Food for Everyday

I found myself with a random night to myself when plans with Boy fell through at the last minute and I had already started too many projects which made it seem worth it to stay in.  Sometimes its not about making fancy food, but rather to stock up on the basics.  Its important to keep the quick stuff around for when you don't have time to cook but want something good and homemade.  In particular, I need to have easy breakfast food on hand because sometimes, fruit just doesn't cut it.

I made a rare visit to the grocery store to stock up on fruit (its too early in my CSA for me to get enough fruit to last me a week since I eat a ton of fruit) and goods for a few projects.  Mangos were on sale.  Not just any mangos, but Ataulfo (aka Champagne) mangos which have a lovely creamy texture.  I fell in love with these mangos when I lived in Mexico.  And just like those mangos, these ones were also from Mexico and not organic, but cases of mangos were on sale for $10.  That meant about 20 mangos for $10... the frugal side of me won in the contest of "local and organic" versus "but its 50 cents a mango!" 

I decided to dry a large chunk of the mangos, turn some of them into creamy mango swirl popsicles, and the rest were turned into a tangy Mango Rum Preserves.  Since I don't like to mass produce jams and pickles until a recipe is tried and true, I did a test batch.  Since mango is so thick to begin with, it doesn't really need the fruit pectin for it to set properly.  I basically cooked the following ingredients together on low for about 20-30 minutes until it formed a nice thick consistency and it was almost starting to brown on the pan.

• 1 1/2 cups diced mango
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TBSP rum
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Juice of half a lemon

Next time I'll make sure my mango is completely ripe.  I got impatient and used some slightly underripe mangos.  This is still a lovely tangy and chunky jam not too sweet and is wonderful spread on homemade english muffins (which I keep on hand at all times).

Another staple of mine is Granola.  The beauty of granola is that it can be sprinkled on top of just about anything, fruit, yogurt, ice cream... or eaten plain.  I melted 2 TBSP real maple syrup, 2 TBSP raw honey, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1 tsp cinnamon, a dash of vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp salt together.  Then I poured this over a mixture of 3/4 cups of raw walnuts, 1/2 cup wheat bran, and 4 cups rolled oats.  Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice until crunchy.  Then once its cool, add whatever dried fruit you have on hand.  I had some dried plums from my Lawyers Have a Heart 10K race packet, so I just threw those in.

Since I am in the process of curing my own bacon, I decided I needed to use the last of my fancy bacon in the freezer.  This decision coupled with the guilt of not having any breakfast items on hand for Boy the last time he was here spawned the rebirth of my mini-quiches.  That is, a crustless quiche made in muffin tins for perfect breakfast portioning, which can be easily frozen and reheated.  This time, I did a Bacon Radish Green Quiche, a marriage of leftover fancy bacon and some of the greens in my last CSA basket I am trying to work my way through.  This recipe is so flexible it doesn't really warrant a recipe per se.  Its basically eggs whisked vigorously with some dry nonfat milk, mild cheddar, radish greens, cooked bacon, salt and pepper with shaved parmesan on top... then baked at 350 until the quiches rise and the cheese gets crunchy on top.  I usually wrap these in plastic wrap and then store them in a freezer bag to avoid freezer burn.  They reheat really fast in the toaster oven in the morning, which I usually do on a small piece of tin foil at the same time as I toast my english muffin.