And the Winner Is...

I used the random number generator at random.org to pick a winner for the CSN Stores giveaway. Here is the result (I don't know why it's showing 100 as the max, because I used 10 as that was the number of entrants)

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 5 

Comment #5 is the winner! Congratulations to Nell. And thanks to everyone else for entering.

(By the way, in case anyone's wondering: my "can't live without it" piece of kitchen equipment would be my set of Cutco knives. They make so many kitchen tasks a breeze! And they're still going strong after 17 years of daily use.)

Yard Sale Report for June 5, 2010

 I thought I was going to get to sleep in this week - a violent thunderstorm started last evening, and the forecast showed more rain for today. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to sunshine streaming into my bedroom! Of course, I no longer had any excuse not to head out on my usual Saturday morning rounds, so off I went.

I hit 5 yard sales in total. I was disappointed to discover that the street sale that had been advertised (in an area where I usually find great stuff) was cancelled. Hopefully they'll run it next weekend! I also ended up with a flat tire on my bike and had to walk home about two kilometres. At least it wasn't raining :)

After all that, I only ended up buying two items; rather ironically they were at the sale that was just around the corner from my house.The book on the left (Animals of Lakes and Rivers) is hardcover and in brand-new condition. It's actually a book of six 24-piece jigsaw puzzles, each one featuring a separate animal. On the page facing the puzzle are lots of interesting facts about the animal. There are a few young children in my life who I think would love this; I'm tucking it into my gift cupboard. The second book on kite-making I'm giving to my boys; I figure it will provide some useful summer-project activity for them! I paid $1.75 in total for these two items.

Grand total for the day: $1.75 for 2 items, or 87.5 cents per item.

I wanted to give one final reminder about the giveaway I'm holding for a $40 gift certificate at CSN Stores (which can be used at any of their 200+ online stores). The deadline for entry is tonight at 9 PM Eastern. Someone's going to win - it might as well be you! Go here to submit your entry.

Food Waste Friday: Zero Waste with a Bit More Effort

I managed to pull off another zero-waste week, but unlike last week's seemingly effortless achievement, this time I worked a lot harder for it!
My fridge was really full at the end of last week, so I had to pay a lot more attention this week to what needed to be used up or frozen before it became a science experiment. I had half a roast turkey left over from my birthday dinner on Sunday, so I chopped and froze the remaining meat from the bird, then made turkey stock to put in the freezer. I also froze the leftover pan drippings from the turkey so I can use it to make gravy in the future.

I had half a batch of lentil dal that I knew needed to be used up ASAP, so on Wednesday night I decided to try making lentil burgers with it. This was more successful than I expected (all four of us thought they were very tasty!) so I'll be sharing that recipe soon.
There were other assorted bits and pieces that we managed to polish off as well, I can't even remember what they all were now!
Even after all that effort, the fridge seems to have started filling back up again, so I'll need to do another in-depth investigation in a couple of days to see what else is calling out for urgent consumption.

To see how others fared this week in their quest to reduce food waste, head on over to The Frugal Girl.

Just in case you missed my announcement earlier this week, I'm running a giveaway for a $40 gift certificate from CSN Stores (which can be used at any of their 200+ online stores). You have up until Saturday night at 9 PM Eastern to enter, so go check it out! The contest is open to all my Canadian and U.S. readers.

Late Spring Garden: The Harvest Has Begun

 This year, for the first time ever, I got my act together enough to plant some cool-weather tolerant greens in early spring. Most greens can be planted much earlier than the "last chance of frost" date as they can withstand colder temperatures than other veggies. In previous years, I just didn't get around to sowing the seeds until I was putting in the rest of my vegetable garden, and I missed out on a great opportunity for an early harvest of salad greens!

I forgot to write down the exact date I planted, but it was mid-to-late April, so everything here has been growing for 4-6 weeks or so. In the upper left-hand corner is peppermint, which is perennial and grows like craxy! I think every frugalista should have some mint in their garden - it's great for making fresh mint tea all summer long (more on that later!) Plus, since it's incredibly hardy, you'll always have extra to swap other gardeners for more plants to add to your garden.

To the right of the mint is currently a weedy bare patch, which is reserved for some annual herbs that I haven't gotten around to planting yet (parsley and basil). Directly underneath the mint is arugula. If you haven't tried growing this green yet, I highly recommend it! It matures quickly and in my experience it grows quite vigorously. It's always the first green ready for harvest in my garden, and makes a great addition to a tossed salad. We've already enjoyed a few arugula-enhanced salads this season. To the right of the arugula is lettuce, which seems to be poking along but is finally getting noticeably bigger in the last couple of weeks.

Underneath the arugula and lettuce is spinach. Holy cow! When I went out to take this picture, I couldn't believe how much bigger the spinach has gotten in just a couple of days. We had a heavy rain on Monday night, followed by a hot, sunny day yesterday, and I swear the spinach practically doubled in size overnight. It is just about ready to start harvesting now.

Next up:
I'm a bit behind this year - normally I have the rest of my veggies planted by now! I have some green bean seeds I intend to get planted today. I still need to go buy annual herbs, tomatoes and peppers to complete my veggie garden.

How is your vegetable garden coming along this year? Leave a comment and let me know!

P.S. If you haven't yet entered my giveaway for a $40 gift certificate from CSN Stores, go here to check it out before Saturday at 9 PM Eastern.

Announcing....My First GIVEAWAY!

 Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut/freedigitalphotos.net

As promised on Friday's post, today is the day you can officially enter my first giveaway. This giveaway is kindly being sponsored by CSN Stores, who have over 200 online stores where you can find almost anything you need whether it be a new blender, a sofa, a barbecue, or a kitchen faucet. They have kindly donated a $40 gift certificate to use at any of their online stores. Of course, I know if I was the winner I'd head right on over to cookware.com and replace some of my ailing kitchen equipment!


For a chance to win this gift certificate, all you need to do is leave a comment telling me what piece of kitchen equipment you just couldn't live without. Please leave your email address if it's not linked to Blogger, so I know how to contact you if you're the lucky winner!


You have up until Saturday at 9 PM Eastern to enter. I'll pick the winner using a random number generator.

Good luck!

Festival of Frugality #232 is UP!

This week's Festival of Frugality is up over at Provident Planning. As usual, there are lots of great money-saving articles to check out, including my post on how I got an entire perennial garden for free.

I hope you'll go check it out!

RECIPE: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

 These muffins make a great breakfast when paired with a bowl of fresh strawberries. It's nearly time for fresh local strawberries here in Southern Ontario, and I can't wait to have some with one of these muffins on the side! If you prefer a more "cakey" muffin, you can use all white flour instead of half white and half whole wheat.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp poppyseeds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup vanilla or plain yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil (or other light vegetable oil)
1 tbsp grated lemon zest

 In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, powder, soda, poppyseeds and salt. In another bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, oil and lemon zest and beat well until thoroughly combined. Gently stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until blended (over-stirring the batter will result in a tough muffin).

Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top and tops spring back when lightly touched.

While muffins are baking, prepare lemon glaze:


Lemon Glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp water

Combine all glaze ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute then remove from heat.

When the muffins are done, poke the top of each muffin several times with a fork. Drizzle glaze over muffin tops and let muffins cool in pan for 5-10 minutes to absorb glaze before removing to serve.