Organic and natural food tends to cost a lot, but I recently went to a class on using wild edibles. It turns out that some wild edibles were brought here to the USA by immigrants, but their use fell out of favor over time. They only became weeds by abandonment.

Wild edibles have an amazing amount of vitamins and minerals. For example, Lamb’s Quarter is higher in vitamins, minerals, and protein than spinach. Considering that Lambs Quarter could be transplanted to your backyard, and grown free of cost, it is hands down a better choice than spending money on “organic spinach.”

My favorite resource for finding out about these things is Foraging Texas. They have a smart phone version, photos, and explanations about the legalities of foraging.

The site’s editor, Dr. Mark Vorderbruggen, gives classes at the Houston Arboretum. I had my first experience with edible plants on one of his tours at a nature preserve. It was a bit strange to see a group of people following a man around who would reach down and pick up a weed, pop it in his mouth, and say, “Yes, that’s almost ready!” and see everyone else follow suit, as if it were a cooking class.

Foraging is not gardening, which works for me. It’s finding plants that like to grow in the wild and don’t need to be mollycoddled and tended constantly. I even found several edible plants in my own backyard, like spiderwort and pony’s hoof. You know that plant you just tried to kill with Roundup? It might have tasted great in a salad!

Anyone with small kids knows about snack catchers; new parents should check them out. These ingenious cups let little fingers in to grab cereal bits, crackers, or dried fruit, etc, but won’t let food out when the cup tips over. The flexible rubbery (BPA free) flaps serves as a one-way gate. Keeps the food clean, car seats and floors tidy, and hungry toddlers satisfied. There are now other competing brands using the same principle. They also come in larger sized containers.

This is a portable vaporizer that works, is simple to operate, easy to clean, and looks beautiful. Vaporizers heat leaf material such as tobacco or pot so that they release their active ingredients without burning them. It’s a cleaner, healthier alternative to burning something you intend to inhale. You use your lungs to draw air over a heating element that vaporizes the material. Pax’s biggest draw to me is its electric heating element. I find electric works better than the butane-powered vaporizers, such as the Iolite (their new Wispr is electric, but the original model is butane) because they are a lot smaller and more discreet. I found the Pax fairly easy to figure out and very easy to use. My only criticism is that it needs cleaning frequently. Stickier stuff like weed buds are harder to clean than tobacco. The Pax is very sensitive and prone to malfunction if not cleaned regularly. But is very easy to clean if you use white vinegar.

I have had my Pax for about two weeks now and it’s amazing. The Pax is a portable, battery operated (rechargeable Lithium-ion) vaporizer used for enjoying tobacco or any other loose leaf herb by vaporizing instead of smoking it. A vaporizer works by heating up the plant matter to between 370F and 410F to the vaporization temperature of the active chemicals in the plant without combusting it. The actives come off the plant material as vapor which can be inhaled, leaving behind the cellulose and less volatile chemicals. As a result you get the effect of smoking without the harmful by products such as carbon monoxide, tar and ash particulates that come from burning. It is actually hard to go back to smoking once you are used to using a vaporizer because the vapor is so clean compared to inhaling smoke. I would say that the vaporizer is the cool tool and the Pax is (in my opinion) the best vaporizer on the market.

[Note: The Ploom Pax was also found to be the best choice by the folks at Wirecutter.--OH]

I have used at least a half-dozen of these watersmokers for the past forty years. They hold up well, and the flavor options they provide are unique. I recommend this electric model from Brinkmann. Cooking times are often six or more hours, and can vary significantly when using charcoal, especially if the smoker is full or if it rains.

Once you have started it, it should not be opened except through the side to add hickory or fruitwood sticks. Opening the lid loses you a half hour of cooking time. A second standard charcoal BBQ grill is a great accent – water smoke until almost done then just finish off to taste on the BBQ.

Rust can be an issue because you are cooking with water, heat and smoke. Luckily, the most important parts are stainless steel, and for everything else Brinkmann makes replacements.

If you’ve got a few ugly pots laying around you can use them to cook a pot roast in the smoker, too. For that matter, Brinkmann includes a cookbook with all the recipes you’ll ever need.

[Note: Given that this is an entry level unit it is lacking in a few areas: first, is that it doesn't include a temperature gauge (which can be added on later), and the second is the inability to adjust heat output.-- OH]

The Cuisinart Mini-Prep 3-cup food processor is close to a perfect solution for space conscious chefs looking for a desktop processor. I am a diabetic with high blood pressure, so my diet is of major concern. I am constantly making everything from low-gluten breads to high-fiber snacks to salsas and so forth. I live in a mobile home, so space is an issue. After messing with blenders and bigger food processors, I went looking for something smaller for daily use.

It is inexpensive at about $40, simple to use, and works fine in either chop or grind mode. It doesn’t take up much counter space and has worked monotonously well for the six-months I’ve owned it. It gets daily use making salsas and other fruit and vegetable concoctions, and has been dead reliable. For size, convenience and price, it has been an ideal product for me.

Most parents would agree that the venerable banana is a staple of the toddler diet. Unfortunately, they tend to not to fare very well when tossed into a diaper bag filled with wipes, water bottles, and the other dizzying array of items that have to be hauled around everywhere with your little ones. The Banana Guard makes this problem go away completely.

We were given one of these shortly after our daughter was born, and two years later, it goes everywhere with us. The sturdy, BPA-free container protects bananas in even the most overstuffed of diaper bags, and there’s something particularly ingenious about the size and shape: I’ve yet to encounter a banana that didn’t fit.

The ventilation holes help keep the banana fresh, and while the locks can be opened fairly easily, they won’t accidentally pop open if the bag is tossed about, or if the guard is discovered by a curious toddler.

Of course, this isn’t just for kids. When I eat bananas on the go the Banana Guard is the answer. The $15 price tag is perhaps a little steep, but the guard is definitely built to last and in the long run probably costs less than all the bananas you might lose otherwise.

[Note: The price dropped significantly on this item. Though similar to the previously reviewed and slightly cheaper Banana Bunker, several reviewers and commenters pointed out that the Banana Guard is an improved and thus more banana-friendly case for your precious and easily bruised golden cargo.-- OH]