Invariably after every bake sale, I’m left with a hodgepodge of odds and ends I can’t seem to bring myself to toss out–call it the “Chinese hoarding instinct” (oh, it’s real people)–forcing me to play freezer Jenja until a frozen quart container drops on my foot or bonks me on the head, violently knocking me out of my procrastination stupor. Ah, those hard decisions…to chuck or repurpose? After I’ve pulled out all the questionable items, I give myself about 10 seconds to decide A) is it even salvageable and B) does it inspire me to create something new. Clearly, if there’s so much frost and freezer burn I can’t tell what the hell it is in the first place, then it immediately goes into the compost bin. Even if the item is salvageable, I have to ask myself will I actually use it. Now, that’s a tough one. I’d like to say “sure, I can totally repurpose this” most of the time, though sadly that’s not the case. Truth is, I find myself often mumbling “why the hell did I bother saving this”…like that pint of guava whipped cream…or that small hunk of scrap pastry dough. It’s the Chinese hoarding instinct I tell you!

Lately, I’ve been trying to (with moderate success) cut back on impulse grocery shopping, both to save money and eat healthier. So, I’ve been foraging in my freezer and pantry for inspiration. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a ridiculous number of individually wrapped peeled bananas tucked along the upper shelf of my freezer door (11 to be exact). I can only surmise that in my haste to freeze a single overripe banana, I simply lobbed it into the shelf…11 times over. No wonder I had no space left for all the other random bits and bobs! Frozen bananas are wonderful to have on hand, but this was just silly. I unwrapped and thawed the bananas, then pureed them until smooth.

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I’m not much of a smoothie drinker so the obvious choice would’ve been a nice “healthy” loaf (or two) of banana bread–but I wasn’t feeling it. No, I was in the mood for something else. Having just done a light purge of the garage freezer, I remembered I had a pint of cream cheese frosting kicking around. Okay, I know it’s doesn’t rank high on the healthy meter, but Banana Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes with Cocoa Cream Cheese Frosting sounded amazing at the time. All I needed to do was chop up that Lindt bittersweet chocolate I bought on sale a few months back (one should always keep a bar of bittersweet chocolate in the pantry), and add more butter, powdered sugar, Dutch cocoa, and a touch of sea salt to stretch out the cream cheese frosting. And, voila…(virtually) instant gratification!

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Did I mention that it took far less time to bake and frost two dozen cupcakes than to bake two loaves of banana bread? Talk about win-win! And, no I did not blow up my diet (such that it was) downing two dozen cupcakes. I ate a couple over a three-day period and distributed the rest to friends and family.

The recipe I used is the one for my favorite all-purpose fruit/vegetable puree-based cake batter. It started out as a recipe for Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes, then I adapted it for both Banana and Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes, changing up the spices and flavorings. This time I added a little spiced rum, vanilla, and nutmeg to compliment the fragrant, ripe bananas. As for the frosting, you can pretty much use any basic cream cheese frosting recipe, just beat in 3/4 to 1 cup cocoa powder, a teaspoon of instant espresso or coffee. and a touch of sea salt.

My other freezer forage find was a half package of slightly frost-bitten lumpia/spring roll wrappers, which had gotten wedged along a gap between the shelf and freezer wall. After thawing out the package, I managed to salvage enough sheets to make a small batch of Lumpia Shanghai (about 8 rolls). To give my version a lighter texture and marginally healthier, I used a higher ratio of vegetables to ground pork.

The classic Lumpia Shanghai has a few ingredients-ground pork (fattier is better), shredded carrots, minced onion and garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt, ground pepper, and an egg to help bind the filling together. Since I was using more vegetables (also threw in finely chopped celery with leaves) than meat, I added a tiny amount of cornstarch to help absorb some of the excess moisture. I also flavored my filling with a touch of fish sauce and Maggi seasoning instead of soy sauce, and grated ginger. The key to rolling the lumpia is NOT to overfill. A heaping tablespoon of filling is more than enough. The lumpia fried at around 370F degrees for 5-7 mins.. until golden.

The garage freezer is due for another purge soon. Let’s see what else I can creatively repurpose.

Here’s the full recipe for my Vegetable Forward Lumpia Shanghai, which yields about 25 rolls.

• 8 oz. fatty ground pork
• 1/2 c. shredded carrot
• 1/2 c. minced onion
• 1/2 c. finely chopped celery with leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 t. grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, divided
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 2 t. fish sauce
• 2 t. Maggi seasoning
• 1 package Lumpia/Spring Roll wrappers, thawed
• neutral frying oil (vegetable or canola)

1. Combine the pork, vegetables, 1 egg, cornstarch, and seasonings in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with a spatula or chopsticks in a circular motion until the pork feels elastic.
2. Beat the remaining egg with a little water. Keep the wrappers covered with a slightly damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.
3. Lay a wrapper down with the pointed edge facing up. Place 1 tablespoon of filling onto the lower part of the wrapper.
4. Fold the bottom edge over the filling.
5. Fold both sides of the wrapper.
6. Roll the filling over and tuck in the folded edges.
7. Roll the filling to the top and dab eggwash along the top edge so you can seal the roll.
8. Heat about 1 1/2 ” oil in a skillet or wok to 365-370F degrees. Fry the lumpia in batches of 4-5 depending on the size of your pan until golden brown.

Banana Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes

Yield: about 2 dozen

• 2 c. + 1 T. all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 c. cake flour
• 3/4 t. kosher salt
• 2 1/4 t. baking soda
• 3/4 t. ground nutmeg
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1 c. + 2 T. vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 T. spiced or dark rum
• 2 c. banana puree
• 6 oz. coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate or dark chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Coat the chocolate chunks in 1 T. all-purpose flour; set aside. Sift the remaining flours, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.
3. Whisk together the eggs, sugars, vanilla, rum, and banana puree in a separate bowl.
4. Create a well in the center of the dry mix, then gradually whisk in the wet ingredients until just combined and smooth.
5. Stir in the flour-coated chocolate chunks.
6. Scoop the batter into lined cupcake/muffin molds. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 mins. or until tested done.
7. Cool completely before frosting.