Unusual but tasty fruits you should try (plus video)

Travelling is one of my biggest hobbies so I try to do it as much I as can and find good opportunities for affordable vacations.

During my last vacation to one of the Asian countries, I tried several exotic fruit and they tasted incredibly unusual and were something I wish I have tried long before.

I have found a pretty cool top list on the Internet, where the most popular exotic fruit are reviewed. They do look unusual but you need to taste them, before you make your final decision.



Delicious EXOTIC fruits every tourist should try

During my short trip I was lucky to try:

- rambutan;

- sugar apple;

- dragon fruit;

- mangosteen.

Modern book reading

I am a big fan of reading but carrying books is kind of hard. That is why I asked by friends to find a solution for me.

So for my birthday they bought me an Amazon Kindle. This is a one of a kind device, which stores thousands of books in one place and I can download new books for free via Wifi and 3G.

I am so glad to have got such awesome friends.

On food, guilt and saving money

Recently a good friend of mine shared that she spends between $60 and $80 a week on groceries for her family of 4 people and one dog. This revelation caused my jaw to drop and feelings of guilt to creep up. I spend more than that, quite a bit more than that, honestly. My total includes diapers but it is more like $110 a week (really I shop twice a month but it's around $220 twice a month). For a long time I've wondered about our grocery bill, wondered if I spend too much or if I could be saving my family money in some way. So, my friend's comment really made me think about how I do what I do.

I guess I see grocery shopping/feeding my family as a big part of my contribution to our financial health. I don't bring in any income right now but I can be a part of controlling our outgoing dollars. Watching what I buy and making good decisions is important to me.

So, it's been a couple of months since our discussion and I've decided that I'm doing as good as I can for now. My $220 twice a month covers diapers, dog food and cat food. It includes all our toiletries and laundry things. Plus it feeds us. I'm paying attention to sales and coupons and such but I won't be a slave to that and I won't drive all over town going to multiple stores to save a few dollars. I do my shopping with two kids in tow and more than one store is too much for us.

The last couple of months of reflection on grocery shopping has yielded a couple of fun finds: moneysavingmom and andfreebiesforall. I added these two sites to my google feed reader and I've gotten all kinds of fun coupons, freebies, samples and just good ideas, especially from Money Saving Mom. It's good to be thoughtful and plan things. I like that. I won't make myself feel guilty for spending what I need to spend to feed my family what they like to eat.

Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings

Around here the end of June/beginning of July is all about Walla Walla Sweet Onions. We wait with baited breath for them to be ready. It is all we dream about. Although the asparagus and strawberries are usually ready first, nothing says summer to us like our sweet onions. The onions we're growing in the garden aren't ready yet but the farmers plant a lot earlier than we do so they are definitely available at the farm stands. The other day I got a 10lb bag for $4.50...not a bad price for the best onions in the world.

So, last night we had Walla Walla Sweet onion rings with our dinner. They were fantastic. A great crunchy coating and then a burst of sweet juicy onion. I could eat these every night. I paired them with BBQ chicken, field fresh peas and fresh strawberries...it was a perfect summer meal!

Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings

3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 TB canola oil
salt
paprika

Mix ingredients together until smooth. Slice an onion or two (how many depends on how large your onions are and how many people you are feeding)in 1/4 inch slices and separate into rings. Drop in coating and take out with fork, allowing excess batter to drip off. Fry in about 1 inch oil heated to 365 for 2 - 3 minutes. Rings can be kept hot in 300 oven but they aren't as crispy that way.