Frugal Gardening Tips: How to Save Money and Grow Food

Gardening doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, with a little planning and creativity, a garden can be one of the most frugal ways to put food on the table. Whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to cut costs in an existing garden, these frugal gardening tips will help you grow more while spending …

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How to read a seed packet

There is a lot of information on the average seed packet and it can be confusing to the new gardener. Learn how to read a seed packet and improve your gardening skills.

I was chatting with a new gardener recently about growing vegetables from seed and she mentioned that she doesn’t really understand how to read a seed packet. The information on the seed packet confuses her and it’s just easier to buy transplants. I felt the same way when I first started gardening and I’m sure there …

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Easy Chicken Alfredo with Swiss Chard

A bowl of food on a plate

Right now we’re eating quite a bit of swiss chard and kale. Chard and kale are great because they grow year round here and they are my “filler” vegetables. And right now we’re needing that filler as we no longer have any broccoli or cabbage growing and the green beans and summer squash isn’t producing …

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Tips for Preserving the Harvest

A collection of ripe tomatoes in diverse shapes and sizes, including vibrant red and yellow varieties. Text overlays the image stating, "Preserving Harvest Tips," with the website "SchneiderPeeps.com" below.

Many years ago, I canned about 30 quarts of pear chutney. I had never tried pear chutney, in fact I had never even heard the word “chutney” before that day. But our pear tree was producing a bumper crop that year and I decided it would be fun to try something new. {ahem} No one liked it…not …

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Pancit Bihon

SchneiderPeeps- Pancit Bihon is a delicious and versitle traditionl Filipino stir fry with rice noodles.

One of our favorite dinners is pancit bihon, which is a Filipino stir fried rice noodle dish. {By the way, if anyone knows why Filipino is spelled with an “f” and only one “p” and Philippine is spelled with a “ph” and a double “p”, we would like to know. So far we’ve made up …

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Common Gardening Mistakes and How to Avoid or Fix Them

Green leaves with a text overlay that reads: "Six Common Gardening Mistakes and how to avoid (or fix) them." Discover insightful tips and solutions at SchneiderPeeps.com.

Last week we got quite a bit of rain and although we normally wait until mid October to plant our fall/winter garden, it’s quite a bit cooler than normal so we are starting a little early. When I pulled our seeds out and started going through them, I thought about some of the gardening mistakes …

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Canning Corn with the raw pack or hot pack method

Several glass jars filled with yellow canned corn are lined up on a countertop, each sealed with a metal lid. The jars appear to be prepared for canning or storage.

I love keeping home canned corn on hand. Although canning corn takes a little bit longer than canning other vegetables does, it’s totally worth it. There’s nothing like the flavor of locally grown sweet corn during summer, and when you can your own corn you can enjoy that bit of summer all year long. We …

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In the Garden

Listed below are posts I’ve written about individual plants, pests or garden planning and maintenance. Just click on the link to take you to the post. If you want to know more about what goes on in our garden, like our monthly walk-throughs and updates, just click on the garden button in the sidebar (under …

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Welcome to Creative Simple Living!

creative simple living logo

Simple living means many things to many different people, for some it means living a minimalist lifestyle in possessions and commitments, for some it means self-sufficiency and doing all-the-things. For others simple living is somewhere in between. Regardless of what your definition of simple living is, I want to help you achieve it! Creative simple …

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Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

image of a pan of cooked chicken enchiladas

We love Tex/Mex food and homemade chicken enchiladas are at the top of the list. This recipe is really more of a process than an exact recipe and you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry – the one exception might be corn tortillas. There are tons of recipes for making chicken enchiladas …

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Vegetable Stew – an easy use what you have recipe

A bowl of hearty vegetable stew features chunks of potatoes, zucchini, corn, and tomatoes in a rich broth. A spoon rests on the bowl's edge with text that reads "Use What You Have Vegetable Stew SchneiderPeeps.com.

Homemade vegetable stew can be made with pretty much any vegetables you happen to have on hand. I use a combination of fresh seasonal vegetables, home canned vegetables and dehydrated vegetables to make this use-what-you-have vegetable stew. While I do have a real vegetable stew recipe that I share below in the recipe card, I …

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Pesto Pasta with Summer Vegetables

pesto pasta with carrots, squash, zucchini, onions and tomatoes

Summer is the time for light meals that are loaded with summer vegetables. It’s also the time basil plants are huge. One of our favorite meals is pesto pasta with summer vegetables. This summer vegetable pesto pasta dish is loaded with garden fresh vegetables such as yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, onions, and tomatoes. Ingredients Enough …

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Planning the spring garden

I was able to spend a few moments this weekend planning out our spring garden. I’m trying to remember to keep it simple this year. We have so many other things to do this spring and summer that I only want to plant what we can take care of reasonably well. Of course, my resolve …

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Vegetarian Tex-Mex Stuffed Squash

Three stuffed squash on white plate with cut tomatoes in background.

Stuffed squash is one of our favorite meals during the summer months when the garden is overflowing with different squash varieties. This vegetarian stuffed squash recipe has a Tex-Mex flare that my children love, especially when we use scallop squash but you can use whatever summer squash, zucchini (courgette) or delica squash you happen to …

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Quick and Easy Pasta Salad

pasta salad with fresh vegetables in white bowl on wooden table

This easy pasta salad is packed with fresh vegetables and topped with a zesty homemade dressing. Pasta salad is so versatile that you can use whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand or in the garden, you can use homemade or store bought dressing, and you can also easily make it gluten-free, dairy-free, keto …

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Easy Homemade Pizza Night

two homemade pizzas in cast iron skillets

This easy homemade pizza recipe, includes a pizza dough recipe, topping suggestions and even freezing instructions. Use this recipe to make family size pizzas, individual pizzas, or calzones. It’s a super versatile recipe. Pizza crust is a great recipe for beginner bread bakers because it’s very forgiving. This recipe will result in soft chewy crust, …

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