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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.


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Lucy the Puggle Trouble

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lucy the puggle dog

Poor Lucy the Puggle Dog. She’s had it rough the last few days.

For starters, it’s been raining non stop for the past 3 days. And if there is one thing Lucy doesn’t like, it’s going out for walks in the rain.

red spot blister tumor on dog paw

A few weeks ago I noticed a large red blister like thing on her paw. I asked the HH if I should take her to the vet and he said “she’ll be fine, it’s probably just irritated or something.” And then his favorite line “I’ll look into it.”

Meaning: I’ll ignore the problem until either

A. You ask me 100 more times about it or

B. Her leg falls off.
dog magazines

Fast forward to yesterday at the vet’s office.

lucy puggle

After a quick examination, the vet determined the 3 week old red blister thing on her paw was most likely a Histiocytoma {benign tumor} and would go away on it’s own in a few months. Apparently histiocytomas are very common and usually appear on a dogs face or feet. The vet saw no need to slice part of it off for further examination. Which made me feel about 90% better.

Luckily Lucy isn’t bothered by the mass on her paw. Not one bit.

lucy the puggle dog

However she was completely bothered when the vet walked out of the room and then back in again with three filled syringes and a rectal thermometer. Turns out it was time for Lucy’s yearly dose of vaccinations {the rabies vaccine included}.

Poor Lucy.

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Free Kindle Books, Flour Sack Towels, Dremel Kits, Baking Mats, Garden Tools, Lane Bryant Sale and More

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cyclamen

Happy Thursday everyone!

Here are a few deals I spotted this morning, stay warm out there today. 🙂

♥ Mavis

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – 50% Off Original Penguin

free kindle books

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can.

farmers market tote

Zulily has some great deals today on Flour Sack Towels, Pressure Canners, Specialty Canning Jars, Farmer’s Market Totes, and lot’s of great hostess gift ideas!

williams sonoma Easter Bakeware

Williams-Sonoma has lot’s of cute Easter Baking Pans and Cookie Molds available in their Easter Bakeware Section. My favorite is the Nordic Ware Easter Bunny Cake Pan.

dremel tools

Here are a few Dremel deals I spotted:

almond breeze milk coupon

Print a coupon good for $1.00 off 1 Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond milk

coffee pods

Groupon is offering a 6-Pack of Reusable Coffee Pods for just $5.99. Perfect if you have a Keurig Machine!

baking mats

Amazon has the 2-Pack of Artisan Metal Works Silicon Non-Stick Baking Mat Sets on sale for $16.78.

chocolate macaroons recipe

I’m totally in the mood for some Chocolate Dipped Macaroons today. Now the hard part, where can I hide them? 😉  Get the recipe HERE or Pin it for Later.

garden tools for kids

Check out these super cute Garden Tools for Kids:

country living magazine cover

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Country Living Magazine for only $5.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 3/6/14 at midnight EST.

lane bryant

Lane Bryant is offering $20 off select pants plus Buy 1 Get 1 75% off when you use code SPRINGCHICLB at checkout!

amazon local deals

Amazon Local is hot this week. Check out these deals:

olay soap coupon

Do you use Olay Soap or Body Wash? Here are a few coupons:

Find More Printable Coupons

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Blueberry Custard Pie

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Blueberry Custard Pie

I’ve been cooking a lot lately out of the Simply in Season cookbook and loving the recipes. Just like almost all of the recipes in the book, this one wasn’t complicated and I had everything I needed at home, so it didn’t even require a trip to the store. And as a bonus, the pie was totally delicious. If you don’t count the cook time, it took me 15 minutes {pie crust making time included} to put this pie together. Easy peasy!

Blueberry Custard Pie

Ingredients

1 pie crust {Homemade Pie Crust Recipe}
2 cups blueberries {can sub other berries/fruits too}
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Fit the pie crust into a greased 9-inch pie dish. Fold the edges over and crimp as desired. Pour blueberries into the pie shell. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Pour over the fruit. Bake at 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking until custard is set, about 30 – 45 more minutes.

 cookbook

Simply in Season is an easy to read cookbook full of delicious recipes.  The book is broken down by seasons so you’ll know exactly what meals to prepare as the fruits and vegetables start to roll in from your garden or at the local produce stand. It’s awesome!

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

What’s In My Food – How Red Dye is Made

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What's In My Food - How Red Dye is Made

Okay, so brace yourself, but did you know that some foods that are colored red {think: ketchup, yogurts, Starbucks frappucinnos} use a red dye that is made from grinding up cochineal insects?

Added protein anyone?

The cochineal insect lives on cactus plants.  The females eat the red cactus berries–giving them their red colored bodies.  When you crush the insect, you are left with a bright red residue.  They are typically found in Mexico and South America–and there are actually farmers who dedicate their lives to raising and harvesting these little critters.  Yum-O! The super crazy thing is that it takes about 70,000 bugs to make just one pound of dye!  After they are killed and dried, they are crushed, a little water is added, and BOOM! you have red dye.

Next time you pick up a yogurt, ketchup, etc. flip over the package and read the label.  If it reads carminic acid, carmine, or cochineal extract, you are eating bugs.  Here’s the thing, I think I would much rather eat products dyed with bugs than ones dyed with chemicals like red #40.  What do you think?

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy