):

2.5 c flour

1.5 c sugar

5 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1.5 c plain nonfat yogurt

1 c water

1/2 c olive oil

2 T dried orange peel

4 T lemon juice

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

I moss you,

Tofu

Dear Turkey,

Here's another trend on "the blogs" lately: DIY.
So, here is a little DIY for you:

DIY Half Marathon

Supplies:

Shoes (with feet in them), a road

GPS watch (cheap kind okay) [optional]

Aid station

Post-race prizes (money saving tip: invite Lt. Veggie Nugget to run with you. When she gets tired, send her to Starbucks while you finish the run) [elapsed time since purchase: 2.13 minutes] 

When you're done, it will be time for some DIY Mexican Combo Plates:

Rice: brown rice, olive oil, salt, lemon juice
Beans: black, kidney, and big white beans; rinsed, drained and cooked quickly and hot-ly with oil, honey, garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika, lemon juice
Mango Salsa: mango (just makin' sure you're awake), salt, lime juice (from a lime, not a jar), fresh cilantro, fresh mint, fresh chives
Avocado: topped with lemon juice and salt
Cheese & Salsa

Time for a nap,
Tofu

What's That Smell?

Dear Turkey,

Here's a sample cooking conversation:

Me: do you want some [insert whatever I'm cooking here]?
Others: oh, no, we're not hungry; we just ate.
Chop, chop, chop, mix, mix, mix, that sweet-yet-scary smell of lighting the gas, etc.
Others: what's that smell? Can we have some?
Me: what you are smelling is...butter.

Ah, butter, you make things tasty and you make people hungry, even though they "just ate." Whether it's baking, grilling, or Pasta Master, you convince my constituents that maybe they could use a few more calories after all.

Classic Example of this Scenario:

Cook a little pasta and drain it. Then sautee Your Friend Butter with some minced garlic (yes, from a jar), lemon juice (from...you guessed it), salt, and pepper. Put the pasta back into the pot while the heat is still on. Then toss with some basil (from your windowsill) and shredded cheese. Simple and delicious.

Here's a trend on the blogs lately: Money Saving Tips. Some blogs are devoted entirely to saving money and coupon-ing. So I have added Money Saving Tips to this blog. Here's the first one: if your mom has a BJs card, ask her to buy things there for you, like delicious shredded cheese. It's a lot cheaper than in regular stores, especially if you don't pay her back. 

Let's close with another showing of Your Friend Butter on the grill:

Par-boiled potatoes, corn, and tofurky brats -- all delicious candidates for Tofu's Special Helper (okay, maybe not the brats, but the rolls, perhaps, especially if they're that healthy-holier-than-thou whole wheat kind).

I moss you,

Tofu