Recently I learned about foraging American persimmons and then, (like magic!) came across some when visiting my in-laws.
Continue readingHow to Forage the Perfect American Persimmon
Tag Archives: food
Pueblo Feast Day Cookies
I’m not a big cookie person. To be honest, I’d rather go elbow deep in a bowl of buttery, salty popcorn, but it’s almost Christmas, which to me means making feast day cookies.
Feast Day cookies are a Pueblo tradition handed down from my grandma, to my mom and then to me. (My Grandma also has the best salsa recipe.) Feast Day cookies were made on feast days like Easter, Kings’ Day and Christmas.
These cookies probably aren’t traditional “cookies.” They aren’t what you’re used to. The Pueblo Feast Day Cookies are similar to snickerdoodles, but they aren’t very sweet. These are the cookies of poor people. To give you an idea: I once asked my grandma what The Depression was like on the reservation and she said she didn’t even know it happened, that’s how poor they were. When I bake these, I think of her.
Continue readingHow Much Money Can a Small Garden Save You? An Update
This is an update on a post I published over a month ago when I thought my plants were done producing. Guess what? They weren’t done! And I’ve saved more than I thought initially! I’ve updated all the prices to reflex my bumper crop 😉
Remember when I thought I couldn’t grow anything. Remember?! REMEMBER?! Well, I am beyond excited to report that my brown thumb has turned green, ya’ll. And today is your lucky day because I have a run down of the costs of my garden and, AND the cost if I simply went out and purchased the food. I am on fire.
| Price of Seeds | Cost at CSA* or Harris Teeter | Amount Produced | Price if purchased |
| Heirloom Tomatoes ($1.79) (unavailable at Home Depot, link to similar product) | $2.99 (for 2)* | 53 | $79.24 |
| Squash ($1.35) | $2.99 (for 2)* | 0 | $0.00 |
| Zucchini ($1.19) | $2.99 (for 2)* | 16 | $23.92 |
| Bell Peppers ($1.59) | $1.99 (for 2)* | 133 | $132.34 |
| Banana Peppers ($1.59) | $0.43 | 151 | $64.93 |
| Onions ($1.59) | $1.27 | 2 | $2.54 |
| Pumpkins ($1.43) | $6.99 | 3 | $20.97 |
| Cucumbers ($1.35) | $0.79 | 21 | $16.59 |
| Sunflowers ($1.35) | $2.29 | 7 (about 2 cups) | $2.29 |
| Brussels Sprouts ($1.59) | $3.49 | 0 | $0.00 |
| Supplies | |||
| Potting Soil (used sparingly to start seeds, previously purchased) $0.00 | |||
| Gloves and a trowel (given as birthday gift) $0.00 | |||
| Plow (borrowed) $0.00 | |||
| Fencing to keep out critters ($34.97) | |||
| Garden Safe Insect Killer ($5.79) | |||
| Garden Safe Fungicide ($5.47) | |||
| Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed Fruits and Vegetables Granules ($12.47) | |||
| A cucumber plant when my other cucumber plants died (gifted from my FIL) $0.00 | |||
| Tax | |||
| $5.14 | |||
| Total Spent | Total Produced (plus tax) | Total Savings | |
| $78.56 | $366.82 | $288.26 |
Additional Notes:
Garden Start Up Costs
I kept my start up costs very low. I didn’t create raised beds and my garden was by no means
“pretty.” I can’t keep up with Martha here. This isn’t rural New England!
Quite a few people around the blogosphere make a big deal about the start up costs of gardens. There’s very low start up costs if you keep it low. And yes, there is no guarantee that anything will sprout (just look at my squash!), but if you are successful, growing a garden can be a fun way to save on grocery costs.
Store Pricing
I used my CSA’s veggie pricing when available because I think it more accurately reflects the pricing of local produce. When not available, I used the pricing of a local grocer, Harris Teeter. (Yes, I know veggies might be cheaper somewhere else, this is just a good estimate, ya’ll!)
Novice Gardener
I think it’s also important to note that I am totally a beginning gardener. This is my first time keeping anything alive– including houseplants! I know there will be bad years and good years, but I believe with experience my vegetable gains will increase, thus increasing my savings.
The time factor
Yes, growing a garden (even a small one, like mine) takes time. Most weekends I was out there pulling weeds. I watered the plants almost every day (unless it rained). P.S. We have well water, so there was no cost for the water. But growing something, ANYTHING, keeping it alive, then eating something I grew with my own two hands has been one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done. EVER! And that includes getting my Master’s degree.
Have you ever planted a garden? If so, were you successful? Do you think it saved you money? Did you make an insane chart like I did? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Mama’s Famous Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
So my mom’s famous chocolate chip banana bread is actually from a recipe! She does make a few tweaks to the recipe (like the addition of chocolate chips!!!) and she uses honey instead of brown sugar for a moist bread. I gotta give the woman some credit. She also has a secret trick–after she butters the loaf pan, she dusts a little sugar on pan so when baked, the outside of the bread has a sugary crunch. So good.
This bread takes me back. Way back. I’ve been eating this bread since I was a wee thing. Home to me smells like freshly baked banana bread. Unfortunately, I don’t eat it now because of the wheat, but I love giving it as a gift. A small loaf of bread is such a good gift, don’t you agree? This is also a great recipe to use up those too brown bananas. It’s super versatile, ya’ll.
This recipe makes two small loafs or one large loaf.
Notes: Try honey instead of brown sugar, add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of nuts and make sure to dust that pan with sugar! We don’t want to be too healthy 🙂
Do you have recipes that remind you of home? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
love,
melanie
Adventures in Wine Making
I’m calling this post “Adventures in Wine Making” instead of “Homemade Wine Recipe” or “DIY Wine” because really, I can’t believe this wine turned out half-way decent. I also don’t want to share a recipe just yet because I may have just been lucky with my first batch. And I don’t want to be liable for poisoning you all. I tried using this recipe from All Recipes, but the portions were off, so I just heated up some sugar with water, threw in the yeast after it had cooled, mixed it with Aldi-brand fruit juice and went with it.
Five weeks later, the balloon deflated, I filtered out the yeast with coffee filters and BAM! I had drinkable wine. It was a little too sweet for my liking, but my friend, Gabby loved it. It also helped that we called it “toilet wine” and thoroughly researched “How to Make Prison Wine” while drinking it. Did you know prison wine can be made with fruit cocktail, ketchup and bread? I HAD NO IDEA. This wine would be perfect for an Orange is the New Black party.
Have you ever tried making your own wine? How did it turn out? When I perfect it, I’ll have a recipe to share!
love,
melanie
Protein-Packed Pancakes
I’ve yet to find a protein powder that doesn’t taste like chalky chemicals or dirt. I’ve tried the organic, pea proteins, the body builder proteins, I’ve tried the ones that taste like “cake” (aka toilet bowl water) and the ones that taste like “cappuccino” (aka toilet bowl cleaner). I’ve yet to try a protein powder that I can drink just mixed with water. But not wanting to be wasteful and knowing I couldn’t gag down another smoothie (there’s only so much berries will cover up), I started making protein pancakes. God knows what Pinterest/blog/Internet hole I fell down to find my original recipe. But here’s the one I usually use. It’s not quite your usual fluffy pancake, but it gives you almost 30 grams of protein and doesn’t taste like dirt, so that’s an improvement!
Ingredients
1.5 scoops of vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tbsp of all-purpose gluten-free flour
2 eggs
A splash of milk
2 tbsp butter
Cinnamon and honey or maple syrup for topping
Melt 1 heaping tbsp of the butter in a pan over the stove top on low. Mix the 1st 6 ingredients together in a bowl. Put about 1/3 of the batter in the hot pan. When batter begins to bubble, flip over the pancake. Repeat until batter is gone. To finish, top with butter, cinnamon and honey or maple syrup.
Easy right?
Is there a protein powder that you love? Let me know about it in the comments!
love,
melanie
Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe
I wasn’t going to post about this week’s spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash when it is cooked, really isn’t so pretty. It kind of looks like a big pile of mush. So forgive the pictures. But I mentioned that I cooked it for my lunches this week, and well, the people have spoken ;). So here it is by popular demand, my recipe for classic spaghetti squash.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized spaghetti squash
- 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (alternatively, you could make your own)
- 1 lb of lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 dashes of oregano
- 1 dash of red pepper
- 2 dashes of garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Roast spaghetti squash whole for 15 minutes. While squash is roasting, salt and pepper your beef, then brown it up. Sauté the onion and pepper in olive oil. Turn burners to low. Take squash out of oven and cut length-wise. I am use an Ove Glove for this part. Best invention ever. Roast squash for another 20 minutes or until squash easily peels out of the skin with a fork. Scrape the squash out of the skin with a fork and add to the beef. Add in the onion and pepper, sauce, oregano, garlic and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.
Congrats! You just conquered the illusive spaghetti squash.
love,
melanie
The Gardener’s Reading List
Is it too early to call myself a gardener? Probably. But I’ve been researching like it’s my job. Well, really, research is my job. It’s my day job… or my night job. I’m technically the evening librarian. Whatever works.
I recently took the Myers-Briggs personality test for work and it said that I’m a sensor which can mean that I like to give too much details and ramble. I need to control that. So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been reading in preparation for warm weather!
Growing Veggies
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible gets great reviews on Amazon and was written with beginning gardeners as the intended audience. That’s me. And it claims to be the bible for vegetable gardener’s so I’m relying on this one heavily for a beginner’s reference guide.
The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast
I’m still very much the novice gardener, but I know that growing veggies in the Southeast will be very different than growing veggies elsewhere. This guide should help me with regionally specific information based on weather and climate.
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening
What interested me about this book is how plants can naturally benefit from each other. Symbiosis is so exciting!
Grow Cook Eat has an ambitious scope; it covers gardening, recipes and storage of vegetables. I love ambition and I love that this book takes readers through the entire process of growing and eating your own food.
Preserving Veggies
I’m just as excited about growing veggies as I am about preserving them!
Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving 
Many of my beautiful readers recommended this book as the go-to guide to canning staples. As much as I love my library books, I think I’ll end up purchasing this one for reference.
Canning For a New Generation
Canning for a New Generation is an absolutely gorgeous book. The pictures alone make my mouth water! Something that isn’t always the case with canned food. The Ball book is more for classic canning recipes and I’m hoping this one provides something a little more exotic!
Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round
I would love to can 20 pounds of pickles, but that just won’t work with my small space. I also love that this book emphasizes year-round canning. The author even explains how to can nut butters! I hope this book will carry my enthusiasm for canning through even the winter months!
I want to thank everyone for their kind gardening tips and book recommendations. I’m off to read and dream about spring!
love,
melanie
Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Soup
There are days when even simple meals seem like a chore. I’ve had a rough day, there are still blog posts to write and the sink is already full of dirty dishes. On those days I rely on the easiest slow cooker recipe on the planet. Ok, I admit it, all slow cooker recipes are easy. But this one, my friends is extra easy because you only need 5 ingredients.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (frozen or fresh)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 bag of frozen, diced peppers or 3 large multicolored peppers, diced
2 tbsp. of taco seasoning
Throw all ingredients into the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. If your chicken is frozen, throw it in first. I turn on the slow cooker and then go to sleep, when I awake the magical slow cooker has produced a delicious, filling soup. By the morn’ the chicken is falling apart, just shred it a bit with a fork and add a few toppings– my favorite are sour cream, cheese and avocado. A complete and easy meal that used only a handful brain cells.
Do you have any easy, slow cooker recipes? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
12 Ways to Eat More Meals at Home and Save Some Dough!
The old me used to eat out every couple of days and think nothing of it. “Oh piddle dee dee, I thought, I spend a lot of money on dining out. But it’s just a fact of life, I suppose!” In my head, I’m apparently an old British woman. But then I moved to a tiny town and the dining options were few and far between. We ate out less because there were less choices. I unintentionally saved money on food, I unintentionally learned how to cook more meals, and I unintentionally got into the habit of eating at home. It was an unintentional blessing.
Here’s how I’ve learned how to eat more meals at home.
1. Cut back on your eating out gradually
If you are eating out every day, you won’t go from being besties with the cashier at Chipotle to becoming Julia Child. You have to work your way up to it. Set a realistic goal for the week and work towards it. Your goal could be to learn one new dish or only eat out every other day. Set a reachable goal and give yourself a small treat when you reach your goal. Giving yourself small rewards creates habits.
2. If you are a beginner, learn the basics
One of the hardest parts of just starting out in the kitchen is starting out. Learn how to do simple things like sautéing vegetables, scrambling an egg and boiling rice. Once you learn those things, you’ll have the base for all kinds of meals!
3. If you are an intermediate cook, expand your repertoire
Cooking can get tiresome. Cooking is a project with no end because we need to eat every day. The way I fight the cooking drudgery is expanding my repertoire. I love perusing Pinterest recipes that make me excited to cook again. Just check out my recipe board for proof!
4. Make meals in advance
We are all stupid-busy. We don’t always have time to cook up a four course meal. Let’s be honest, I never have time to cook up a four course meal. I make most of my meals in advance. I’ll cook up a big batch of crustless quiche on Sunday night and crank up my slow cooker.
5. Automate your meals
I’d love all my food to be interesting and beautiful, but that’s just not a priority. Getting something warm and filling in my belly is a priority. My weekday meals are on auto-pilot. For breakfast I have eggs, my lunch is leftovers and dinner is usually something from the crock pot. Not always super exciting, but I can live up my culinary fantasies on the weekend when I have more time.
6. Put your slow cooker to work!
I love my slow cooker. I don’t know how I ever cooked without her. Her name is Sue, btw. Slow cooking is so easy. You can crank it on low, throw just about any meat and veggie in there with a little salt and pepper and you have a meal when you get home from work or when you wake up in the morning!
7. Leftovers are your friend
If you are going go through all the effort to cook, you might as well make enough for yourself and a small army. There’s so many ways to use up leftovers. For tips on reusing leftovers click here!
8. Cook with a buddy
Cooking all alone can be a lonely job. Enlist your husband or wife and kids to help out in the kitchen. Or at least sit with you and keep you company in the kitchen. You could also invite friends over for a freezer meal cooking spree. Sounds like a good time to me.
9. Make it enjoyable
Cooking can be stressful. Turn on some tunes, pour yourself a glass of wine and slow down. Dinner isn’t a life or death experience. It’s just dinner. Enjoy it.
10. Use paper plates
One of the worst parts of cooking is the clean up. Sometimes I’d go out to eat just so I wouldn’t have to do the dishes. To curtail this thinking, I mostly use paper plates and minimize my clean up. Worried about the environmental impact? Me too. That’s why I use compostable plates.
11. Host a dinner party
Hate cooking for one? Need to spice things up a bit? Dying for the company of a restaurant? Host a dinner party! Dinner parties don’t have to be a one woman (or man) show. Ask your friends to bring a dish and serve it up family style!
12. Keep frozen foods on hand
And if all else fails, keep food in the freezer for those times when you are too tired or hungry or just plain don’t want to cook. Frozen leftovers are culinary gold. But a couple of chicken breasts, a bag of frozen veggies and some soy sauce will do just fine in a pinch. Instant stir fry. Instant dinner.
What tricks do you have for eating more meals at home? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie