More money-saving tips from AboutCarrollton.com! Focus: fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs are not only delicious and nutritious, but can save money and help you stretch your Carrollton food budget throughout the year! 

• Eat in season! With our wonderfully long growing season, fresh fruits and vegetables are bountiful. Take advantage of what’s current, fresh, available and more affordable!
• If you don’t grow your own, frequent the farmer’s markets and roadside stands. Often better quality and prices!
• If you don’t have time to plant a garden, consider container gardening… perfect for everything from tomatoes to peppers, strawberries,  herbs, and more.
• Save your empty spice bottles – dry and store your own home-grown herbs!
• Dry small quantities of celery leaves or fresh herbs in your oven when you’ve shut it off after baking. Store in a jar for future use in soups and stews.
• Cut up too many onions and peppers? Toss ‘em in a plastic bag in the freezer. You’ll be glad they’re there when you need them!
• Grow and freeze fresh parsley: wash, stem, and dry it first.
• Love pesto? Use your own parsley or basil to create a delicious homemade pesto, freeze in small plastic bags. Delicious, healthy, and a welcome taste of summer during the winter months.
• Too many tomatoes and too little time? Core them and freeze them whole.
  
• If you have an abundance of garlic, skin it and freeze in ziplock bags.
  
• Take the kids blueberry picking! At home, rinse, dry and lay flat on a cookie sheet till frozen, then bag. Perfect!
• Vegetable scraps are perfect for making homemade vegetable stock. Cauliflower and broccoli leaves and woody stems, rinse them, put them in the freezer ubtil you have enough to make a fabulous, flavorful stock.
• Vegetable storage bags – Debbie Meyer green bags may seem pricey, but they are reusable, and boy do they work!  If you buy fruits and vegetables in bulk, or are tired of throwing away produce before you get a chance to use it, these bags are worth every penny.