One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1465 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.

Roasted Broccoli Parmesan

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 12, 2013 · 3 Comments

Broccoli is back in season and with the deals popping up everywhere now is a great time to try some new recipes for an excuse to stuff your face with it. This recipe for roasted broccoli Parmesan pretty much rocks any day of the week.

Ingredients
1 head of broccoli
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, toss the rest of your stalks into your kitchen composter. Slice the broccoli in ¼ inch thick slices to make a broccoli fan.

Place the broccoli florets in a single layer on a lined cookie sheet. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp/tender and some of the tips of the broccoli florets
are browned. In the last 5 minutes of cooking add parmesan cheese and let melt and
browned.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice and pine nuts.
Serve warm.

Check our Recipe Index for more delicious recipes.

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National Heirloom Exposition

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 12, 2013 · 8 Comments

Yesterday I shared some pictures of heirloom squash from the exhibition hall at the National Heirloom Festival. So today I thought I’d post a few pictures of other stuff I thought was cool {and because you probably don’t want to see the other 442 pictures of squash I took}. 😉

The Ye Old Dunk tank was pretty popular. Basically for a donation you could try and dunk the old man. All the proceeds went to support I-522. There was a line at this booth the entire time I was there.

TreeLine Teardrop Trailers made camping look fun. I’m pretty sure Lucy and I would have a great time in one of these little pods. Clearly, not for folks who are claustrophobic.

Okay, okay, my favorite part of the whole exposition were the tables lined with heirloom vegetables. This was the only reason I went to the expo. Yes, to look at vegetables. If that doesn’t write you a one way ticket to the crazy house, I don’t know what else wood.

Tigger melons. OH.MY.WORD. What a work of art. Waiting to see how each one would turn out would be like waiting to open presents on Christmas morning. I must try and grow these next year.

What do you think they do with all the heirloom tomatoes at the end of the exposition? I sure hope they get donated or something.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of people taking photographs of the different varieties of kale. It was crazy. I guess there really are more than 5 people out there who like it. {Chickens not included}.

Check out this enormous golden beet. It’s gorgeous. I wonder what the grower is using to fertilize his or her crops?

Beautiful heirloom tomatoes for sale $4.19 a pound. I’d rather pay $4.19 a pound and treat myself to a real tomato than pay $0.99 a pound for those bland Romas they sell at the grocery stores for a buck a pound.

Spinning wool. This is on my bucket list.

What a pretty goat. Someday, when I live on a big farm, I want one of these guys. So cute!

And last but not least, The St. Helena Montessori School was there selling their extra produce. Not only do kids at the school grow the vegetables, but they take 6-week cooking courses too. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Yep, the trip to the National Heirloom Exposition was totally worth it.

~Mavis

Have you been anywhere cool lately that made your heart sing?

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First Chicken, Now Pork – Chinese Firm to Buy Smithfield Farms

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 12, 2013 · 56 Comments

I’ve really been thinking a lot about that article I shared with you the other day about the USDA allowing U.S. raised chickens to be shipped over and processed by China. I have to say, the whole thought really bugs me. So, naturally, when I stumbled on another article about the Chinese acquisition of America’s largest pork producer, I just had to get your take on it.

Here’s the basics: The U.S. government has signed off on a deal that would allow a Chinese firm to buy the biggest U.S. producer of pork {Smithfield}. Now, I realize we are in a global economy, but control over our food supply and actual production seems like a no-brainer to me. How are we supposed to maintain food quality standards? Though, admittedly, the article states that Smithfield already employs some pretty questionable practices regarding the raising of their pork. {If you’ve seen Vegucated, then you know exactly how horrible the animals in can be treated in large factory farms.} No word in the article as to whether that means we will get pigs raised in China, or whether they will stay state-side and just be owned by the Chinese company.

So what’s the answer here? Maybe we should all just become vegetarians…or grow our own meat {or really get to know our local farmers who do!}?

Chime in, I’d love to know YOUR opinions on this,

Mavis

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Growing Vegetables in a Greenhouse – Lettuce, Peas, Lemons and Tomatoes

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 12, 2013 · 24 Comments

Things are growing like crazy in the greenhouse, and with the weather heating up the past few days I’m having to water the fruits and vegetables twice a day now to keep them from dying.

The herbs I moved out of containers and into the ground are doing really well despite the warm weather. I was a little worried I dug them up too early but the oregano, rosemary and chives are thriving in their new location.

Check out the 3-tired lettuce pot. Doesn’t it look cool? I think it’s only going to look better as time goes on. Harvesting lettuce this fall is going to be fun. {Or maybe I’m just a nerd}. 😉

The first round of peas we planted in the greenhouse are doing great and are just now beginning to climb up the upside down tomato cages. I’m predicting an early October sugar snap pea harvest.

We have green zebra tomatoes coming out of our ears!

Lemon the Meyer Lemon Tree is now down to just 7 lemons.

I’m not sure what happened but one of the tiny lemons is turning yellow and has begun to shrivel up. 🙁 Have you ever grown lemons before? Is it normal for a few to die off like this?

Luckily we have a few clusters of lemon flowers that are producing some new buds. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get a few more.

I need to find some sort of organic lemon tree fertilizer to feed the tree with. Our Meyer lemon is still sitting in the same potting soil I planted it in way back in January. Any suggestions?

~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.