Hunger in Your Own Backyard

Blogger’s Note: This post is dedicated to raising awareness about hunger.  The campaign, Food Bloggers Against Hunger, comes in response to the documentary “A Place at the Table,” about hunger in America (Links from of the New York Times article).

I’ve always wanted to volunteer in a food bank dining room. Since I’ve re-discovered the joys of cooking, my desire to volunteer in a dining room, particularly the kitchen, is more. I have always felt that giving your time and skills and connecting to those who are in need would be extremely fulfilling.

Last fall, along with six others from work, I had an opportunity to volunteer for Loaves and Fishes, a local food bank dining room. We started at 9:15 am and after completing the necessary forms and orientation, began work almost immediately. Work was hard and almost non-stop. We set-up and cleaned the tables, prepared the bread and the salads (both vegetable and fruit salad), and hand-cut the pre-made desserts. I was assigned to cut and put margarine on the bread, so none of my (healthy) cooking experience applied. In fact, my ‘bread partner’ suggested that we put as much margarine on the bread to give each diner as many calories as possible.

A line was already forming before the dining room opened at 11 am. Once the dining room opened, we started serving. We were a bit slow at first, but then we got into a rhythm. When things slowed down, I took a break. It was around noon, and I was already tired – a good tired though. I just did not realize it until I stopped moving.

Some observations:

·      The main course has good yet inexpensive protein in it. When we were there on Monday, we were serving red beans and rice (with bits of chicken). My friends said that the rice and beans were good. I am allergic to legumes, so I did not have any. I can’t imagine - if someone who cannot afford to purchase food also has allergies to the meal of the day. That person may be stuck with just a green salad and fruit for that entire day.

·      Families, most likely single parent families, take advantage of the free lunches. I remember helping a young mother with a baby and two other small children – my goodness; she had her hands full, in more ways than one.

·      The dining room gets the most people close to the end of the month. This is when folks are running out of money to buy food and need the most help.

·      Because of these tough economic times, even working people take advantage of these free weekly lunches. These are the working poor. I saw several folks in scrubs with their families. These are clearly people with jobs, but just cannot afford three meals a day.

·      The homeless people took advantage of the free loaves of bread available for their taking. A loaf of bread can be easily transported and can last two or three days unrefrigerated. Since the dining room is only open at lunch, the bread can help to relieve their hunger at breakfast or dinner. In addition to bread, we also gave to-go containers of red beans and rice to those in need. These containers were usually recycled containers of cottage cheese or sour cream or even disposable pie tins.

·      For beverages, we had milk, water, and some sort of fruit punch made from the leftover fruit cocktail syrup and powdered juice mix. It had a murky purple color and did not look very appetizing. Surprisingly, or maybe not, people still drank it. Hopefully, through donations and subsidies from the state, some better beverages can be obtained, moving forward.

·      The dining room is only open during the week, Monday through Friday, for lunch. How will these needy people eat during the weekend?

·      Dessert is such an equalizer: even the hungry folks love desserts, especially chocolate. Loaves and Fishes get donations from local grocery stores and even gourmet cupcake bakeries (the cupcakes looked and tasted really good – I had one). The desserts that they get are probably not the healthiest, but that is probably the least of their concerns.  I mentioned that I love to bake, and would like to donate some of my cookies and brownies, from time to time. The dining room manager said that they would accept desserts if they know the person providing them.

·      When serving anyone in need, be sure you are wearing a smile. It may be the first or only smile that they have seen in a long time. At the very same time, be respectful. Just because they are in need of some food, it does not mean that they do not need and deserve respect too.

We fed almost 200 people that day: served almost two huge trays of beans and rice, one and half trays of buttered bread, tons of green salad, a tray of fruit salad, and lots of “fruit punch.” The loaves of bread in the huge shelves were gone at the end of service. The dining room manager said that they rely on sales from the attached thrift shop, their volunteers, and some public donations. Clearly this is not enough. More resources are needed to ensure that hunger is eliminated in this country. We are one of the most prosperous nations in the world; it is rather embarrassing, let alone quite sad, to have our own in this country sleep without a decent meal.

I am hoping to volunteer again this year, if not there, at the County Food Bank (I have some medical issues that may prevent me from volunteering at the Dining Room this year).  I learned a lot from my volunteer experience at Loaves and Fishes: hunger is not necessarily limited to those who are homeless or unemployed, but may also include people who have jobs and/or do not have enough resources to feed themselves or their families. At the end of the day, I was with mixed feelings about the experience. It was so sad to see the face of hunger in my own backyard, but yet, I felt much fulfillment in my being able to provide some help, at least just for one day.

Krispy Marshmallow Brownies

Brownie time! I still had most of the ingredients for brownies and have marshmallows, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips left. So I thought - marshmallow brownies. I found the Brownie Mallow Bars recipe in AllRecipes.com and decided to start from that.

Making the Brownie

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. 
Step 2: Mix brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs in a large bowl until smooth; spread into prepared baking dish. 
Step 3(a):  Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes.

Batter up!

The original recipe used a brownie mix. Instead of using a mix, I used my Basic Brownie recipe, also adapted from AllRecipes (Original recipe is this one). I’ve used that numerous times, and it has the added bonus that I have most of the ingredients for it already.  I am not a huge fan of using brownie mix because I am not sure what preservatives are used in the mix.

Adding the Marshmallows

Step 3(b): Sprinkle marshmallows over brownie and continue baking until slightly melted, about 3 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Since I was not sure if my husband would like the marshmallow brownies, I decided to use half of the batter for mallow bars and the other half for regular brownies.  Also, I do not have enough marshmallows left, so this plan works out.

The marshmallows that I had left were regular-sized marshmallows, not minis. At first, I thought I'd cut it in half, but I figured that once it melts, it will shrink a bit (Boy, I was wrong on that one). The marshmallows puffed up; it reminded me of the marshmallow man in Ghostbusters. 

Poofy and Gooey - not too bad!

I thought about scooping some of the melted marshmallows out, but decided to go with what I have. It actually shrunk after it cooled down and gave the brownies a really gooey feel.

Crispy Component

Step 4: Heat chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a saucepan over low heat; cook and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in rice cereal. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate until firm; slice brownies to serve.

I followed the instructions for the rice krispies. Instead of peanut butter, I decided to use up the remaining peanut butter chips in the pantry. As I was preparing this, I thought that there were too much chocolate and peanut butter so I started adding more Rice Krispies. I’ve been making my own version of chocolate rice krispy treats for about a month now so I thought that that is the consistency that I needed, I should have looked at the picture, since the proportion of chocolate/peanut butter mix is more in this recipe. Oh well, I ended up with extra Rice Krispy treats!

Yum! See the marshmallows shrunk.

The Verdict

The finished product was extremely decadent. Love the chocolate brownies, the gooeyness of the marshmallows, and the crunchiness of the rice krispies. I think I should have added a bit more peanut butter since I can hardly taste it and my husband, Mr. Peanut Butter Man, would probably not even detect it. Also, for optimum crunch, enjoy these with 2-3 days; they will not last that long anyway.

Tofu Pancakes Like Mom Used to Make

Several meatless Mondays ago, I had a craving for tofu pancakes. I wanted something similar to what Mom used to make for Dad when I was a kid: crushed tofu with egg. It was not really my favorite as a kid, but now that I acquired a taste for tofu, I seem to be craving it - sort of like comfort food, but not really.

I consulted my favorite recipe book (Google, as you remember) and found some options. Unfortunately, the ones that I found did not use eggs. All the tofu pancakes that I found were vegan; therefore, eggs were not used. I also found recipes for Tofu Chocolate Cakes, which maybe a great project, but not right now.

Finally, I ran into a recipe for Tahu Telur, an Indonesian dish courtesy of NDTV Cooks. It seemed like it had the components of what Mom used to make, but a lot of extras. This seemed promising.

Preparation and Cooking

I pretty much stuck to the recipe, but I cut it in half since it will only be my husband and me, Well, sort of... I eyeballed the half-part. I started with the omelets first (or patties). The recipe called for three tofu squares and three eggs. Growing up in the Philippines, the squares were much smaller than the blocks that are sold in our grocery stores in California. I also started with one egg, but ended up using two.

Prepping

I wanted a bit more fiber on it. I looked in my vegetable crisper for options, and the carrots seemed to call to me. I went ahead and shredded about a quarter of a cup. I think using two eggs helped here. I also added a dash or two of garlic powder, since I was concerned that the cakes may turn out to be a bit bland.

Tofu mixture in progress

I opted to make the tofu patties a bit smaller than saucer size. These are more small hamburger patty size. I've read that to fry these patties, it is best to get it brown on one side then flip it. Flipping it prematurely may cause it to fall apart.

Patties on the fryer: Only fits three at a time

While the tofu patties were frying, I cooked the sauce. This time, I stuck to the recipe with no improvisations. The sauce was soy sauce based with onions, tomatoes, and sugar. I was planning to make a simpler sauce, but I thought it would be better to stick to the original recipe for now to see what works and what does not.

Sauce Cooking - Smells great with the garlic and onions

The Verdict

These took a bit longer to cook than I thought. I was hungry, so that may have been a factor.  After it was done, it was worth it. It did remind me of Mom's tofu pancakes. I was planning to have them with rice for (a now late) lunch, but I can imagine these being served as appetizers.

Entree portion: My lunch!

My husband's portion: Appetizers only

Other options

Since I had left-over tofu and quinoa, I decided to make these again as a tofu/quinoa pancake. I did not have green onions left, but I kept the carrots.  I used these patties for a sandwich and used a honey mustard dressing instead. This combination was equally good: the quinoa provided a nuttiness to the patties, but I did miss the flavor of the onions. The onions provided some sweetness and freshness. Also, the honey mustard dressing was good, but not as good as the sweet soy/tomato sauce.

A less successful combination was my attempt to make tofu balls. I added some breadcrumbs to bind the balls, but I think I did not use enough. It ended up as tofu slider patties. Oh well, it's still good and went on another sandwich. More experiments are needed for the tofu balls.

My Basic Brownie Recipe

I love brownies. Over the years, I had probably spent a lot of money buying a brownie every week. About a year ago, I decided to try to make it myself, primarily so I can save some money. 


I used pre-packaged brownie mixes before, but most of what I found had partially hydrogenated oils in it (translate: TransFats). Mixes also contains a lot of preservatives, so there goes the idea of controlling ingredients. I was thinking to perhaps make it low-fat, wheat-free, or just purely decadent. To get in a healthier mode, I decided to find a recipe from scratch.

I found the Mmm-mmm Brownies recipe from Allrecipes.com. It was simple enough for someone like me, who was just getting back to baking, can follow. After the first try, I decided to change the proportions a bit, maybe substitute the ingredients for something else, and now, it looks like a totally different recipe.

The directions are still similar to the original in Allrecipes, but the revised ingredients and instructions (for your convenience) are below.

Mixing them together.... with nibs, of course.

Mmm-mmm-much Better Brownies

Based on Mmm-mmm Brownies recipe from Allrecipes.com

Original recipe makes 1 9 x 9 inch pan.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Variations

• Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips instead of walnuts. Better yet, do it in add them to walnuts. I tried using peanut butter chips, but I think this ended up to be too heavy.
• Add 1/3 cup of cocoa nibs for that extra crunch.
• Use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour to reduce the gluten. This makes it friendlier for folks watching their phosphorus. Makes for a softer brownie.
• Replace butter with mashed bananas, preferably overripe. If you prefer, add about 2 Tbsp of butter to keep it moist. Will keep for a couple of days.
• Add coconut flakes on top for a tropical feel.
• And lastly, my favorite! Use mini-muffin tin to bake the brownies. It bakes in about 10-12 minutes and makes the perfect two-bite serving. Great for potlucks! I haven't figured out how to remove the bump though.

Brownie bites with a dusting of confectioners sugar

Happy Baking!

Cream Sauce Virgin

I still had some pumpkin gnocchi leftover and was getting tired of the brown butter sauce. So I consulted my favorite recipe book, Google, for some possibilities.

Hmmm.... Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce - sounded interesting. One problem: I did not have Gorgonzola, and I was not sure if I will like it. Also, I am watching my cholesterol and am not too thrilled about using heavy cream. Let's keep looking, but we'll refine the search to include "light." in it.

I found this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, but I still had a dilemma on not having Gorgonzola cheese and did not want to go to the store. I also did not have any milk, nor hazelnuts. Improv time: Substitute Parmesian for gorgonzola, almond milk for milk, and sliced almonds for hazelnuts.

I decided to cut the sauce recipe in half, since I do not have that much pasta left. The result was pretty good; I was so proud of myself. The almond milk reduced nicely, and thickened with the butter. Also, the addition of the cheese thickened it more, giving a wonderful creamy, cheesy consistency.

The one flaw was that it seemed a bit bland, even with the addition of pepper and a dash of salt. I decided to add some garlic powder - okay, about a half a tablespoon of garlic powder. I figured that powder would work better since I am adding it at the end.

End result was pretty good. My husband did say that he thought I put too much garlic in the sauce, but I thought it was perfect with the gnocchi and broccoli. The pasta and veggies seemed to have mellowed the garlic. In researching it, it looks like I created an alfredo-style sauce, but may be missing some ingredients.

It's still good, and I consider it a success.  Now, I am more daring to try similar sauces. Light versions, of course.

Going Bananas? Make Banana "Ice Cream"

We had a delivery from Safeway last week that included eight free bananas - eight bananas! Too much for two people and cat. We thought that this was a great deal since in addition to the fruit, it also included free delivery. We also thought that we can finish all that bananas. After all, my husband had visions of peanut butter filled bananas as a snack.

Well, that did not happen, and we still had six bananas! Now, they're getting brown.

I remembered reading about banana ice cream from frozen bananas; that seems like a great option for the remaining six. So, I put the whole bananas in the freezer: peel and all.

Bananas in a blender - Puree & Stir

Over the week, I finally got around to making Banana Ice Cream based on the recipe from Sparkpeople.com. This recipe is a combination of peanut butter and bananas so it follows my husband's vision.

One problem though: I did not peel the bananas first. DUH!

I searched Google again for possibilities and found a lot of options. What I tried is the technique shown in Happy Herbivore.com. I got my trusty knife and surprisingly, the bananas did peel easily. The fruits were extraordinarily cold though, so it helped to put on a latex glove.

I followed the recipe - but there was another problem: I do not have a food processor. I had to use my blender, which did not quite like pureeing frozen bananas without anything liquid. It needed a little bit of liquid, so I had to add a bit of almond milk (about 1/4 c). I figured the nuttiness of the almond milk would compliment the peanut butter. After adding the almond milk, the pureeing came easier. Still, a lot of stirring was involved.

Verdict

The result was actually pretty good. Pureed frozen bananas turned out to be surprisingly creamy. I wanted to try the recipe as-is first and see if we need to increase the peanut butter. My husband said we should.

I served this batch with some light whipped cream and peanut butter granola for crunch. The granola also tied to the hint of the peanut butter flavor of the ice cream. I think next time, we'll try 1 Tbsp instead. 

Serving it in a ramekin also added a touch of elegance to it. I could have gone overboard and added chocolate syrup, but I opted for simplicity for this one and focusing on the natural flavors of fruit and nut, with a hint of cream. It was yummy, almost like ice cream.

Perhaps next time, I will use the recipe at Herbivore.com that uses vanilla and cinnamon or maybe some combination of it. Vanilla and Peanut Butter does sound great together.

Just goes to show: When life gives you bananas, make banana faux-ice cream. Until next batch.

Popovers!

My husband cleaned our oven over the weekend, and I am dying to use it. Yesterday morning, I was in the mood for pop-overs and decided that it should be my first project with the clean oven.

I started out with the popover recipe in AllRecipes.com. I really did not want to use normal milk because I am watching my dairy intake, so I thought I would try a low calcium soy milk. I used Classic Soy Dream, which we always have in the refrigerator. Since I am starting to drink Almond Milk, I thought I would try baking it with Silk Almond Milk, but since that particular brand of soy milk had lower calcium, I thought I would try that for today. Maybe Almond milk next time.

I also do not have a popover pan (yet), so I had to use my muffin pan. I think this will work out nicely.

Finished Product: Warm Popovers

I remembered seeing popovers made in the Food Network, most likely "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" with Guy Fieri. I looked for the tips from that show. I wrote "Hot Pan, Warm Batter". I also wrote "definitely use a popover pan," but it is too late for that.

I also found that I did not have cooking spray, which I usually use when baking. As always, in my kitchen, we need to improvise again, and use melted butter. Should still do the trick, right?

Yummy with Marmalade and PB!

As I prepared the batter, I warmed the oven and popped the pan in with solid butter cubes. I figured that the oven will melt it for me. After a few minutes, I removed the pan and spread the melted butter on the sides, and popped it back in the oven. This may be a mistake, since the butter did brown a bit once the batter was ready.

The popovers came out good. Unlike my first attempt where I used rice milk, these popped beautifully. It looked a bit too brown, but they tasted great and not burnt at all. I think for next time, I may either reduce the cooking time, cooking temp, or maybe both?

My husband also loved the result. Being a self-proclaimed peanut butter-aholic, he filled his with peanut butter, while I filled mine with orange marmalade. That was so good, we even had one that was PB&J. Later in the day, I tried a savory version with cream cheese - it was equally good.

'Looking forward to the next version.