It takes very little to excite me

See? And I AM excited! There is nothing that compares to cooking with fresh herbs, and I usually buy them already lopped off the plant at Publix. For years, I have wanted my own herb garden or at least a garden window over my kitchen sink to have my own supply of fresh herbs readily at hand. This is even better, considering that I paid only $6.50 each for these herb gardens in a pot. The pot on the left contains rosemary, parsley, oregano, mint and basil. It is so fragrant smelling, I wish technology could support scratch and sniff blogging! The second pot contains sage, lemon thyme, garlic chives, rosemary and dark opal basil (that's the purple, large leafed plant). I don't want to move them from their temporary home on the kitchen table, but they need full sun so they will have to be moved to the back deck where I keep my container gardens.

How did I get these so frugally? Our local garden center, Holcomb's, issues Bonus Bucks throughout the year for purchases made at their store. Customers earn 10% back in Bonus Bucks for every purchase. Then, for five days in June, you can shop and redeem your Bonus Bucks for up to 50% off your purchase. Example: these herb gardens were $12.99 each times 2. The total sale was $26 and some tax, for which I paid $13.xx in cash and $13 in Bonus Bucks. This is one of my happiest frugally purchases ever, I feel like a kitty that found the catnip!

Recalled tomatoes

...and a recipe for Black Bean Salsa that does not use those recalled tomatoes.

I was in Publix tonight looking for more of those wonderful grape tomatoes that were on sale for $1/pint. When I couldn't find them, I asked the produce manager and he informed me that there was a recall on some tomatoes, so Publix decided to pull the grape tomatoes as a precautionary measure. He also told me that they plan on offering that sale again in the very near future, or I could get a rain check. I'll just wait and enjoy some of my own home-grown, salmonella-free tomatoes in a few weeks.

Here is my recipe for the Black Bean Salsa that was on our salad of several days ago:

• 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, thoroughly rinsed, and drained
  
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted
  
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (I used red)
  
• 2 Tbsp chopped picked jalapeno (I throw in a little extra jalapeno pickle juice or vinegar)
  
• 1 cup chopped tomato
  
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil (or 1 tsp dried)
  
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (about the amount of juice from one lime)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar (to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, onions, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, basil, lime juice and olive oil. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

Peculiar: photographs her food

I wonder if others would describe me like that. It's true. I have a food photo fetish. I love pretty pictures of the food that I create. I wonder if that's how Martha Stewart launched her own empire?

Anyway, here's our dinner for tonight, and it was scrumptious.

Hamburger Buns of the homemade kind

I decided to try some homemade hamburger buns tonight rather than run out to the store just for buns (which I thought I had in the depths of my freezer). Besides, have you priced hamburger buns lately at regular retail?! $2.39! I tried this recipe, but I used whole wheat flour instead. They were good. My family raved about them. The grilled turkey burgers that went in them, however, were not a big hit. I thought the burgers were good, but my husband prefers beef and my little vegetarian was not happy with tonight's dinner.

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• I added 4 1/2 tsp. vital wheat gluten
  

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm (110-115 degrees F). If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 6 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions They should be a little larger than a golf ball. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. You may want to oil your hand first. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Position 2 oven racks so they are not too close to the top or bottom of the oven.
5. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

How to save up to $600 on groceries every year

Have you ever been overly ambitious about eating fresh foods? Did you realize it after you came home from the store and crammed your refrigerator full of fruits and veggies only to discover them again weeks later: a cellophane bag of moldy, slimy mush? Yeah, me too. And it makes me mad because fresh food is so expensive! I received this article via e-mail today from Sparkpeople.com

How to Keep Fruits and Veggies Fresh

Proper Storage Prevents Spoilage, Saving You Hundreds

-- By Liza Barnes, Health Educator and Stepfanie Romine, Staff Writer

SparkPeople Sponsors help keep the site free!

Eating more fruits and vegetables is a requirement for every healthy eater. But when you buy more fresh produce, do you end up throwing away more than you eat? You're not alone.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away nearly 31.6 million tons of food every year. And a recent University of Arizona study found that the average family tosses 1.28 pounds of food a day, for a total of 470 pounds a year! That's like throwing away $600!

Storing fresh produce is a little more complicated than you might think. If you want to prevent spoilage, certain foods shouldn't be stored together at all, while others that we commonly keep in the fridge should actually be left on the countertop. To keep your produce optimally fresh (and cut down on food waste), use this handy guide.

Countertop Storage Tips
There’s nothing as inviting as a big bowl of crisp apples on the kitchen counter. To keep those apples crisp and all countertop-stored produce fresh, store them out of direct sunlight, either directly on the countertop, in an uncovered bowl, or inside a perforated plastic bag.

Refrigerator Storage Tips
For produce that is best stored in the refrigerator, remember the following guidelines.

• Keep produce in perforated plastic bags in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. (To perforate bags, punch holes in the bag with a sharp object, spacing them about as far apart as the holes you see in supermarket apple bags.)
• Keep fruits and vegetables separate, in different drawers, because ethylene can build up in the fridge, causing spoilage.
• When storing herbs (and interestingly, asparagus, too), snip off the ends, store upright in a glass of water (like flowers in a vase) and cover with a plastic bag.

What to Store Where: A Handy Chart
Use this color-coded key along with the chart below:

• Store unwashed and in a single layer
• Store unwashed and in a plastic bag
• Store in a paper bag
• *Ethylene producers (keep away from other fruits and vegetables)

Store in Refrigerator Apples (storage >7 days) Apricots Cantaloupe Figs Honeydew Artichokes Asparagus Beets Blackberries Blueberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cherries Corn Grapes Green beans Green onions Herbs (except basil) Lima beans Leafy vegetables Leeks Lettuce Mushrooms Okra Peas Plums Radishes Raspberries Spinach Sprouts Strawberries Summer squash Yellow squash Zucchini

Store on Countertop Apples (storage < 7 days) Bananas Tomatoes Basil Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Ginger Grapefruit Jicama Lemons Limes Mangoes Oranges Papayas Peppers Persimmons Pineapple Plantains Pomegranates Watermelon Store in a Cool, Dry Place Acorn squash Butternut squash Onions (away from potatoes) Potatoes (away from onions) Pumpkins Spaghetti squash Sweet potatoes Winter squash Ripen on Counter, Then Refrigerate Avocados Nectarines Peaches Pears Plums Kiwi

*More about Ethylene: Fruits and vegetables give off an odorless, harmless and tasteless gas called ethylene after they're picked. All fruits and vegetables produce it, but some foods produce it in greater quantities. When ethylene-producing foods are kept in close proximity with ethylene-sensitive foods, especially in a confined space (like a bag or drawer), the gas will speed up the ripening process of the other produce. Use this to your advantage if you want to speed up the ripening process of an unripe fruit, for example, by putting an apple in a bag with an unripe avocado. But if you want your already-ripe foods to last longer, remember to keep them away from ethylene-producing foods, as designated in the chart above.

Food is expensive, and most people can't afford to waste it. Print off this handy chart to keep in your kitchen so you can refer to it after every shopping trip. Then you'll be able to follow-through with your good intentions to eat your 5-9 servings a day, instead of letting all of that healthy food go to waste.

Getting an accurate idea of grocery spending

Trying to get a snapshot of our budget at any given moment has been a challenge, to say the least. I use MS Money to manage my accounts and I can generate a report, but there have been so many unusual scenarios over the past several months that I am having difficulty determining what we are actually spending on groceries. For instance:

We decided to use some of our economic incentive rebate to stockpile some food items, mainly grass-fed beef. So those are actually grocery costs for more than this month, and I have no idea how long a 1/4 side of beef will last us.

Feeding an extra adult in our home has not really impacted our bottom line...or has it? He contributes $100 a month for food, but his renal diet also requires me to purchase specialty items like rice milk (which is pricey), but something I would not normally buy.

Theoretically, I am feeding five adults (myself, my husband, my teenage daughter, my father-in-law, and my 12 year old son who eats double portions of meat) and one child, a vegetarian. That means I am also buying some specialty items for my 7 year old to ensure that he gets enough protein and B12*.

*I also include all supplemental and vitamin items as a grocery cost: cod liver oil, vitamin C, fiber supplements and multivitamins. I don't practice overkill on the vitamins and supplements, because we do eat a very balanced diet. I order from iHerb, which keeps the costs way down. What we do take in the way of supplements actually helps to reduce expenditures in other areas, such as healthcare and prescriptions.

It appears as though I am spending an average of $125-135 per week on groceries, but I'm not sure if that is an accurate picture, or if I am spending less. With my personality, I have a need to know :)

The most wonderful thing about biscotti is...

it's biscotti! Aside from that, the next best thing is the ends of the biscotti. I got to eat all six biscotti ends for breakfast this morning. Here's the biscotti recipe that I used. The next time I will add more anise.

This is an untimely find, since I have just made the decision to give up coffee. For years, I have been aware that coffee aggravates some of my medical issues (rosacea, tummy troubles and inflammation), but I haven't taken the drastic step to give it up...until now. I am doing everything right for my health now, with coffee being the last vice. Ah well, I will eat my biscotti with my green tea.