What is your one summer can't live without store bought treat?

[philocrates]

Mine is the Blue Bunny Sugar Free Fat Free Fudge Bars. They taste just like the old fashioned Fudge pops Granny use to give me and they also come in vanilla/chocolate swirl. It's rich and creamy and I'm hard pressed to realize it is sugar free which works perfectly with the other half's diet for diabetes And the taste so good they don't get a chance to drip on me.

[which btw did I tell you guys the OH is now off all medication for it? Seems the guilty party was her beloved potatoes. Once I removed them to infrequently in her diet the sugar dropped to normal and can be maintained with just diet.]

[Sunny CA]

Corn on the cob. Strawberries. Peaches. All from the farmer's market so they are fresh. Add in some apricots. Pluots. Plums. Rainer cherries. Heirloom tomatoes just ready to eat. Yes, there is junk I like to eat, but summer is such a bountiful season!

[philocrates]

I don't think of them as store bought. We live in a very rural area and everyone and their brother has a garden. There is three local Old Order Mennonite and Amish truck farms on the road into town. We have a small Old Order Mennonite run store at the end of town that gets stuff from other Mennonite and Amish producers. My sister has a large garden. We also have 3 organic CSAs that I know of on this side of the river [the county is divided into 2 parts by a major river.] If I am buying at Weis or another store, its because I was stupid that day and forgot to get it elsewhere. That's why the produce in our local store is pathetic and the carts are empty of it. No one needs to buy commercial produce from a major store.

We actually don't have a farmer's market. We don't need one. They put the excess out by the road and either you have a honor system or they come out and you buy what you need or you stop at the truck farm. I do think the town up the road has one. It's 32 miles away and is a much larger town population with more apartments. I guess I'm just plain lucky.

And we all know how to can. You see large gardens for two because we can the excess for the winter. I remember we NEVER bought a can of anything while I was growing up. My grandmother had rows and rows of glass canning jars. It was a two day task to put up most and for those we really liked like Peaches she would be canning for a week.

My neice is a good example. After she got out of Army Bootcamp she called her mother and sister up and said "Do you know you can BUY corn in the store canned and on the cob?" She always thought that they grew corn because you couldn't buy it in the store.

[Sunny CA]

I live in suburbia, and am lucky enough to have a house next to 3,000 acres of city owned land, but the nearest farm is 45-60 minutes away and I am surrounded by over a million people in my county. Over the ridge in the next two counties there are many millions more (San Francisco Bay area). If it wasn't for the Farmer's market, I'd have to get produce from the grocery, but luckily we have Whole Foods which has fabulous produce, though the farmer's market is fresher.

My favorite manufactured treat is frozen yogurt at Yogurt Park. They have fat free and even sugar free if you want that, and really rich flavors. I do go several times in summer and rarely in winter even though they are open.

Are you in Pennsylvania? I grew up in Western New York and we periodically went out to the country to buy fresh produce when I was growing up. I have been to the Lancaster area.

[BellJoy]

We live in the middle of Manhattan, just a 10 minutes from Rockefeller Center. There are fresh fruit and veggie carts on the sidewalk 24 hours a day. They're on almost every corner. We eat whatever fruits are in season, right now blueberries and strawberries. A few weeks ago it was figs. We get bananas from them year round.

The same things are sold in the supermarkets on the same blocks but cost more. There's a farmer's market, three blocks away every Wed., year round which is near the U.N. and one that will open soon in the middle of Rockefeller Center. It's fun talking to farmers who've picked their veggies that morning, while we're surrounded by skyscrapers.

There are street fairs nearby, almost every weekend from Feb. to Nov. I go to many, walking from 42nd St. (near Grand Central Terminal) to 57th St. (near Tiffany). We get fresh made roast corn on the cob at them. Walking those blocks is good exercise and fun at the same time. I look forward to the corn every year.

Until starting the Ornish reversal plan, 1 year and 85 day ago, we only ate dry fruit, and not much of that.

[philocrates]

Yep PA. in the triangle between PSU, Shippensburg and Harrisburg. Rural. Really RURAL.

In fact my sister just unloaded a large reusable shopping bag full of fresh basil and tomatoes on me and her husband said when he checked the tomatoes they still had "Didn't you give them any?" And he was serious.

[Sunny CA]

I sure love salsa made with fresh tomatoes: add chopped cilantro, fresh jalapeno peppers, scallions or white onion. Yum. Great topping for beans, or throw a few cups into a slower cooker along with fried beans and water.

I also love slabs of home grown tomatoes. Yum!

[philocrates]

She's canning tomatoes today. I'm a salsa fan. I don't think my sister has ever tried it.

Their veggie consumption even for having their own garden and her canning is limited. She got a CSA this year and just discovered a LOT of veggies. She's creating a cookbook for herself of all these veggies. I tried to tell her that creamed spinach with butter and cream is just about as healthy as eating a steak but she doesn't listen. She ignores the really good recipes I do send her.

I just introduced her to zucchini a couple years ago. Now that one took off. They eat Zucchini all the time.

Have you tried the new lightlife frozen dinner? It's all veggies. Some of them have pasta and some grains. If you want you don't have to use their packet of sauce you can add your own. They are real handy for those days when you are going to be on the go all day and haven't had a chance to make ahead.

[Sunny CA]

No. I have never had LightLife dinners. Never heard of them. I grab fresh things for my noncooking times, plus cans. There are premade salads at Trader Joe's. Health Valley Organic No-salt soups: lentil and black bean are my favorites then I add red pepper. I also use bag of frozen veggies in combo for fast meals. Trader Joe sells green beans already trimmed which are helpful.

[LiveWell]

Originally Posted by Sunny CA

No. I have never had LightLife dinners. Never heard of them. I grab fresh things for my noncooking times, plus cans. There are premade salads at Trader Joe's. Health Valley Organic No-salt soups: lentil and black bean are my favorites then I add red pepper. I also use bag of frozen veggies in combo for fast meals. Trader Joe sells green beans already trimmed which are helpful.

Speaking of Trader Joe's, I absolutely adore their frozen mochi ice cream treats. Out of all their frozen items, those are my favorite and I definitely consider that my favorite summer treat. Unfortunately, it's making me gain a whole bunch of weight because I can't set them down. Ha ha ha!