The weather has been unseasonably cool with nighttime temperatures dipping into the 40s and more rain than we’ve had in the area in years. The tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are all suffering from the lack of heat, but the radishes chard, kale, carrots, celery, and herbs are thriving.

Here are a few photos of what’s growing in my garden this week:

carrots                                                 celery

chard                                                  cucumbers

lettuce                                                   zucchini

These images came from my Instagram feed.

Did you know that it is possible to grow celery from the root of the celery you buy at the grocery store? Here’s how:

Start with a stalk of organic celery that you have either grown yourself or purchased at the supermarket. Why organic? Celery is very high in water content, and it is one of the most likely to have pesticide residue when it is not grown organically.

Cut the root away from the celery ribs (the part you eat), leaving about 3/4” of celery intact. The photo above shows Day 1. The celery in the photo has just been cut and placed in a cup of water. A paper towel has been soaked in water and bunched up around the roots to keep them moist in the even that I forget to check the water level.

Place the cup in a sunny window and leave it alone.

At Day 5, you can already see new growth at the center of the stalk. Keep the root wet and let it do its thing. Mother Nature is pretty amazing to watch, and this is a great project to do with kids because the changes happen so quickly that they aren’t as likely to get bored with the process because they can literally see changes almost every day!

At Day 18, there will be a substantial number of leaves and new growth. The image at the top of this post is the same celery at Day 18. At any point after you see this level of growth it is safe to plant your regrowing celery in the garden, container, or raised bed outdoors. If you do so, be sure to keep a close watch on the moisture level of the soil to keep it damp at all times.

The photo above was taken at Day 31. The celery is now located in a raised bed in our new back patio garden and growing well.

This process can be repeated indefinitely. When the celery grows large enough to be used, the root can again be used to grow more celery. Stop buying celery and regrow your own already!

Statistics show that as much as 40 percent of the food in the United States goes uneaten. ¹ We are wasting food at twice the rate we did in the 1970’s while 1 in 6 people go hungry. ² 

My waistline will attest to the fact that I am far from starving to death, but that doesn’t stop me from doing everything I can to curb food waste every chance I get. One way I do that is by making my own homemade vegetable stock at home.  What’s more, I do it for free.

Every time I use fresh produce I have waste. Whether that waste is the ends of onions or carrots or the bits and pieces of celery that have gone soft after spending a day or two too long in the fridge, they all end up in my freezer stock container (see photo, above). In addition, frozen, or even canned produce and the liquids drained from them camp out in my freezer until I have amassed about 12 cups worth. That’s when I take stock and make stock.

From carrot peelings to onion butts, even wilted greens are fair game. When I cook the vegetable stock down, I usually do little more than add some fresh herbs (when they’re available), or dried herbs if that’s what I have. I bring the lot to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. I let the stock simmer for about 2 hours before cooling, straining, and canning it.

Alternatively, you can make your stock in smaller batches in a slow cooker by adding the vegetable waste, filling the slow cooker with water and allowing to cook on high for 6-8 hours. When you’re finished, the spent vegetables can be composted just as they would when they were raw.

Using this method I can produce 4 quarts of wonderful vegetable stock without spending anything at all, and I do the same for both chicken and beef, but that’s another post for another day!

Necessity is the mother of invention, or so they say. When I moved to a small neighborhood with a rather strict HOA late last summer, the season was all but over and I didn’t really put much thought into the garden I would grow in 2013. Then I started reading the dreaded Bylaws, and the Covenants and Restrictions.

I would have to get HOA permission to dig a vegetable garden on the property? SERIOUSLY? In America? I’m not a terrorist, I’m a gardener. I just want fresh, homegrown tomatoes for crying out loud. But them’s the rules.

What they don’t say is what I can and cannot do in containers, and technically speaking, a raised bed is a container, right? That’s when the idea began to take hold. My beloved fiancé and I started talking about how to lay out raised beds to make the best possible use of the space we had available while simultaneously beautifying our quaint (read: postage stamp tiny) backyard.

BF and I talked about what we wanted out of our garden this year, and listed our priorities and requirements along the way. That led to lots of measuring, tons of daydreaming and more calculating and recalculating than either of us will ever admit.

Here’s the original design sketch I created when we came up with the plan:

The design creates a total of 64 square feet of growing space that will reside atop the no frills concrete pad that is our patio. From there it was a simple matter of designing the beds themselves, then a trip (or three) to the home improvement store to gather the necessary supplies not only to build the beds, but to fill them as well.

In addition to the wood, screws, and landscape fabric, we bought 65.5 cubic feet of soil, compost, and amendments. They were not light. Advil was consumed in abundant quantities.

BF manned the new Ryobi miter saw, turning a stack of 8 foot lumber into four impressive-yet-simple raised beds.

Without any plans, the process was learn-as-you-go, but the end result is better than I ever could have imagined it would be.

This is a “before” shot of the patio, with four GrowBoxes ready to be planted:

Two beds completed, installed, and filled with soil, compost, and amendments:

All four beds installed and ready for planting:

If you look carefully in the photo above, you can see the top edge of the plastic sheeting I stapled to the interior of the beds to create a barrier between the soil and the wood. This was done to slow down the wear-and-tear on the wood by limiting its contact with the moist soil.

I gave the beds a good, thorough soaking to give the bagged soil a chance to reconstitute and settle before I began planting the next afternoon.

I am working on a cost breakdown of the project to analyze exactly how much these beds cost to build per square foot. That will allow us to calculate the value at the end of the season based on the return we see in the form of edible produce. Interested in what is being planted in these beds? I’m going to talk more about that, too.

More on all of that later. For now, it’s great to be back writing on the blog after spending a few weeks getting adjusted to my new full-time contract with The Home Depot. I promise I’m going to spend a lot more time here from now on.

Ooh! One final thing before I run off… in the process of building and planting the beds, I did something I’ve done for years without a second thought. When I snapped a photo and shared it on my Facebook page, I realized that it was something that a lot of people were excited about. These templates for square food gardening are simple to make out of a 1’ square of cardboard, and they make planting according to the grid method ultra-simple without having to lay out strings or boards to keep your boxes straight.

There is no denying that I am a big fan of all things tomato, so it should come as no surprise that I love homemade tomato sauces like marinara. While I have been making my own marinara for years, a recent trip to Costco gave me the chance to see just how cost effective my homemade marinara can be. In fact, one great find at the warehouse store has made it possible for me to make a gallon of marinara at home for right around $4.00!

The base of marinara is crushed tomatoes, and I came across a 105 ounce can of a popular name brand for just $2.99 while on my last shopping trip. Below you can see the ingredients I use for my basic marinara. With just these ingredients, a little olive oil to soften the onion and garlic, and an hour to simmer on the stove or in a slow cooker, you can have a gallon of the best marinara in town for less than the price of a quart of the so-called “gourmet” stuff at the store.

INGREDIENTS

• #10 can of Crushed Tomatoes (105 ounces)
• 2 large yellow onions, minced
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 Tablespoon coarse black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  In a large stock pot, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until soft and translucent.

2.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well while bringing to the boil.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour or until the flavors come together and the sauce thickens slightly.

4. Taste the sauce at this point and adjust the seasonings to your individual taste.

5. Enjoy! Because there will be a lot of leftovers here (unless you’re feeding a football team), freeze the excess in quart containers. It will last for at least 6 months without losing flavor or texture, perfect for a quick dinner anytime!

It’s good to remember that this is the most basic recipe I could come up with. From this base you can truly make it your own by adding anything you like from sweet or hot peppers to celery, even make it a chunky-style sauce by adding diced tomatoes and onions.

Don’t be afraid to experiment in the kitchen. No one knows your taste better than you, and with a can’t miss recipe like this one, you’re almost guaranteed a perfect meal!

Because of the sheer number of questions I get about easy recipes, I couldn’t wait to share my first slow cooker meal of 2013. This one is so delicious, you’ll never believe how simple it is to make. It takes just a few basic ingredients that most of us have on-hand anyway, and the prep time alone will make it a cook’s favorite. You can literally do all of the prep work in about 5 minutes, go about your day and come home to perfectly cooked honey garlic chicken.

NOTE:  This is not an original recipe. It is my version of one I found here last year. I encourage you to give it a try and to play with the ingredients to suit your family’s tastes.

serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Chicken Breasts (bone-in or boneless)
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce*
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced

*I use ketchup that is made without high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but the same amount of tomato sauce will work just as well if you have it on hand.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, ketchup, honey, oregano and black pepper until well blended and pour in just enough to cover the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Add chicken to the slow cooker and pour the remaining sauce mixture over it.

3. Top each chicken breast with a clove of minced garlic.

4. Set slow cooker to low heat and cover. Allow to cook on low for 6 hours.

I serve this dish with rice, but it would be just as tasty if you decided to shred the chicken and serve it on a bun. You can also reduce the liquid after cooking to create a quick sauce if you like.

What if I told you that I have discovered a simple plan for saving money that helps you to easily save nearly $1,400 this year? I know, I know, you’re probably saying that there’s no way, but even though it might mean that you’ll have to start planning ahead a bit, it really is possible and starting with this first week of 2013, I’m on board.

Earlier today I saw a blog post about the 52 Week Money Challenge and was impressed by the simplicity of the challenge itself, not to mention how easy the challenge is to follow.

As you can see from the graphic, all you have to do is save the number of dollars that corresponds to the week of the year. On week one, for example, you save $1.00, while on week 30, you save $30.00. If you follow along each week, you will have saved $1,378.00 in 52 weeks, and that doesn’t take into account savings accounts that earn interest.

I am onboard with this challenge and have set up a separate savings account just for it. If you don’t have a savings account already, you might consider a money market savings account like the one I signed up for at ally bank online. It requires no minimum balance, has no minimum opening deposit, and an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 0.95%, which is a great rate especially for an account with no fees.

I’m in for saving more money in 2013, and this challenge is a great way to get myself motivated! What do you say? Are you in?

When it comes to the holidays, you just can’t have turkey without dressing, but who has the time to make it from scratch? You do.

First, a tip that I first learned from my dear Granny a long time ago. When you have leftover cornbread or a slice or two of any kind of bread that is starting to go stale, don’t toss it in the trash! Toss it in the freezer in a zipper bag instead. This is how I avoid waste and having bake cornbread just for this recipe. Then, when you are ready to put together your cornbread dressing recipe, pull it out of the freezer, let it thaw for a few and cut it into cubes.

This is a great make-ahead dish that will save you a lot of time on the holiday. I don’t let holiday cooking get the best of me because I spend a few minutes of the days leading up to the big meal making everything ahead of time that I can. To make my cornbread dressing ahead of time, prepare the recipe as directed below, then cover with foil and freeze. Take it out the night before and bake according to the directions.

serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cornbread cubes
• 1 1/2 cups bread cubes
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
• 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 small-medium)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried sage
• 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

1. Slowly sauté onion and celery in olive oil over medium heat until softened but not browned.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken broth and fold together gently with a spatula until well combined.

3. Add enough chicken broth to moisten the contents, but not leave it wet. You may need anywhere between 1 1/2 or 2 cups of broth.

4. Bake uncovered at 400 F degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Many people have a hard time making the perfect pie crust, but with this simple recipe you will get it right the first time, every time. There are two tricks to always keep in mind:

1. Keep the ingredients ice cold.
2. Don’t overwork the dough or it will become tough.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 9 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• bowl of ice water

PREP INSTRUCTIONS

Cut butter into 1/4” cubes and place in the freezer for 15 – 30 minutes before beginning the recipe.

It is imperative that the ingredients be as cold as possible when you are working with them, as this is what will help to keep the pie crust light and flaky.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To begin, combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix the ingredients thoroughly.

2. Add cold butter to the food processor and pulse it for a few seconds at a time, until the mixture becomes crumbly.

At this point you will see pea-sized pieces of butter still in the mixture, and that is exactly what you want to see.

3. Add 3 Tablespoons of ice water and pulse until it is fully incorporated.

Check the consistency of the dough by picking up a small handful and squeezing it in the palm of your hand. If it holds together, move on to the next step. If not, add more water, a Tablespoon at a time, until it does. Be careful not to add too much water, as this will make a tough dough.

4. Pour the dough mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and press it together with the heels of your hands a few times. Then press the mixture together until it forms a rounded disk like you see below.

5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes if you are planning to continue on with making the pie immediately. You can leave it wrapped and frozen for up to 3 days before using it. This will make much easier work of holiday food prep if your pie crust is already in the freezer ready to go.