A Leap Month of Little Joys and Satisfactions: When Trying Something New, I Baby-Step My Way In -- My Carob-Chocolate Brownies

Kris touched on this a little the other day in the comments about trying to decide how much pureed pumpkin to use in a recipe as a substitute for oil/butter in a batch of pumpkin bread. She suggested to try a little bit to start and see how the final product turned out. Then, the next time, use a bit more and see what the results are like.

This is exactly how I approach this sort of situation. If I'm just baby-stepping my way with a recipe, trying a small amount of the "new" ingredient, there's less chance it will turn out horrible and a greater chance we will still like the end result. My "usual" formula is to try using 1/4 of the new ingredient to use as a substitute. 

This month when I was cleaning the baking cupboard, I came across a baggie of carob powder. I used to love carob, so when I saw it again I thought I'd enjoy it as a substitute in hot cocoa. for my own taste, it was too fruity and lacked the bitterness that I enjoy in cocoa powder. so the baggie just sat in the cupboard until I found it in my cabinetry excavations.

Yesterday, I was wanting to make some brownies, but we're very low on cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is not a necessity (I could hear several gasps through the internet just now), so it's not high on my grocery priority list. (The best price on cocoa powder is a 20-30 minute drive from my house. I'll pick some up when I'm down that way again.) Anyway, I wanted to make brownies, yet also wanted to spare some of the cocoa powder. Remembering the baggie of carob powder, I decided to substitute 1/4 of the called-for cocoa powder with carob. The brownies came out delicious and absolutely no one knew any different.

Trying just a little at a time is also a good strategy for using up less desirable foodstuffs. I occasionally will get this wild idea to buy a package of seaweed, even though I know I don't like the taste of the stuff. When I come across a lingering package of seaweed in the pantry, I use it up in tiny, tiny amounts added to something like tuna casserole, or chicken soup, or stir fry. The first time i will try a small square of the seaweed torn into tiny bits. The next time, I'll add a bit more, and so on, until it's just too flavorful for me. 

Baby steps. I risk less while trying something new.

A Leap Month of Little Joys and Satisfactions: Tasty Meals for the End of the Month

Friday

Friday

fried, marinated tofu slices on bed of brown rice and smothered with gravy from the freezer

mashed Hubbard squash

cabbage and sprouts slaw

Saturday

Saturday

scrambled eggs and onions

shoestring fries

carrot sticks

boxed stuffing

Sunday

Sunday

baked bean burritos in homemade flour tortillas

corn and tomato relish

Monday

Monday

Thanksgiving gravy soup, using last of the container of gravy, vegetables, and lentils, topped with oyster crackers

pumpkin spice bread with cream cheese

Tuesday (daughter's night)

spicy corn and tomato soup

mac and cheese with sausages

Wednesday

Wednesday

tuna and tofu sandwiches on homemade whole wheat bread

oven fries

artichokes (marked-down produce -- 3/$1)

canned green beans

Thursday (other daughter's night)
cookout of hotdogs in buns and various salads (and no, it wasn't warm enough for a cookout -- we froze, but my daughter really wanted to have a cookout)


Wednesday's tuna and tofu sandwiches were quite good, and absolutely no one at the table noticed the tofu. (I used tofu to add protein while stretching the tuna.)

My mind is fried as I type this up. On Thursday, I woke up a couple of hours earlier than usual after hearing a plane fly over our house. We live near a small airport that just began commercial flights a year ago. The commercial flights are not supposed to begin for the day until 6 AM. This was around 5 AM that I heard a plane. It must have been one of Boeing's, which do occasionally fly at odd hours. (Boeing has a major plant near us (using the same airfield), and they run shifts around the clock.) I got up and didn't realize it was just after 5 until I was in the kitchen making coffee. Anyway, I'm just not functioning well.

It was a good week, although very busy. I'm making a large pot of chicken soup today, some to eat for dinner and some to freeze. Now that we've gone through most of the  blackberries that we foraged last summer, we have quite a bit of space in one of the freezers -- room for some homemade freezer meals.

I hope your week was a good one. What was on your menu? Any special plans for the weekend?