May Is Mango Month!

Each month this year, I plan to give myself some sort of challenge, to try to improve how I'm doing in that particular area.  In January, I did the Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge to use up the excess food in my pantry and spend as little as possible at the stores.  Last month, I did the Drugstore Bootstrap Challenge to build up my Extra Care Bucks from CVS and my Register Rewards from Walgreens.  In March and April, I challenged myself to Give Back...One Coupon at a Time.

And this month... did you guess from the picture I posted last week?

It's Mango Month here at Frugal Follies!  You see, I have two large mango trees in my backyard, full of fruit about to ripen.  Too many years, I've wasted this great resource by just using a few and letting the rest fall on the ground.

So this month, I'll be challenging myself to use this bounty.  Besides eating and cooking with them fresh, I'll be canning mango jam and mango salsa, cutting and storing them in the freezer, dehydrating some, and giving fruits to friends and family.  And, I'll try to see if I can donate fruit to the local food bank or other places.

I know, such a hard challenge... I'm sure most of you wish you had the problem of too many mangoes.

This week, the mangoes are still green, with some having just a hint of purple to them.  The main task right now is to find the ones that have fallen off the tree and hit the ground, so that I can get rid of them.  (Once they're on the ground, the insects and birds start devouring them quickly).  It's kind of like having an Easter egg hunt - every day for a month.

I also picked eight green mangoes that I was able to reach without a ladder.  This week, I'll try making green mango salsa.

Check back each Monday and help celebrate Mango Month!