As promised, I’ll share my method (not recipe, because a lot of the time, I’m winging it and not following a recipe) for one of my freezer fillers.  At least once a week for the past several weeks, I’ve been buying a bucket of “seconds” tomatoes–for a dollar a bucket.  Since we use a lot of canned fire roasted tomatoes in various recipes all year, I thought I’d just make my own and freeze them to use this winter.

In their raw form, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, but since it is heat sensitive, cooked tomatoes don’t contain much vitamin C to speak of.  The cooked form, especially when there is a little oil present (olive oil is a favorite choice around here), the antioxidant Lycopene is readily available–it is protective of men’s prostate health, which is something we can all appreciate:  the men for obvious reasons, and the women who love them…Here is what I do:

1 bucket of seconds tomatoes, cored and cut in half along the stem side (not equator)

splash of olive oil (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 cup)

Stir/toss the tomato halves gently with a spatula or spoon so that they are all evenly coated with the olive oil.  Fire up the grill (I use gas, and set the burners to medium high) and let it heat up.  Using tongs, I place each tomato half, cut side down on the grill, and close the lid.  After a few minutes, or when I start to see smoke, I turn the halves over so that the skin is on the grill.  You may have to arrange and rearrange the tomatoes based on how fast they are cooking due to size or hot spots on the grill.  Let them grill for a few more minutes.  Start turning them over to see how charred the skins are.  I let a few of them get quite charred, while others not as much.  They are done when quite mushy and you are slightly afraid they might slip through the grill bars.  Some can be more mushy than others.  Put them in the bowl you tossed them around in originally and let cool a bit.  Then you puree them in the food processor of your choice and store in a quart sized freezer safe container.  I usually add a little smoked salt when I puree them, but you don’t have to salt at all–taste and decide for yourself!

Enjoy!

Whenever I start working with a new client, I gather the information I’ll need at www.mypyramid.gov to come up with a starting place in determining their calorie needs.  I encourage them to visit the same site and follow their curiosity around it, answering questions they might have about such things as portion size–what counts as an ounce of grains??–what fits into which food group–are beans a ‘meat’ or a ‘vegetable’?–and on…

In addition to breaking daily calorie needs down into how much is needed from each food group, your plan will show you how many cups per week of green and orange vegetables you need, and how many cups of beans and starchy vegetables a week you need.  I have to admit that it took me a while to consider these “extra” recommendations and incorporate them into my own life, but the more I learned about their role in supporting a healthy lifestyle and efficient metabolism, the more motivated I was to incorporate the routines and new habits that would set me up for success.

I’ll be the first to admit that some weeks, for example, I’ll focus on getting the ideal amount of dry beans in my diet so much so that I come up short on my orange veggie intake.  It is not easy to keep all of these nutrition balls in the air, so I have decided to look at it this way:  If each week I focus on not only getting what I need on a daily basis from each food group, and one of the weekly goals is accomplished, I’m doing pretty good.  And if those weekly goals keep rotating, I’m doing even better.

I’m always amazed at how much I learn from my public speaking engagements as well as private clients.  Recently I spoke at a school, and afterward had a fascinating conversation which led me to seek out my latest ingredient of choice:  Coconut oil.

I had learned that coconut oil was the only plant source of dietary cholesterol–not true!  Not only is coconut oil cholesterol free, but it is made up of Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCT’s, which make a bee-line from our GI tract to our liver, requiring no bile salts to digest them, and are used as energy.  According to some brief research, coconut oil appears to be protective of liver health, boosts our immune system and increases the efficiency of our metabolism.  All good things!

As often is the case when I learn about an unfamiliar ingredient, especially if it has numerous health benefits, I start thinking of ways to use it.  Anyway I was sold, not to mention curious, so I picked up a jar of the stuff the next time I went grocery shopping.  It has the lovely and delicate aroma of fresh coconuts and a pearly white appearance.  I’ve been experimenting with it when I make anything from Brownies (check out the recipe I’ve posted!) to sauteed shrimp and haven’t been disappointed so far.  If anything, I’ve been inspired to continue experimenting!  On this cold night in Southeast Michigan, I’m tempted to see what happens when I use it to make popcorn.  I’ll let you know how it turns out…