Collecting carrot seeds from my garden

Summer of 2015, I collected seeds from a parsley plant in my garden, enough for about 5 years of parsley.

At the end of 2015's summer garden, I left one carrot in the ground in my garden's carrot patch, to go to seed this summer. Carrots are biennials, meaning it takes 2 seasons for flowers to develop.

Over winter, the green top of this one carrot died back. In spring, it put on new growth. And I left it there, to flower. All summer long, this carrot's flowers have been developing seeds for me.

This past weekend, I clipped the most dried seed head. (When the seed head turns tan, and the seeds look dried, that's when it's time to gently cut the seed head from the plant.)

If you look at it up close, you can see there are hundreds of seeds on one seed head. And that one carrot produced 7 seed heads. Carrot seeds remain vigorous in their germination for about 3 years. Some carrot seeds will still germinate beyond that 3 year mark, but the percentage of viable seeds will decline.

I shook the seed head over an open paper bag. The remaining seeds will continue to dry, with the seed head, upside down and inside the paper bag, just sitting on my desk.

In a couple of weeks, I'll rub the remaining seeds off the seed head, and store this paper bag, inside my seed container, for planting next spring.


(If you live where weather is severe enough for carrots to rot in the ground over winter, here's an old-timer's tip for collecting carrot seeds. Dig up 5 or 6 of your best carrots, being very careful not to bruise the skins. Clip the green tops to 1-inch of the top of the carrot. Store in moistened sand in a cellar, until springtime planting. Replant the carrots, and allow to flower. Collect seeds, as per above.)

I choose a different vegetable or two each year to collect seeds from. It's easy. It's thrifty. And it fits my idea of fun.

Autumn decorations from Michael's vs Autumn decorations from Dollar Tree

On Saturday, I was out running multiple errands in the area with my daughters, and we all wanted to stop at Michael's. We each had our coupons (from mailers, as well as online rewards program emails), and we each had a couple of items we were interested in.

I've been longing to add decor to our front entry for autumn. One of my daughters hit it when she said, "this is your way of making up for summer coming to an end". That is a good part of why I like to decorate seasonally.

In Michael's, I could feel myself wanting to go wild with the spending. I need colored leaves, flower stems, faux squash, corn stalks, bales of hay. . .I need it all!

After much planning, and much mental mathematics, I selected these flower stems. they were on sale at 50% off, so I thought I was getting a great deal. Total spent -- $16.92

Driving on to our next errand, I realized that I should have checked Dollar Tree first. Kicking myself for not doing that only left me with a sore shin while trying to drive. I vowed to compare the floral stems at Dollar Tree, when we stopped in later that afternoon.

And these are the flowers that I found at Dollar Tree. Total spent -- $7.66

Okay, so they're not exact replicas of what Michael's carries, but they give the same autumnal "feel" to my entry decor. And as they'll be outside in the elements, I'm glad to not spend so much money on decorative pieces.  When my front entry decor transitions over to Christmas decor, I'll bring these inside to store until next year.

The differences between Michael's floral stems and Dollar Tree's are not significant to my needs. the Michael's stems are longer, and fuller. The length of stems didn't matter for my use. And the fullness was made up by purchasing an extra stem in each flower-type.

My plan was to put the mums into a pot (still to do), and the sunflowers into a basket. While at St Vincent de Paul's on Sunday, I found this great grapevine cornucopia for 99 cents. Doesn't get much better than that -- a great autumn piece, and only 99 cents!

Does anybody here receive the Victoria online newsletter? If you do, then last week you may have seen this photo:

It's gorgeous, isn't it? This is the cover for October's issue (only it's reversed on the magazine cover) While my front entry won't look nearly as lush and full, this is the feel I'm aiming for. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be adding decor details to my entry, but on a budget. I'll share as I go.

I'll swing by Michael's while out this morning, and return those original floral stems. I saved myself $9.26.

I've neglected my rhubarb for a good share of summer

And what happens when you don't harvest the rhubarb? It grows taller and taller!!!

Last week, I got out to the garden and cut about 2/3 of the stalks. I left enough for a few more pies this summer and early fall.

But I wasn't relishing the thought of hand-chopping all of that rhubarb. I'm right-handed, and my right hand has developed some arthritis, making using a knife for extended periods kind of painful. It's ordinarily not a big deal, and I don't have pain, for the most part. So, I'm not complaining.

But all that rhubarb. Ugh! then I thought, "gee, I have a food processor, and these sort of situations are really where kitchen appliances shine, so why not use it for the chopping?!" And that's what I did. I fed the cleaned stalks through the FP, using the slicing disk. And in about 5 minutes, it was all chopped. If I'd chopped all of this rhubarb by hand, not only would it have been painful, but it would have taken a good half hour or so.

I decided to just cook all of this rhubarb into sauce for use later in fall. I got out my largest stock pot, and when all was cooked, I had 10 quarts of rhubarb sauce!

Nothing wasted, my work was minimized, and now I have some already made fruit sauce for meals this fall.

I ask myself why I don't always use the FP for these jobs. I think I have it in my mind that it's going to be more work to use it and wash it afterwards. But actually, I put most of the FP through the dish washer, so there's no extra work at all. Just one of those silly misconceptions about just how.hard.something.is.going.to.be. NOT!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the week, plus my components for a "cheap" supper

Wednesday's dinner: black bean burger, brown rice, kale, fried purple potatoes,
tomato slices, plum cobbler topped with vanilla yogurt

Any meal of the day can easily tank the food budget. But for our family, I've found the "big meal", dinner/supper has the potential to be our most expensive meal of the day. In many homes, this meal is often the one that contains a meat entree. It usually comes with a couple of side dishes. And if it has dessert, that's tacking on an extra $ amount for those butter-rich, sugary calories. Plus, if I were to use very many convenience foods, well there goes the budget. So if there's focus anywhere in my meal planning, it's always the dinners/suppers.

Components of a cheap meal

Inexpensive protein source

• eggs
• dried beans
• less expensive meats, like dark meat chicken, whole turkey, bone-in ham, ground beef
• the relatively cheap nuts/seeds -- sunflower seeds, peanuts/peanut butter

Inexpensive starch

• whole, fresh potatoes (not boxed potato dishes)
• non-instant rice
• homemade, scratch bread products, like biscuits, yeast bread, dumplings, or pastry
• cheaper pasta (I look for sales on whole wheat pasta, or buy white pasta at Dollar Tree. Pasta can be an expensive starchy side dish, so we don't do these more than a couple of meals per week. Rice price per pound, about 40 cents for me. Pasta price per pound, 66 to 79 cents, if bought on sale or at DT, otherwise, pasta could be as much as $1.50 per pound.)

Less expensive produce -- in-season, long-keeping fruits and vegetables are often low in price, like:

• apples
• pears
• oranges
• cabbage
• carrots
• winter squash and whole pumpkins
• onions, garlic

Some moderate-keeping, in-season produce (a week or maybe 2, depending on storage methods)

• watermelon and other melons
• bananas
• in season tomatoes, green peppers, summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower

Home-grown fruits and vegetables

• we try to grow produce items that are more expensive in the stores, and often relatively perishable, like berries, plums, leafy greens
• home-grown vegetables which are somewhat labor-intensive to harvest, adding to the price when purchased, like green beans and peas

Frozen vegetables, bought in large bags or cases, plain varieties, like:

• peas
• cut corn
• green beans
• I make my own "mixed vegetable combos", instead of buying vegetable blends/mixes, combining carrots, corn, peas, green beans

Inexpensive canned vegetables

• bought in large #10 cans, like pumpkin and tomato products
• smaller cans (14-15 oz), when on sale, or w/ coupons, under 50 cents/can

Scratch-cooked desserts, no mixes, simple recipes, using ordinary ingredients, and often using home-grown fruit, such as

• pies
• cobblers
• crisps
• cakes
• cookies and bars
• cornstarch puddings
• baked custards/flans/rice pudding
• fruit sauces, using home-grown fruit

Fats -- I use saved meat fats, stored in the freezer, blended with oil at point of use, for sauteeing veggies, beans and vegetarian burger patties. I use vegetable oil, instead of butter, where flavor won't be a factor. (You already know that I like cake and cookies made with butter, but drop biscuits/dumplings/cobbler toppings can be made with oil or a blend of butter and oil. If there is some fat left in the skillet from a vegetable or bean burger saute, I spoon/scrape that over servings of plain rice, instead of using butter.

Those thoughts were rolling around in my brain today, so thought I'd share. Not all of our meals are cheap. But I figure if about 80% or so are of the "cheap" variety, then we can afford splurges, like when on a trip or for special occasions.

What we ate this week:

Friday (again a picnic dinner)

Almond butter sandwiches ($1.75)
Apples (free)
Bananas (50 cents)
Tea or milk
total cost, $2.25, plus beverages

Saturday

Take-out pizza, 2 mediums, with a $15 voucher, total came to $15.31, I found a quarter on the ground the night before, put in my pocket, then for pizza pick-up, used that quarter, plus 6 cents of my own
Fresh plums (free)
--total cost 6 cents

Sunday

Kale and shallot frittata (6 frozen eggs from last fall, at 11 cents each, plus butter/oil for pan, about 85 cents)
Brown rice (30 cents)
Plums (free)
--total cost, $1.15

Monday (Labor Day cook-out)

Foil packets of potatoes, shallots, tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, summer squash and hamburger patties
Fresh plums
S'mores
--total cost, $1.88 for the meat, and 50 cents for the s'mores

Tuesday

Meatloaf ($2.00)
Oven-roasted potatoes and garlic (free)
Sauteed Swiss chard and shallots (free)
Apple wedges (free)
Fresh tomatoes (free)
Hot fudge pudding cake (about 50 cents)
--total cost about $2.50

Wednesday

Black bean burgers (about 40 cents)
Fresh tomato slices (free)
Brown rice (30 cents)
Sauteed kale (free)
Purple potatoes pan-fried in saved ham fat (from our Easter ham) and oil (5 cents)
Plum cobbler topped with vanilla yogurt, a freebie (about 40 cents)
--total cost, about $1.15

Thursday

Corn souffle (about 75 cents), using ham fat, garden green peppers, some cream cheese, canned corn and 2 eggs
Little Smokies (75 cents -- I used 3/4 of a package that was marked down to 99 cents)
Spaghetti squash from garden
Leftover brown rice (about 15 cents, not much left), or
Bread and butter (about 15 cents)
Cole slaw (garden cabbage, plus dressing, about 10 cents)
Rhubarb sauce (about 15 cents)
--total cost, about $2.05

Well, summer came to a crashing halt at the end of last week. It has looked more like November, here, than September, dark, cold and drizzly, for a week straight. I am hoping the sun will come back and give us a few more summery days. It just feels too soon to lose those happy summer days.

I tried something this week that I'd never had before -- almond butter. WinCo has the machines which grind it for you, on the spot. I bought just a small amount, so we could try it. We had it as sandwiches, which I don't think was the best use for it, seeing as how it's so much more expensive than peanut butter. It was good, but not $7-per-pound good. Maybe it would be better on crackers or on apple wedges. That's just my take on it. If you have any suggestions for how it's best used, please share.

I hope your week went well. What was on your menu this past week?

Have a great weekend!

Do you remember my potted mums from last fall?

These were the mums that got caught out by an early frost, and lost their blooms before giving me much of a show.

Well, I brought the potted plants indoors for the winter. I kept them watered, and in a sunny window. In spring, I pruned them, and set them back out on the deck.

All are now beginning to bloom again!

I have 2 large and 1 small potted mum. Looking good and I'm hopeful for lots of blooms. And this year, I'll try to pull them up against the house before any early frosts, to extend their bloom time.

So cool. No money spent this fall for potted mums!

(BTW, these types of mums don't over-winter in pots in my area very well. They can be planted in the ground and mulched over, to use as a tender perennial. Our winters are a bit too cold for mums to survive in a pot, outdoors.)

The foil-packet cookout

As we'd been discussing using foil packets for camping and cook-out meals, I thought I'd share what we did over Labor Day weekend.

I knew this had to be cheap (meaning I didn't want to run out to the store to buy any "special" ingredients). And I knew it had to be easy, as I had a meeting later in the evening, and I didn't want to be exhausted when I walked into the meeting.

To satisfy the cheap aspect, I used all garden vegetables -- potatoes, shallots, green peppers, tomatoes, green beans and summer squash, plus used (but clean) aluminum foil sheets. And I used 1 pound of ground beef, bought on sale at Cash & Carry a couple of weeks ago, for $1.88/lb.

To be easy, I began the "preparations" early in the day. When you're using garden vegetables, "preparation" includes digging, picking and washing those vegetables. If you've only ever used supermarket produce, you may not be aware of just how dirty vegetables can be, fresh from the garden. Garden potatoes can be filthy! Anyways, I dug potatoes and picked the rest of the vegetables just after noon. Cleaning them was done in spurts between loads of laundry. I also seasoned the ground beef (with onion powder, garlic granules, salt and ground chipotle pepper), at this time, formed into patties and kept in the fridge for the rest of the afternoon.

Outside, a fire was built in the fire ring, making the logs as level as possible to provide a surface for the foil packets. At first, we just placed the packets onto the burning logs. Two of the packets began to develop holes. So, we placed the BBQ grill over part of the logs, and moved the packets to the grill. (The torn packets were placed on a small baking pan, to prevent veggies from falling out and into the fire.)

Quite delicious! And very little clean-up for me.

A couple of tips--

• if using a fire ring, a BBQ grill placed on top of the logs works well, with or without a baking pan
• heavy-duty foil fared better than lighter-weight foil. The 2 packets which tore were from well-worn thin foil
• we loaded the chopped potatoes onto the bottom, for best cooking close to the heat, then the rest of the veggies, and finally the meat patties, to drip their savory juices onto the vegetables.

Everlasting blossoms for my living room

Everlasting may be an exaggeration, but these blooms will last through a couple winters.

These are dried hydrangeas.

Do you know what's an amazing thing about hydrangea blooms? When you cut them to bring indoors for a vase, you don't have to do much of anything to produce lovely dried blooms.

You simply fill a vase with water, trim the stems of your blooms, remove excess foliage, place the stems in water, and allow them to dry, as the water evaporates.

I've done this the past couple of summers. It always amazes me, because so many other flowers don't look so great after a few weeks in a vase of water. But hydrangeas do dry so nicely, and so easily. They fade some, as they dry, and then a bit more after drying.

I think they're beautiful. Delicate, china blue petals. A remembrance of summer, when the winter light is dim and icy.

Confetti cupcakes, just for fun

Kids like rainbows of color. And frankly, so do I! Those "funfetti" cake mixes are always a hit for kids' birthday cakes and cupcakes. They're also fun, just because.

I had the occasion to bake a just because, fun treat item last week. But I was short on time, and wanted to bake from what I had on hand. What I did have was all of the ingredients for vanilla cupcakes, and some rainbow sprinkles.

My cost for the confetti cupcakes was about 73 cents, plus 12 cents for cupcake liners. That's about 7 cents per cupcake. Not bad for a fun treat, just because.

• My scratch vanilla cupcake recipe, for 1 dozen (cost 61 cents)
• plus, 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles from Dollar Tree (about 12 cents worth)
• plus, 12 cents for the cupcake liners, bought 100 for $1 at Dollar Tree

Here's the breakdown for one dozen cupcakes, halving a recipe for a 2-egg yellow cake (this recipe, here):

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (7 cents), flour bought at $12 for 50 lbs
3/4 cup sugar (10 cents), sugar bought at $19 for 50 lbs
1/4 teaspoon salt (1 cent)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder, or equivalent substitute in baking soda/vinegar (2 cents)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (4 cents)
1 egg (7 cents), eggs bought at 79 cents per dozen
1/2 cup milk (6 cents)
1/4 cup butter (24 cents) butter bought at $1.89 per lb

(Your costs may vary, according to prices in your area.)

I could have shaved costs on these cupcakes, by subbing oil for the butter, and using imitation vanilla in place of real vanilla extract, but I like the flavor of the butter and real vanilla. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the end of August

Friday, picnic for girls and I (very easy)

PB sandwiches on homemade bread (40 cents)
Macaroni salad, with canned tomatoes, parsley, olives, vinaigrette (40 cents)
Apples, from garden
Bananas (45 cents)
--total cost $1.25

Saturday (very easy)

Italian chicken sausages ($2.49), with
Chopped canned tomatoes, and liquid plus seasonings (15 cents)
Brown rice (20 cents)
Kale and Cabbage from the garden, sauteed in fat from sausages
Fruit cups of nectarine and apple (60 cents)
--total cost $3.44

Sunday (very easy)

Egg fried rice with garden shallots, cabbage and kale (90 cents)
Baked apples with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans (75 cents)
--total cost $1.65

Monday (so so)

Meatloaf, topped with chopped canned tomatoes ($2.15)
Garden purple and white potatoes, rosemary and garlic (free)
Garden yellow crookneck squash, sauteed in reserved chicken fat (free)
Apple and nectarine wedges (apple from our trees) (40 cents)
Brown rice for anyone still hungry (25 cents)
--total cost $2.80

Tuesday (easy)

Black beans and rice, with chopped, canned tomatoes, garden green peppers and cheddar ($1.50)
Garden green beans (free)
Apple wedges (free)
Tossed salad of garden lettuce, yellow peppers, pickled beets, cabbage in a homemade vinaigrette (10 cents)
Scratch vanilla-confetti cupcakes with vanilla icing (45 cents)
--total cost $2.05

Wednesday -- dinner at a church event, no cost

Thursday (easy)

Black bean, rice and cheese burritos in homemade flour tortillas (70 cents)
Tossed salad of lettuce and garden carrots in vinaigrette (5 cents)
Fresh peaches (75 cents)
Blackberry cobbler (50 cents)
--total cost $2.00

I was totaling the cost of our dinners this past week to use as a tool for planning meals in the future. I'm trying to balance ease of making dinner with low cost. Some dinners just cost a lot more, yet are quick to make. And some dinners cost very little, but are labor intensive. But there are a handful of meals that are both cheap and quick 'n easy. Those are the meals I'm trying to ferret out. I'm putting together a basic menu plan for weeks with little time and tight budget, for my own use.

I ranked my dinners as "very easy", "easy", "so so", "time intensive", and I would have "extra time intensive", but I rarely put together weeknight dinners in that category. Those dinners would fall on major holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. And this week, I didn't even make a time intensive dinner (something like meatballs would fall under "time intensive", for me).

I had 3 "very easy" dinners this week. The PB sandwich picnic dinner, the egg-fried rice, and the Italian chicken sausage dinner. Of those 3, the PB sandwich picnic and the egg-fried rice were both under $2.00. I could tweak each individual menu and make some of them easier or less expensive. And I'll work on that in coming weeks. I think it's important to have a couple of super easy, but still cheap meals in your back pocket, for those hectic days.

So, how did your week go? Any super easy, but cheap meals this past week that you'd like to share with us?

Have a great weekend! And if you have a holiday this weekend, enjoy your long weekend!

Silly me! I almost forgot to plan something

Happy September! Oh my goodness, it's September, already!

I was driving home from Dollar Tree, yesterday, and I realized that I almost forgot to plan for Labor Day. I was forgetting that it is a holiday for everyone in my family, and they will be anticipating (with significant glee, I presume) doing something together. At least I think they will. At this age, you just never know if your kids will have their own plans or be thinking to spend time with family.

After finding out that all 3 kids will be around, I checked our weather. Monday actually looks like it will be the warmest of the 3 days, with a storm rolling in on Tuesday. Here in Seattle, that means a storm could be rolling in on Monday, at this point. Those weathermen can be overly optimistic, here!

I've been thinking about some of the comments, about a week ago, to make foil meal packets, in place of roasting hot dogs. It'll be fun for everyone to make their own packet, and easy clean-up for me. Of course, weather permitting, we'll make s'mores afterwards.

And as it looks like it could either be chilly or even sprinkle, I'm thinking of picking up a dvd or 2 from the library, to watch in the evening. Or maybe a game. Any good games you can recommend?

How about you and your family? Are you planning anything for Labor Day? Any suggestions on what we can put into the foil meal packets?

August 2016 Grocery Spending Journal

August 2. Fred Meyer for the senior discount shopping day. I bought the large box of powdered milk for $13.04. This might last the whole year. I'm not needing to fortify my daughter's smoothies quite so much, these days, and never have to add the powdered milk to her drinking milk any more. So, that's good news on two fronts -- saves money, and a sign she's getting better. I found cottage cheese on markdown for 99 cents/16 oz container. Bought two. One container is earmarked for lasagna, and the other is for lunches, with fruit, this week. I also bought 4 packages of cheapo hotdogs for cookouts, at 80 cents/12 oz package, 1/10th lb unsweetend coconut at $2.69/lb, small jar blackstrap molasses for $3.41, 3 jars of natural-style peanut butter (15 oz for $1.61), 16 oz bag of marshmallows (for s'mores), at $1.35, 2 lbs of butter, at $2.25/lb, 12 oz milk chocolate chips and 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, at $1.80 each, plus 1 lb of whole wheat spaghetti for 90 cents. Spent $34.94

August 5. A change in plans for evening entertainment brought both daughters and I to the beach to have a small picnic dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches. Near to the beach is a frozen yogurt shop. So, for dessert, we headed over there. Even with my pleads of "let's keep these small, okay?", we still spent $14.20 for 3 fro-yo sundaes. Ouch! That comes out of the grocery budget. It was fun, but expensive fun.

Spent so far this month, $49.14

August 10. Dollar Tree. Among other things, I bought a box of graham crackers. Spent $1

August 12. Fred Meyer for the milk on sale at $1/half-gallon. I bought 5 half-gallons of whole milk, and 1 half-gallon of orange juice. I also picked up 2 weeks of Friday Freebies - 1 5-oz package of gummy worms (to go into a stocking at Christmas), and a 10-oz Hormel dinner (will probably also go as a gift to someone in family at Christmas). Spent $6. (While I was at Fred Meyer, they had a promotion on gift cards, at 4 x fuel rewards -- I picked up a Starbucks card to use as a gift sometime in the future.)

August 12. Trader Joes for bananas. I bought 17 bananas, at 19 cents each. Spent $3.23

August 14. Dollar Tree, again, this month (daughters needed student planners for classes). I also bought 1 box of 6 individual packages of animal crackers, and 1 box of 6 individual packages of fish crackers. These are a treat/snack for the 2 weeks my daughters are home at the end of summer, and we do a bunch of summer-y road trips. Spent $2

So far this month, I've spent $61.37

August 19. Country Farms produce stand. I was very near to this stand this morning, and was feeling like I needed a pick me up, so I stopped in. I bought 6 ears of corn on the cob (25 cents each), 3 small avocados (3/$1), 4 nectarines (99 cents/lb), a pint of blueberries ($2.49), and a cantaloupe (39 cents/lb) I spent $7.02. Although our garden is producing well, these days, this splurge was well worth it. Kris's blueberry and peach fruit cups (mentioned in the comments this morning) sounded so wonderful. I made fruit salads in similar fashion using the nectarines and blueberries.

Month to date spending, $68.39

August 25 Fred Meyer for 5 half-gallons whole milk (99 cents each), and 1 half-gallon orange juice (99 cents), about 8 lbs total of peaches and nectarines for 88 cents/lb, 1 PowerBar (freebie). Total spent -- $12.83

Month to date spending, $81.22

August 26. Went by Cash & Carry and picked up a 10-lb package of 80/20 ground beef for $18.80 ($1.88/lb), a 5-lb bag of white cheddar cheese ($6.95, $1.39/lb, last one, I would have bought more, no rainchecks), 25-lb bag of steel cut oats ($14.47, or 58 cents/lb), 3 bananas at 46 cents/lb, 3  64-oz jars of chunky peanut butter ($5.37). Spent $56.79

Total spent so far, $138.01


Coming in to the month of August, I had a surplus of $299.23. Add that to my budget of $190, and I had $489.23 available to spend for the month. I underspent by $351.22. That is my new surplus!! Add that to my monthly budget of $190, and for the month of September, I now have $541.22 available to spend on groceries. Good grief! Are we not eating?! I don't think I bought that much this month. Here's the list:

What I bought

Dairy 

large box of powdered milk
32 oz cottage cheese
2 lbs butter
10 half-gallons whole milk
5 lbs shredded white cheddar cheese

Meat

4 packages hot dogs
10 lbs 80/20 ground beef

Pantry

1/10th lb unsweetened coconut
small jar blackstrap molasses
3  15 oz jars natural-style peanut butter
16 oz marshmallows
2  12 oz bags chocolate chips
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
9 oz graham crackers
5 oz package gummy worms (Freebie)
Hormel pantry-stable dinner (Freebie)
6-pack fish crackers
25 lbs steel cut oats
6-pack animal crackers
1 PowerBar (Freebie)
12 pints of Jif-type peanut butter


Produce

2 half-gallons orange juice
20 bananas
6 ears of corn
3 small avocados
4 nectarines
pint of blueberries
1 cantaloupe
8 lbs of nectarines and peaches, mixed

Treats out

frozen yogurt


I'm still holding below our budget, to spare as much money as possible for fall sale stock-ups. I've benefitted by some spectacular deals, like the ground beef for $1.88/lb, and the cheddar cheese for $1.39/lb. Not to mention the eggs that I bought in June and July for rock-bottom low prices (I don't know if eggs will ever be that low again, 49 cents/dozen is pretty spectacular). I'm still using eggs from those 2 cases, that I froze.

I continue to look for better ways to buy items. Like the 25-lb sack of steel cut oats. I had been buying steel cut oats at WinCo for 62 cents per pound. I paid 58 cents/lb by buying the 25-lb sack. that's only a savings of 4 cents/lb, but multiplied by 25 lbs and I saved $1. And steel cut oats are not something that I have to worry about us eating, indiscriminately. This amount will last us about 15 months, and keep just fine. Mmmm, now I'm getting hungry for a bowl of steel cut oats, topped with fresh peaches. Yum!

One of my pantry goals this summer has been to work our way down on both pantry and freezer surpluses. I want to make sure nothing sits for so long that it's no longer edible, get both pantry and freezers cleaned out, and save some money for stocking up when prices are rock-bottom for many items. I had no idea just how much we have in stock, here. It's a lot of food, and could probably last us for several months, with no shopping at all, if need be.

Think like a business

In stocking my kitchen, I've learned to think as if I'm a commercial enterprise. This has saved me quite a lot of money, as well as provided superior quality, in many items, both in foods and in equipment.

I received an email from a reader yesterday, asking where I bought these containers

This reader  understood that these were repurposed containers, and was hoping to buy some just like these, and wanted to know where I bought them, and what they'd previously been filled with. I told her what item these containers came with and where I purchase that food (these are the containers for imitation bacon bits, in 3.5 lb jugs). But as she'd said she had looked high and low for something just like this, I went just a step further, and did a quick google-search for purchasing similar, but empty containers, in case she didn't need 17 lbs of bacon bits (to get 5 of these containers).  My thought process was, "where would I purchase similar containers, in bulk, if I were packaging my own product to sell?"

I searched with the terms: "plastic containers wholesale". Once at a page for wholesale containers, in their search bar, I entered: "food storage handles". It brought me to a page with clear, food safe containers about the same size as the ones I own. These containers could be ordered 1 at a time, or in bulk, for a discount.

In addition to finding this container at that website, I also obtained the particular item information, manufacturer, measurements, etc. If I were serious about ordering some of these for my kitchen storage, I could take this information and google-search this product for other wholesale sellers, and do a price comparison. And I could take the pricing and check my local restaurant supply store.

Purchasing these containers through a wholesale seller online offers a great price (about $2.50 including lid, but not shipping). In comparison, if I went to a retail container store like Storables, I would pay $6 to $8 for a 1-gallon food storage container.

Not all wholesale merchants will deal with the public. But by shopping online, I have a large number of merchants that I can look at, and hopefully find a couple who will sell to me.

Shopping for the durable equipment, like pots, pans and bakeware

When it comes to purchasing equipment for my kitchen, again, I think like a business. In this case, a commercial kitchen. I could buy pots, pans, utensils and small appliances through a department or kitchen specialty store. And they would all be very pretty. (Williams-Sonoma, love browsing in there.)

But in a commercial kitchen, appearance comes second, after effectiveness and quality. Commercial kitchens put their equipment through its paces, day after day, month after month. That's the kind of equipment that I want to own. So, where does a restaurant or institutional kitchen purchase its equipment? In my area, I have 2 good choices. There's the durable goods section of the restaurant supply chain, Cash & Carry, or Bargreen's, a chain of food service equipment suppliers scattered across the western US, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.

In addition to shopping in local stores, I've also shopped online for some items, like my bread pans. I go for commercial quality. About 15 or 16 years ago, I was in a small, local bakery, and I inquired about the bakeware they used. The owner showed me some of her baking pans, and suggested where I might find them. These bread pans are very sturdy, distribute heat evenly, and are fairly priced for their quality, but they won't win any beauty prizes. However, I expect that I will be handing these down to my children, in another 20 or 30 years.

By the way, my bread pans are Chicago Metallic, uncoated, heavy-weight, aluminized steel, with folded corner and wire-rod construction. They are commercial quality, and have a lifetime warranty.  I bought 6  1.5-lb loaf pans all those years ago, and expect them to last my lifetime and beyond. These sell on Amazon for about $13.50, or through Chicago Metallic for $14.95. In comparison, Williams-Sonoma carries a very similar loaf pan, retailing for $18.95. The Chicago Metallic pans saved me several dollars per pan, and deliver excellent quality in baking performance.

Shopping for food

With food, once again, I think like a business. You all know this about my shopping. I don't buy 1 week's worth of sugar or flour or oats, or any other pantry staple. I don't even buy 1 month's worth. I think in terms of a 1 year supply for most items in my pantry. When I'm at Cash& Carry, I find it interesting to look at the carts for restaurants, in the check-out line. We have a lot of small Asian restaurants in our area. These restaurants don't just buy 1 gallon of soy sauce at a time, they buy a case of gallons, or a 4-gallon cube, or the 5-gallon bucket of soy sauce.

After church, on Sunday, I was talking with a couple of women about buying pork roasts. One of the women said she buys the 4-pack of 2-lb pork roasts at Costco. She said she saves a lot of money buying the roasts like this. This is definitely the easy way to buy in bulk at a good price. I told her how I buy pork roasts, by the full loin. I then cut the loin up into individual roasts, myself at home. I do this with the 10-lb rolls of ground beef and 20 to 25 pound pieces of top round. I divide or cut this beef up and repackage into family-size amounts for the freezer. On some items, shopping where the restaurants shop, I save a substantial amount of money. Last week, I bought a 10-lb roll of 80/20 ground beef at $1.88/lb. I can't even come near that price at my local supermarkets. Even in the discount meat section of Fred Meyer, the least I have seen ground priced is $2.49/lb. On top of the savings, on many items, the quality is excellent, and sometimes exceeds the quality of supermarket food items. (Just an example -- I buy whipping cream with a higher butterfat content at Cash & Carry than the whipping cream available at Fred Meyer.)

Sometimes, these sizes are not as convenient to use. For example, the vegetable oil that I buy comes in 35-lb jugs.

These are indeed heavy, when full. To use them, I fill a 1 gallon jug with oil, from this container, as needed. Not quite as simple as buying a ready-filled one-gallon container of oil. But I save several dollars per gallon with the 35-lb container.


I realize that not everyone wants to think of their kitchen as if it were a business. But by doing so, I've been able to stock my own kitchen very well, while spending less.

Persistence, tenacity or just plain stubbornness

You remember what your parents recited, when tempted to throw in the towel  -- if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

My new shorts

About 4 years ago, I turned a pair of worn blue jeans into some summer capris.

The jeans went from this

to this

You can see in the jeans, they were already pretty worn-looking. And really, when was the last time you saw wider-legged jeans? Okay, so rather old jeans. But I could still fit into them, and for the most part they were still in decent-enough shape.

But I was no longer wearing them as jeans (maybe the very out of date wide leg?). So, I turned those jeans into "new" capris. Perfect, right? Everyone loves capris in summer. Everyone, that is, except me. Or maybe it was because they were denim capris, and kinda heavy (AKA warm) for a hot summer day. And you know what? Capris aren't the greatest look on my legs. So in a drawer they sat for 4 years.

In going through my clothing last week, I almost tossed these capris into the giveaway pile. But you know, I just wasn't ready to throw in the towel on these pants, just yet. Surely, I could get a bit more wear out of them.

And that's when I thought to at least try them as shorts. What did I have to lose, right?

One afternoon, I took the leap, and with a pair of scissors, I cut off the bottom few inches of the capris, and I now have shorts. My 2 daughters (my personal fashion experts) convinced me that rolled up hem shorts were indeed "in". After cutting off the lower part of each leg, I rolled up the edge until they hit that sweet spot on a woman's leg, where everything goes in from side to side, and legs seem to look their trimmest.

This might be it. I may have found the way to get much more wear from my very old pair of jeans. I've worn them for the last couple of days, and loved having some summer-worthy clothing. I only wish I had done this at the beginning of summer, and not towards the end. Oh well, I'm now set for next summer, right?

This quick project reminded me of the patched bed sheets of mine, which lasted several years beyond most folks tolerance for "worn out". not only did I patch those repeatedly, but when patching was no longer a viable option, I found a use for the good-condition edges of the sheet -- my daughter's summer sleep shorts. And there's still a lot of good fabric left on that sheet. (another project perhaps?)

Sometimes I think I'm just too stubborn to give up on anything. Have you ever had something that you just wouldn't give up on making useful?

Cheap and Cheerful Suppers for late August (plus our budget hot dog and marshmallow roasting skewers)

Friday

Egg fried rice, with garden cabbage, green beans, kale
Fruit salad of blueberries, nectarines, apples

Saturday (cook-out by the fire ring)

Hot dogs in homemade buns
Corn on cob
Cantaloupe
Green beans
Chips (son's girlfriend brought chips, Oreos and watermelon punch)
s'mOreos (s'mOreos are s'mores using chocolate cream Oreos, and a toasted marshmallow in between)
Punch and pink lemonade

Sunday

Black beans and rice, avocado and cheddar burritos in homemade tortillas
Fruit salad of apple, cantaloupe, blueberries and nectarines


Monday

Garden potatoes, cottage cheese and cheddar casserole
Green salad with avocado, homemade vinaigrette
Apple wedges

Tuesday

Meatballs, pasta sauce from freezer and spaghetti
Garden green beans


Wednesday 

Rice and black bean tostadas, on pan-fried corn tortillas, with garden lettuce, chopped canned tomatoes, cheese, olives, spicy 1000 Island dressing, and the crumbs from an almost empty bag of chips in the pantry (they were Mango Habanero -- very spicy, so great on these tostadas)
Apple wedges


Thursday

Egg, cheddar, green pepper (from the garden), shallot (garden) and potato (also from the garden) casserole
Sauteed beet greens and Swiss chard (from garden)
Pickled beets
Apple salad

If wood-fires are allowed in your area, cook-outs have got to be one of the top frugal summer activities. You have to make dinner anyways. You can cook a number of foods over an open fire. Sausages/hot dogs just happen to be one of the simplest to do.

No long roasting skewers? Short skewers can be adapted to using over an open fire.

20 years ago, we were given a set of 6 short skewers, designed for making kabobs on the grill. The handle is too short to comfortably hold over a fire by hand for very long (which is what you do when you're roasting a hot dog or a marshmallow, right?). Several years ago, my son and husband adapted these short skewers into long-handled ones, using 30-inch long sticks from the yard, and strong string. (First attempt was with duct tape, but duct tape softens and loosens with heat, so next try was the string, and it has held very well.) We wash and store the skewers as they are (we don't undo them every time), and they have lasted remarkably well, with occasional fixing, as needed.

Organizing my life on a budget

Whether you work in the home, outside the home, are on the road, are retired, have 4 kids at home or are empty-nesters, you have a life to live and probably enough going on in that life to need some organization. I know I do.

I work at home, mostly. I pick up paid-work whenever I can. I volunteer about 4 days per month. I have personal appointments, regularly. I have home maintenance appointments, sporadically. I have 5 adults that I cook, shop and clean for. I maintain all of the financial obligations for the household. And I blog 5 days per week. It's all very doable -- if I keep myself organized.

I've experimented with a variety of purchased and print at home planners and calendars. What seems to be working for me is a combination of a month-at-a-glance calendar plus daily planner. I usually get a calendar for free. But in years that I don't, I print out my own month-at-a-glance pages from free online resources. I use the calendar to note appointments more than a day or two in the future.

I also use this calendar for week-at-a-glance information. I make general remarks about an upcoming week, in the margin. For example, I need to schedule some work on my car in early September. I just write that in the margin for that first week in Sept, and will fill in an actual appointment when I have it.

For the daily planning pages, lately, I've liked these pages from this site: http://scatteredsquirrel.com/printable/personal-planner/

I like the half-size format, as I can get 2 days on each side of the paper. I print in black and white, and I print about half a month at a time. There's about enough room for me to get all of my info entered for each day.

I take about 1 hour each morning planning the day. One hour sounds like a lot of time, but I get more into each day, by spending this time planning. I walk about the house and see what needs doing. I check the garden to see what work should be done there, as well as what produce needs harvesting. I check the laundry to see how many loads I need to do. I check progress on my various projects and crafts. I get out the dinner prep items to thaw. I check the pantry to see if we need breads or snacks prepared or baked. I even look for my lunch for that day. By the end of my planning session, I know exactly what I need to do for the day, right down to what I will quickly make for my own lunch.

I keep my planning sheets on a clipboard. I can work on them while propped in bed, while walking about the house, sitting in a comfortable chair, or at the table.

After I enter the day's info, I use a highlighter to emphasize actual appointments. All appointments where I need to be someplace else, I enter 30 minutes (or earlier if I have to drive further) prior to the actual appointment time. This keeps me from double-booking my time. (I don't enter housekeeping duties in the same time I need to be driving someplace, for instance.)

I only plan down to the detail, one day at a time. If I fall behind on one day's work, I can push the items to the next day. Or if I don't feel well, one day, I can plan a very light day for myself.

It's not a priority that my calendars or planning sheets be pretty. Their primary purpose is function. Pretty would be nice, but not essential. I could purchase a planner. Dollar Tree sells student planners which could work for many people. I need more space for each day than the Dollar Tree planners, however. The larger planners that would work for my needs run around $13 to $16 at Office Depot. By printing out my own planning pages, a year's worth costs me about $4 to $5 (ink and paper).

I still use my calendar function on my computer. It's easy to transfer appointment info from emails to that calendar, or to type in to-do lists, while I'm on my laptop working on something else. In the mornings, when I day-plan, I also grab my computer and check for any details for that day and upcoming week.

So, I stay organized, and I save money on the tools needed to do that job. Works for me!

A haphazard gardener and her shallots

Being a haphazard gardener means that I don't always know why a particular vegetable has a great year, or why that same vegetable has a poor year.

The shallots did splendidly, this year. All of the bulbs are large. Not a single scrawny one in the batch. And I can't say that I know, for certain, why.  It could be due to fertilizing the soil before planting the bulbs. Or it could be the warm spring we had. But then again, it could also be the wet summer. Maybe they were in a particularly sunny spot. I don't know for sure. But I will be sure to fertilize the soil before planting the garlic next year. I didn't do so for the garlic this year, as I planted those bulbs in autumn, before I had a supply of good fertilizer. If that proves to increase the size of my garlic, then I may be onto something.

In any case, I'm quite thrilled for the shallots.

I plant a lot of ordinary vegetables, like carrots, lettuce, cabbage and potatoes, each year. Even if I didn't grow those vegetables, I'd still buy them at the market. I grow them because they do so well, and can be counted on each season.

But I also plant a few items that I'd likely not buy, but I enjoy cooking, like the shallots. I love the flavor shallots give to cooking. They're not as pungent as garlic and not as sharp as onions. Shallots are in the just-right zone for flavoring salad dressings, making soups, or sauteeing with mushrooms to spoon over meat. They can be tolerated, raw, without ill effect. Or cooked to caramelized perfection, and melt on the tongue. But shallots can be pricey in the market. So, I'd likely not buy them. Growing these vegetables that I enjoy but wouldn't buy, allows me some luxury in my cooking.

And as for growing my own, shallots are quite frugal. I bought the ancestors to these bulbs about 15 or 16 years ago. I just save the very biggest each year, for planting in the next. And there's enough leftover for cooking throughout the winter.

Bargain thrift store clothing to use as crafting fabric

Our local St Vincent de Paul's has the 99 cents all clothing, back on for Sundays. this is a great opportunity to buy clothing for super cheap, of course, but also to find fabric for craft projects.

Daughter number 1 found this dress for daughter number 2 to try on. I saw this in her hands and the wheels in my mind began turning before I even knew if she'd like it on herself. When she put it back on the rack because it was too small, I snatched it up. The good items go quickly on Sundays.

You see, I loved the fabric for its crafting potential.

Possibilities --

• covering a hat box for storage, or
• covering a plain journal for one young woman I know, or
• a cute skirt for another young woman I know, or
• a cover for a cushion, or
• covering for a half-dozen DIY padded hangers, or
• 2 cloth napkins to put into a romantic picnic basket gift, along with enough leftover fabric to line said picnic basket, or
• fabric to add to a shabby chic quilt

The dress was 99 cents. I have close to 1 yard of usable fabric in this dress. 99 cents for a yard of crafting fabric is a pretty good deal. 

Rescuing disposable containers and knitting in color (not at all related)

This time of year, I begin saving those disposable containers that look like they have good gift presentation potential for fall birthdays and Christmas/New Years.

Here are two sizes of containers that I recently rescued. The larger ones had some bakery stuff from Costco in them. I rescued those from our church's monthly tea. I was thinking they might make nice boxes for "spa day" kits, with hand-knit spa cloths, some hand-crafted soaps, some bath tea and maybe a spa candle. I'm thinking I could nest all of the items in a bed of shredded pastel-colored paper (great use for used wrapping paper that may look too shabby for reuse).

The smaller containers are sized about right for some hand-formed truffles. Again, these might look nice nested on a bed of shredded paper.

Not for gifts, but rescued nonetheless. These next two plastic containers should be good for packing lunches. The smaller one on the left is just the right size for a handful of sunflower seeds and raisins. And the one on the right is a coffee jar. Remember when those were made of glass? Well, now they're plastic, which is good and bad. The bad, plastic doesn't look as pretty for kitchen storage. The good, plastic is lightweight and non-breakable, which makes it a great item for packing someone's lunchtime salad for a backpack.

As an avid coffee drinker who never bought into the Keurig equipment, I also acquire a fair number of coffee cans. Fred Meyer's cans now have silver lids. I can see these cans decked out in white, silver and blue gift wrap, and holding a homemade batch of some snacky giftables, like Teresa's candied popcorn.

And the unrelated bit . . .

After knitting several natural-colored spa cloths, my knitting life was beginning to feel like it was all too neutral. The knitting version of living in black and white. I switched over to my lavender-colored yarn, and not only did the knitting take on more beauty for my eyes, but I swear I could smell something perfumey, from time to time, while I knitted away. Funny how our brains can do that to us. Anyways, spa cloths look nice in colors, too.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for mid-August

Lazy lasagna before baking

Friday

peanut butter sandwiches
apples
bananas

Saturday

Vegetarian Mexi-lasagna
Apple wedges
Garden green beans

Sunday

Leftover Mexi-lasagna topped with enchilada sauce
Green beans
Fruit salad of blackberries, apples, pears and dried cranberries in jelly "dressing"

Monday

Herb-crusted pork roast
Pasta with marinara sauce
French bread with pesto
Green salad with homemade vinaigrette
Fresh blackberries

Tuesday

Black bean, brown rice, cheese burritos, with leftover enchilada sauce in place of salsa, rolled into homemade flour tortillas
Garden green beans and carrots
Fresh blackberries

Wednesday

Kale frittata topped with mozzarella and homemade marinara sauce (using some of the eggs I froze when I got a great deal in batches of 6, garden kale, onion and garlic powder)
Homemade French bread (fresh and soft!)
Rhubarb and blackberry gelatin

Thursday

Lazy Lasagna
Garden green beans
Leftover rhubarb and blackberry gelatin

I've been making French bread for our daily bread, this month. It's faster and has fewer pans to clean up than my sandwich loaf. So I can make bread on days when I will only be home for part of the day. I can start a batch at 3 PM, and have fresh bread for dinner at 6:30 to 7:00. I do 2 loaves at a time, and this is enough bread to get us through about 3 days. French bread is a good homemade bread for busy days/seasons.

Another time saving thing I've been doing for busy days, lately, is throwing together casseroles in the morning, then baking in the late afternoon. On Saturday, I had an event to go to during the afternoon, so I knew I would walk in the door and have to get dinner on the table with little time. In the morning, I made the Mexi-lasagna, which was leftover rice mixed with cooked black beans, some seasonings and oil, then layered in a casserole dish with corn tortillas and cheddar cheese. It was quite good, and I'd made enough that there were leftovers for the next night. On Thursday, I got to go to the zoo with one of my daughters. Her employer puts on a family day each summer, at some venue in the Seattle area. This year, it happened to be the zoo, where my other daughter works. So, first daughter and I spent the afternoon at the zoo and met up with the second daughter when her work day ended. It was a super fun day, but I also knew I'd have to put dinner on the table in a matter of minutes, after coming home, so I made a lazy lasagna casserole in the AM, to be baked when I walked in the door in the evening.

How did your week go? Is summer winding down for you? Are you busier than normal? Or is summer still at it's usual pace? I feel like we're cramming in every last bit of summer fun and work, these days. So, not a lot of spare time.

Have a great weekend!

The herbs I grow, harvest and dry for making tea throughout winter

In summer, I drink my herb tea, iced. But in winter, I love a cup of hot herbal tea, sometimes with fruit or black tea added, sometimes with lemon and honey, and sometimes, just as is. In any case, using the herbs which grow in my own garden saves money in our grocery budget. And, it may have some healing benefits, to boot.

Herbal tea has long been thought to promote good health, and chosen as a good alternative to high caffeine beverages. There is now growing research to support the health claims. An example, sage tea may be beneficial for people with diabetes (study at University of Minho, Portugal, 2006). And this, thyme tea may prevent age-related changes in the brain (study by Youdim and colleagues, published 1999, "Biochemical and Biophysical Research").

Most garden herbs are very high in antioxidants. Using them in cooking is a no-brainer way to add health benefits to our everyday meals. Drinking herbs as tea concentrates our exposure to these benefits. The different herbs each have their unique benefits.

(It should be noted, that you should consult your medical provider before dosing yourself up with any substance, natural or chemical, that would be a change to your ordinary routine. Herbs as teas can be contra-indicated, in some circumstances, such as pregnancy or while taking some prescription meds.)

Some of these herbs, you may not think of to use in tea. Their flavor might be quite pungent, when made strong, but when made as a weak tea, often with a little honey and/or lemon, they are quite delicious, and can fill a medicinal need.

My herbs

These are the herbs that I've harvested from my garden this year. I've included the web address to livestrong.com, for more information on specific herb tea health benefits.

My herbs are grown without pesticides. All I need to do is wash, then dry them. With the smaller-leafed green herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), I leave the stems on for tea. With the larger-leafed herbs (sage, black currant, lemon balm, mints, basil), I remove the leaves. The larger woodier stems are not as pleasant in tea. With lavender, I also remove the flower buds, and discard the stems. Once dried, I store each herb in its own airtight container.

Thyme
Thyme tea is an enjoyable beverage in its own right. When blended with honey, ginger, lemon and cinnamon (as in this recipe, here), thyme tea is an excellent beverage for cold and flu season. The key ingredient thymol, as stated above, is known to inhibit age-related changes in the brain (it could possibly help in the prevention of Alzheimer's, researchers are hoping -- current studies going on). In addition, Thyme tea is used in Europe for treatment of bronchitis and coughs.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/258910-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-thyme-tea/

Rosemary
Rosemary has long been reported to increase memory. Simply inhaling the fragrance of rosemary was said to enhance memory. As a tea, rosemary is believed to be a powerful antioxidant, protecting the body from heart disease and cancer, as well as benefitting digestion, and enhancing cognitive abilities.
Rosemary tea, made with 1 teaspoon herb to 8 ounces of boiled water, and steeped for 5 minutes is refreshing sweetened with honey and a slice of lemon added. The flavor of rosemary also lends itself to combination with black tea and lavender buds.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/22621-benefits-rosemary-tea/

Sage
I have two types of sage in my garden. Common Sage and Golden Variegated Sage. Variegated sage has a milder flavor. So this is the sage I cut for tea. When I make a tea for pleasure, I like it mild (about 1 teaspoon dried sage leaf to 1 cup of boiling water), and a little honey added.
Medicinally, sage has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It's good as a tea or gargle for sore throats.
For a sore throat tea, steep 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves in not quite boiled water for 10 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice. Strain. Also good for mouth sores.
One of sage teas most interesting uses, could be in helping to manage diabetes. More research needs to be done, but so far, it looks like it lowers blood sugar in mice.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/96369-health-benefits-sage-tea/

Oregano
Oregano tea has been in the news recently for its possible effect as a weapon against colon cancer. It's also an antiseptic and may be effective at slowing the growth of malaria and candida -- yeast infections. Taken as a tea, it's pungent and slightly bitter. Best with some sweetening. Use 1 teaspoon dried leaves to 1 cup of almost boiling water. Steep for 5 minutes, then remove leaves and sweeten.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/547478-oregano-tea-benefits/

Black Currant
Black currant leaf tea is an anti-viral, and said to help fight influenza. Its also an anti-inflammatory. It could be beneficial to many of the -itis diseases, like hepatitis and arthritis. Made as a tea, I prefer it with a hint of other berry flavor, some orange peel, and a bit of black tea. I like to add a teaspoon of dried cranberries, roughly chopped to 1 teaspoon of dried black currant leaf, a pinch of orange zest, and a small bag of black tea. I steep this tea in a mug of boiling water for 5 minutes, then strain. Black currant tea is one of my favorite herbal teas. I am harvesting as many leaves as my shrubs will produce.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/254266-what-are-the-benefits-of-black-currant-tea/

Lemon balm
Lemon balm tea has long been said to be a sleep aid. It helps with relaxation. Lemon balm has calming effects, and may decrease anxiety and improve memory in Alzheimer's patients. As part of the mint family, lemon balm tea is also excellent for upset stomach. As a tea, I like lemon balm with peppermint, lemon and sweetening. I use about 2 teaspoons dried leaves to 1 mug of almost boiling water, and steep 5 minutes.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/123817-benefits-lemon-balm-tea/

Peppermint
Everyone knows that peppermint tea is good for upset tummies. But it's also good for increasing mental focus (kids have exams coming up? make them a cup of peppermint tea while they study). In addition, mint is high in menthol, which as most of you know is an ingredient in those decongestant rubs used when you have a cold. Peppermint tea can help break up congestion and is very helpful when you have a cough or head cold. And if this isn't enough to make you want a cup of peppermint tea, its a great all natural breath freshener. I like it just plain.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/263229-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-mint-tea/

Spearmint
For drinking hot, I keep all my mints separate. I like them mixed with different ingredients. Spearmint is not as strong as peppermint, and I like it brewed with black tea, then blended with orange juice and a little sugar. Medicinally, spearmint tea is effective with upset stomach. It may also be beneficial in balancing hormones in women, and be useful as an anti-inflammatory.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/338231-spearmint-tea-benefits/

Pineapple mint
Pineapple mint is my favorite mint to mix with lemon or lime juice and sugar, in a tea. It has a hint of pineapple flavor to it. As with all of the mints, pineapple mint contains Vitamins A & C, as well as traces of manganese, calcium, potassium, copper and iron. And pineapple mint is also good for indigestion and stomach upset.

Lavender
Lavender tea is another of my favorites. I make it somewhat weak (about 1 tsp. of buds to a mug of water), and drink it plain. It is lightly sweet on its own. It has a nice, clean taste.
Medicinally, lavender tea is good for relaxation, reduction of migraines, and digestive issues.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/252384-what-are-the-benefits-of-lavender-tea/

Basil

Sweet basil tea, not to be confused with Holy Basil tea, is often used for headaches, anxiety and digestive issues. The fragrance from the oils in the basil are said to have a calming effect on the body. It's also delicious made as a beverage. 

Brew basil tea, along with a strip of lemon peel and some black tea. Strain and enjoy. Or, try a ginger-basil infusion. Steep 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves with two to three thin slices of fresh ginger, in 6 ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes. Fragrant and warming. 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/556899-how-to-use-dried-basil-for-basil-tea/

Those are my herbal teas for winter. It's a nice variety. And many of the herbs have practical use in cold and flu season.