A look at how we use a string trellis system in our garden to guide indeterminate tomato plants upward. Plus, what is the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, why it matters, and companion planting. This week is planting week. The last frost date happened this week. The rain has stopped. I can see the sun. The stars are aligning, and it’s time to get these seedlings in the ground. The first to hit the dirt were lettuce seeds, which went directly in the dirt, but after... more

It has been one year since we started the Eat Well, Spend Less series (big thanks to Jessica!), and we’re taking a look at how our food budget, menu, shopping habits, and diet may have changed in the last 12 months. Last April we kicked off the Eat Well Spend Less series by looking at the way we eat. I went over several meal planning tips and guides, and then I broke down an actual week of our food budget and a sample menu for that week. To date, those are two of my favorite posts of the series... more

Tips to Eat Well and Spend Less during pregnancy, the first postpartum weeks and beyond, as well as a few things we’re loving as winter turns to spring in 2012. Photo by Aimee I have this sense of urgency lately where I feel like I should be doing something else, but there always seems to be a different task or obstacle standing in my way. It feels a lot like nesting, this desire to organize my entire life with the snap of my fingers, Mary Poppins’ style, and then move on to the more... more

Those first weeks after the baby can be difficult to find the time and energy to eat well. Here are a few tips to eat well and spend less without relying on the drive-thru or takeout. Plus a Parents Need to Eat Too giveaway. This month we’re talking about feeding babies here on Eat Well, Spend Less. Between the lot of us, we have 35 kids, so I’d say this is a subject we’re pretty well equipped to take on, but more than that, in the last few weeks we’ve welcomed three brand... more

Enter to win one of three signed copies of Ree Drummond’s newest book The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier. Three years ago I finally bit the bullet and published my very first blog post, not knowing and only dreaming of the changes it would hold in turning a passion into a career and leaving behind the world of typing others’ words in order to have the opportunity to get my own down and out there. Along the way, I’ve held tightly to friends I know and trust, been introduced... more

A look at easy cooking techniques with salt, herbs, and garlic (and a bit of love) that will easily create memorable meals out of the simplest of ingredients so you eat well and spend less. Pin It It’s February. This is the point in the winter months that I really start longing for summer days and farmers market trips and shopping lists that are filled with more fresh produce from my very own backyard garden. Alas, it snowed last night, and I woke this morning to a winter wonderland. Timely,... more

How to make crisp and evenly cooked bacon in the oven without all the grease splatters and mess of frying it on the stove. Pin It Bacon. Have you ever noticed that bacon has the ability to instantly trigger a response in your brain? Its salty goodness reaches to the recesses of your mind, and you are transported to a time other than the one you’re in. My personal bacon memory sends me back to six years old. I’m sitting in my grandma’s kitchen at the breakfast bar, knees tucked... more