I can hardly believe that I'm still eating things from my little patio garden. Yesterday, I made some tomato basil soup with what I expect to be my last basil harvest. Then I popped the rest of the basil into my dehydrator and the fresh smell filled the apartment. I have enough jalapenos to make one more half-pint jar of jalapeno relish, and there's a beautiful bell pepper that has suddenly appeared. Today I'm harvesting dill and putting it in the dehydrator.

I wasn't able to steadily produce as much as I would have in an actual garden but my herbs and peppers did particularly well in pots. The thing that didn't work at all, two years running, was summer squash and zucchini. I got loads of foliage, tons of flowers, but not a single solitary fruit. In regular gardens I've always had an abundance of squash so I'm pretty sure it's due to the conditions in the pots. You win some, you lose some.

Do you like simmer pots? I love to put some dried herbs and maybe a few drops of essential oil in a pot of water on the stove and simmer it on low for hours. The smell permeates the house and it's just so cozy. I started doing this back when we heated with wood. I always had a pot on top of the woodstove to add humidity to the air and a few herbs made it smell nice.

Well, anyway I digress - I went whole-buffalo on my basil plant and use the stems and the leaves that weren't good enough for culinary use in a simmer pot with a sprinkle of lemon peel. IT SMELLS AWESOME! If you're looking for a great, fresh clean-smelling combo, this is it. Not only do I love the smell but I also love that my bits and pieces of basil didn't completely go to waste.

I think this is what it's all about now with inflation being so high: allowing ourselves small pleasures by making the most of the things we have on hand or using up things we'd otherwise throw away. Just because money is tight, it doesn't mean we can't live the good life. That was the entire premise I built my website, The Frugalite, on - living large on a tiny budget. Find some small pleasures, whether it's sitting outside and listening to the birds before the neighborhood wakes up or simmering some fresh-smelling herbs while you clean your kitchen.

Take some time today to fully enjoy something, no matter how small it is. You'll be far more productive in the week ahead if you give yourself a little break for pleasantries.