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
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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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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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