Best Use of Tomatoes

I just read a blog today with a recipe for baked tomatoes. It sounded so good. And very different plus it's super easy.

http://www.thenaptimechef.com/2010/07/baked-tomatoes-with-parmesan-herbs.html

Basically it's tomatoes, without the seeds plus a simple mixture of Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and spices baked to perfection. She even suggests cutting them up and serving with pasta.

canning for salsa
barter them for other goods

For me, using cherry tomatoes in a meat sauce is BRILLIANT. Put them in there to cook at a low temperature. I can't think of anything better.

You know I thought of a better idea. There's so much poverty and unemployment going on, and a lot of people are going to the food lines. You could donate them to the food pantry of a local church.

I know several poor people who are on disability and they tell me how much it means to them to have fresh food on the table instead of always eating that canned stuff from China.

I always go through my fridge about once every two weeks and anything that's about to go bad, but still fresh I bag up and take over to people less fortunate.

You could sell your tomatoes to a grocery store and use the money raised to fund a local food bank. Infact, if you went to a local grocery store and did this, that might inspire the store manager to donate some food that isn't selling to the local food bank as well.

Turn them into red glowing in the dark garden lanterns on Halloween.

You will need florescent markers
A couple of syringes
some water in a bowl
blacklights installed on your porch/outdoor lighting area

Open up florescent markers and put felted tip part in water. let sit for 1 hr.
remove felt and pour rest of fluid from markers into bowl. You should now have enough liquid to fill several tomatoes.

Fill syringes with glowing water liquid. Stab tomato with syringe and squeeze out glowing liquid every 1" sq. Do this with all of your tomatoes.

You can stop here and enjoy a simple soft blacklight glow from your tomatoes, but if you want them to really glow...

follow the following additonal instructions.
Instead of using highlighter fluid, substitute this with a brand of non-safety matches. You want something with high UV content, so check several brands with a blacklight. You want the brightest most whitest glowing matches you can find under the blacklight.

Carefully scrape away the match head powder with a knife. Caution: Flammable!

Collect your match head powder in a container and add an equal amount of bleach. Cap off container and disolve fully. Leave to stand for 20 minutes.

2 layers will have formed. Use a syringe to extract liquid. Turn out the lights and you have faintly glowing liquid. Stab tomato and insert with this fluid every 1".


Take a separate syringe and fill with hydrogen pyroxide Stab deeply into tomatoes with this syringe once or twice to get into the center and squeeze out.

And you have a brightly red glowing tomato, which can then be sliced and used for glowing decorations. Or perhaps a game of night hacky.

Obviously... don't eat it.

When my tomatoes start to bloom I am hoping to make salsa with them. Make up some salsa and can them.

* If you are growing heritage varieties, you can sell the seeds at markets.
* dried and preserved in oil, they can be kept for a long time and used in all sorts of dishes.
* can/preserve pasta sauces for winter
* if you have a fruit dryer, dry strips to add to dishes.

The best way I know how to get the most out of your surplus of tomatoes, is to make sure that they can last you as long as possible, by making different dishes with them and jarring the rest of them for future use. I recommend using the remainder of the tomatoes (that you don't use in salads or sandwiches) and making a nice marinara and then use some mason jars to jar them. I found a great recipe for a marinara that might be helpful ( http://fashionablyfoodie.blogspot.com/2008/08/fresh-tomato-marinara-sauce.html )and all you have to do to use it for spaghetti is add some well seasoned meatballs, or you can add seasoned ground beef and use the sauce for a lasagna. You can find mason jars at walmart, and if you haven't used them before, you can see this website for tips:
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general/recomm_jars_lids.html
You can also use the same jarring method and just put in some diced tomatoes for use in other recipes.
I hope this helps ;)

Pastas--trying making the sauces for different recipes. Sun-dry a bunch, then preserve them in olive oil and sesame seeds [or none if you don't like them]. Blend some with cilantro, garlic, chopped mushrooms and jar them.

Salsas--best to each with tortilla chips or cheese on bread. Chop tomatoes, onions, cilantro, add a little bit of vinegar, lots of olive oil, and a touch of sesame oil. Mix together, and it's delicious.

Hope this helps! :]
-JAC-

THE tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum) is a member of Solanaceae family, which includes drug, fruit, flowering, ornamental and narcotic plants, besides some vegetables like egg-plant, potato tubers and tomatoes. Tomato is a juicy and fleshy fruit. The red and yellow pigmentations in it are due to ‘lycopen’ and ‘carotene.’ The plant, due to extreme unpalatability, is not relished by any cattle.

Climate and soils: The plant does well in temperate areas that have frost-free conditions. The plant needs protection against the frost. Temperatures between 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit are best as any extreme can be detrimental to growth and fruit-formation.

Nutritive value: Despite jumps in retail prices in some months, it is consumed in every household. One pound of tomato provides refuse 12, food energy (Cal) 91, protein 4gm, fat 1.2gm, carbohydrates 16gm, calcium 44mg, phosphorus 108mg, iron 2.4mg, vitamin A 4,380 (I.U.), thiamine 0.24mg, riboflavin 0.16mg, niacin 2.5mg, and ascorbic acid 93mg.

Therapeutic value: Tomato juice is a home-remedy for children suffering from rickets. It is a good and natural blood purifier. It helps in digestion and keeps the stomach in order. Infants given tomato juice cut their teeth easily. Sucking of a tomato in the morning keeps the feeling of nausea and vomiting away from the expectant mothers.

Tomato juice is served as an appetizer before meals and if taken as a first thing in the morning reduces obesity. Tomatoes are, however, not advised in case of respiratory troubles, kidney problems and for the TB patients.

Other uses: Tomato is used both as green and ripe for edible purposes. It is eaten with ‘Salads’ or mixed with meat, pulse, and vegetable dishes. Slices of red tomato are used for garnishing.

It provides raw material to the country’s expanding canned food industry by producing juice, soups, paste, puree, and ketchups. Green tomatoes are filled in pies, cookies, mincemeat, sandwich — spread, in preserves and pickles.

In our part of the globe, the product is also used by irate audience to ‘boo and jeer’ their leaders who fall short in fulfilling their promises. In some parts, like Spain, tomatoes are freely used in food fights on an annual occasion ‘Tomatina’. Tons and tons are pelted at each other till the revellers are tired and exhausted.

In some families of the sub-continent rotten fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes are pelted between the members of the bride and groom’s families.

Freak plant: Tomato stem when grafted on the stem of potato plant results in a freak plant that produces both tubers (potatoes) below the ground and tomatoes above, which is given the name of ‘potamato.’