I heart the farmers market!

Summer was quite interesting here at Casa Allergic
I had a back injury and was not working.
Money was a little tight, we got a new puppy and I was rehabbing my injury.
I started to look for ways to save money and help myself get better.
My puppy needed to socialize.
I found a solution to it all!

The local farmers market

The dog got to meet people and learn how to behave in public
I got to walk around and re-learn movement
I found fabulous produce, saved money and supported local agriculture

Seek one out in your neighborhood!

Recipe: Tuna Pasta Salad

I work full time
I get home from work around 6pm, sometimes as late as 10pm
I'm starving when I get home and I'm not great at planning/cooking ahead
One of my favorite go-to meals is pasta salad

So us allergic folks have to get a little creative

Most imporant is noodles!!
I have found my favorite:
Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta
I love this stuff, it is a corn/quinoa blend
Even non-allergic "hates all my hippy food" hubby loves it!

Here is my "recipe"
(I don't measure, it drives people crazy but I just can't do it, too much work)

Tuna Pasta Salad:
Pasta noodles, boiled
Mixed veggies, cooked
Mayo of some type ( I love the new olive oil mayo)
Tuna ( I prefer chunk light)

Mix things together, it's super tasty if you can remember to make it in the morning so the flavors can mingle
It's not pretty but it sure is tasty!!

Frugal Product Review - Nellie's Dryerballs

I happened across these at my local ALDI on the clearance rack for $4. You just pop them in the dryer with your clothing and they claim to soften, reduce drying time, and reduce lint and wrinkles.
I do try to line dry when possible, but usually just towels and things. I find line drying makes clothes very stiff, so I have to tumble them to soften them. Some days we have time, some days they go right in the dryer. Maybe we can make the clothes dyer just a little bit "greener."

The verdict:
I am somewhat undecided about the effectiveness of this product. I do think it is helping with drying time, I'm not sure about any of the other claims. Because I got them on clearance, I think it was a good buy, I'm just not too sure I would pay full price

Frugal Finds: Oriental Grocery Store

Gluten free and frugal?

It is possible!

Soon after your diagnosis you will go shopping.

You will gasp at prices, you will nearly faint at the health food store.

You'll cry when something you bake falls apart, and you add up the cost.

How on earth is a frugalista supposed to be gluten free and fabulous?

Meet your local Oriental grocery store.

Hunt around; its in your town somewhere

Why is it worth the hunt?

White rice flour from the health food store is usually $5 a bag

At my local Oriental store - $1.19 a bag

Soak that in people, that's huge!

I also found tapioca starch for about a $1 a bag, and rice noodles for about $1.50

Hunt and search for an Oriental store, Mine is tiny but packed to the gills with amazing finds.

Container Gardening

This year was my first year "gardening." Because our yard is beautifully shaded by huge trees, its not so good for growing things. I decided since my front porch is the only place that gets any sun, I would try out container gardening. We arbitrarily picked out seeds that sounded tasty, next year I'll put a lot more thought into it.

We did lettuce:

It's in a big "pedestal" planter, covered in netting to keep my crazy squirrels and bunnies.

Seriously, they are nuts.

Next was bell peppers:

Yes it is growing in an upside down Mt. Dew bottle. I like the idea of those upside down tomato planters, but I'm too cheap so I made my own!

Lastly is the dying peas:

I forgot to take a picture before they started dying back. Very tasty but you have to grow a million plants to get enough to make a dish. Not on the plan for next year.

Watering your garden can be a pain since my hose is in the back yard, so I needed a watering can. Again, we are frugal and we like to recycle so here is what used to be an orange juice bottle we pulled from the recycling bin:

Hubby just drilled some holes in the top and it works perfect! It's the perfect size too, water is heavy and I'm not supposed to lift heavy stuff.

All in all I'm happy with my first foray into gardening. I'm amazed every day that I can eat something that started as a little packet of seeds! It's been very frugal for us, seeds don't cost much, and we either used pots we had lying around or re purposed things from the recycling bin!

Next project on hubby's list is to make a rain barrel, Can't wait!