Starting your own Herb Garden: Part 1

The Benefits of Fresh Herbs

There are so many benefits to growing your own herbs. You save money on store-bought fresh herbs, which tend to be overpriced, and home-grown always tastes better. Plus, with your own herb garden there's no realizing you don't have the spice you need halfway into cooking dinner. You just step outside and pick it! And, did you know that herbs are extremely good for you? According to the Nutrition Diva, ". . . ounce for ounce, fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary, parsley, and basil are among the most nutritious greens you can find." Besides vitamins and antioxidants, she adds that "herbs are also very rich in a wide range of disease-fighting phytochemicals. Almost all green herbs have potent anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties." She also notes that, like fruits and vegetables, herbs are most potent and contain the most nutrients when they are freshly picked.

Some commonly used herbs and their benefits/uses

Basil: helps regulate blood pressure and prevent free-radical damage, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory

Chamomile: helps calm the nerves and promote sleep, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic

Cilantro: helps increase HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), promotes healthy liver function, helps reduce menstrual cramping, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant

Dill: helps neutralize carcinogens, high in calcium, antioxidant

Garlic: lowers cholesterol and blood sugar levels, helps prevent blood clots and cancerous tumors, fights bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, and supports healthy heart function

Ginger: lowers cholesterol, stimulates blood circulation, helps relieve indigestion and joint pain, used as an expectorant

Oregano: high in iron and manganese, protects against and fights dysentery and is especially effective against Giardia, one of the most common intestinal infections caused by water parasites

Parsley: high in iron, folic acid, and vitamins A and C, antioxidant, antibacterial, diuretic

Peppermint: helps calm muscle spasms and relieve headache, nausea, and menstrual cramps, and gastrointestinal upset; used as a cough suppressant and decongestant

Rosemary: helps kill bacteria that cause infection, improve digestion, and clear congestion, may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, antioxidant

Sage: helps reduce digestive problems, sore throat, premenstrual cramps, and even excessive perspiration; lowers blood sugar, antibacterial

Thyme: helps protect against age-related change in the brain, high in manganese, antimicrobial


Pretty amazing, right? Next week, we'll get started on helping you plan and plant your own herb garden. Stay tuned.




References
http://www.vitaminstuff.com/herbs.html
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/cilantro.html
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=100
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=77
http://www.vitaminstuff.com/herbs-peppermint.html
http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/are-herbs-good-for-you.aspx

Fun and Cheap Ways to Spend Time with Your Honey

Let’s face it: the whole pizza-and-a-movie-at-home bit gets old really fast. So don’t let it get to the point of cholesterol problems from pepperoni grease or multiple viewings of Date Night. Your body, your mind, and your significant other will thank you. Simply browse through the following ideas for ways to spend time with your special someone that will get you out and about, learning more about each other, and having fun while nurturing your wallets.

Group or Double Date with Board and Video Games
This is a great idea if you know some other couples in your area who’d rather not break the bank over one night at a fancy restaurant. Schedule some group or double dates at each other’s houses or apartments, playing a new board game or trying out a new Wii challenge together. It will get you out of your own place, so it’s a change of scenery, and you’ll get to interact with other fun couples. Chances are that you’ll learn something new about each other, such as a hidden talent for singing Rock Band solos. You might still order some pizza, but changing one out of two tired dating habits isn’t too shabby.

Go Local
Try checking out your city’s website to find out if you have some of these events or venues in your area:

Farmer’s market: Reasonably priced and fresh, it’s also a fun place to go if you want to simply look around together. You can look up recipes beforehand, pick up the perfect ingredients at a budget-friendly rate, and enjoy cooking a meal together later in the day.

Art, history, or science museums: These are often free or very reasonably priced for admission. You’ll learn something about the world around you and might even discover a special interest or hobby that your date is passionate about.

Used bookstores: If you’re of the literary persuasion, this is fun, interesting, and expands your book collection for next to nothing. Find out what kinds of books you both enjoy, then get double the value by reading each other’s purchases.

Consignment shops: If you ever do go out on a “real” dinner date, dress each other up for the special occasion by shopping together at consignment shops. Make a deal that you’ll set up a budget for the outfits and that you each have to wear what the other one picks out.

College and university exhibitions: Students in all kinds of arts programs often set up events that are free and open to the public, such as art exhibitions, dance and music recitals, and theatre productions. If there’s a charge, it’s usually minimal and goes to support higher education, so you’re not throwing your money away. You might enjoy the experience and find that you’re frugal patrons of the arts.

State or national parks: Make a day trip of it, bring a picnic, and have a great time. You might invest in some good trail shoes, but otherwise, you won’t have to buy anything. Most parks have free admission, and if not, the fee should be low (around $10). If the park you choose does charge too much, try gardens at universities and colleges for your picnic location.



This article was written by guest blogger Alexis Bonari of www.collegescholarships.org. Thanks for the ideas, Alexis!

Make a Cat Scratching Post for FREE

So, yesterday I made a scratching block for my cats, in under 20 minutes, just like the ones I've seen at pet stores for up to $25 (see below). For absolutely free. And it's double-sided!



















Materials:

• corrugated cardboard (from shipping inserts, old cardboard boxes, etc.) If you don't have any around, ask at your local corner store or grocery store if they have any extras lying around. That's what I did.
• duct tape
• scissors or a box cutter
• ruler
• pen or pencil
• glue (regular school glue works just fine)

Directions

1. Take apart your box so you are left with flat pieces of cardboard.
2. With your ruler and pencil, measure and mark 2" strips, the desired length of the scratcher. (Mine is roughly 18" long because that's how long my boxes were once I disassembled and flattened them.)
3. Cut out the strips. Don't worry about creases. They don't matter.
4. Keep cutting out strips until you have enough, when stacked on top of one another and smashed together, to make the desired width of your scratcher. Mine ended up being about 6" wide. Next time I might make it a bit wider.
5. Once all your strips are cut, it's time to glue them together. Put a generous line of Elmer's on your first strip, lay another on top and repeat for the rest of the strips, making sure they're lined up evenly and working quickly so your glue doesn't dry yet.
6. Duct tape each end together to hold them in place and then place a couple of bricks or something else heavy on top of the whole thing to compress it and help the glue set.
   
7. Wait 10-15 minutes, remove the bricks, duct tape 2 layers around the whole thing to secure it, and you're done.
   

Tips:

• As a treat, sprinkle some catnip on the scratcher every once in a while.
• I find my cats like the scratcher best either on carpet or a rug; otherwise it can slide while they're scratching--unless they're sitting on top of it like Ed likes to do.

Recipe: Enchiladas that taste better than the ones you get at restaurants

We haven't posted a recipe in a while, so here's a most delicious one that's supremely easy and quick.

Ingredients
1 pack of whole wheat tortillas
2-3 green onions, finely chopped
2 cans fat-free refried beans
1 can of diced tomatoes OR 3-4 medium tomatoes, diced
1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely choppe
1 can enchilada sauce
1 bag shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese
large handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped


Preface
In my opinion, the enchilada sauce in the most important ingredients. Enchiladas are just not enchiladas without the sauce. Do not attempt this recipe without it. I find it difficult to make my own that has the right taste and super-smooth liquid texture, which is why I use the (delicious) stuff in a can, but if you can do it, go for it (and send me your recipe!)


Directions

1. Heat the beans in a pan just until warm and soft.
2. Line an oven dish with aluminum foil and preheat your oven to 350.
3. One by one, prepare your enchiladas side by side in the oven dish, making sure to place them snugly; this will help hold the tortillas in place so that they don't unfold. Spread refried beans down the middle of a tortilla. Follow with a spoonful of enchilada sauce, a scoop of diced tomatoes, a sprinkle of green onions, and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll tortilla closed and repeat to make the next one.
4. When all the enchiladas are made and in the oven dish, pour the enchilada sauce generously over the whole lot and sprinkle cilantro and cheese on top of the sauce.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted.

Serving Suggestions
Try these accompanied by rice, salad, and fried plantains.

Money-Saving Laundry Tips: Quick Tips for Saving Your Cash and Your Clothes

1. Use less soap. Detergent makers want as much of your money as they can get. One way of accomplishing this goal is to advise you to use much more of their product than is necessary. For a large load, 1/2 cup is usually plenty. Too much detergent (often the advised amount) can actually leave your clothes less clean and cause them unnecessary wear and tear.
   
   
2. Use cold water whenever possible. Unless your clothes are seriously soiled, cold water works just fine.
   
   
3. A little soaking goes a long way. For particularly dirty laundry or tough stains, instead of using hot water, soak the load for a couple of hours before washing. (Follow the instruction on your washing machine to load, add detergent, and fill as usual, but stop the cycle before it starts agitation.)
   
   
4. The sooner you treat a stain, the easier it will be to get out. Whatever your preferred method of stain-fighting, do it as soon as possible. Set-in stains are very difficult to get out.
   
   
5. For organic stains, such as blood, do not use hot water. Rinse immediately with cold water and wash as soon as possible. If you can't wash the item right away, soak it in a bucket of cold water and a sprinkle of soap until you can.
   
   
6. For particularly potent items (think day-old, soaked-in-sweat soccer socks), before washing, soak for at least one hour in a bucket with either a capful of bleach or 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup vinegar.
   
   
7. If you want to use fabric softener, go with dryer sheets instead of liquid softener. They're almost always much less expensive (and easier to lug home from the supermarket).
   
   
8. Line-dry your clothes whenever weather permits. Do your washing in the morning to allow for drying during the sun's most intense hours. My laundry often dries in under two hours this way. If you're like me and don't like the slightly stiff feel your clothes get drying in the sun, just pop them in the dryer for 5-10 minutes afterwards, along with a clean, damp (not wet) rag, and a dryer sheet (if desired).

Know any other money- and/or environment-saving laundry tips? Leave them in comment below!

Frugal Home Decor: Add seating and color to your patio with a DIY recycled patio bench

We have pretty magnificent sunsets here. And there's nothing like relaxing on the porch and having a couple drinks in the evening. All we used to have for seating, though, were a couple of ugly plastic chairs, and those finally cracked and broke. So I set about gathering materials to build some deck furniture. I'm no expert carpenter, mind you, so I kept it simple for my first project: a wooden bench (cushions to come as soon as I can get by the fabric store). This is about the most simple bench you can build and it requires very few tools. It's a super quick, super easy, and super cheap, afternoon or weekend project.

All the materials used to build this bench were recycled, except the paint, and we got that on sale because it was already mixed. Even if you had to buy the wood, too, you'd spend less than $15.


Supplies:

4 2x4s, the desired length of your bench (we got these from a neighbor who had them left over)
hammer and nails
a hand saw or circular saw
1/2 quart of indoor/outdoor wood paint (if you have some leftover from another project, all the better)
a paintbrush
concrete cinderblocks or other support (leveled tree stumps, upside-down metal buckets, etc.)



Directions:

1. Take one of your 2x4s and cut from it 2 11" lengths. These are the pieces that will hold the your bench seat together. Scrap the rest of that plank and keep it for another project.
   
   
2. Using an electric sander (unless you want really sore hands and arms), sand one side of the 3 long 2x4s until very smooth. Don't forget the edges and corners.
   
   
3. Prop all 3 planks, smooth side down, atop your supports (or two sawhorses, etc.) and align them carefully. Place the two shorter pieces across them at either side, 5-6 inches from the edges, and mark around them with a pencil. If you have C clamps, you can skip the pencil marking and just clamp them together.
   
   
4. Flip everything over, realign, and place one nail in the center of each long plank, aligned with the center of the short support pieces. (See image below.)
   
   
   
   
5. Flip everything back over and hammer the sharp ends of the nails sideways so that they're flat against the wood.
   
   
6. Paint! Follow the directions on the can as to how long to wait between coats; you'll probably want at least 2.

Et voila! Your new patio bench.


Tip: Use leftover paint to color other accent pieces on the porch or around the yard for a unified look. I used mine on some upcycled flower pots.

Decorating/Gardening on the Cheap: Pineapple Top into Interesting Houseplant

Looking for something to spice up your office or home interior? Add a little green (and sometimes pink) to your environment with a new, free houseplant. Pineapples make great houseplants; they don't attract bugs, they don't require much care, and they're incredibly easy to grow. Have a cat that chews on every plant or flower you bring into the house? No worries, the pointy, thick leaves of a pineapple plant won't interest them. And, if you treat your pineapple plant well, you may even be rewarded with a cute little (edible) baby pineapple.

Here how you do it:

Next time you buy a pineapple at your local grocery or farmer's market, make sure it has a nice green top. The leaves shouldn't pull out easily, and the bottom of the pineapple should smell strong and sweet. If your pineapple is still a bit green, no problem, just perch it upside down (to help it ripen evenly) in a windowsill when you get home and wait a few days for it to turn yellow. If it's just a tiny bit green, it's probably just fine to eat. An overripe pineapple is not a pretty, or tasty, thing.

When you're ready to eat it, use a towel or garden glove to grab the whole green top and twist is gently off. Don't pull, just twist. If you're lucky, your pineapple top will already have some rootage going on, like in the photo below, or at least a row or two of root nubs.


Then, cut off the little bit of fruit left on the stump with a knife and, starting with the lowest set of leaves (usually brown and dried), rip off the several bottommost rows of leaves until your pineapple plant will sit nicely in a jar of water with the stump immersed. Set your new plant and its jar in a window (it doesn't have to be very sunny) and wait. In a week or two, your new little friend should have enough roots to plant in a pot, or even directly in the ground.

Pineapple #1 after a few days in water on the windowsill.

Pineapple #2 after a few days in water on the windowsill.

If you live in a tropical or near-tropical locale, and you can plant your pineapple in the ground rather than in a pot—just be aware that these plants get extremely large when allowed to do so, and will take up a lot of space in your yard. They do, however, take kindly to being trimmed, but in my opinion they don't look as nice that way.

We eat a lot of fresh pineapple around here.

Once your little friend has established an inch or so of roots all around, he's ready to be planted. You can use potting soil, but mine did fine in just regular dirt. You can start with a little 6" pot, like I have and repot as it grows, or you can put it directly in a larger pot (20" or so ought to do it) so you won't have to move it.

Newly potted pineapple (along with newly potted orange and lime trees).

Pineapple plants like full sun to partial shade, warm weather, and moderate watering. Keep the soil moist, but don't overwater. If you live in an area that gets cool, bring your potted pineapple inside when it starts to get cold, way before any danger of frost. Pineapples are hardy, but they are tropical plants.

First pineapple in the ground, just planted.

First pineapple (front) still doing well, now accompanied by four others (along with some rosemary and wild chayote).

I now have one pineapple plant in a little pot and six lining the fence in my backyard. I have to choose wisely what I plant along this fence because there are often cows grazing on the other side of it. I'm fairly confident they won't want to chomp on sharp, slightly serrated pineapple leaves, and tiny, needle-like rosemary leaves, but the chayote I'm not sure about. But it just popped up there, so there's no point in pulling it out.

Pineapple plants take at least a year, usually two, to bear fruit, so be patient. In the meantime, your living space will benefit from your pretty new houseplant and some extra, freshly created oxygen.

Carnival of Money Stories 2: Disaster Issue

Welcome to the March 8, 2010 edition of carnival of money stories 2. I've decided to go with the disaster theme based on the content of some of the posts submitted, most insignificantly but amusingly, Jim's (at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) which revolves somewhat around the apparently impending zombie invasion.

Enjoy!

Editor's Choice

Usually picking the editor's choice articles is challenging, but this week one article stood out so much (inspiring, refreshing, and well-written) that I have no choice but to give it the number one spot. I don't know where Baker found her, but I'm glad he did. You should take a look at her own blog/site while you're at it:

Baker presents a guest blog by Carmen 8 Effective Ways to Raise Frugal Kids posted at Man Vs. Debt, saying, "Follow these 8 simple, but effective tips to buck the consumerist trend and raise frugal kids!"

However, the prize for most humorous comments goes to.... jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity for his post Best Places to Hide Money At Home.



And I'd like to highlight CreditCardAssist's post on How to Donate to Relief Organizations simply because the world could use more good samaritans.


Business

Ryan @ Cash Money Life presents How to Organize Small Business Finances posted at Cash Money Life, saying, "Tips on how to organize your small business finances, including how to separate your personal and business income, use business checking and savings, accounting software, and more. Essential reading for small business owners and freelancers!"

FMF presents Office Depot's Strange Way of Applying Coupons posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "My unusual experience with Office Depot."

BWL presents 3 Mistakes to Avoid if You're Self-Employed posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, "Whether you’ve decided to turn your blog into a business, sell a multi-level marketing product or rent a storefront to start selling your homemade jewelry there are some mistakes you will definitely want to avoid…"

Investing

Adam presents Don't Act your Age: How to Keep Saving and Keep your Friends posted at Magical Penny, saying, "Some people begin investing because they think they should, but they haven't fully worked out the right amount to invest. They could easily get discouraged by friends or by other needs if they haven't budgeted correctly. This article is full of points to help maintain your resolve; to not act like most other young people; to show respect to your pennies in the present for a better future tomorrow (and so you don’t have to rely on the lottery in your old-er age)."

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Best Ways To Invest Small Amounts of Money posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "Some of my personal stories and examples of how I've been able to make my money grow with only small outlays towards various investments."

The Dough Roller presents How to Open a Scottrade Brokerage Account Online posted at The Dough Roller.

Other

Money Beagle presents I Love When The Free Money Fairy Stops By posted at Money Beagle.

Craig Ford presents How to Afford to be a Stay at Home Wife or Mom posted at Money Help For Christians, saying, "Outlines a step by step plan for couples who want to live off one income."

Jeff Rose presents What Happens When a Life Insurance Policy Lapses posted at Jeff Rose.

me in millions presents Moneytalk Class #3: Planning for Future Life Events posted at me in millions, saying, "As a twenty something, I never really gave much thought to end of life issues. I just took a class and this is what I learned."

2 Cents presents Financial Literacy Is Like Green Eggs and Ham posted at Balance Junkie, saying, "This article looks at some good reasons to become more financially literate and encourages us, like Sam I Am, to try it!"

Sun presents TurboTax 2010 Has Some Nice New Features posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary.

The Smarter Wallet presents The Truth About Bank Fees: What Your Bank May Be Hiding posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, "On banking matters."

Shopping

For the ocularly challenged among us, Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents How I Got $8 Glasses posted at The Canadian Finance Blog, saying, "Alan lets us know how he was able to get new glasses for only $8!"

And just because I can:

I'd take zombies over that any day. Aaaaand that concludes this edition. Hope you enjoyed it. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Money Stories 2 using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Pet Food: Save Money (and your pet's health) by Preparing Your Own

For years our cats were accustomed to eating the rather expensive Nutro brand dry cat food. But after moving to a small town, we found it quite difficult to find dry food for our cats, period, let alone good food that doesn't contain animal meal, by-products, or tons of corn and other grain fillers that cats don't need in their diets.

Turns out the unavailability of cat food here has been a blessing in disguise.

First we gradually switched them from their regular dry food to canned tuna, but after some research found that an all-tuna diet, especially canned tuna prepared for human consumption, can be unhealthy for cats over time.¹ Since the dry food we have access to isn't good for them and feeding them tuna all the time isn't either, we were back to the drawing board. After some more research we decided to switch our cats to a raw diet—well, partly raw. We now feed them either small chunks of raw chicken or boiled fish (boiled because still more research showed that raw fish may be unhealthy for cats². The jury seems to be out on that claim, however, as many raw feeding advocates seem to think raw fish is just fine.³

The new diet has been a great decision for us and for the cats. They've been on their new diet for about three months now, and they're clearly thriving. Their coats are shinier, they have tons of energy, and Esmie's little dandruff problem has completely cleared up, all on its own. We now save on the exorbitant price of high-end (read: barely decent) cat food—our old dry cat food of choice costs around $14 for a 4-pound bag and contains a large amount of unnecessary grain filler.⁴ Best of all, the cats love their new meals so much more.

What We Buy, How We Buy
Our local fishmonger sells fish scraps for about $1.50 a kilo (68 cents a pound). Try asking for leftovers or scraps from your fish retailer or at the seafood section in your supermarket. They may not be as cheap as they are here in Costa Rica, but they'll be much cheaper than, for instance, fillets. Be aware, however, that very large fish such as tuna, salmon, tilefish, and king mackerel may contain high levels of mercury and other dangerous toxins since they are at the top of the fishy food chain.

Chicken gizzards and "cuts" also run cheap. Here, the gizzards (or "extras": liver, heart, and other organs) also go for about $1.5o a kilo (68 cents a pound), while the "cuts" (pieces of wings, legs, and thighs) are about $3 a kilo ($1.36 a pound). You should be able to find these for cheap at any butcher shop.

Preparation
Our cats seem to prefer the chicken livers and hearts, but it's often worth it to me spend the extra $1.50 to avoid juggling those slippery organs. As for preparation, I cut off all the meat from the bones, separate the pile of meat into small meal-sized piles, and then package and freeze the meals individually. Upon butchering, I discard the bones or give the cats a large bone each as a snack (and as a reward for controlling themselves while I handle all that delicious raw meat in front of them). Each day we thaw a meal for breakfast and one for dinner. We never freeze or cook the bones; we've learned these can both cause them to splinter easily, which could create a choking hazard.⁵

Savings
For our cats, each kilo of chicken or fish meat yields roughly 10 meals, about 1/2 cup per meal. So if we feed the cats fish or chicken gizzards, we spend about 15 cents per meal, and if we feed them chicken cuts, we spend about 30 cents per meal. We rotate the three types of meat on a fairly regular basis, so the average price per meal is about 20 cents.

Compare that to the cost of our old Nutro brand kibble—about 60 cents per meal, according to their suggested serving size—and we're saving quite a bit of money: 40 (depending on the type of meat) per meal, which comes out to nearly $25 a month per cat. I don't know about you, but saving $50 a month with little hassle and added health benefits for them sounds pretty cool to me.



Questions or thoughts about feeding raw or savings money on pet food? Leave us a comment!


Notes

1. According to PetEducation.com, a website of veterinarians Drs. Foster and Smith, "large amounts [of canned tuna formulated for human consumption] can cause malnutrition, since it lacks proper levels of vitamins and minerals." http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1&aid=1029
   An article on Australia's CatWorld.com also cites human-grade canned tuna as a cause of yellow fat disease or steatitis. http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatitis-yellow-fat-disease-in-cats
   
2. The same article from PetEducation.com lists raw fish as dangerous for cats because it "can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. More common if raw fish is fed regularly." See also the article "Eight strikes against fishy feeding" at the Cat Nutrition Blog.
   
3. See for instance RawFedCats.org's "Practical Guide." ProVet.co.uk also considers fish to be "a good raw ingredient to incorporate into cat foods," but concedes that it "has certain draw backs."
   
4. Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Ingredient List
5. See http://www.rawmeatybones.com/faq.php#CookedBones and http://www.rawfed.com/myths/bones.html
   

Additional References and Resources

1. Excerpt from "Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food." Ann N. Martin. NewSage Press (1997). Website of Jeff Feinman, VMD.
2. "The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food." Jessica Smith. NaturalNews.com
   
3. "What's Really for Dinner? The Truth About Commercial Pet Food" Tina Perry, Animal Protection Institute. Reprinted from The Animals' Agenda Nov/Dec 1996.
   
4. "What’s Really in Pet Food" Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute. May 2007. An incredibly informative, thorough, and well-cited article.
5. "Pet Food Regulation" Jean Hofve, DVM. The Whole Dog Journal and Little Big Cat.
   
6. RawFedCats.org
7. RawFedDogs.net
8. RawLearning.com
9. Yahoo Raw Feeding Group
   
10. Yahoo Raw Fed Cat Group
    

No-Bake Cookie Twofer: Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies and Coconut Bon-Bons

Image via Wikipedia

I hate to cook, but I quite like to bake. This really doesn't work out well for me because we don't have an oven here in Costa Rica. What's a girl to do for delicious baked goods during the holidays without an oven? Buy them at the local bakery? Nope. The bakeries here don't make anything good (in my opinion) besides doughnuts and whole cakes; everything else is dry and brittle, full of hydrogenated oils (trans fats), and/or tasteless. Costa Ricans also seem to be generally confused about chocolate; for some reason they think it's supposed to be made with shortening and have no taste of cocoa whatsoever. The result is much like the oily and rubber-like "icing" top on a Hostess cupcake. No thank you.

My solution to the no-oven dilemma? No-bake cookies! That's right, cookies made entirely on the stovetop. Quick, easy, delicious.

These first cookies, I'll admit, don't look that great, but they *do* taste good. A variation that I tried with half the batch is to roll them into balls instead of just plopping them onto the wax paper. Let them chill in the fridge an hour or two and then roll them in powdered sugar, so they end up looking like doughnut holes. The result is a much prettier, still tasty cookie that looks nice when paired with the bon-bons in the following recipe. Almost like I planned them to go together.

Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Tbs cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter (optional but recommended)
3 cups rolled oats (or sub rice krispies cereal)
1 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except peanut butter and oats in an medium-size pot and cook over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
   
2. Let boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and oats.
4. Spoon out quickly onto wax paper or aluminum foil.
5. (optional) Refrigerate for 20 minutes to an hour, then roll into balls and coat with powdered sugar.
   
6. Cookies will harden as they set.

Coconut Bon-Bons

Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter margarine
2 1/2 cups sugar (powdered works best, but either will do.)
1 (12 ounce) package shredded coconut
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup whole milk/cream/condensed milk
1 cup crumbled or ground peanuts

Directions

1. Mix together condensed milk, butter, 2 cups sugar, and coconut. Cover with wax paper and chill for 24 hours.
2. In medium-sized saucepan, combine cocoa powder, milk, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool 20 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Roll coconut mixture into 3/4-inch balls and dip into chocolate.
4. (optional) Roll in nuts.
   
5. Place on wax paper to cool and dry.
   

Serving suggestion: Ever had frozen bon-bons? These are better; I guarantee it. Freeze them. You'll thank me. There's a reason there's only 1 left.