We were out and about doing some grocery shopping. We were at the meat market and my dh looked down and there was a penny. Of course I picked it up and put it in the furnace fund. I'm not too proud.

We also hit Aldi and found lots of good things for meals for the coming week. I was excited to find blackberries for 99 cents for the package. That's a treat. Although I like to save money, I also splurge on fresh fruits, even some out of season.

Last week a friend was talking about her baking. She said she had been using margarine in her cookies and said she thinks they have changed the formula and wanted to know what I used. She was shocked when she heard me say I use butter. I told her I get a pound of it for under $2 at Aldi here in town and I can choose between salted and unsalted and I'd rather have butter than margarine.

She sort of turned up her nose at first. She said she never thought of Aldi and why would I want to shop there. I said to save money, of course.

Granted, we could afford to buy our groceries at one of the other chains, and we still fill in at the other stores, but if I can get fruits, dairy, and vegetables more reasonable and it's not out of our way, why wouldn't I? After all, it gives us extra money to either save or spend.

Guess some folks still feel the need to pay full price for everything and then mew about it.

Every work day I brew coffee and fill a small, older Thermos bottle. I enjoy coffee and I refuse to spend the money and purchase coffee "out."

Today, as I was getting my things out of the car, I dropped my Thermos. I heard that sickening crunch and then the tinkle of broken glass liner.

I not only missed out on my coffee, I lost the Thermos! Phooey! I looked on-line and most sites said that even if you could find the replacement, the shipping costs would probably be prohibitive since it is fragile.

I bought the Thermos used and got a good deal. It more than paid for itself. But alas, I need to find another Thermos or go through coffee withdrawal.

Years ago my grandma made peanut brittle and fudge. Her friend, Gussie baked cookies. Now, my grandma has been gone over 30 years. But even then, people would buy these goodies from these ladies because some would prefer to buy quality products instead of trying to make them themselves during the holidays.

The past couple of years I have baked cookies and made other goodies, and given them as gifts. I hope that they are tasty enough that people enjoy them. I enjoy doing it -- maybe it makes me think of my grandmother -- and I hope that is brings joy to the folks who receive them.

Besides the goodies, most of my friends already have more than enough "stuff" and I'm at a loss at what to buy them. It used to be, years ago, folks baked things to save money. If you've been to the grocery store lately, baking isn't always the cheapest option.

I found a good deal on the baskets and bought the cloth napkins reasonably as well. I washed and ironed the napkins before putting them in the baskets. Anyway, I thought I'd share my bounty before I started giving them away.

Now that the holidays are drawing near, I think lots of folks are becoming reacquainted with their ovens, if they haven't visited them in awhile.

Our church is having a cookie walk and they have requested folks make cookies. I made 7 dozen cookies and this is a fool proof recipe. I have, in the past, changed it a little if I didn't want the cinnamon taste and put chocolate chips in and didn't roll them in the dough-ball mixture. The cookies still turned out great. But the original recipe is a good one as is:

Cinnamon Crisp Cookies



Preheat oven to 325



2 c melted butter (4 sticks)

2 c brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 beaten eggs

2 t vanilla

1 t cinnamon

1 t baking soda

1 t cream of tartar

1 t salt

4 1/2 c white flour



(dough ball rolling mixture: 1/2 c white sugar and 1 t cinnamon in a bowl)



Mix ingredients, add flour in increments. Roll dough into ball, then in the dough ball mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 325 10-15 minutes. Cook on cookie sheet 2 minutes and then on a rack. Makes 7 dozen cookies


The funny thing is last year when I donated these, dh bought a bunch of them. I asked him why and he said he knew they were good.

I was reading in the forums this morning and I saw Jeffrey had posted this article:

http://www.nationofchange.org/10-tips-reduce-food-waste-during-holidays-1322153327

It talked about how much food is wasted in the U.S. especially during the holidays.

I know this is something I have tried very hard to stop in our household. There's a commercial for plastic bags that shows folks throwing away about half of their food and how they should buy these great plastic bags to stop that.

I would like to offer a rebuttal to that ad. It's not the use or misuse of plastic bags that results in food waste, it is the fact people aren't careful and use what they have.

We had very few leftovers this Thanksgiving. We had a great meal and enough for another meal which we ate Thanksgiving night. Instead of buying a whole turkey, I bought a turkey breast. It was plenty for three of us for Thanksgiving and just enough for supper. I had planned to make turkey and noodles if we had any leftover after that -- I saved the broth. Since I didn't use it, it will be frozen for something else.

As for the potatoes, I made just enough. That was a tough one for me. I have a hard time judging how much is enough. But, I decided to make a little less than I normally would so there wouldn't be a ton left over. I figured there was plenty of stuff to eat. Our table wasn't sparse either time and we ate plenty.

In my every day cooking, I try to figure out ways to use those leftovers. Last week I used the ham steak for 2 1/2 meals. Leftover green beans from one meal were used to make a vegetable soup for another. Sometimes we have clean out the fridge supper -- some weird choices, but I hate to throw food away. Partially because I hate to see waste, but also partially because it costs money. I was not happy last week when I was using stuff up from the freezer and although we had eated most of the okra, that I had let it sit too long in the freezer. I tried fixing it, but it was beyond using. I know I bought it on sale, but still, it was wasteful. I did manage to use up the small amount of hashbrowns that were in the freezer - I chopped a green onion in with them to give it flavor.

Hopefully I will have no waste coming up during the holidays. Right now my freezer is kind of full from some of the sweet breads I baked and froze for our church bazaar. But, after that, I hope to empty it and start freezing some of the things I can use for other meals. I just need to be careful not to let anything slip to the back and be forgotten.

I'm a little behind in my reading, but I did have a chance to read an article in "Time" yesterday morning. It had a story about how a grocery chain was conducting research on how people shop.

I know this isn't anything new, by any means, but the examples the story gave was interesting.

Apparently there were cameras in real stores and they were observing how people shopped with certain variables. The first was counting how long people stayed in an area and if they rushed through it, it meant they spent less. So, the powers that be changed the flooring so the carts would make a clickity clack noise and people slowed down. When they slowed down, they stayed longer in that area and therefore, bought more.

Another instance was how signs were written for "sales." If the dollar sign was put on a sign, people appeared to buy less than if they left the dollar sign off. Apparently the dollar sign on a poster made people think they are spending more.

The other instance was writing a limit on a sign. The price was the same for the items, but when there was a limit, people tended to buy more.

All very interesting. And a little bit scary if you think about it.

I wonder if the cart with the crazy wheel also has a purpose!

OK, the title is misleading, we don't have any pumpkins...but here in Central Illinois, I think we will get a frost tomorrow night. We've come close a few times in the past two weeks, but with the rain we've had and the sudden temperature drop, I think our garden will succumb!

Last week on Halloween we were chuckling that usually by this time dh has removed the garden because it has frosted...I said wouldn't it be something if we still had tomatoes and bell peppers on Thanksgiving. Looks like we are coming close. We aren't getting a bumper crop of anything, but we are continuing to use what we get. I will miss the herbs too. We have them in large pots on the sidewalk and we don't have any place to store them during the winter. I have frozen some of them, but although they are OK that way, they aren't the same as fresh ones.

Well, I guess if there's frost on the pumpkins or tomatoes or herbs, I will be grateful I have a warm house to be in!

Last week my partner at work said I was a good example to her. Me? Really?

Last Sunday she and her husband spent part of Sunday going to the grocery after planning a menu, and then went home and fixed three make ahead dinners. The goal was to have these meals ready to heat and eat when she got home from work.

At the end of the week, she said this is something she will do again, because it made for a good week. She said it was nice knowing they had something ready to eat and they also had plenty of leftovers for other meals.

I was pleased for her because I know it had to have made it less stressful for both of them.

It was nice having someone I am around think I'm not crazy too!

We are friends with another couple and they eat out at least once a day...sometimes twice. They complain about being short of money and they think they are saving money because they are always going places with coupons. One excuse we have heard is they don't think about a meal until it time to eat so it takes so long and it is just easier to go out.

I just finished, in less than two hours, 4 meals and they are in the fridge. Three casseroles and a stew. With some of these, we will have leftovers for lunch. I also cut up fruit for a fruit salad so other than adding a cut up banana or apple, that is done for the week too.

Two hours on a Sunday as opposed to coming home tired from work then wondering what I'm going to fix and hope I have the ingredients...no thanks! I like eating good stuff and saving money as well. I had put a chicken in the Crockpot beforehand and with the meat and broth, made 3 of the meals. I figure I squeezed that chicken until it squawked!


Although I am not sure this is a make ahead recipe, I did find this one and think it looks great, especially with the fresh herbs I need to use before we have a frost.

Zucchini-Tomato Casserole
2 T olive oil
1 t garlic powder
1 T dried basil or 3 T fresh basil, shredded
2 t dried oregano or 4 t fresh oregano
1 T dried rosemary or 2 T fresh rosemary
1 T olive oil
2 medium zucchini, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced or 1 cup tomato sauce
1 13 ounce can white or pink beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Mix 2 T of oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and herbs together
Prepare a 2-quart casserole with nonstick spray. Layer zucchini, onion, and tomato. Spread with beans. Top with the rest of the veggies. Drizzle with the oil and herb mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until the casserole sizzles and the top is golden.

I know a few of us has written about the show Extreme Couponing.

I am wondering if it is all fiction or if folks are not good at addition. I know one can save some money using coupons. I feel great if I save a few bucks off my bill. I never get a ton of stuff free though. A lot of the coupons are for items we don't buy. I'm not saving money if I buy stuff I'm not going to use.

We were watching an episode last week and this family was "saving" to move out of their bad neighborhood and wanted to move to Hawaii. She had a huge stockpile.

As the story went on, it said she bought either 200 or 300 newspapers. Our little paper here in town costs over a dollar on Sunday so even if they get theirs for a dollar, that's still quite a few bucks to shell out for coupons.

As the program progressed it talked about how the family helped and how their had a huge stockpile of items...laundry detergent, toothpaste, fruit drinks, soda pop, etc.

This shopping trip took 9 hours from start to finish and at the end, they closed the store as they loaded a trailer with their haul.

Pretty cool on the surface, eh?

But then my dh and I were discussing it. Did they have to rent the trailer? And who wants to spend 9 hours in the grocery store? Not to mention all the time and effort and money for those coupons? Did they really save anything?

I guess I wonder about that stockpile...does any of that stuff go bad before they can use it? And if they are saving to move, wouldn't it cost extra to move all that stuff?

I guess being a pragmatist isn't a good thing. I'm wondering how they are coming out ahead...she spends fortune to get the coupons, they stockpile all that stuff so it looked like they spent money on new shelving, and then the trailer...Did they really come out ahead?

What a week! But, it is Saturday. The sun is shining and fortunately for most of us in Central Illinois, we don't have to turn on the heat...yet. We are supposed to be in the 70s during the day and 50s at night.

I worked up the grocery lists. I do the Aldi one Thursday night and my husband goes on Friday during the day. I have a menu planned for the following week and whatever we can't get at Aldi, we then go to the other grocery store and buy. I always hope to find more coupons for things, but then I realize there are few coupons for the items we buy. It is frustrating, but it is true. I'm not going to buy things just because I have a coupon; a lot of the things with coupons aren't items we normally use.

A week or so ago there was a segment on the news about the health benefits of watercress. None of our stores had it, but we did go to a local Kroger store that is pretty large and they said they would order some. They did, we bought it, and I have been looking for recipes on how to use it. It supposedly has many health benefits. I put some in the Italian wedding soup I made instead of spinach. I've been putting it in salads as well.

It was nice sleeping in a bit this morning. My dh is out watering because our city is on water restrictions and residents can only water Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We still have a small garden growing so he's hoping to keep things thriving until the first frost.

Hope your Saturday is a good one!

Been awhile since I've posted...work has kept me busy and I've been cooking a lot of stuff on weekends so it is prepared for week night dinners.

A couple we know eat out at least once a day. They are always on the look out for coupons and use them. It's interesting because they are eating things even they say are unhealthy because they feel they are saving money.

I know we spend quite a bit on groceries for just the two of us. But, we buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and I figure in the long run, I'm probably saving money by not having as many health issues.

The other night I was so tired my husband felt sorry for me and said let's just go out. I am irrational at this point due to exhaustion, but I said "No!" He looked at me and I said I had stuff in the fridge and it wouldn't take any longer to fix it than it would to get in the car, drive somewhere, place an order, wait for it, and then have it placed in front of us. So, we stayed home and I cooked.

I really should keep track of how much we save because it might make feel better on those nights when I'm so tired. I know some of the blogsters are doing challenges where they don't eat out for so many days.

Other than saving money, I also think we eat healthier at home as well as use fewer resources such as gas to drive there. But, on the other hand, by not buying things are we hurting the economy.

So, which is best...eating in or eating out?

What is it about bread that makes it so wonderful?

I baked a loaf today. It wasn't anything extraordinary -- basically a recipe for white bread that I tweaked by adding some whole wheat flour and herbs. It smelled great baking and while it was cooling, all I could think about was when I could slice it for supper.

We did enjoy it a slice at supper and it was good. Still a bit warm from the oven, and with some butter, wow, what a treat!

So tell me, why is it bread can be so wonderful?

A few blogs ago I discussed using what I had in the fridge to clean it out and not waste food. I had some great suggests from Bonanza Buffet to CORN (Clean out refrigerator night)...all were very creative.

Well, it's that time again. I have leftover turkey and a little broth. I have some cottage cheese and a little fruit salad and a banana and a pear. I have some frozen vegetables I put in a container awhile ago. And some odds and ends of cheeses and some eggs. I think I'm going to make a turkey casserole of sorts with the turkey, broth, cheeses, vegetables and eggs. I think I'll add the pear and almost overripe banana to the fruit salad. And make biscuits with the cheese and some herbs from dh's garden.

I will say that turkey breast was quite a buy. We had it for supper Monday night, had it for lunches twice this week, and now supper tonight.

I made meatloaf Tuesday night and we had the leftovers for sandwiches one day this week and there was still a little bit leftover so I made homemade nachos...I had tortillas and I baked them with salt and olive oil after cutting them up. I sprinkled the leftover meatloaf crumbled and put some cheese on them and nuked them. Not a bad try for homemade and leftover stuff.

It's kind of challenging to come up with meals with what is left over and I have to admit, they are never the same! Plus, I like the idea I'm saving money by not going out nor throwing out stuff.

Everytime I watch Barefoot Contessa I drool.

I am not drooling over the food, although my dh always comments how she invites all her friends over, but never has once invited us.

I am not drooling over her kitchen...I don't have room for a professional range and I certainly don't need a range and a cook top together.

I am not drooling over all her gadgets...I'm running out of room for the stuff I already have.

Which brings me to the reason I drool...her walk in pantry. I'd love a large pantry where I could store food stuffs in an organized manner and have dishes sitting in convenient spots. I'm short, and believe me, getting things from the top shelf of the cabinets can be dangerous!

When we first married and bought our first house, the kitchen was very small. Not tiny, but small. I asked the previous owner where she kept her canned goods and she said in the garage. We bought a cheap kitchen cabinet to put in the kitchen and that's where I kept canned goods. There were some cabinets and since I didn't have a lot of dishes or pots and pans, it was adequate.

Eight years later we bought a different house. The kitchen was larger and it has a pantry. Not a walk-in, but a real pantry. And with all truths, you grow into the space you have. And goodness, my kitchen stuff has grown.

Yesterday I organized the pantry. I could probably do this 4 times a year. I straightened it up and am happy to report that I didn't throw much away. I did put items in different things, but I'm happy to report I'm getting better at keeping on top of expiration dates.

I had organized the area of my spices earlier this week. I did throw out a few things because they were old. I am frustrated with the spice companies, though. So many of them sell larger bottles of things that I don't use that much of and I think it is wasteful. One of the stores I frequent is handling an off brand and the bottles are about 1/4 the size or regular spice bottles. I feel better about buying this instead of wasting so much. There are certain spices I use a lot of, but others...

I figure organizing my pantry and spices saves me money because I'm not buying things I already have, and hopefully not wasting what I do have. I need to be satisfied with what I have which is a serviceable pantry...far better than what I had at the other house. And, although a walk-in pantry is want, it isn't a need. So, we aren't spending the money.

DH says I'm not getting a walk-in pantry...We aren't building on the house and I can't see taking a bathroom or closet to get it. So, I guess I'll just have to drool over Ina's. At least it means that is one less "room" I have to clean!

My dh has a wonderful garden of herbs. A friend of mine gave me a small bucket and basil seeds and I started the seeds last spring. My dh planted the basil plant in the ground and has taken very good care of it. Last week I made some pesto sauce. Well, sort of. I used basil and garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil and some seasonings, but didn't use the nuts. DH doesn't like nuts.

I know I can freeze the stuff, but there was such a small amount, I just had it in the fridge when I thought, why wouldn't that make a good marinade for some pork? So, I used it on both sides as a marinade and then cooked them with that in a dish with a little olive oil and two springs or rosemary (covered) in the toaster oven. It was pretty tasty.

A friend emailed me a link about a product that can be used to "glue" cheaper pieces of meat to sell them as pricer cuts. I checked with snopes and truthorfiction and neither had anything except snopes listed a link about it as well. If this is happening, then the meat industry to overcharging and cheating the public.


http://www.dump.com/2011/04/14/meat-glue-secret-video/









Snopes and truthorfiction didn't have any comment, but snopes did send readers to:





http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/03/meat-glue-frankenstein-mea/

A week or so ago I posted about certain grocery prices on the rise and many responded you are seeing the same thing.

Last night as we watched Suze Orman, she predicted in 2012 that things might get worse. She said if gas prices continue to rise, groceries will as well, as much as 14-40%! She said that not only does the transporting of food go up, but petroleum products are used for make plastic containers for things that we buy. I never thought of that, but she is right.

As I'm fixing stuff, I'm thinking, am I going to be doing this because I want to save money or because I have to save money?

Suze Orman suggested that people stay conservative for 2012 because she thinks things could get tight. I read in the paper yesterday that the experts are now saying the recession was far worse than they originally thought. No kidding. One of our local food pantries is giving out 100-120 boxes of food each day.

So, do you think Suze is right on grocery prices going up as much as 40%? If she is, it is going to hurt the economy even more because housing and food are necessary items and people will be using their money to buy the necessities.

We are delighted that we are getting tomatoes from dh's garden. I had requested he plant more than one cherry tomato plant because I wanted to make tomato sauce...I made 3 batches last summer from one plant, and I was thinking I could more if we had two...

Anyway, I made my first batch and it looks yummy! I'm looking forward to serving it this week over some pasta. My husband's big tomatoes are starting to come on and we are getting enough for eating for meals which is wonderful.

We had chicken wings that I baked the other night. We didn't eat them all, so I put them and some celery that was getting a little bedraggled and a bell pepper from dh's garden, and an onion from dh's garden and some of our herbs and made some rich chicken broth. I took it out to the freezer so we have a supply of that. I love having my own -- no preservatives and I control the salt.

With the tomato sauce and the chicken stock, I think I better get busy making some pasta!

We just finished eating a bit of ago and cleaned up. I was trying to tally the cost of the meal. I have always kind of played at doing this, to see if it was an expensive one or a reasonable one, but ever since the restaurant owner claimed no one could eat at home for less than $10 each, I do it more frequently.

Our supper was pork chops, noodles, bread, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, cottage cheese, and saute'd mushrooms. The meat, of course, was the most expensive item, but I believe when I bought it, they were having a sale -- I had taken it out of the freezer.

The noodles were homemade -- I made them with basil. I told my husband that it is unbelieveable how much noodles cost that are considered homemade and I made a big batch for less than a $1. The basil was from our garden. The bread was homemade -- it was less than a $1 for the loaf and we didn't eat a lot of it. The tomatoes are from my husband's garden and the corn was a gift from a friend we had over for supper last week. He brought a dozen ears and we didn't use them all. The mushrooms were leftover from something I had bought it for so I just went ahead and used them. I think I spent about $4.00 each for a very hearty meal.

A decent meal and cost effective as well...can't beat that!

Yesterday we made our weekly trek to Aldi. I had my list for the items I wanted. We then pick up the items we can't get at another store. Since the heat is so bad, we decided to go to Aldi on one day and the other store today.

I noticed that some items at Aldi have risen since last week. Sugar went up. Portabella mushrooms went up over 40 cents. Butter went up a dime. Eggs had gone up a dime about three weeks ago. Lemons went up 40 cents. This isn't the complete list, but goodness, some of these are large hikes! I realize that some of the fresh produce is often priced on the growing and harvesting season, but eggs and butter?

Anyone else see grocery prices on the rise? Do you think this is a foretaste of the inflation to come?

Last week CNBC had a program on grocery stores and/or supermarkets. Interviewed were CEO's of large ones such as Whole Foods and also a gal who owned a little mom and pop. It was interesting to hear what each thought of their business.

They talked about research done for the big chains. It said that stores that provide extras seem to bring in people for those things -- recipes, samples, even entertainment. What they also said was the average person shops 3-4 times a week and overspends because they buy things they didn't originally plan to buy.

Well, we all know if one buys unplanned for things, it can blow the budget, but I'm curious, how many times do you shop? I try to do it once a week and usually be the end of the week, my fridge looks what I term "lonely" because it is getting empty. I just hate it if I have to stop and get something I forgot.

I've admitted I'm anal. I guess it gets pointed out to me on various occasions, but I am a planner. I like things to work out. Perhaps I'm a control freak, but I just know I like to have a plan.

This has come home to me a few times this summer. We do weekly grocery shopping -- usually a couple of stores. I figure out what's on sale, what I have on hand, and then try to work out a menu for the week's meals. We do eat out, probably more than we should, but I like to have that planned because I want it to be an "social experience" instead of just eating out and not cooking. I also try to eat things that are nutritous...not a lot of fried or junk foods and watch my salt intake.

Well, I think it is causing some problems. We have a couple we go out with every so often. She rarely cooks and they eat out. A lot. A lot of junk food. However, as to planning, they are pretty spontaneous. For example, they contacted us early afternoon and wanted us to go out to eat with them that evening. We already had meat thawing for supper. I guess that makes me an old stick in the mud. I have explained that I usually plan the week's menus by Thursday or Friday night the previous week so I know for what I will purchase.

We ate out last night with a friend. It had been planned last week. We all looked forward to it and it was a lot of fun visiting as well as enjoying the meal. I like to think it was an event.

I think purposeful planning saves us money by shopping for those things I plan to use, hopefully find them on sale, and as well as having a menu so supper isn't a last minute "gotta think of something" ordeal.

So, if I'm anal, I guess it's just a fact of life. I'm sorry I am not spontaneous, but then again, I like to feel I make wise decisions with my money.

Another steamy day in Central Illinois! In fact the whole week is supposed to be miserable, with heat warnings from last night until Friday night.

Being the Crockpot Queen (I have 5 in 5 different sizes), I thought this might be a good time to put them to use.

Today it is pork roast cooked with rosemary and thyme. My husband has the herbs growing in our yard so I went out this morning and picked some and pulled an onion to go with it. I picked lettuce this morning and washed it and put it in the fridge. That and the cherry tomatoes and slicing the other tomatoes, it should be a good supper on a hot Monday. I'm going to fix potatoes in another Crockpot. I was looking for different recipes. Here's the one I'm going to use, I think:

Crockpot Sage Potatoes

Cooking spray
6 medium brown potatoes (such as Idaho or Russet), peeled and sliced 1/ 4 inch thick
½ yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup flour
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 ½ cups heavy cream or half and half
1 t Kosher salt
¼ t black pepper
1 t dried sage
1 ½ c shredded Greyere cheese
1 ½ c walnut halves

In a 4 quart slow cooker, spray the inside with cooking spray. Put the sliced potatoes and onion in the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk the flour into the melted butter. Add the cream and salt, pepper, and sage to the bowl, mixing well. Pour the cream mixture into the slow cooker and toss with the potatoes and ion. Sprinkle the cheese and walnuts on the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours or until the potatoes are tender.


I don't have any walnuts so that will be ommitted and I'm going to use a different cheese because I don't have any Greyere and I'm not running to the store to get these. And, I'm using fresh sage because we have that in my husband's garden. I'm a firm believer in using what you have.

I am perusing recipes for other slow cooker meals. I did find one for squirrel. Not being a hunter, I don't think I'll try it, but if you are interested, it is on the allrecipes.com site. I realize I try to use what I have on hand, but I'm not sitting in the yard with a ball bat waiting for the squirrel...

With the recent onset of hot weather, my husband's tomatoes are starting to ripen. We've been blessed with a few cherry tomatoes -- enough for our salads made with his home grown lettuce. But today was the day he could pick his vine ripened regular tomatoes. So far, only two were ready, but we are looking forward to tasting them.

With the recent higher temperatures, it is time to break out the Crockpot!

I am fixing shrimp creole for supper tonight. My recipe is pretty simple.

Shrimp Creole

1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablepoon of olive oil or canola oil

2 15 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
shrimp
cooked rice

Try to chop the celery, onion, zucchini, and pepper about the same size. Saute in olive oil. Add tumeric and garlic near the end so it doesn't burn. Add to Crockpot. Add the stewed tomatoes and sugar and cover; cook on low 6-7 hours. Depending on the size of the shrimp, add the last 30-45 minutes of cooking. I'm using salad shrimp so it won't take long to heat up.

Service over cooked rice.

I will admit I do cut up the stewed tomatoes so they are the same size as the vegetables I chopped, but that's just a personal preference. Other than the shrimp, I had everything else on hand. I'm sure if you wanted to make more for a more servings, you could easily cut up more vegetables and add more tomatoes or tomato sauce. I have doubled the recipe before so I could take part of it to some relatives.

I'm looking forward to a cooler kitchen tonight!

Here in the Midwest with high dew points and even higher temps, it was miserable today. Just going outside to pick a few leaves of lettuce resulted in a warm sticky feeling and I was only outside a few minutes.

My goal today was to fix something for supper that didn't heat up the kitchen -- or me for that matter!

Fortunately my husband is starting to get cherry tomatoes so that added to the lettuce and a couple of other items already in the fridge made a good salad.

I fixed pork chops on the top of the stove and saute'd mushrooms with them, and then boiled two ears of corn. I made biscuits in the toaster oven. I made a fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, bananas and added Greek yogurt and honey -- what a cool dessert.

The other day the owner of a restaurant we go to was telling me that no one can eat at home for less than $10 each. I just smiled because he's the type of guy who thinks he's never wrong...many of our meals are less than $10 total for the two of us! So, I figured eating at home also saved money.

I'm sure glad we ate at home...it's too hot to go anywhere, that's for sure!

Cool and refreshing is how I would describe the newest dessert I made.

It's an Italian Ice made with Lemon Zinger tea. Very easy:

4 Lemon Zinger Tea Bags
3 cups boiling water
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice


Steep the tea bags in the boiling water and sugar for an hour. Take out the bags and refrigerate the tea and sugar mixture for at least 8 hours or overnight. Take out and add the lemon juice.

You can then put in an ice cream freezer for 30 minutes or put in a metal pan and let it freeze hard. It was very refreshing.

I found the recipe in Living Well's diabetic cookbook. I thought it was so clever I am trying it with raspberry tea bags today.

Ever have one of those nights when you have a lots of odds and ends in the fridge and hate to see it go to waste? Last night was one of those nights at our house.

I have been working through the freezer and trying to use up some of the stuff we've had awhile, and crab cakes was the winner from the freezer roulette.

The fridge had a few different items. We had green beans from the night before, baked beans from lunch a couple of days ago (we had them for two meals before this), lettuce, tomatoes, and part of a red onion, a boiled egg, a small portion of Feta cheese, leftover biscuits, a small portion of cottage cheese, leftover roasted potatoes, leftover fruit salad, an overripe pear, and on the counter...very ripe bananas.

I heated the potatoes in a little olive oil and cut up part of the onion in them. The rest of the onion I used for the salad of lettuce, tomato, Feta cheese,and sliced the egg. I heated up both types of beans, and put the cottage cheese out in a little bowl. I nuked the biscuits.

I cut up the pear and bananas into the fruit salad.

There was ample food and little of it went to waste. I think I did pitch a couple of biscuits. I had made them a couple of days before with some flour, milk, baking powder, and herbs from our garden so I wasn't throwing out big money.

Not a gourmet meal, but full tummies and a cleaner fridge were the result.

I bet we could get people to think leftovers were gourmet undertakings if we could figure out a catchy phrase for it!

Yesterday we drove to a town about an hour away to nose around at the shops. On the return trip home, we stopped at a produce stand and bought a melon, green beans, and sweet corn.

It is so exciting to see locally grown produce for sale. Our city has a couple farmer's markets and we often go to them. One, unfortunately has a stand where I think the person isn't really selling locally grown items...I noticed he had the same type of boxes that the grocery stores have to unload the stuff and it seemed to be packed the same way. After seeing this, I decided I would avoid this stand. I think that is misleading.

I like buying locally. I think it is important to support those who live near us. Plus, the food is fresh...not having been shipped for days!

We enjoyed the green beans last night at supper. I snapped them, cooked them with chicken broth and bacon...yum! I look forward to cutting into the melon and having some of that sweet corn too! Ah, the joys of summer cooking!

I have three cooking goals this summer: 1)homemade noodles, 2)pie crusts, and 3)homemade pizza. Last night I worked on the pie crusts.

I have tried to make pie crusts and they weren't flaky and I think I didn't roll them out thin enough. I tried again last night. We are having quiche for lunch using one of them, so we shall see. I guess practice makes perfect.