When Life Hands You Pears . . .

I have come to the conclusion that my family eats--a lot. The time before last, my grocery bill came to $108.00 and I only went around the perimeter of the store. Granted, I had to buy a bag of dog food and a case of beer, but still! That is a lot of fruit, dairy, eggs, & frozen food!
I have recently made the jump to the BIG cans of tomato soup. Interestingly enough, tomato soup is one of the few foods Nathan will ask me to make and really, really likes. Soon I will need to make 2 cans of tuna fish instead of 1 when we have sandwiches, too. Coming from a family with two girls, one of whom did not eat much (not me), I am entering into uncharted waters here.
Thankfully I do not stress about the grocery bill. It is one of the blessings I continually count that I do not have to choose milk vs. Kool-Aid or toilet paper vs. ice cream because we do not have the money to buy the healthier options or both if we wish. I am not a huge coupon clipper as they are more hassle than they are worth. Instead, I buy store brand items that are usually less expensive than the name brand item minus the coupon offered. As I have previously posted, I do have a few name brand standards--Miracle Whip, Velveeta, Cheerios & Wheaties among them. Since cereal is particularly expensive, the kids only get to choose a "fun" cereal if I have a coupon. This is something my mom did with my sister and me as well.
I am sure the experts suggest that if you want to save money when grocery shopping, it is wise to not take your children with you. Well, not one of those experts have called to offer to babysit, so I took Nathan & Teresa with me last week.
Nathan & I went a little crazy in the produce aisle. Strawberries were on sale, he loaded up the cart with two bunches of bananas (a staple in our house), we decided on a bag of apples, and I chose (I really don't know why) an entire box of Washington pears.
After we got home, I realized that although the pears were delicious, they would not last long enough for us to eat them all. Thankfully, the best part of having too much produce in the house is that you can always add a little butter, sugar, and cinnamon and turn them into something unhealthy! My friend Gretchen suggested I make a Pear Pie. I had never heard of pear pie, but since she is a nationally known food & wine freelance writer, I trusted her. I found this recipe and it was SO good! It takes much like apple pie and is the perfect fall dessert.
FRESH PEAR PIE
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon zest
5 cups peeled and sliced pears
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
Combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon rind in mixing bowl.
Arrange pears in layers in a 9 inch pastry lined pan, sprinkling sugar mixture over each layer. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Roll out remaining dough; cut slits for escape of steam. Moisten rim of bottom crust. Place top crust over filling. Fold edge under bottom crust, pressing to seal. Flute edge.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes.

Then yesterday I noticed that with all of our pear eating, the bananas were being ignored. I whipped these up before dinner:
LIGHTER BANANA MUFFINS
2 eggs, beaten
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup skim milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line 12 muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs and bananas. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture. Fold in walnuts if desired. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

These turned out very well and were not dry at all. I felt better knowing I hadn't turned my bananas into something totally unhealthy!

I better close this post as the kids and I are heading--where else?--to the grocery store this moring. Even though this family can eat quite a bit, I will try to control myself in the produce aisle today. On the other hand, what's the worst that could happen? Another pear pie?