Have you started gardening for groceries yet?

A Bankrate article suggests that if you plant a garden, you will harvest savings. 

People used to go to places like Home Depot, Lowe's, and garden centers asking for flowers, but these days people are asking for fruit and vegetable plants. 
Source: a TV news report

It sounds like an excellent idea and I am actually quite intrigued.  I am also very afraid.  I have never grown anything edible in my life. 

So what does an amateur who wants to harvest a few fruits and vegetables for the first time do? 

Actually, I did manage to harvest a few chives a couple of summers ago in a pot on the deck, but the output was quite pitiful.  Add to that the fact that I hate bugs, and worms, and dirt, and ants, and well, most outside things. 

If you can't already tell, the idea of gardening for my own produce is quite scary.

Hmmmm...

Do you know where your fruits and vegetables come from?

Here's a confusing scenario I encountered the other day...

I saw this in Better Homes and Gardens (July 2007). It's a list of ingredients that you can mix & match to make a variety of different fruit Smoothies.

Have you ever had buyer's remorse before... from buying groceries???

Me neither. Until recently..

Jim was out of town for the past 2 weeks with the racing biz. And usually whenever he leaves, I use that time to "try something new".

Sometimes it's things like:

• clean out every closet


• walk the dog every day


• take long bubble baths


• frame some new photographs


• or go to the Caribbean!

This time, it was: buy groceries. Enough to actually make some serious dishes that will last us several weeks -- if not months.

Wondering when certain fruits and vegetables are in season?...

I've written about this before... which foods you should buy "organic" vs which are okay to buy "regular" (...because they aren't as likely to be loaded with pesticides).

But now I found the official study behind those reports, and I've been hearing a lot about this in the news lately. Thought some of you might be interested in seeing this too...

Yeah, we're at it again... though I'm not sure we have near enough willpower to stick with it this time.

For the record, here's how we did last time.

Jim travels A LOT, and neither of us takes the time to cook these days. So sticking to a 100% Atkins-friendly diet is going to be quite difficult this go-around.

Nevertheless, we're bound & determined to give it a go & see what happens.

To help us enjoy the ride this time... we've found 10 snacks & desserts that make the "dieting" process a little bit easier and a whole lot more FUN!

In general, meat, milk and eggs are really worth buying organic," says Lisa Lee Freeman, editor in chief of Shop Smart magazine (published by Consumer Reports).

In addition, according to MSNBC's ConsumerMan, "Leafy greens and fruits and vegetables with a soft skin, such as strawberries, peaches, and raspberries, are more likely to contain pesticide residues and sometimes higher-risk pesticides. Fruits and vegetables with a thick skin that's not eaten, such as oranges, bananas, and pineapples, tend to have very few residues, if any.

Therefore, the most contaminated foods are the ones that should be bought organic, whenever possible.

For starters, to slash your pesticide ingestion, you'll want to choose fruits and vegetables on the following least-contaminated fruits & vegetables list... and avoid those on the most-contaminated fruits & vegetables list.

Here's a helpful guide...

In light of the fact that it is Strawberry Season here in Tennessee, and thanks to Jan's excellent coverage of all the Strawberry Festivals and U-pick 'Em places in the state, I am resurrecting this "post from the past"...

After picking strawberries last spring, we became addicted to strawberry fruit smoothies! They're extremely easy to make. And somewhat healthy too.

Here's how to make a smoothie...