Sweet Sundays: When a standard assembly of cake and frosting just won’t do, and the birthday girl won’t give any hints about her favorite flavors, what’s a baker to do? Stick to the same old, somewhat boring but crowd-pleasing classics? Not on my watch! This sounds like the perfect opportunity for experimentation.

Inspiration for this one came from an unlikely source, not exactly the stuff of celebration or happiness, but in fact, the obituaries. At a loss for how to spoil my sister on her 23rd birthday, it was the last thing on my mind as I was reading the newspaper and came across the announcement that the world had just lost Richard LaMotta, inventor of everyone’s favorite frozen treat, the Chipwich. A staple of American culture, I can’t be certain I’ve actually eaten one myself, but I definitely grew up surrounded by them. The loss was crushing, but my sadness was soon forgotten when I realized that very concept might be just the ticket to a novel new birthday cake.

Frugal Foodie Friday: Usually, I use pre-written recipes merely as a guide, altering and adjusting for my personal tastes. Seriously, I have a hard time leaving those ingredients and directions alone. But once in a while I find a simple gem ... one that I just know I shouldn't mess with ... at least not right away.

I actually made this Spelt Tortilla recipe for the first time last year, and have made it twice since. The first time I did the sandwich roll-ups you see at left with some homemade slaw, the second time we used them for fajitas, and the third time I used them for making roll-up snacks, vegan/vegetarian style (sweet and savory). Sorry no pics on the last two, but they were equally good ... better even, since my rolling skills improved.

True, I will be fooling around with this wholesome tortilla recipe in the future, it just seems to have so much potential. But, it is also awesome as is, so I really wanted to share it with you here. Plus, I love, love, love that they use so few ingredients (no additives!), are totally whole grain, and quite economical (have you seen the price of good tortillas these days?). Oh yes, and they are tasty too ... husband approved. View the full recipe here on my personal blog, One Frugal Foodie.

Have you ever had a mulberry? I hadn’t even heard of these golden gems until the wonderful people at Navitas Naturals sent me a package. These dried berries looked a bit like mini blackberries but with a dulled yellow hue. But, what I thought was most cool about them was how sweet they were on their own! Most berries tend to be a bit sour, and the dried versions are often sweetened, but these mulberries didn’t require a speck of sugar.

Being that I like almost all things sweet and I love fruit, the sweet blueberry-esque flavor of the mulberries worked for me. My friend and her two-year old son weren’t so sure. He made a funny face, but still ate them, and she said “not bad, but different.”

Knowing that my husband may be resistant to another new product, I took the muffin route, and baked these in his breakfast. I opted to make this wheat-free oat muffin recipe, but I used hazelnut milk alternative in place of the milk (to keep them dairy-free of course), mulberries (a full 1/2 cup) in place of the raisins, added 1 Tablespoon of ground flaxseed, upped the honey to 3 Tablespoons, and added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

When the natural food section at my local supermarket expanded from three shelves to three full aisles two years ago, I got the strong impression that I was no longer one of the “few” consumers scrutinizing labels for all-natural and special diet foods. Demand is thankfully growing, and my favorite coupon site, Mambo Sprouts, used their marketing research team to find out what drives natural and organic food consumers. The results were surprising and intriguing … for me at least. Check out the stats and see what groups your shopping habits fall into:

80% of natural and organic consumers (so we are talking a specialty group already, not the public at large) regularly read labels for ingredient and nutrition information and are interested in purchasing functional foods with added health benefits. 39% checked off that they were very interested in functional foods.