Dinner on an Empty Fridge

We've been on a tighter budget these days since we are (drum roll please....) saving up to spend a year traveling New Zealand!

(You can follow our journey on our travel  blog: There & Back Again)

At any rate, I had yet to get to the grocery store the other night and was faced with an empty refrigerator.

Ok, maybe it wasn't completely empty. We had chicken sausages--but we had eaten those the past 2 nights in a row. We had sweet potatoes--but we had eaten those the past 2 nights in a row.

And there were a handful of containers of leftovers. But nothing really substantial.

So I was forced to get creative! But I think the final product turned out rather nicely:

Beginner's Guide to Drying Herbs

You should know on the front end that drying herbs is super easy. If I can do it, so can you.

This is the first year I have actually had any kind of success growing herbs on my balcony. We don't get much sun on our side of the apartment complex, so last year's cilantro grew from seed to an impressive 1 1/2 inches tall before wilting and turning brown. It was a sad day.

That's why I call this post a Beginner's Guide. I am definitely a beginner myself.

This year though, Old Man Mike who lives around the corner gave us a big stash of full grown herb plants. We love Mike. He sits outside his house every day with his guitar and his tomato plants. He knows every single person that lives on his block. And he's been kind enough to give us plenty of invaluable advice about growing things.

I recently harvested some mint, spicy basil, and bee balm from my containers.

Whole Foods is Tax Free on Tax Day

This, my friends, is good news.

Very good news.

This news from the Nashville Business Journal online really made a buzz on my bargain hunting radar.

Whole Foods Market is offering a 9.5% discount on everyone's total order on Thursday, April 15, 2010. This applies to both Nashville locations (in Cool Springs and Green Hills) as well as other stores in Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina & South Carolina.

Granted, it's only 9.5%. But still. It's 9.5%.

On your whole order.

I consider it a pretty sweet deal. This means I can stock up on coconut milk (which is already the best deal I've found at any store on organic coconut milk at $1.29 a can).