One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1669 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.

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe: Guinness Black and Tan Brownies

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 6, 2013 · 7 Comments

If you are anything like me, when you see a good recipe in a magazine you tear it out, stuff it in a drawer {or binder} and save it for later. Well back in 2010 I spotted this recipe for Black & Tan brownies in Cooking Light magazine.

I re-discovered the recipe as I was pulling out my recipe binder last year and quickly decided to whip up a batch for the HH seeing how he is Irish. I’ve made these brownies twice now. The first time was with pecans and the second time without. Personally, I think they taste best with the pecans. And I’m not all that into pecans.

The key to making these brownies is…

Read the directions thoroughly. I tend to glance over recipes and not read every single direction. However this one could be a little tricky. So read through it a few times before you start.

Tan Brownies:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour {about 1 cup}
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans {I left them out}
Cooking spray

Black Brownies:
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Guinness Stout
4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour {about 1 cup}
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

To prepare Tan Brownies

Beat 6 tablespoons of butter and the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Next add in the flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir well. Add in pecans {totally optional}. Pour the batter in to a 13 x 9–inch buttered baking pan {or use cooking spray}, making sure to spread the batter evenly. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

To prepare Black Brownies

Melt the chocolate and 4 tablespoons butter in a double broiler or in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 30 seconds {or until melted}, stir until nice and smooth. Slowly add sugar until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla, and Guinness and stir until everything is combined. Add the flour and salt until the batter is well smooth and pour the mixture evenly over tan brownies.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out almost clean. Cool for about an hour, and then cut into squares. Recipe Credit

The Irish Pub Cookbook

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Red Alert! Tooth Fairy Rates on the Rise

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 6, 2013 · 42 Comments

{Photo Credit}

I read a quick article last week that the Tooth Fairy’s average rate is on the rise–up nearly 15% from last year. Kids are averaging $2.42 for their lost teeth. HOLE.LEE.CAVITIES. BATMAN.

The first lost tooth seems to have a higher value than the subsequent teeth.

The article made made me wonder, what do you think is a fair exchange-rate for those little chompers? Monkey Boy & The Girl’s tooth fairy never left the same thing twice {clever!}. Sometimes it was a pack of M&M’s, a silly straw or a dollar. Personally, I think she just left what ever she had laying around the castle {or at least, I assume it’s a castle}. How is it we know all of the in-and-outs of Santa, but the Tooth Fairy’s origins and real estate situation is really a mystery?

I totally tried to find more information about the Tooth Fairy’s history, but came up short. I guess the Tooth Fairy has done a pretty decent job of shading her {or his?} identity–probably makes it easier to run daytime errands.

So, what do YOU think? What’s the going rate at YOUR house?

Curious minds want to know,

Mavis

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How to Grow Your Own Food – 2013 Garden Tally

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 6, 2013 · 11 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

Yesterday I harvested a wee bit of Swiss chard from the front window box that sits under the office window. When I was cleaning up the garden beds last fall I thought overwintering the chard in a sheltered area in front of the house was a good idea. I had no idea the stuff would still be alive and kicking months later.

Who knew? Now I’m on a mission to see just how long the stuff will last.

Later this week I plan on moving the chard {and some I started from seed} to the backyard garden. Have YOU ever planted Swiss chard before? How long does the plant last anyway? Am I going to have to pass it down to my grandchildren?

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

{Heirloom beets pictured from last summer}

Beets – 14 ounces

The chickens found these beets for me earlier this winter. I plan on starting some heirloom beet seeds this weekend both in the garden and in some starter trays. I want to see which ones will grow faster. Anyone care to make a guess?

{Tonda di Parigi HEIRLOOM carrots pictured from last summer}

Carrots – 3 ounces

I am still working on my bag of Costco carrots I picked up at the beginning of the year. I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to be able to pull up some fresh, homegrown carrots this summer.

Egg Count – 270 {4.2 per day average}

Last week I was swimming in eggs. So I ended up trading my stash with Girly Girl for 2 packages of elk. Or deer. I’m not sure what it was exactly, but it was good. This week things are back to normal, and we are eating the eggs as fast as the chickens can lay them.

Lettuce – 6 ounces
M icrogreens 5 ouncesMicrogreens are easy to grow anytime of year but they are especially fun to grow in winter as it is typically to cold to grow lettuce and greens outside. See those cute heart shaped leaves? Those are radish greens and they are super tasty too.

Potatoes – 2 pounds 9 ounces

Potato planting is on the schedule for this weekend. I hope I bought enough.

Sprouts – 8 ounces

I need to grow some more!

Swiss Chard 6 ounces

Think of all the money brides would save if they used bouquets of Swiss chard instead of roses. Hmmm.

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 5 pounds 10 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 270

I guess I better hop to it if I’m growing to harvest 4,000 pounds of food this year. It’s not going to be easy, but hey, at least it will be fun. And who knows, I may end up with an awesome tan too.

What’s new in YOUR garden?

~Mavis

Need some seeds? Botanical Interests is offering FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50 right now.

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Mavis Mail – Zoe From Pennsylvania Sends in Garden Photos

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 6, 2013 · 3 Comments

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have an awesome garden this summer. Keep them coming!

************

Zoe lives in Pennsylvania and is pretty much a rock star when it comes to recipes using real ingredients. She is a cousin of my friend Mama JJ, and she recently sent in some amazing photos of her farm and had this to say:

Hello Mavis!

I was going through some pics and found some garden ones. I remembered you sometimes feature these things on your blog so I thought I’d share…

I’ve been gardening since I was a kid. First I helped my parents, then I got into growing strawberries for 4-H and then eventually had my own little plot on which I grew lots of annual flowers. I loved it.

So when my husband and I got married, we dug up some dirt, and started growing vegetables. Currently we have “the big garden” out back, “the little garden” by the barn, the raised beds, the orchard, and the pea fences and grape arbor.

We’ve had this set-up for 5 years now. We always get a good grape crop but the orchard and the big garden sometimes don’t do very well.

We have no idea what we are doing when it comes to fruit trees so any fruit is a nice surprise. The big garden is situated where there used to be a tobacco barn and we think the soil has some issues because of that. We are working on slowly building it up. Sometimes crops grow great in there but other times, they are complete bombs. Oh well.

The little garden and the raised beds almost always perform quite well! We grow about everything…strawberries, peas, lettuce, spinach, chard, carrots, kohlrabi, rhubarb, asparagus, onions, cabbage, broccoli, kale, peppers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, various dried beans, garlic, cucumbers, squashes, melons, beets, herbs, and I’m probably forgetting some things.

In the one picture you’ll see my chicken house. We currently have 17 birds. 15 eggs a day is a lot for a small family but I love gathering them, washing them up, and giving them to people.

There’s also a pic of my husband plowing the big garden. He’s using his grandpa’s little old John Deere H. I love that thing!

Right now my basement has a grow light in it and I have a bunch of starts growing down there. I can’t plant stuff out as early as you can but in another month I should be able to set out some of the cool weather crops. Can’t wait! I am ready for some summer sun and dirt between my toes!

Well that about covers it!

Thanks! Zoe

To find out what Zoe does with all her fresh fruits and vegetables, visit her blog Whole Eats &Whole Treats. She is awesome, and I wish she was my neighbor.

~Mavis

{Robin from Columbus, Ohio – Garden Photos}

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
Cool Arts & Craft made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.

{Betty & Margo, on the Isle of Man sent in by reader Angie from The Cinnamon Coach}

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go HERE for the official rules.

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.