What do YOU do with Green Tomatoes?

Cold came early to Ohio this year. The garden subsequently met it's demise in the compost pile. Ever the "waste not want not" kind of person, I saved all the green tomatoes before trashing the plants. Now, what to do with all these unripe fruits? (that bowl is bigger than you think...)

Being from Arkansas, my Southern pride dictates that I immediately suggest Fried Green Tomatoes. However, since my waistline currently objects to such a proposal, I've been looking for ideas.

Our first endeavor: Salsa Verde with tomatoes instead of tomatillos
...sorta strange, but tolerable with salty enough chips...

Our next endeavor: enchiladas with green filling (not 'green enchiladas'-- that is different)
...a "gag"able dinner which Gwen absolutely refused to eat...

Our 3rd endeavor: baked green tomatoes with brown sugar and buttery club crackers (steadily becoming more and more unhealthy)
...good enough, better than the salsa, not something you would crave, but a fair use for excess green tomatoes...

and finally, because despite the scale's objections I couldn't NOT make some: Oven Fried green tomatoes (they are easier to keep from falling apart this way rather than pan-fried. Not one bit healthier, though!) are next on the menu!...

Don't even ask about my salvaging efforts with end of the season beet greens (not sweet and tasty like the spring variety)...

Pickles and Pests

Eric and I had 10 cucumbers ripe at one time. Perfect. We put together a batch of bread and butter pickles, which are not only my favorite kind of pickle anyway, but are tons easier than the ones you have to soak in a brine for 2 or 3 days. So here they are!

On a more tragic note: we lost 3 of our 6 zucchini squash plants almost over night because of squash vine borers. A fourth is in critical condition after undergoing intensive surgery. Inexperienced physician-- me. Eric keeps teasing about a malpractice lawsuit if the plant doesn't recover. Well, I was willing to try anything. Those nasty lil vine borers took our other 3 plants so quickly, I felt helpless so see them go from lush and fruitful to yellow and flopped on the soil within 24 hours. And with this 4th plant, as soon as I saw the entry hole with sick worm excrement leaking out of it I knew we would lose it too if I didn't do something. Rodale's suggests injecting with nematodes, which I figured would be the least amount of stress to the plants, but I went to 3 garden centers and none of them carried any. It must be a newer technology for fighting these nasty grubs. My only option, then, was to slice part of the stem, peel back the layers, find the grubs and kill them by hand, and bury the surgical site as best as possible to allow it to heal. Well, I did my best. Found 3 gross fat white grubs chomping on the inside stem of my precious yellow crookneck squash. They are dead now. Compost.

I've been babying the plant since. It is flopped and dead looking. All those beautiful 7-9 squash still only 2 inches at the longest. I really understand the scripture "it greiveth me that I should lose this tree" and I haven't even been laboring in the garden for more than a summer cultivating these seeds. Oh, the absolute agony our Lord must feel when he sees mankind falling from healthy faith into decay of apostasy. His hope lies in the faithful. My hope lies in the 5 small and young leaves that haven't yet succumbed to the stress and loss of 3/4 of their stem lifeline. I am praying the plant pulls through. If not, I will be very sad. Those nasty lil buggers. Anybody else lose their squash to these disgusting vine borers?

Baring my Soul

I used to keep an excellent journal. From Junior High, Highschool, and my first 2 years of college, I was an almost daily diligent writer. Then my mission happened, then 2 majors happened, then Eric happened, then working full time happened, then Gwen happened... and my journal writing has petered off to non-existent because I'm so pooped by the end of the day. So it occurred to me that my blog is a way to recapture that journaling habit. I post daily happenings and experiences. I only need to add some personal soul baring, and it is a bonafied journal. Here's to radical honesty:


I cringe every time I see a photo of myself.

Is that what I really look like? I don't feel that frumpy, but it definitely looks that way.I gained quite a bit of weight during my pregnancy with Gwen. Pretty normal, as far as pregnancies go, but I haven't really lost it. Just redistributed it. And since I was trying to get back in shape when we got pregnant, I have quite a ways to go before hitting my target. I decided during all the Easter festivities that as soon as the holiday was over I would finally go on a healthy diet. True to that commitment, I spent a few hours yesterday researching healthy caloric and nutritive intake levels for lactating women. I talked to friends who have been on successful healthy diets (not just the crash kind) to find out some tips and secrets for lasting motivation and enduring results. And then it really started to sink in.

This is going to be HARD work.

I have a long way to go. We got a scale last week so I've spent the week tracking my daily weight. I hover right around-- am I really about to share this information to the entire online bloggerdom?-- 170 pounds. Since my target is 145 (that's what I weigh when I'm fit and muscular. Without the muscle, it should be even lower for my height.), that is a 25 POUND LOSS! Those aren't going to peel off overnight, folks, or even in a couple of months. We're talking long term commitment if I want to reach this goal. It'll be difficult because:
a) I LOVE food! And gourmet international cooking! To me it sounds like a culinary disaster to replace key flavor ingredients with low/fat free substitutions or to skip those recipes altogether. Who wants to have feijouada without the various fatty meats? What if I want to grill lemon-barbeque pork ribs in the summer? What's a good chowder without cream? I know there are alternatives, but most reduce the flavor and therefore, enjoyment, of the food. I want complete freedom to pursue any recipe I find that sounds delicious, not a stunted range of options. Plus, I love to bake and enjoy cake decorating... how can I not eat it when it is sitting right there? This will be very challenging for me.
b) I am tired. and busy. It will be just too easy to make excuses for skipping my exercise each day.
c) but mostly because I am not sure I can really do it.

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid I will give in to temptation. I'm afraid I will lack willpower. I'm afraid I'll tire of healthy menus and snacks and indulge a little too often in a non-healthy recipe. I'm afraid there will be holidays, birthdays, and special social events that threaten my consistency. I'm afraid the weight will be stubborn in coming off. I'm afraid I'll compare myself to other, more successful postpartum moms. I'm afraid I will become frustrated. I'm afraid I will lose motivation after a short 2 weeks. I'm afraid I will fall terribly short of my goal. I'm afraid I will never feel confident about my figure again. I'm afraid I will never feel satisfied looking in the mirror again. I'm afraid of giving up and consigning myself to frumpdom for the rest of my life. I'm afraid I am not going to be able to do this. I'm afraid I don't have what it takes to stick it out to the end of my goal. I'm afraid of failure.

*sigh*. I know I can't have faith and fear at the same time. All things are possible if we put our faith in Christ. Funny to think that my diet matters to Him. "Fear not; Only believe"

I can't really ask you to pray for me and my 'diet' because that just sounds like a really shallow prayer. But if it occurs to you sometime in the next 6 months to pray for me to stick to my nutritional plan, I would be really grateful. I need all the support I can get. My plea is the same as the father who brought his sick daughter to Christ for healing and needed help doing his part:

"Lord, help Thou mine unbelief".

Thanks for letting me bare my soul.