One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1305 of 2143 - 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.

Can Flying on an Airplane Make You Sick?

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 18, 2014 · 9 Comments

The Girl and I are getting ready to head out the door on another one of our wild and crazy adventures. With everyone sniffling and sneezing everywhere I go, I am always worried that when I get locked into a tiny plane with stale cabin air, I will get sick. In fact, my Dad always comes back from vacation sick–maybe it’s the junk food people always consume on vacation, or bad hotel bed sleep, or maybe, it’s the plane?

I decided to do a little research on the air quality in planes. Turns out, you are a little more likely to get sick on airplanes, but it’s not really the “air quality” that’s to blame. Airplanes have HEPA filters that take both recycled air and air that has been warmed by the jets and pushes it throughout the cabin. According to a Boeing spokesman, the air is actually better circulated better than an average office building. The true culprit lies in the things you touch. Airplanes shuttle hundreds of people each day, if you are next to someone who is sneezing and hacking, or you touch something that someone that was sick has previously touched, you’ll likely pick it up.

Also, the humidity on planes is pretty low–making the air feel different. Plus, people don’t drink enough water on long flights, leading to dehydration, which weakens the immune system. {Dry nasal passages and eyes makes it hard for your body to fight bacteria, etc.}

So, what can you do to prevent feeling crappy on your vacation? I always drink the crappy orange juice they serve on the plane instead of soda hoping the extra vitamin C will do some good. Turns out, my efforts aren’t that far off. Staying well hydrated is key–so skip the soda, and go for juice or water. You can also bring nasal spray to keep your mucous membranes moist {isn’t alliteration fun?}.

Also, wash your hands–like, religiously. Try not to touch your face, if possible. {Have you ever paid attention to how much you actually touch your face? It’s crazy.}

If you want to be hyper vigilant, don’t be afraid to pack some sani-wipes or hand sanitizer and a tissue and clean the plastic parts of your airplane seat when you sit down. Planes don’t get deep cleaned and sanitized very often, so even if no one on your flight is sick, there is no way to know who was on the flight before you.

Do you travel during cold and flu season? What tips do you have to keep healthy?

~Mavis

Need more travel tips? Check out some of the things I’ve learned on my adventures. Or get some ideas on places to go on Pinterest.

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How to Build and Plant a Square Foot Garden

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 18, 2014 · 45 Comments

I originally wrote this last spring but wanted to post it again for those of you who might have missed it.

I know a lot of you are short on space, but still want to have a garden. So I thought it would be cool to plant a square foot garden and show those of you who are new to gardening or who have limited space, that you don’t have to have a huge garden to grow lot’s of tasty produce. Anyone, anywhere can have a garden.

Square foot gardening basically maximizes space by planting in 1 foot square grids. It takes a little planning, as far as plant choice and space requirements go, but it is a great way to get the most out of your garden–and really is pretty simple.

For example, the basic principle goes like this: In a 1’x1′ grid, you can plant 16 carrots or onions, 4 heads of lettuce, 9 beets, or one head of cabbage . You can get a lot more produce than the traditional row method of gardening.

I have 4’x8′ raised beds, so I can get 32 1’x1′ grids out of my beds. To start, make yourself some sort of grid as a guideline. The simplest grid would be string or twine, just measure out 1’x1′ and pull the string tight in a squared off pattern. Or if you have scrap wood laying around, you can use that too.

Next, choose your plants {you can check out this spacing chart to get a sense of what each plant needs}. Plants can be broken up into small, medium, large and extra large categories. You can plant 16 small plants in each square grid {with 3″ spacing per plant}, 9 medium plants per grid {with 4″ spacing per plant}, 4 large plants per grid {with 6″ spacing per plant}, and 1 extra large plant per grid.

Because you are packing your plants in, make sure to use plenty of quality compost. Companion planting is also beneficial in this type of gardening to keep pests at bay {i.e. a square foot of marigolds {considered a large plant} goes a long way in organically keeping your densely packed square foot garden healthy.

P.S. Have you tried square foot gardening before? If so, what vegetables worked best for you?

~Mavis

For more information, check out All New Square Foot Gardening. It is an amazon bestseller and the author is basically the king of square foot gardening.

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.

Weekly Meal Plan – Menu Plan Ideas Week 7 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2014 · 3 Comments

Even though I don’t make a traditional weekly menu plan, I still love the idea of having a bunch of recipes right in front of me to choose from.

Here are a few recipes for you to choose from this week:

Breakfast Ideas

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies with Apricots and Walnuts – Who doesn’t like to eat cookies for breakfast? {Pin it for Later}
The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – Better than anything from a can. {Pin it for Later}
Rustic Apple Galette – Apples + Pastry = Breakfast {Pin it for Later}
Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal with Apples and Brown Sugar – Cook this overnight in your Crock Pot {Pin it for Later}

Slow Cooker, Main Dish and Freezer Meal Ideas

Curry Chicken and Rice – I could make this everyday of the week and my family would eat it. {Pin it for Later}
Freezer Meal Beef Stew – From freezer to Crockpot, does it get any easier? {Pin it for Later}
Vegan Black Bean Fajitas – I can’t get enough of these lately.{Pin it for Later}
Spanish Chicken with Beans and Rice – Great for a week night. {Pin it for Later}

Soups , Salads and Sides

BLT {Bacon, Barley, Lettuce & Tomato} Salad – Did someone say bacon? {Pin it for Later}
Chicken Quinoa Taco Salad – This is great to pack in your lunch! {Pin it for Later}
Cilantro Lime Rice – Great for Taco Night. {Pin it for Later}
Spinach and White Bean Soup – My husband loves this one! {Pin it for Later}

Cookies, Snacks and Desserts

Double Chocolate Brownie Bites – Great for Snacking and Packing in the lunch box. {Pin it for Later}
Homemade Marshmallows – Perfect for snow days! {Pin it for Later}
Zucchini Chocolate Cake – I can’t believe I’m craving zucchini! How weird is that? {Pin it for Later}
Sweet Cherry Cobbler – Did you can or freeze cherries last summer? {Pin it for Later}

Canning Recipe of the Week

Old Fashioned Pear Butter Recipe – Best stuff on earth! {Pin it for Later}

What are YOU planning on making this week?

~Mavis

Looking for more recipes? Check out my recipes boards on Pinterest

Also, be sure to check out:

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.

Garden Tip – Soak Your Seeds Before Planting Them

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 17, 2014 · 9 Comments

Do you ever get impatient waiting for your seeds to sprout. I know I do. In fact, there have been years that I have almost completely given up on my carrots EVER sprouting, and then, weeks later, I’ll see a little green pop through. Well, boooo! to waiting. I want to grow things, and I want to grow them now! Okay, I might have been channeling Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka just now, but you get the point.

Soaking seeds–ALL seeds, speeds up the germination process considerably. Sometimes I get too lazy to soak them all–which, is actually ridiculous, because it is pretty much effortless. What can I say, I’m hopeless.

I like to look at seeds like double-acting baking soda–only seeds are triple acting. They need three things to germinate. Usually nature provides, but when you’re growing produce by the ton, occasionally, you have to speed nature along. All seeds need oxygen, steady moisture, and the right temperature/light to grow.

Oxygen pretty much provides itself, unless you are growing in an airless bubble, in which case, weird and don’t do that. The temperature and lighting can be controlled with a grow light and/or the seasons. Moisture, in my opinion, is the tricky part. You want to keep the soil consistently moist for weeks while waiting for your little babies to germinate, but you miss one day, and boom! you’re set back. Soaking seeds for 24 hours BEFORE planting can significantly cut down on germination time–and overall effort.

To soak seeds, just place them in a cup of water for about 24 hours. Some people recommend starting with hot water and then just allowing it to cool as the seed soaks. Larger seeds with hard exteriors need to be scratched a bit before soaking, to ensure water will penetrate the outer shell. Most seeds should not be soaked for more than 24 hours.

After they have soaked, you will need a way to fish them out of the water. For the little guys, I like to line a strainer with paper towel and slowly pour them out. You could also fish them out with a spoon {but again, I would like to stress that I am impatient, and so pouring them out is usually the way I opt for}. After soaking them, plant them per the instructions on the packet and watch them pop up in days, not weeks.

Happy planting,

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.