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    The Best of Fall Produce

    One way to save money is to buy what’s in season, and right now that’s goodies like apples, pears, cabbage, beet and squashes. The trick is to find ways to make them a meal. One thing I love to accompany sandwiches is coleslaw. However, after eating the same old, same old during the summer I was in the mood for something a little different. Just so happened that in this week’s CSA box there sat a red cabbage, and at the grocery store I saw bags of apples on sale for 97 cents a pound. Anytime something goes under a dollar a pound, I buy it and then decide what…

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    Saving With Coupons

    September is all about coupons. With the price of just about everything increasing, including food, using coupons can stretch your budget even more. On some of my trips to the supermarket I won’t buy anything unless I have a coupon or it’s on sale and it’s amazing how much you can save. Here are some of my coupon tips I’ve stumbled upon over the years- Meal Planning If you’re in the mood for some real penny pinching, plan meals around the coupons you have on hand. I’ve used coupons for tacos, refried beans, pizza, frozen potatoes, soup etc. Some of these meals have become favorite standbys even when I don’t…

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    Preserving Food Saves Money and it’s not all about canning

    One thing I love about summer is going to the store and picking up bargains that I can preserve for later use when prices go up (as we all know they will). While I do lots of canning there are other ways I put these items to good use- One way is my drying it and yes, I’ll give a little shameless promotion here. I co-authored a book called The Essential Dehydrator and while some of its focus is on how to dry foods, it contains lots of gourmet recipes using dried foods. Just this week I dried six pounds of onions and the thing I like best is I…

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    Cooking With Herbs-Chives

    This post should really be called what to do with a bumper crop of chives. I hate wasting anything, especially food, so when I saw that this year’s chive crop was more than I could handle in one afternoon of drying and freezing, I had to get creative. Here are some ideas I came up with- Think Holiday Gifts I used to make four or five different flavored vinegars each summer but haven’t done it in a long time. This year I decided to try it again. As you might have guessed first one, chive vinegar. It’s simple to do and you can use old bottles that once housed things…

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    An Afternoon Tea Treat-Cranberry, Orange and Walnut Quick Bread

    One of my favorite things to do is put together an afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones, and other sweet treats. I’m always looking for new recipes to add and here’s one I came up with last week. I thought I’d share it with you because it’s easy to make, has simple ingredients, and maybe even perfect for a Mother’s Day treat- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup orange juice 2 eggs, beaten 1 orange, peeled and cut into small pieces (also toss the pieces in some flour to stop them from…

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