St. Paul Farmers’ Market

As far as eco and cheapo, the St. Paul Farmers Market is great.  You get a ton of food for your buck and it doesn’t travel nearly as far to get to your table (fewer emissions) – not to mention that the money you spend will stay largely in the hands of the growers themselves.  A few weeks ago we got three squash, about two pounds of carrots, about two pounds of potatoes, four colored peppers, a pound of stew meat and 10 free pounds of turkey wings for $19.  When we visited the stew meat guy, he told us he’s trying to clean out his freezer location, and offered us the wings.  A month later we are still eating them.  Try to get that in the store.  The Farmers’ Market is still open in winter!  Never knew that.  I plan to visit again!

What are your great Farmers Market stories?

My boyfriend has this great way to make popcorn. It is eco-friendly because you avoid acquiring the packaging of the microwave stuff and you can recycle your own paper bag when done popping. It’s cheap because you buy the popcorn in a bag or in a bulk section, resulting in many more servings for your dollar.

Here’s how:

1. Obtain paper lunch bags and plain ol’ popcorn. You probably also would want some luscious, real butter. Mmmmmm, butter.

2. My BF and I usually use a little more than a quarter cup of popcorn. Place it in the paper bag and fold the bag over. All you need to put in is the popcorn; no oil or anything like that. You can adjust to find the amount of popcorn you like to have. We put it on the popcorn setting on the microwave, about 2:00? Experiment with your microwave, just make sure you listen carefully to make sure it doesn’t go too long between pops. It can burn somewhat more easily than store-bought microwave popcorn.

3. Melt some butter and drizzle over your popcorn. Add salt to taste. Devour.

Delicious!!!