For our farmers market friend

You know your child loves going to the farmers market when:

1. You take a visit there - and the vendors are asking where your kid is.
2. She starts making pictures for the vendors! Above is a chili pepper for "the pepper guy."

Are you keeping up with the Joneses?

It used to be about who had the biggest and newest car. Or the best vacation plans. Now, it's about who's being greener or more frugal in their choices.

Rachel at Small Notebook recently discussed the frustrations of keeping up with the Joneses. Not gardening yet? Not cooking from scratch? Heaven forbid, do you eat each night from takeout containers? Really, it's OK. For many of us, the path to simpler living is just a gradual process.

Rachel writes:

There have been times when I’ve been concerned that mentioning something might
not be good for my image. You know, my desire to look healthy, conscientious,
resourceful, and like I cook all my food from scratch. Oh forgive me for wanting
to have an image! That should be the first thing that anyone de-clutters. Life
is so much easier when you don’t have to worry about how you look to
others.
When I’m talking to someone else, I would much rather admit that my
spaghetti sauce comes from a jar at the store than pretend I’m a fabulous chef.
Authenticity is living simply.

And "simple" is a matter of perspective. You can spend simply, and reap great rewards if you have a talent for cooking, sewing or other crafts. You can entertain simply and just hang out with a few great friends and good beers in your backyard. You can clean simply and join the baking soda and vinegar crowd, instead of staring at the dozen cleaning products in your cabinet. You can raise your children simply, and not buy toys upon end and overschedule them.

But when living "simple," "green," or "frugal" comes to the point that your choices are stressing you out, aren't you missing the point? Because at the end of the day, it's you (and your family) you have to live with.

Easy tropical granola

Granola and yogurt is a big request in my house, but at five bucks or more a package, it can quickly add up.

This weekend, we made our own for the first time, and it was surprisingly easy. Here's our adapted recipe for Easy Tropical Granola.

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dried papaya*
1/2 cup dried pineapple

Heat the oven to 300. Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, cobine honey, brown sugar, butter and salt. Add oats, and stir until blended.

Spread granola on foil and bake f0r 20 minutes, stirring once halfway. Remove pans from oven and stir granola again. Bake 10 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. Remove and stir again. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

When the granola is cool, add the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container for up to four weeks.

* Dried papaya is available at Fresh Market, if you're unable to find it at the local store.

Veggie grilling

Might as well make the most of your farmers markets while the summer is hot. In just a month or two, the growing season - at least in Indiana - will be winding down.

While I admit to stocking up my freezer this time of year, we also love to add our veggies to the grill when my husband cooks out. If you're a little shy about this, relax. It doesn't take very long, and it's one less set of pots to clean!

Here are some vegetable side dishes to make use of the rest of your burner:

• Balsamic grilled vegetables
• Grilled asparagus
• Grilled cauliflower
• Grilled citrus radiacho
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad
• Grilled fruit
• Grilled fruit with balsamic vinegar syrup
• Grilled fruit with carmelized orange sauce
• Grilled green beans
• Grilled potato wedges
• Honey garlic grilled eggplant
• Spiced tomatoes
• Spring asparagus and new potato salad

Enjoy!

Bargain hunting at the farmers market

Last night, I did the unthinkable. I didn't race right home to feed hungry kids.

Instead, we stopped by the Wednesday evening Greenwood Farmers Market to see what's available during the week. I was surprised to see the large number of vendors who've succeeded in doing what's eluded me in the last week or so: growing tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables. (We're currently in a dying slump in our little garden.)

At quarter to 6, I realized something: Just as I'm ready to go home at the end of the day, so are the vendors. And the last thing they want to do is slug more things home than they have to.

The first booth I stopped at, the woman practically loaded my bag with the corn. "I usually sell them half-dozen for $2, but I just don't want to mess with it. You can have it for a buck," she said.

At the next, the genteleman wordlessly upped my container of cucumbers.

At a third, the woman threw in a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, which my son was lusting after (until of course, he tasted it, and realized it was a tomato).

And at the tomato stand, I just said to give me a dollar's worth of "ugly" tomatoes (which, for the unitiated, means they're not 100 percent perfect but perfectly usable). He loaded me up with eight. They pushed the rest of their cukes at me, saying to just give them a quarter.

So for my $9.25, here's what I got:

• 8 cucumbers
• 8 tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 6 ears of corn
• 4 lbs. green beans
• a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes

I dare you to beat that at the grocery store!