Pav Bhaji, a Frugal Recipe

 You know that time of the year when the tomatoes from the garden won’t stop.  This vegetable stew with slightly sweet dinner rolls to sop up the juices is a perfect way to use up tomatoes and any spare vegetables you have lying around.  

I got this recipe from Indian Healthy Recipes and I adjusted it for my family’s taste.  The Pav Bhaji spice mix that I have includes the hot chili, so I didn’t add more.

The dinner rolls are fromSally’s Baking Addiction and this is one of my favorite dinner roll recipes.  This recipe calls for whole milk which I didn’t have on hand, so I added a tablespoon of dried milk to the low fat milk I did have.

Pav Bhaji is a popular street food in Mumbai, India.  Vendors pride themselves on how much butter they use but I was conservative (stingy?) and only used a couple of tablespoons.  Enjoy!

God bless,

Pam

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Real Food and Our Children

Earlier this week I went to the grocery store and as I was picking out some watermelon I realized that there was not a seed in sight.  In fact, I have not seen a watermelon with seeds in the store for years.  Then I got to thinking that my daughter has seldom to never eaten watermelon with seeds and that is a tragedy.

First of all, seeds are the stuff of life.  While convenient to eat there is something that feels wrong about a plant that can not propagate itself without human intervention.  And what about the joys of watermelon seeds?  I remember the happiness of sitting on the porch steps with family and friends eating ice cold watermelon and spitting the seeds into the yard.  It was a great way to finish up a hot summer day of hard play.

Let's not forget the flavor of real food.  Food made from scratch with fresh ingredients tastes so much better than processed food.  How many children know what real mac n cheese tastes like?  A friend of mine made homemade mac n cheese for some children visiting her home.  The kids were horrified that there was no bright orange powdered cheese in their bowls.  So sad; both for the children and for my friend.

Why not spend a week eating only real food?  There are quick recipes available online and in cookbooks.  I like the Moosewood cookbooks for recipes using fresh ingredients.  Go to the farmers market or produce stand and remember the joys of fresh sweet corn, instead of the starchy taste of corn that has sat in the grocery store for a week.

We owe it to our children to let them experience the flavors of real food.  It saddens me that so many of them will spend their lives eating mediocre or even bad tasting food and never know the difference.

God bless,
Pam

Fresh Dandelion Salad

If you have managed to gather young, tender dandelion greens it's time to make a dandelion salad.  Wash and chop four cups of greens.  Add crumbled, fried bacon and chopped hard boiled eggs.

For the dressing:  Start with the bacon drippings, then mix in 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon flour or cornstarch.  Add one beaten egg, 1/4 cup vinegar and one cup water.  Cook until thickened.  Serve warm.

Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.  Don't overdress.  It is easy to overwhelm tender greens with too much dressing.

God bless,
Pam