Smoke or “sun-dry” tomatoes for pastas, salads, soup garnishes, crumbled for dips, or even blended with oil and garlic for dipping bread.    These tomatoes will last longer than fresh or jarred sauce.  Because they’re not cheap to buy already dried, doing the drying yourself will save you a lot of money, and give you a unique ingredient to cook with in your kitchen.

First, wash the tomatoes thoroughly, and make sure all the green tops are plucked.  If you’re picking the tomatoes from your yard and they’re cracked, no worries.  Cut along the middle of the tomatoe or along the crack, and lay the tomatoes face up on a cookie sheet that’s been covered with foil.  If your tomates are small, it will take quite a few tomatoes to fill a cookie sheet. Once you’ve filled the cookie sheet, crack black pepper over the tomatoes.

If you have a smoker grill, set the grill to the lowest smoke temperature, and place the cookie sheet on the grill.  Depending on how fast your grill smokes, drying the tomatoes will take about 6-8 hours.  If your grill has a flame, I don’t recommend doing them over a direct flame as the grill will get too hot, and burn the tomatoes.

If you don’t have a grill, set your oven to its lowest baking temperature. If you have a convection oven, the process will go even faster because of the air circulating through the oven.  In the oven, you can expect 4-8 hours, depending on your lowest temperature (mine’s 170 degrees) and whether or not you have a convection setting.

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Tags: Garden, Gardening, Smoked Tomatoes, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Tomatoes
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »

Our growing season up here in Wyoming is quite short (Memorial Day to Labor Day) so growing a full garden is kind of hard. But there are a few things that I find are worth the time to grow at home as there is a great return in my investment. I usually buy basil plants already started, because I want to harvest my basil early and not mess with starting them from seeds. At around $3.00 for a 3-4 inch pot of basil it may seem expensive. However I have found that if you look at each container closely you may find that there are actually 4 or 5 little basil plants in each pot. So I carefully separate each individual basil seedling and plant it separately in the garden. I usually buy 5 or 6 pots of basil and end up with 20-30 basil plants which yields me armloads of fresh basil perfect for turning into fresh pesto which I freeze for use year-round.

This recipe is my adaptation on any standard pesto recipe that you can find in any good cookbook. It is adapted to include fresh spinach leaves, which when there is a good sale and coupon combo on Fresh Express or Dole salad mixes that also include baby spinach I can usually get for free after coupons in the Summer months. Many pesto recipes call for pine nuts which are great if you can find them, however in a pinch I have found that walnuts work great and are often cheaper ounce for ounce than pine nuts. The most expensive ingredient ends up being the olive oil, while I am always on the lookout for a great deal on olive oil with my coupons and usually have a nice stockpile of a few bottles, if you cannot score a deal with your coupons, then just buy a large bottle and compare the unit price to make sure you are getting the best deal.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves, Packed
• 2 Cups Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves, Packed
• 1 Cups Parmesan Cheese (freshly grated is best, but because I am cheap sometimes I go ahead and use the Kraft brand)
• 1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 6 Medium Garlic Cloves, Peeled
• 2/3 Cup Pine Nuts (or Walnuts)
• Salt & Pepper To Taste

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Tags: Basil, Garden, Homemade Pesto, Pesto, Pesto Recipe, Spinach
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The month of August kicks off some great shopping and deals! Part of learning how to save the most money is knowing when the best time of year is to purchase items at their rock bottom prices.

Back to School: It is a given that August is the month to stock up on all of your back to school supplies. The sales at office supply stores (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max), national chain stores (Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart) and drug stores (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid) are where the best deal are at. Grab your kids’ school supplies list and look for the best deals. Don’t just buy for the first day of school though, think about what you will need year round as replacements (pencils, glue, crayons, paper, etc) and purchase enough to last the year round. Don’t forget about supplies you may need at home for homework too. Many of the office supply stores have great 1 cent, 5 cent and other super cheap deals with a limit of one deal per person. So take the kids in with you, give them each a buck and teach them some math skills by letting them buy their own back to school supplies!

Tip! – No kids at home that’s ok August is also a great time to fill your home office supply drawer or closet with pencils, pens, glue, staples, paper clips and paper too. I buy not just for my kids but also for my home office too!

Back to school office supply deals to be watching for:

• Backpacks
• Book Covers
• Calculators
• Colored Pencils
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Folders
• Glue
• Lunch boxes & lunch bags
• Markers
• Notebooks
• Page Dividers
• Paper (both note book paper and copy paper)
• Paper Clips
• Pencil Sharpeners
• Pencils
• Pens
• Rubber Bands
• Rulers
• Staples & Staplers

Back to school grocery deals to be watching for: School supply shopping does not end in the office supplies section of the store. Deals are to be had on some great grocery items. Think “School lunches” when you think about the grocery sales as well as convenience foods for breakfast. August also kicks off promotions like the Kellogg’s Fuel for School (watch for coupons and rebates).

• Bread
• Cheese slices
• Cold Cereal
• Condiments such as mustard and mayonnaise
• Deli meat
• Disinfecting wipes (Clorox & Lysol)
• Drink pouches & juice boxes
• Facial Tissue (Kleenex & Puffs)
• Fresh Fish
• Frozen waffles
• Fruit and apple sauce cups
• Hand sanitizer (Purell)
• Jelly
• Juice
• Peanut Butter
• Pudding cups
• Raisins in snack pack mini boxes
• Snacks like cookies, crackers and chips
• Toaster pastries
• Tortillas (think sandwich wraps)

August produce: It is now the peak of the summer produce season and now is the time to get in on some great deals on summer favorites in the produce department, farmers markets or road side produce stands. Stock up now and fill your freezer or if you do home canning take advantage of great deals on the following during the peak of season.

• Apricots
• Basil
• Bell Peppers
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Grapes (red & green)
• Gravenstein Apples
• Green beans
• Hass Avocados
• Hot peppers
• Limes
• Melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew)
• Nectarines
• Okra
• Onion
• Peaches
• Pears (Asian & Bartlett)
• Plums
• Raspberries
• Shelling beans
• Summer squash
• Tomatillo
• Tomatoes
• Valencia Oranges

Other Sales & Clearance Deals:

August is a good time to pick up some items for the house too. Buy now when these items are at their lowest price points or on clearance.

Barbecue & Patio Equipment – As stores get ready for the autumn and winter seasonal items they will be marking down the prices on outdoor gear. This is the time of year to purchase a new grill or stock up on charcoal and lighter fluid for next season.

Bathing Suits & Beach Towels – Again watch for these to go on clearance and buy now for next summer. Look for markdowns in the 70-75% range.

Consumer Electronics - To along with the back to school supplies like crayons and glue it is also a good time to pick up a new computer (laptops more than desk tops as sales are geared towards the college kids). So if you are in the market now is the time to buy. Also look for sales on paper shredders, hand held calculators, keyboards and USB devices.

Home & Garden Centers - As summer projects winding down stores like Home Depot and Lowes Home Improvement will start trying to clear out lumber, home remodeling supplies and other project items.  Garden supplies will start to see the trend on markdowns as well. Look for discounts on hand tools, pots, potting soil, and watering cans. Air conditioners, dehumidifiers, lawn mowers and outdoor furniture are good bets as well. August is also the time of year to buy carpet. While not always the lowest price deals, if you are a gardener, August is the time to begin planning and ordering online or by mail your bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc.) for autumn planting.

Linens & Towels – Older kids going off to college means sales on twin and full sized bedding as well as linens in bright colors geared towards the younger age group.

Summer Clothing – Check the clearance racks for great markdowns on shorts, tank tops, sundresses and other summer clothing. Don’t forget to check the clearance racks for sunglasses, summer hats and sandals and flip flops as well.

Sunscreen & Insect repellent – You are supposed to wear sunscreen year round however in some parts of the country sunscreen can be hard to find in the winter and when you can find it, it is at full price. So watch for sunscreen to go on clearance as well at this time of year and stock up to last till next season. Watch the expiration dates however, although, most sunscreen has a 1 year expiration date so you should be OK.

Toys – Summer toys such as water guns, bubbles, kiddie pools, pool inflatable’s and other outdoor toys that have not been sold yet will be marked down heavily. Watch for 50-70% off sale prices as retailers try to move stock.

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If “April showers brings May flowers”, those showers also bring cabin fever to my house.  Since the wintery nights in January, I’ve been dreaming of going outside to work in the garden and start growing produce again for my family.  I’ve been longing to see corn tassles in my garden boxes, and bees swarming around the blossoms on the apple trees.

This will be the third summer we’ve been able to produce food on our suburban lot.  We live in a community with lots of tall pines and oaks and dense shrubs.  Most people in our neighborhood plant roses, rhodies, and other flower-bearing trees.  But a few years ago, we ripped most of that out of our yard and went entirely edible.  Based on that experience and having had two successful summers with growing my own produce, here’s my top five things I think every family should consider growing to save money.

The five things on my list can be grown relatively easy in most climate zone, and can all be done in containers for those living in apartments or have limited yard space.

Blueberries – Yes, you can container blueberries.  A nice 5-gallon container berry bush can be had for $13.  IF you keep the soil acidic and move it to a bigger container, and even in an apartment, it can be trained to make a nice broad hedge.  Blueberries in the grocery store sell for $5 a pound on average, and one full tree at maturity can yield around 18 pounds – that’s nearly $100 savings year over year per plant.  Plus, berries freeze well and are high in vitamins and antioxidents.

Sugar Peas – a $1 packet of seeds can keep you in sugar peas all summer.  Peas thrive when you trellis or string them up, so they don’t need a lot of space since they grow vertically. It’s perfect for small area gardening.  Sugar peas are usually $3.99 a pound at the store, so $1 in seeds can save you $50 or more over the course of the summer.  For those in an apartment, try letting them train up and over deck rails..

Lettuce – If your family loves salads, lettuce is so easy to grow. The growing season can be very long, so planting lettuce could save you hundreds over buying bagged salad every night.  Lettuce comes in a wide array of varieties, so plant lettuce that’s going to give you good nutritional value over the iceberg type that is commonly found in bagged lettuce mixes.  If you get your lettuce in the ground now, you’ll have a harvest before Memorial Day.  And, lettuce is a cool-weather crop, so if you take care with your plants, and plant new seedlings every few weeks, you can have lettuce well into the fall. The average cost of a bagged lettuce is $2 for 12 ounces.  Between May through October, the savings for a family of four eating salad four nights a week is $200..

Green Beans – Like the snow peas, these can be done in the ground or in containers.  The can also grow vertically up and over deck rails, so even in a small space, if you don’t mind giving up your rails to growing food, you can get an amazing amount of green beans that can either be frozen or canned.  Growing your own beans lets have enough so you can pull them out all winter long.  The beans grow as fast as you can pick them. If you remember to enrich the soil midway through the growing season, you can keep growing green beans well into the fall. The easy pace lets you process in small batches for winter dinners.  If I had bought all the green beans I grew last year, I would have spent close to $125..

Basil – a few ounces of basil can run you $3.99 in the store.  But a single packet of basil seeds can keep you in pesto for the entire winter.  A simple trick to storing basil is to mix it into your own paste with olive oil and freeze it for later use.  Making my own basil paste saves me a few hundred dollars over retail a year (which honestly, I wouldn’t spend that kind of money on basil in the store, so we’d go without).  Of all the herbs I use, basil has the highest return on investment over any other herb we plant.  You can harvest it all summer long.  Quick tip – freeze basil paste or pesto in icecube trays and then transfer to a zipseal bag when it’s frozen.  Then you can easily pull out what you need for dinner..

There are many reasons to garden, and certainly, the variety of what you can grow is eye-popping.  But if you have to make some choices due to time or space constraints, or if you’re just getting started as a gardener, the items on this list return a lot of value and can shave hundreds off your grocery bill.

What are you waiting for?  Get planting!

Tags: 5 produce items to grow, canning, food, food preservation, Freezing, frugal, Garden, planting, Save Money
Posted in Articles, Home & Garden | 2 Comments »

It’s still bitterly cold out. Snow is piled high. However, beneath all that wintry mess, the first green shoots of spring are beginning to awaken.

It is hard to imagine that in just a couple of months, we will be enjoying a beautiful spring, but it’s really just right around the corner. It’s time to start thinking about your spring and summer garden, and if you start early, you can have a bountiful harvest for next to nothing. With the economy so poor and the prospect for improvement almost non-existent, you are going to need a garden this summer to supplement your grocery budget. Gardening brings immense fulfillment and joy, and your whole family can get in on the action. It costs very little to get started, and your minimal investment payoff is huge! Little ones will love tending to their own plants and guess what – it’s a great way to get finicky eaters to try something new if they’ve grown it and it’s ‘theirs’. Gardening can be therapeutic too. There is nothing better than sinking your hands deep into the soil and working your frustrations out!

You won’t want to plant anything until after the last frost, but you can start seeds inside now and have some beautiful, hardy seedlings to put out come planting time. To get started, you will need:

• A sunny window, or windows, if you’re feeling ambitious
• Empty egg cartons with a small hole in the bottom for drainage
• Potting soil
• Your favorite veggie seeds

The easiest vegetables to grow are tomatoes, but peppers, okra, and peas are possibilities as well. Check with your local nursery to find the varieties best suited to your area.

You should allow approximately 6 weeks for your seedlings to germinate and grow. During the last couple of weeks, bring your seedlings outside during the day or even overnight if the temperature isn’t dropping below freezing. Getting your plants acclimated to the outside gradually is very important. Putting them in the ground outside without acclimating them will shock the plants and possibly kill them. Do not transplant your seedlings until after the last frost has passed.

While you wait for your seedlings to mature, you will prepare your garden. Till the soil using a hoe or, depending on the size of the area you are cultivating and the hardness of the ground, you may have better luck with a rented tiller. We have a 100 sq ft area, and I have to confess that we love our tiller. When you are tilling, you can treat your garden to any number of soil additives to make it a better growing environment for your plants. If you have a compost heap, this is a great time to make use of it. It is a little known fact that used coffee grounds are a fabulous fertilizer, so if you start saving your grounds now, you’ll be set when you get ready to plant. If you aren’t sure what you need, consult the local nursery to find out what works best for your area. The folks at the nursery are a treasure trove of information, and one you should definitely take advantage of.

If you don’t want to plant an in ground garden, don’t despair! Many a fine tomato has been cultivated in a container garden. Container gardens are perfect for those who don’t have the time or space for a large garden. You are really only limited by your imagination when it comes to the containers you use. Planter boxes, large pots, bathtubs, barrels, and even hanging baskets make great containers. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to find some great containers – check out yard sales, thrift shops, and the Goodwill – often you’ll find ceramic pots for next to nothing, and who knows? You might happen upon a claw foot tub for your goodies!

Tags: Compost, Container Gardening, Garden, Gardening, Goodwill, Hanging Baskets, Potting Soil, Seed Starting, Seeds, Thrift Stores, Yard Sales
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Go Back to School:  If you’re in a job where you’re unsure just how secure your position might be, or if you’re not making enough money to keep afloat, now might be a seriously good time to head back to school. Professions to think about are ones that are in high demand with high wages.  Nurses, pharmacy tech, and health-care fields take center stage as more people continue to age and need health services.  Whatever you choose to study, do a little research on emerging fields like alternative energy and water desalination and you may just find a new career with security.
 
Spec a Garden Plot in Your Yard:  Food prices are only going to continue to climb.  Spend this winter reading up on how to plant and grow food your climate area.  Then once you grow it, be smart about preserving it.
 
Learn to Barter:  Got a skill?  Swap it out.  If you can cook, clean, knit, give massages, fix pipes, or you’re handy in some tangible way, you might be a part of a growing group of people who’d rather chop firewood in exchange for dental care.  You’ll keep needed cash in your pocket, but you’ll also get some vital services you need.
 
Consolidate Households:  It’s a little more of an Eastern philosophy, the notion of living in consolidated households.  But if you’ve got space in your house, it might be worthwhile consolidating your household with a sibling, parent, or friend in order to split expenses and bank some money.  Or do a room/board swap with someone in exchange for babysitting, or other household services like housekeeping or gardening – services you might be paying cash for right anyway.
 
Invest:  As crazy as it sounds, there is something to the notion that investing over time, slowly and steadily, wins the race.  Investing doesn’t have to be the crazy excess that we’ve seen in New York and what precipitated where we are now as a country.  Sound investment tools still exist. And even if all you do is utilize a pre-tax account and keep the money the cash part of the fund until you’re ready to dip your toe back in the water, you’re still capturing the tax savings.  If you were invested and lost a chunk of change this past week, buying additional investments at today’s lower prices will help you dollar-cost average over the long haul. 
 
Being strategic about how you navigate through the coming months will be an integral part of your family’s financial health.  And of course, keep on couponing and stockpiling, which gives you a huge leg up over many people right now when the average US grocery bill is about $800 a month!

Tags: Barter, College, Economy, Finance, Garden, Invest, Investing, Money, Money Saving Tips, School
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