Category: Tomato

Carrot Tomato Cupcakes

7/31/2017

I am a firm believer that if kids grow it they will eat it.
However, it’s still fun to find “sneaky” ways to disguise vegetables into tasty treats. A healthy dose of carrot cupcakes is always a fun way to use the root vegetables and actually a common cake flavor today. However, topping it with a tomato frosting is a bit shocking and surprisingly yummy!

Try serving the carrot cupcake with tomato frosting as a side dish at dinner and surprise them when you tell them it’s their side of vegetables. Of course, I would also include the raw versions of the vegetables on the plate too and ask them to compare and contrast the flavor profiles between them. But that’s me!!!

Ingredients:
Cake
1 box pound cake (I like the Betty Crocker mix) – plus ingredients listed on box
1 bunch of grated carrots (about 1 cup)
1 tsp ginger spice
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Frosting
2 packages cream cheese
½ cup whipped cream
1/2 cup pureed tomato (remove skin first)
2 cups sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place paper baking cups in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Mix cake mix as listed on box. Stir in ginger spice, pumpkin spice and carrots.
Cook cupcakes as directed on box and let cool.
While cooling, combine all frosting ingredients in mixer or with spoon. Mix until light and fluffy.
Using a spatula, add frosting to cupcakes.
Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

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Tomato in a Bottle?

7/29/2017

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Tomatoes have glossy, thin, smooth skin. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are oval, some are tear-dropped shape, and a lot are the same size of a tennis ball.

So how did I get one inside this bottle? The bottle isn’t cut anywhere. How did it get in there?

Hmmmm…if you can keep a secret I’ll show you what I did.

What’s Needed:

Plastic bottle

Budding tomato plant

A bottle with a tomato inside is actually called an “Impossible Bottle.” These bottles have things in them that are too big to have been put through the hole on top, like a ship or a tomato. (Ships are actually put into the bottles in pieces or special hinges, but tomatoes have to be grown in there.)

Use a plastic bottle that is light enough to put on the plant without weighing it down too much. A water bottle works great.
When the tomato first starts to grow, gently insert it (still attached to the branch) through the bottle’s top.

The bottle then acts like a mini-greenhouse and actually helps the tomato ripen even faster. It holds in extra moisture and heats up at the same time. (If it gets too hot though your tomato could get scorched. If you have a shady spot to move the plant to you should.) Then, water your tomato plant as you normally do and just wait.

The tomato will start to grow and actually turn red inside the bottle. Once the tomato looks fully ripe, ask an adult helper to carefully snip it from the stem. Screw on the cap and there you have it – a tomato in a bottle. Go impress your friends and family!

Adult Helpers: Try this with fruits your yard too. Apples, pears or peaches are great. Just make sure they have a long enough stem that would look extraordinary in a bottle.

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Crunchy Cucumber Salsa

5/4/2017

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Cinco de Mayo may not be an official American holiday but any day I have an excuse to use veggies from the garden count me in! I would absolutely love to grow a flower that could pop like a piñata when squeezed but until then my favorite cucumber salsa recipe will have to get the family celebration stated!
My family loves growing cucumbers and tomatoes and eating them fresh from the garden is something we love even more. For a long time we just ate the two side by side, until we finally got the idea to mix them together. Yummy! This cucumber salsa is a great way to soften the heat in traditional Mexican salsa and is fun for kids to mix up the chunks. It’s also easy to eat and tastes great alone on a spoon or on top of a tortilla or even hot dog!
Be sure to let me know what your kids think of this one or what you do to change up the flavors with ingredients straight from your garden.

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Cucumber Salsa
Ingredients straight from the garden:
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small pepper, seeded and minced

Add in other ingredients:
2 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dill (dried) - 1 teaspoon if you have fresh
2 teaspoons of fresh cilantro minced - optional
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a medium bowl stir together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for an hour…if you can wait that long. Serve with tortilla chips or eat straight from the bowl! It’s even great on top of hot dogs or in a sandwich!

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Carrot Tomato Cupcakes

Tomato in a Bottle?

Crunchy Cucumber Salsa

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