Frugal Friday | What Happened to Friday?

So uh, the 4th of July being on a weekend meant Friday off from work, which meant strawberry picking, which lead to a marathon day of canning - you see where this is going. I forgot it was Friday!

1| It's Pesto Time!

Pesto made from the spinach, basil, and parsley that we grow in our garden is one of my favorite parts about summer, and probably those most cost-saving items that our garden produces. Two gallon sized bags of basil and two gallon sized bags of spinach, plus a handful of parsely and some stray swiss chard made approximately 10 cups of fresh pesto. Easily worth $50 if you were to go out and buy it from the deli or store shelf. 

I expect we will have enough basil to make more later this summer after my plants recover from thier first major pruning.

2| I Save Small Jars to Freeze the Pesto In

While I have an abundance of canning jars, I still like to save small glass jars that we get from various condiments to store our pesto in. 

Pesto ready for the freezer.

3| Strawberry-Top Simple Syrup

After hulling 25lbs of strawberries, I took the stems (which had a bit of strawberry still attached), washed them, and then used them to make 3 pints of strawberry flavored simple syrup. Perfect in seltzer spritzers!

4| Rhubarb from a Kind Neighbor

My Dad requested that I make him some Rhubarb Sauce. His small plant only made enough for 2 pints jars, so I reached out on our town community page to see if anyone had any extra that they weren't going to be using. A kind neighbor let me harvest her two large plants, yielding at least 10lbs of Rhubarb which I turned into sauce, jam, and a crisp. She requested no payment but I offered to stop by with some pickles, which she happily accepted.

5| Compare Before You Buy

Knowing that I'd be doing some canning this week, I took a moment to check sugar prices around town. I was surprised to see that my local Walmart was almost 50% cheaper than the local Sam's Club. It pays to check before you buy when buying a large quantity of an item.

Feel free to share your five frugal thing!