One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1525 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.

Basil Walnut Pesto Recipe

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 16, 2013 · 7 Comments

Have you ever made pesto with walnuts before? It’s a great option if you are out of those super expensive pine nuts. In fact walnuts in pesto may actually taste even better. I just can’t decided. But on thing is for sure, basil pesto with walnuts, rocks!

Ingredients

2 cups packed basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

Toss the basil, garlic, salt, Parmesan and walnuts into a food processor and pulse, slowly adding oil until the mixture is nice and smooth.

I know it’s hard to imagine, but if you make more pesto than you can eat, try freezing it. I like to freeze my extra pesto in my mini muffin tin. I use a 2 tablespoon scoop so the portions are all the same. Then I simply pop the filled muffin tin in the freezer for a few hours until the pesto is frozen. Once the pesto is frozen, simply pop the cubes of pesto in a zip baggie to use later.

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Are Deep Fried Crickets Better Than a Hamburger?

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 16, 2013 · 20 Comments

I read an NPR article the other day that has got me thinking—and you know what happens when I start thinking? I feel the need to share it with YOU. The article asked the question: Should we start considering insects as a viable option for protein? By we, I mean us here in the United States, because apparently, over 2 billion people worldwide already enjoy bugs for dinner. {I don’t even think that number includes the amount of people who eat bugs regularly on their bike rides.}

Here’s the pro’s to considering putting bugs on your plate:

It’s economical {I mean, seriously, it would take backyard gardening to a whole new level} 😉
They’re better for the environment {crickets aren’t really huge contributors to methane gas}
They’re an untapped resource
They use about 2 lbs of feed to produce 1 lb of meat, whereas cattle use 8 lbs of feed per lb of meat.
They are nutritionally much more dense
They would create jobs {read: bug farmers}

What about the cons?

Food safety and how to regulate it
Gross factor {hmm, this might be a biggie}

So I have to ask, what do you think, would you swap deep fried crickets for your hamburger?

~Mavis

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Food Waste In America – Feed Your Family for Free

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 16, 2013 · 12 Comments

Wowie Zowie! Take a look at all that free food! As you would imagine, summer is one of the best times of year to score free produce because there is such an abundance of food flowing into grocery stores.

Before I could take my final picture, The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird snagged 2 avocados and whipped up a batch of guacamole and had herself a little fiesta!

Fresh strawberries? Have you been to the stores lately? Deals on berries are everywhere!

Fresh corn? Heck ya, I’ll take it. The way I see it, I’d rather be able to take all this corn and turn it into side dishes like corn and black bean salad, roasted corn with bacon {yum!} or summer corn with zucchini and onions than see it go throw in the dumpster to rot.

This Earthbound Farm organic salad was thrown out because the expiration date stamped on the front. According the the package, it was one day past it’s prime. Remember when food never even came with an expiration date? Am I getting old? Geez.

Here is a picture of all the food we kept {the rest was either composted or given to our flock of pet chickens}. Does this food still look edible to you? Would you have thrown it away? Or would you have bought this right off the shelf and fed your family with it?

Mavis wants to know!

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past year?

Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.

If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.

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Canning 101 Recipe – Cherry Pie Filling

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 15, 2013 · 9 Comments

Canning your own cherry pie filling is super easy. Plus, you will be so happy you did when the holidays roll around and most of the work to make a real homemade cherry pie is already done.

Ingredients {Makes 7 Quart Jars}

6 quarts fresh or thawed frozen cherries
7 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups Clear Jel **
9-1/3 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice

** There are two types of Clear Jel®, “instant” and “regular”. “Instant” does not require heat to thicken. The product will thicken once the liquid is added. “Regular”, on the other hand, must be heated. When canning pie ﬁllings, be sure to use the ‘regular’ Clear Jel® product. Source

Directions

Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars {I’m using quart jars} and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

Wash and sort cherries. Drain well using a colander. Next, pit the cherries. This would be a gruesome task without a cherry pitter, so I highly recommend you pick on up if you don’t already have one.

Next, place the cherries in a large pot with at least 1 gallon of boiling water. Boil in batches no bigger than 7 cups at a time for about 1 minute. Start the 1 minute after water returns to a rolling boil after placing the cherries in the pot. This is just to blanch the cherries to preserve their color and flavor during storage.

Drain the cherries and set aside.

Now you can make the liquid part of the filling. Mix the Clear Jel with the sugar and then add water. Cook mixture of medium high heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken and bubble. It will thicken really quickly, so watch it carefully. {You can also thin it with water if it gets too thick.}

Once mixture has thickened, add lemon juice. Stir. Take the pot off the heat and fold in the cherries.

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on. Place jars on elevated rack in a canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.} Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 30 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.

Looking for a few more canning recipes?

Find my Full List of Canning Recipes HERE

Looking for a few more awesome canning recipes? Check out Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Amazon has it currently in stock and ready to ship.

Need a canner? I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack. And if you need a tool kit, I use one similar to this one.

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.