TIGHTWAD TUESDAY - Free Salad

First, I would like to apologize for the delay in this post this week. Dave and I are both having great Internet difficulties. For the past day or two, he has not been able to get online at all, and I was only able to get on long enough to get kicked back off. If anyone else is having similar difficulties in your area, we would like to hear about it... like to know just how far the problems go out.

Okay, now for this week's money saving tips on making a Free Salad. I am a big fan of salads. I crave them often, and, at times, I practically live on them. The other day, one of those salad craving moods hit me really hard. My salad makings in the garden are not yet ready, and I DID NOT want to spend the time and gas to drive to town just to buy things for a salad. The answer? .... Take a walk around my yard to see what Wild Greens I might still have to make a salad with.

From late winter (as we begin to have a few warm days), all the way up until the heat really begins to set in, there is a constant array of fresh, FREE greens to make a great raw salad with, if you just look around you. (Note: Be CERTAIN you know exactly what it is you are picking and eating!)   
 The variety of greens (along with fruits and flowers) constantly changes as the temperatures and weather changes, so you will never get tired of eating the same salad over and over. Your ingredients available for your salads will probably change every couple of weeks. Example: Cleavers and Henbit are now gone, wild lettuce is now too tough, but Honeysuckle and mulberries are abundant. 

This is the salad I ended up with after my walk through my yard. EVERYTHING in it was taken from the wild. NOTHING was purchased, and I never left my property. All was organically grown (naturally) with no chemicals or pesticides.

As for the dressing I used, it was free, also .... sort of. Last week I had hit a Super Sale on Marinated Artichoke Heart Salad (39¢ a jar). I had saved the 'juice' off of it because it is great for using as a marinade for meats, or (in this case) as a dressing over salads. That 'juice' that most people throw away is a great blend of oil, vinegar, and spices.... the basics of a good salad dressing or marinade. It is so useful for so many things that I can't believe people throw it away when they get to the bottom of the jar! (WE have also found that a few sips of it opens up our sinuses for awhile) This time, it made the absolute perfect dressing for my Wild Salad. What a wonderful treat this was without ever leaving my house, nor spending a single penny!

If you would like more information on the specific ingredients used in this salad, you can find it HERE on our TwoFarmsOne Cooking blog.

Thank you and Happy Wild & Free Eating!