One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1445 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.

Is Kale Over-Rated?

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 3, 2013 · 27 Comments

I stumbled onto an NPR article today titled: Is It Time to Cool It On Kale Already? Well, I am sure you can imagine my excitement. I immediately clicked over to read the whole article, hoping it would justify my ~~loathing~~ mild distaste for Kale. I have to admit, even though I was willing to get on board, it didn’t make much of a case for me. The article’s premise is that we’ve turned this green leafy giant into a super food, but too much of a good thing is just that, too much of a good thing. The article suggested that food variation is necessary for overall good heath, and that while Kale packs a nutritional punch, it needs to be part of a varied diet. {Duh!}

Here’s the thing: I have never, ever, not once, seen someone “overdo it” on Kale. {Largely because it is not all that tasty–oops, that’s a personal opinion.} Seriously, I have never been inclined to tell a friend, “Listen, I think you’re eating too much Kale. Why don’t you lay off it for awhile, you know, try some spinach.” Nope, never. So, while I had my hopes high, NPR teased me.

I’m pretty sure the authors were trying to be funny, but for this gal, who would take almost any excuse not to grow and eat it, it was just a cruel joke. I guess I’ll have to continue to choke it down–or stock up on a boatload of vitamins.

~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.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 3, 2013 · 3 Comments

I’m having a favorites overload with this recipe. Pumpkin? Check. Cheesecake? Check. Ice Cream? Check. I can’t wrap my brain around all of the deliciousness packed into one recipe. Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream for dinner? Don’t mind if I do.

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
1 cup pumpkin puree {I used my Pumpkin Pie Puree Recipe}
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 2% milk
2/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice {I used my Pumpkin Pie Spice Recipe}
Dash of salt

Directions

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and pumpkin puree in a stand mixer or large bowl and beat until smooth. Stir in the milk, pumpkin pie spice and salt, and beat until well combined.

Place the mixture in your ice cream maker {I use a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment} and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Enjoy!

The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebowitz, is my favorite ice cream recipe book by far.

Check out these other yummy ice cream recipes:

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.

10 Cool Uses for Nail Polish

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 3, 2013 · 14 Comments

I’ve never really been the type of girl that paints her nails, but still, I buy polish every once in awhile, promising myself I will for special occasions. I’ve finally come to the realization that it is never going to happen. Never. Between gardening, canning, cooking, etc. {I always wear gardening gloves, but it doesn’t seem to matter} my hands and nails take a beating. Nail polish is a pipe dream–so, what am I going to do with those little bottles of color that I’ve already purchased? Turns out, plenty!

Here’s 10 unique ways to use nail polish:

Use clear polish on gardening labels to prevent the marker from smudging.
Seal an envelope {which is awesome, because I HATE licking envelopes, they really should develop a red-vine flavored envelope, don’t you think?}
Coordinate your cords for computers and televisions with different colored polishes. Dab a little polish on each end of cords so that you will know which plug belongs to which cord, by matching up the colors. {This is way better than just giving the cord a tug and seeing what moves. Ha.}
Tighten loose screws by dabbing nail polish on the end before screwing it in. It will dry and tighten up nicely.
Use nail polish on the end of thread, allow it to dry a bit, and then easily thread a needle.
Fingers turn green when you wear costume jewelry? Dab clear polish on the inside of the ring and problem solved.
Stop a fraying shoe lace with clear polish. You won’t have black ends that come with burning them.
Paint the top of keys with different colors of polish to easily tell them apart. House key, pink. Work key, red. Yacht club key, burgundy.
Mark levels on your watering can or buckets. That way you know where a gallon is in that 5 gallon bucket, etc.
Apply polish to the bottom of shaving cans that sit in the shower. It will prevent rust–which is a real pain in the keister to scrub off come cleaning time.

Is it wrong that with all of these potential uses, I’m thinking I might need some more nail polish? Ha!

~Mavis

See more Cool Uses for other common household items.

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.

How to Grow Your Own Food – 10/3/2013 Garden Tally

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 3, 2013 · 5 Comments

This year I’m on a mission to grow 4,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in my suburban backyard. In 2012 I was able to grow 2,028 pounds, and in 2013 I’m going double or nothing. I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be able to achieve my goal. But, as with any adventure, half the fun is getting there. ~Mavis

*******

I harvested just over 64 pounds of vegetables from the garden last week. Not as much as I had hoped for, but then again it rained practically every single day and working in the garden didn’t seem that appealing. Luckily we are suppose to get a break in the weather this weekend so the plan is to harvest the remaining tomatoes and squash and get the garden beds cleaned up.

So far I have 3 out of 16 new garden beds completed {I’m building new ones as I clean up the old beds} and plan on getting a few more put together this weekend. We’ll see what happens. 😉

How are your garden beds doing these days?

~Mavis

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 1 pound 3 ounces

We are currently out of fresh basil right now. Although we’ve enjoyed making fresh pesto and strawberry basil jam this summer.

Beets – 124 pounds 10 ounces

I pulled a few beets for dinner the other night but we still have a lot yet to harvest.

Bok Choy – 7 pounds

We pulled up all the remaining bok choy we had growing in the pallet garden and tossed it to the chickens. I don’t think I’ll plant it again until next spring.

Broccoli – 13 ounces

Our fall broccoli is doing pretty good. But with all the rain we’ve been having I’m worried the slugs might try and gobble it up. All I can do at this point is hope for the best.

Cabbage – 40 pounds 14 ounce

Still waiting to harvest our fall cabbage!

Carrots – 31 pounds 7 ounces

If you’ve never grown carrots before, you need it. Seriously. They are so easy to grow and with a little TLC you can harvest them throughout the winter months too.

Chives – 2 pound 3 ounces

We cut fresh chives as we need them.

Cucumbers 9 pound 6 ounces

All out cucumbers have been harvested. Maybe I should try growing them indoors. I bet the HH would love that. 😉

Egg Count – 2,077

We collected 59 eggs last week from our pet chickens. Once the babies start laying I might have some extras to giveaway to the neighbors again.

Garlic 9 pounds 2 ounces

We just planted garlic yesterday! Only 10 months to go. 🙂 I wonder how long this years supply will last?

Garlic Scapes 11 ounces

We used these to make Garlic Scape Pesto. Yumm!

Green Beans 17 pounds 11 ounces

Our green beans are officially done for the year. Now if I want some fresh green beans I’ll have to get them from the store.

Kale – 33 pounds 1 ounces

Feeding it to the chickens every chance I get. You bet I am!

Kohlrabi 5 pounds 10 ounces

Lettuce – 37 pounds 3 ounces

Our lettuce is done for the season. I think I’m going to start some more this week indoors and then stick it in the greenhouse once it gets big enough.

M icrogreens 5 ounces

I need to jump back on the microgreen train. It’s been awhile since I’ve grown some bean sprouts. They’re super easy to grow too.

Mint 13 oz

I made some blueberry mint jam and also harvested some mint for tea.

Oregano – 1 pound11 ounces

I been using fresh oregano for my heirloom tomato sauce.

Onion – 31 pounds 7 ounces

I harvested a few onions yesterday when I installed the new garden box for the garlic. I think we still have more onions to grab but I won’t know until I pull up the rest of the tomato plants.

We have leeks though, so I’m pretty excited about that.

Pears 47 pounds 7 ounces

Pear butter is AWESOME!

Peas – 42 pounds 9 ounces

We’ve got peas growing in the greenhouse and in a garden box. Maybe in another week or so they’ll be little white flowers {peas}.

Potatoes – 276 pounds 15 ounces

How to Harvest and Store Potatoes for Winter.

We still have potatoes to harvest. When I planted the pumpkins this summer I stuffed a seed potato in the dirt mound before planting the pumpkin seeds. I won’t know until we harvest the pumpkins how many are in there.

Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces

Note to self- Plant more radish seeds.

Raspberries – 21 pounds 7 ounces

Raspberry season is officially over in our backyard. Boo!

Rhubarb – 39 pounds 9 ounces

Earlier this week I moved the two rhubarb plants that were alongside the house over near the greenhouse where out other 3 rhubarb plants are. Now we have all 5 in one location and I bet next year we will have a big harvest.

Sage – 14 ounces

Using it as I need it.

Squash 48 pounds 15 ounces

I didn’t harvest any pumpkins or squash this past week but plan to this weekend. This year we didn’t get as many due to poor crop rotation on my part. Hopefully next year will be better.

Spinach – 15 ounces

I planted more in the greenhouse for a winter harvest.

Sprouts –2 pounds 15 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 23 pounds 14 ounces

Strawberry season is over for the year.

Besides eating them fresh we made strawberry kiwi jam, strawberry freezer jam, strawberry pie, and homemade strawberry shortcake.

Swiss Chard 45 pounds 2 ounces

Chickens love it! 🙂

Tomatoes 215 pounds 6 ounces

We harvested a little over 9 pounds of tomatoes this past week. I’ll be pulling up the remaining plants this weekend and should have a final tomato tally next week.

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Zucchini – 66 pounds 12 ounces

And last but not least, we harvested a few more zucchinis last week as well. And guess what? They are still sitting on my kitchen counter. Ha! I Guess I need to make some zucchini bread pretty soon.

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 1159 pounds 15 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 2,077

If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more about organic gardening, my #1 favorite garden book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla.

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.