Summer-squash muffins: 12 cents each

Odds are, you or someone you know is suffering right now from an overabundance of summer squash. No need to avoid eye contact with neighbors or pretend you’re not home. In fact, I say get your hands on as much as you can—you can grate it, freeze it in 3-cup increments, and use it to make muffins, which can last you months if you let them cool, then individually wrap them and put them in the freezer. That way you can either grab one on the way to work—it will probably be thawed by the time you get there—or zap it in the microwave or toaster oven for a minute or so; it’ll be just like fresh-baked. This recipe works with any kind of thin-skinned summer squash; this time around I used crookneck, pattypan and two different kinds of zucchini. Don’t even bother peeling them; just cut off the stem ends and run them through the grating disc on a food processor (or grate them by hand). Just think—a little elbow grease now could keep you in free squash (and cheap breakfasts/snacks) all the way until spring.

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes, but feel free to use your favorite recipe for zucchini bread—just substitute whatever squash you have on hand and bake it in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan.

• 3 cups grated summer squash (we got some free in our gifted CSA box): $0
• 3 cups flour: 30 cents
• 2 tsp cinnamon: 10 cents
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg: 10 cents
• Pinch of salt: 1 cent
• 2 tsp baking soda: 10 cents
• 2/3 cup butter (11 tablespoons), melted: 66 cents
• 2 tsp vanilla: 20 cents
• 2 eggs, beaten (garden): $0
TOTAL: $1.47/12 = 12 cents each

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the beaten eggs with the sugar. Add the vanilla, beaten eggs, melted butter, and grated squash.

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.

Portion into a nonstick muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for a few minutes, then let cool on a rack until room temperature. Wrap individually in plastic and freeze.