Save Money--Plant a Garden

This spring it would be wise to plant a garden to save money. Enjoy fresh vegetables for snacks and with your meals.

You do not even need that large of an area to plant your garden. Choose your favorite vegetables to plant. Green beans, Swiss chard (a type of spinach), carrots, peppers and tomatoes usually thrive in gardens.

Beans you can enjoy picking with your children. Usually green beans are plentiful so check each day if there are green beans to be picked. This could be your children’s chore once they know how to pick the beans off of the vine.

Enjoy toast and a juicy red tomato with a little mayonnaise or butter for a healthy snack or lunch. Place sliced carrots on plate instead of potato chips.

Saving money by planting Swiss chard will give you a few different ways to eat the vegetable.
You can boil the Swiss chard and put a little butter and salt on it to go with a healthy meal. (I recommend using spray butter as there are no calories or fat in the ingredients.)

You can use the Swiss chard as a lettuce. Put it on a small plate, drizzle warm bacon dressing on top and add a few walnuts. This is an elegant salad sure to impress your family and/or guests.
Eat Swiss chard cold with your favorite dressing or mix it in with lettuce for more color and vitamins.

Save money by planting carrots in your garden. The carrots can be eaten fresh, julienne style, dipped in a little Ranch dressing, warm with butter and/or brown sugar for a sweet treat, grated in chili and other soups to add vitamins and a hint of a sweet flavor.

Peppers are wonderful on salads, pizza, casseroles and sliced fresh for extra crunch. If you love green or red peppers slice them up and add them to your sandwich.

Even if you live in an apartment or condominium, you can have a deck garden to save money. Buy large pots, rich soil and plant your vegetables.

In wintertime, vegetable prices usually rise. It would be wise to freeze extra vegetables. Enjoy fresh veggies in the wintertime. Tomatoes are wonderful in spaghetti sauce, lasangna, chili, etc.

Save money by eating fresh vegetables, picked by you and/or your family. For more information on saving money, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/