Barbara Simoes

I get eco-friendly laundry sheets.  I think the brand I started with was Earth Breeze, but they are a bit pricey.  Costco has even started to carry some sheets.  They are very easy to use, and the humidity doesn't seem to reconstitute them. Here's a page that compares a few brands:
https://www.thelaundryguru.net/best-laundry-sheets?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ga_text_dg_tpv_core_broad_v2&tw_source=google&tw_adid=1450218186224&tw_campaign=44032987561&tw_kwdid=kwd-4062487600

Arizona's climate supports a variety of crops beyond pistachios and pine nuts, with top performers including pecans (a major commercial crop), almonds, and dates. Citrus, figs, pomegranates, olives, and stone fruits like peaches, plums, and apricots also thrive in the region.

Here are specific, well-adapted plants for Arizona's climate:
Nut Trees: In addition to pecans, almonds and walnuts have shown potential, particularly in the northern regions.
Fruit Trees: Figs (especially Chicago Hardy), pomegranates, olives, and citrus are well-suited for the heat.
Stone Fruits: Apricots, peaches, and plums perform well.

I'd avoid walnuts because of the juglone, but everything else sounds great!

As soon as I read Arizona, I thought of Pine nuts and pistachios.  Pistachios and specific native pine nuts (piñon) grow well in Arizona, particularly in areas with hot, dry summers and cold winters that provide necessary chilling hours. Pistachios thrive in mid-to-high desert regions, with an estimated 10,000 acres currently under cultivation, while Arizona piñon pine is native to the state.

Pistachios in Arizona
Growing Areas: They flourish in Arizona's arid conditions, particularly in Cochise County, as noted on Farm Progress.
Requirements: They require 1,000+ hours of winter chilling (under
) to produce, which is ideal for higher elevations but may be marginal in the low desert.
Conditions: They need well-drained soil, thrive in high temperatures, and require both male (e.g., 'Peters') and female (e.g., 'Kerman') trees for pollination.
Production: Trees take 5–8 years to start producing nuts.

Pine Nuts (Piñon) in Arizona
Native Species: The Arizona Piñon (Pinus edulis or monophylla) is native to the region, often found alongside junipers in arid, rocky, or sandy soil.
Climate: They are hardy, generally adapted to USDA Zones 4–8.
Care: They are easy to grow once established and prefer to avoid summer irrigation.

Key Considerations
Water: While drought-tolerant, they still require adequate irrigation, with Arizona's tree nut industry using an estimated 118,145 acre-feet of water in 2017, according to the UA Cooperative Extension.
Investment: Pistachio trees can live for hundreds of years, making them a long-term investment.

Quite a bit!  My friends and I call this "Barbieland" because bad things can happen in Barbieland!  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all kind of thing!  

Nancy Reading wrote:

Barbara Simoes wrote:no one in the state seems to do this sort of thing.

Sounds like an opportunity for someone then.
I'd be tempted to have a go myself - hire someone with a digger and make a workparty. What's the worst that can happen?

I made some phone calls and no one in the state seems to do this sort of thing.  I love Vermont, but it is lacking when it comes to many things. This is just one such example.  We're not "cutting edge" with things involving medical advances either, just as a quick example!  

Nancy Reading wrote:Did you make any progress with this Barbara? A living pond gives many more functions than a swimming pool.

If you know anyone with a freeze-dryer or you have one yourself, that's a way to take care of dozens of eggs.  I have a freeze dryer because of all the fruits and vegetables I have growing, but one of the first things I did was to do seven dozen eggs or so in one batch.  It's like having powdered eggs on hand and you just rehydrate at a 1:1 ratio. I would put them in various sized mason jars and seal with a portable hand sealer.

I use George Stella's keto recipe for mock potato salad that is actually made with I think 7-8 eggs and cauliflower instead of potatoes.  If you're still interested, I can type it up in another post.

A dish from my childhood was stuffed tomatoes that uses hard boiled eggs, fresh bread crumbs, minced onion and some other ingredients I'm not remembering at the moment.  Ditto from above! I don't have my mom's original recipe, but I found a recipe that was a good second in one of my cookbooks.

Egg salad is another great thing to have on hand for a quick sandwich.

Tereza, what a wonderful site; I remember hearing about it, but this gave me  a chance to check it out...no pun intended!  I slid it onto my desktop to peruse later.  Thank you for sharing.  The cookbook looks wonderful.  I have a wonderful Grapenuts recipe that I used to make that is spot on for taste, although the "nuts" are a little softer than the cereal you buy.  I suppose you could just bake it a little longer, but I like it the way it is.
https://www.seriouseats.com/diy-grape-nuts-cereal-recipe

I think the recipe for "Spanish Rice" came out much later than the Depression, but it was a favorite of mine growing up: Saute till brown, a lb. of hamburger, cook a cup of rice which will swell to two cups, toss it all together with a large can (28 oz. of tomatoes)  Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. --So easy!  I know you'll be tempted to add more "stuff" to it, and I've tried myself.  It is much better with just these three or four ingredients!  One ingredient that does work is, believe it or not, pineapple, if you're looking to mix it up a bit.

Another easy recipe involves cooking a pack of wide egg noodles, draining them and then frying them until crisp on the bottom.  Just add a can of tomatoes.  OMG, this was a favorite.  Deceptively simple for what it tastes like.  I crave this all the time, but I am trying to keep simple carbs out of my diet.

Carbonara is another amazing dish.  Like above, you stir in a few eggs to drained hot pasta (Mom used spaghetti).  Saute onion, bacon and add a little white wine.  Toss it about along with the egg into the pasta and add in parm cheese--1/2 cup or so--I don't remember how much, maybe 3/4 cup.  I'm not a huge bacon fan and this doesn't take much...you can use a pound, but 1/2 that works.

Parsley Potatoes is another where the sum is greater than the parts: Chopped parsley, boiled potatoes cut in bite-sized pieces, salt and butter.  Of course, there is a fair amount of butter and salt!  I use almost an equivalent amount of parsley to the amount of potatoes (before it's pulled from bigger stems and chopped roughly.)

I grow basil like a regular vegetable and harvest leaves regularly through the season and make batches of pesto that I toss in the freezer in cup amounts to use throughout the winter.  I don't add cheese and I use walnuts.  I found that I really like it almost better when mixed in with rice than pasta, although I think any hardy grain would be good.  I find it mixes better if I toss it in as the rice is cooking rather than after.  I also will toss in a jar of tomatoes, measuring out the liquid as part of the needed rice water.

I also love Connie's zucchini "crab" cakes: a recipe that I found on Allrecipes. (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13938/connies-zucchini-crab-cakes/)  No crab is used, but it does use Old Bay seasoning.  If you grow your own zucchini and are looking for ways to use it, I highly recommend this recipe. Because salt will leach out water from the zucchini, don't salt until the patties are frying.  Also, you don't need so much oil or flour to coat the patties.

Well, that's just off the top of my head...I will add more if I think of any.  All of these are real winners!  Enjoy.

I will often go to the Allrecipes website, where I can enter single or multiple ingredients, and it will cull through thousands of recipes and pull up those that are relevant.  

Food pantries are always most grateful for fresh produce; I give away to friends, neighbors and the local food pantry if there is more than I can use.  For example, I have forty blueberry bushes that produce A LOT of fruit.  I invite friends over to pick and it provides a very casual way to catch up with friends...and, it saves me a ton of time and labor.  

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful pool, so that is part of the bribe to get people here!  Still, there will always be more than I can use, so I bring some to the food pantry, I freeze-dry, can and dehydrate and I make wine! I grow 50+ kinds of fruit along with a good sized vegetable garden.  Again, all is often shared with friends when they come over.

I have one friend who also grows a lot.  Last year, we traded; I gave her blueberries and she gave me cherries.  Yum!

Years ago, at our local co op, they sold something that was called maple sugar.  it looked like brown sugar but was maple flavored.  it was very tasty!  I guess, I would try dehydrating or freeze-drying it.  From there, I would powder it in a food processor and store it as another form of sugar.