Tight-Arse Tuesdays: U-Pick

I'm heading out in a little while today to pick strawberries with a friend, and I thought - what better frugal tip for a Tight-Arse Tuesday?

'Tis the season for U-Picks, and you'll find them within 30 minutes of your location, I can almost guarantee it. If you've never done it before, it's a great way to get out in the sunshine, and teach your kids (if you have them) about nature and food. Sometimes you bring your own container, sometimes they have containers for you; once you get to the farm, just start picking until you've got more fresh-picked fruit than you know what to do with.

Strawberries are common at U-Picks, as are blueberries, tree fruits, and sometimes grapes. I've occasionally seen vegetable U-Picks but it seems to be mainly a fruit thing. Start looking for a U-Pick farm near you at PickYourOwn.org.

Of course you'll want to enjoy a lot of your fruit in its freshness, but make sure you pick extra for preserving. Homemade jams and jellies are SUPER easy, and freezing is even easier! Wouldn't it be great to toss some of your frozen strawberries into a smoothie or some fruit bread later this winter, and have the flavor transport you back to that beautiful day in June when you laughed in the sun as you picked them?

How Udderly Nutty

Damn hippies have got me at it again. I have decided to post a recipe for nut and seed milk. Nut and seed milk is considered to be an extremely protein-rich and healthy alternative to cow's milk. Great for that lactose intolerant hooligan in your family. It takes roughly 2 cups of seeds and nuts to make 1.5l of milk. Oh and you can make flour from the dredges. Bonus.

Place 6 cups of water and 2 cups almonds in a blender. Or hazlenuts. Or walnuts. Or pecans. Mmmm... macadamias. What? Oh, yes, sorry. Let them sit for about 3 hours and soak the flavours nicely. Blitz. Strain. Put milk back in blender and dredgy nut paste in the dehydrator. Add honey/agave nectar/sugar/2 dates/sweet fancy into the blender. Blitz again. Store up to one week.

Dry pasty chunky nut bits in dehydrator until perfectly dry, about 6 hours. Blitz in blender. Almond meal. Or hazlenut. Or walnut. Or pecan... or macadamias..mmmmm. Almost tasty enough to make me like you dam raw vegan hippies.*



*not really, I still hate you.