Planting tips for vegetable seeds and starts Putting in a garden or planting a few small containers can be intimidating. No one wants to invest the time and money into a garden, only to be rewarded with seeds that don't come up or plants that shrivel up. If you are going to do this, you want to do it right. I totally get that. I grew up watching my grandpa grow a huge commercial garden. Acres of tomatoes and melons. I had a deep appreciation for thumping watermelons and picking cucumbers. When I was a kid, I learned by being my dad's sidekick in the garden. I loved the whole process -- planning the layout, choosing the seeds, planting, watering, Keep Reading
Basic bean soup (gluten-free, dairy-free recipe)
Basic Bean Soup When I was first learning my way around the kitchen and figuring out how to cook real meals for real people, I steered as far away from soup as possible. For some dumb reason, making soup seemed really difficult. Maybe it had something to do with all those different ingredients swirled together in one pot. Where do you start? I was totally intimidated. After a few years of giving soup the silent treatment, though, I finally decided to figure it out. I quickly discovered that making soup is actually one of the easiest kitchen skills! Heat some olive oil, add meat if you want, saute a bunch of vegetables, add seasonings, cover with Keep Reading
How to Compost at Home
How to compost at home I love keeping a backyard compost bin. It's like magic. You dump in a bunch of waste, wave your wand/shovel, and voila! Out comes beautiful, rich soil loaded with beneficial nutrients and packed with earthworms. I think of it like frugal fertilizer; plants are crazy about it. Compost improves the soil's structure and moisture retention, while slowly releasing into the soil to boost the plant's growth and ability to fight diseases. However, if there was an award for World's Laziest Composter, I would be in serious medal contention. I love the results of a backyard compost bin, but I don't have the time or desire to make Keep Reading
How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
Homemade Chicken Stock Making homemade chicken stock is a super simple, versatile skill to have in your kitchen tool belt. In fact, if I had to pick just one frugal habit that consistently saves a significant amount of grocery money, while delivering a superior product, making homemade chicken stock would be it. If you are on a tight budget, trying to figure out how to cut back on expenses, food is a tough category. Your family is probably kind of attached to the whole 3-meals-a-day routine and beans & rice only get you so far. To make those grocery dollars stretch as far as possible, try this: At the beginning of the week, roast 2 chickens Keep Reading
Amazing No-Knead Bread: Step-by-step recipe
No-Knead Bread Recipe If you have been hanging out around Frugal Living NW for awhile, you know that I am a big believer in making food from scratch at home. With a few exceptions, I prefer creating something in my own kitchen to buying it in the grocery store. Bread can be tricky, though. There is some stiff competition out there, and it is tough to replicate a commercial oven's heat and steam in a normal home kitchen. For the last several years, I thought that Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes was the best thing since, well, sliced bread. It was simple, and we were content with the results. That is, until last summer when our neighbor brought over a Keep Reading
Book Review: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
I was totally skeptical of the title and hype behind the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo (Amazon). But I've got to say... it lives up to its name. This book has inspired me to look at my home and possessions in a whole new light. I am neat by nature and have read dozens of articles on organizing and decluttering, but this book hits it from a much more radical perspective. Prepare to get rid of tons of stuff. The basic premise is to break down all of the items in your home by category, handle each object, and decide whether or not it sparks joy in you. If it does, you create a Keep Reading
How to Make Quinoa Patties (vegetarian recipe)
Quinoa Patties When we first started experimenting with a more vegetable-based diet a few years ago, my husband was committed but skeptical. He braced himself for a long, hungry month. I reassured him that he was in good hands. I only forgot one small detail: I actually had no clue what I was doing. Up to this point, all of my meal planning started with a simple decision: beef, pork, or chicken? Then I would build side dishes around the meat. Take the meat out, and it was hard for me to get motivated in the dinner department. Pancakes for a month, anyone? Thankfully, I started to experiment with different beans and grains and vegetables and Keep Reading
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