Spring is Delicious

Spring has to be my favorite season. Not only do we finally get to thaw out after a long winter, see colors emerge from the ground, feel the warm sun touch our face, or hear the birds sing their praises but we also get to fill our bellies with the goodness that grows out of the newly thawed earth.

There is no other time that our favorites can be had for such a reasonable price. Our garden produce is not ready, mind you, but rather just getting started as we planted it all last week. The store sales flier is bursting at the seams with all the good deals though.

We have been enjoying sweet corn, cucumbers, green peppers, strawberries and more without breaking the bank! Each week we scour the sales flier and buy our produce based on what is on sale that week. Other times we get lucky and run across produce that has been marked down in order to move it quickly. This week watermelons are on sale at our local grocery store for $2.88 each, which sure beats the $8.50 watermelon I bought the other week. We love our watermelon in this house and I bought a total of 4 watermelons this week. The raspberries are on sale for $2.99 and I bought a couple packages as they, too, are one of our favorites. Jacob and Joe like pop them in their mouth like candy and Becca and I like them in yogurt parfaits. I can't wait until our own raspberries are ready and ripe this summer.

The sales have been a great way for me to plan our menus. Green peppers and cucumbers were on sale last week 2/$1 so we had Pepper Steak and cucumber salad one night and snacks of green peppers and cucumbers several times that week. Mushrooms were on sale so I made Ben fried mushrooms which he enjoys but rarely gets. Sweet corn was 3/$1 so we had that several times that week. When our meals revolve around produce it cuts the grocery bill and makes our meals more exciting and fresh!

Besides the fruit and vegetables that I have been picking up at our local grocery store I managed to snag some good deals at a larger grocery store in a larger city today when we went shopping after church. 2 lbs. of strawberries were on sale for $2.48 so we ended up with 4 lbs. Sweet corn was 4/$1 so we will be enjoying 8 ears this week. Blackberries were $1.99 ($1 cheaper than at our local grocery store) so two packages went into our cart. Cantaloupe was $2.34 so Joe will be enjoying one of his favorite snacks this week. A few 1/2 gallons of organic milk were marked down to $2 each for quick sale so we bought the last three.

It's been a joy to work in the kitchen lately with all the fresh foods. It's been even better to sit down and enjoy them. It's making me very excited for when our Farmer's Market opens!

What have you been enjoying lately?