| Good to the last
crumb It's been said that the best fed member in the typical American home is the garbage disposal. Today, I want to give you a couple of ways to use up perfectly good food that might otherwise be headed for the trash. Most kids are happy with anything called a "muffin" or that looks like a cupcake. Here's a recipe that will let you use up leftover dry cereal (any variety in any amount). It's a big recipe that yields about 40 muffins. Bran or wheat cereals are ideal for this recipe; you can use up what's left in all of those boxes that are taking up space on the shelf, even if the cereal has turned a bit stale. Feel free to toss in a few raisins, chocolate chips or nuts, too. BIG BATCH MUFFINS 3/4 cup vegetable oil 2-1/2 cups sugar 4 eggs 9 cups dry breakfast cereal 4 cups buttermilk (or equivalent substitute, see cook's note) 5 cups flour 2 teaspoons salt 5 teaspoons baking soda Mix oil, sugar, eggs and cereal. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Alternate adding these to the cereal mixture with the buttermilk. Mix to incorporate well. Pour batter into greased muffin tins (or line with cupcake papers) until about 2/3 full. If batter seems too thin, let it rest for a few minutes and it will thicken. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Cook's note: To make one cup buttermilk substitute: Pour 1 tablespoon white vinegar into a glass measuring cup. Add milk up to the 1-cup line and stir. Place cup in the microwave on 50 percent power for 45 to 60 seconds. Stir and use in place of one cup of buttermilk. Potato skins, that fun finger food, were all the rage in restaurants during the 1980s. Save the potato skins from your mashed potatoes for this excellent recipe. Instead of boiling the potatoes, bake them, then remove the pulp from the skins to mash and save the skins. POTATO SKINS 8 potato skin halves 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 tomato, seeded and chopped 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced sour cream, to taste Place potato shells, skin side up, on broiler pan and brush with melted butter. Broil 5 inches from the heating coil for 4 to 5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Turn potatoes over and sprinkle cheese, tomato and green onions into the potato hollow. Return to oven and continue broiling about 1 to 2 minutes, until the cheese is melted and potatoes are hot. Serve hot with sour cream. Yield: 8 potato skins |
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Do you have a few tricks
and tips up your sleeve for ways you use up food items and leftovers? I'd
love to hear from you. You just might see yourself published right here in
this column! Send your ideas to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Everyday
Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135 Paramount, CA 90723. All correspondence becomes
the property of Cheapskate Monthly. Copyright 2004, Newspaper Enterprise Assn. | ||||||||
Charles Mims
Murphy's Sixth Law: If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
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