One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1547 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.

How to Freeze Peaches

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 26, 2013 · 12 Comments

If there is one thing we love around here, it’s peaches.

Peach smoothies in particular. So when I see a deal for peaches, I snatch up a few pounds {okay, maybe 38} to freeze and tuck away for winter when there are no peaches to be had in the stores. Well, at least no peaches that taste any good that is.

When the fruit is ripe. Preserve it! Not only will your tummy thank you, but you pocketbook will too, because we all know it’s cheaper to buy fruit in season, then it is in the middle of December.

How to Freeze Peaches:

Supplies

Peaches
Ascorbic Acid {I use Fruit Fresh}

Procedure: Dip fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds until skins loosen. Dip quickly in cold water and slip off skins. Cut in half, remove pits and slice. To prevent darkening, keep peeled fruit in ascorbic acid solution.

Lay sliced peaches on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Freeze until firm. Place peaches in freezer safe bags, label, date and freeze until ready to use. Peaches can last up to 9 months in the freezer and still retain the freshness when stored properly.

Want to learn more about preserving summers bounty? Check out my How to Freeze Fruits and Vegetables guide.

Here are a few of my favorite peach recipes:

Peach Salsa
Peach Jam
Peach Cobbler
Peach Ginger Glazed Chicken
How to Can Peaches

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How to Grow Your Own Food – 6/26/2013 Garden Tally

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 26, 2013 · 8 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

*******

This past week we harvested over 34 pounds of goodness from our backyard garden bringing our total to just over 124 pounds so far for 2013. Will I make it to 2 tons? Who know, but I’m having fun and that’s what counts! 😉

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 7 ounces

Our second round of basil is poking through the soil in the greenhouse. I LOVE making fresh pesto.

Beets – 14 ounces

I planted yet another row of beets over the weekend. Looks like roasted beets will be on the menu this fall, that’s for sure.

Bok Choy – 4 oz

Check out this Asian Noodle Salad with Bok Choy I made. It’s pretty awesome.

Broccoli – 11 ounces

Our lone head of spring broccoli. Hopefully it will do better this fall.

Cabbage – 14 pounds 12 ounces

We harvested several heads of cabbage last week. I’ll be sharing my cabbage recipes soon. 🙂

Carrots – 3 ounces

I’m happy to announce our carrots are FINALLY popping through the soil. Hurry! This is the first time I can remember having to plant them so many times. Note to self: seriously amend the soil asap.

Chives – 14 ounces

We are picking about an ounce a week to use in recipes.

Egg Count – 1,514

We collected 64 eggs this past week. I’m not sure what’s going on with the hens, maybe they are on strike or just to bust taking dirt baths to lay eggs.

Kale – 3 pounds 4 ounces

Oh yum! 😉

Kohlrabi 9 ounces

It’s still sitting in the refrigerator! 😉

Lettuce – 28 pounds 2 ounces

We finally got around to harvesting most of the lettuce this past week from the pallet garden. Let’s just say we’ve had our fill of salad for a while.

M icrogreens 5 ounces

I need to grow some more of these. My favorite way to eat microgreens is with egg salad sandwiches.

Mint 5 oz

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

Oregano – 5 ounce

Peas – 20 pounds 2 ounces

We can seem to stop eating sugar snap peas with garlic. Our snap peas are don for this season be we still have green arrow peas growing and I’ll probably plant some sugar snap peas again in the fall.

Potatoes – 3 pounds 6 ounces

While chasing after Lucy we stumpled up a compost heap with potato plants growing so we stopped and harvested a few new potatoes.

Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces

I won’t plant radishes again until the fall, but they were sure nice when we had them. If you have some radishes and fresh peas on hand, you should try my sugar snap pea and radish salad.

Sage – 14 ounces

Stay tuned to see what I’m doing with this!

Spinach – 15 ounces

Sprouts –2 pounds 2 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 8 pounds 2 ounce

The strawberries are still rolling in.Last week I made strawberry kiwi jam, strawberry freezer jam, strawberry pie, and another 2 batches of homemade strawberry shortcake. Plus we have had strawberry shortcake for dinner three times!

Swiss Chard 2 pounds 15 ounces

When my parents came for Father’s Day my mom went home with a sack full a Swiss chard and kale {thank goodness!}.

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 124 pounds 6 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 1,514

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

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Digging Up New Potatoes

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 26, 2013 · 3 Comments

While chasing Lucy along the fence line yesterday I passed by one of our compost heaps {or rather a just throw it over there pile} and noticed potato leaves popping out everywhere. The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird was helping me catch Lucy and as soon as we stopped to investigate she said “Hey, is that a potato plant? Can we dig it up?’

Then it occurred to me. We haven’t had potatoes for about 2 months.

So we rummaged through the dirt.

And not only found some slugs, but a few random mint and oregano plants as well.

Eureka! New potatoes!

Hey maybe there’s enough for dinner.

Well, enough for The Girl and I.

Since I’m going for poundage again this year, I probably should of just let the potatoes grow until they were nice and big. But sometimes you just have to live a little, right?

I’m not sure if new potatoes actually taste better than the full sized ones, or that new potatoes are just one of the first things {besides kale, strawberries and peas} that you can harvest from the garden. But I do know, sauteed with a little butter and garlic, these babies taste divine. Even if they did come out of a compost heap. 😉

~Mavis

P.S. Are you a new potato thief too? Have you harvested any yet?

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Sauteed Kale with Parmesan Cheese

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 25, 2013 · 5 Comments

The other day Madam Chow {from Madam Chow’s Kitchen} left me her recipe for sauteed kale with Parmesan cheese so I thought I would give it a try. And guess what? It tasted so good I forgot I was even eating kale {well almost!}. 😉

Kale, it’s good for you. Go eat some.

Ingredients

1 bunch kale {you may have to wrestle your chickens for it}
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil {ZOE is my favorite brand}
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions

In a medium skillet saute kale with garlic, olive oil, salt, and red wine vinegar until has reduced to about half it’s original size {this happens pretty quick!}. Then sprinkle it with a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Talk about the easiest side dish ever.

Thanks Madam Chow, you rock!

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