One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1690 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.

The Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 15, 2013 · 31 Comments

Have you ever made homemade tuna casserole before? No, I’m not talking about Tuna Helper, I mean the real thing. Because man is it good. The only question is, should you add peas or not?

Here is the Handsome Husband’s favorite recipe:

Ingredients

8 ounces egg noodles {I used No Yolks brand}
1 {10 1/4 ounce} can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup frozen peas {optional}
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 {7 ounce} can tuna, with juice

Topping

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated {optional}
1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs or Ritz Crackers {1 Tab. melted butter + bread crumbs}

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook noodles until al dente. Drain.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl a large bowl and pour into a 9×13 buttered dish. For the topping, sprinkle 1/2 cup cheddar cheese over the top then add the buttered bread crumbs {bread crumbs with a 1 tablespoon melted butter combined}.

Bake for 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Dig in!

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Friday Night at the Movies – Queen of the Sun

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 15, 2013 · 2 Comments

Tonight the Girl and I are going to feed my new bee fascination with the documentary, Queen of the Sun. The movie goes into detail about the collapsing bee colonies due to mono-culture growing practices and chemical pesticides. It also discusses the impact on the whole ecosystem, should the bee population continue to decline.

If this doesn’t motivate me to get into the bee keeping game, I don’t know what will. Besides, I immediately loved the man who tickles the bees with his mustache, so at the very least, I’ll get to watch more of him.

So, have you seen it? Will it change the way I look at bees?

Amazon Instant Video has Queen of the Sun available for $3.99 HERE, and Netflix has it for FREE right now.

Let me know what you think if you decide to watch it–or if you have already seen it. Did you love it? Hate it? Can’t wait to watch it over and over?

Looking for more movies?

Check out the full list of my Friday Night at the Movies Selections or click on over & look at all the movies on Amazon Instant Video. There are a ton of videos to choose from that will cost you absolutely nothing {nada, zilch, free-o} with Amazon Prime; like thousands of regular movies & TV shows & hundreds of documentaries {Wahoo!}. Get all the details HERE!

Peace out Girl Scouts & have yourself a great weekend,

~Mavis

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How to Grow Lobelia {Start to Finish}

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 15, 2013 · 1 Comment

This morning I started a flat of lobelia seeds. I had such great success growing lobelia last year for my hanging flower baskets, that I decided to grow it again. Besides growing lobelia for hanging flowers baskets, I plan to include it in my front window box as well. The cascading pink, purple and white flowers are look magnificent from far away and really give the garden a cottage look to it {which I love}.

Brief description: Lobelia is a soft colorful annual flower. It can either be trailing or not, depending on the variety {I LOVE the trailing!}.

Where to Plant Lobelia: Lobelia is an excellent addition to any container, but they can also be planted in beds or in borders.

Planting Seeds: Lobelia is best started indoors about 8-10 weeks before the last frost. Press the seeds lightly into the surface of the soil. Plant in “clumps” of 12-20 seeds–do not thin. When transplanting, space clumps about 4-6″ apart. Seeds require a warm environment, so use a warming pad or keep in a warm location. Keep seed pots moist by watering with LUKE WARM water.

Growing Tips: Once your plants are established, they are pretty easy to grow. Water regularly and fertilize every 4-6 weeks. Dead head flowers to keep your containers look neat and tidy.

{photo credit}

Interesting Fact: Lobelia is NOT edible. It is actually classified as a poisonous flower.

Have YOU ever tried growing lobelia before?

~Mavis

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Mavis Mail – Sara From Vermont Sends in Her Garden Photos

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 15, 2013 · 7 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 a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

Check out this story Sara sent in:

Hey there Mavis!

I wanted to share my gardening pictures with you. I live on a small plot of land, 1/4 acre, in Duxbury, VT.

I got started gardening about 10 years ago when my husband planned out a garden. We planted a few basics and got some good stuff and I was hooked. Since then we put together a great garden every year.

Well let me tell you, 2012 was a big year. I became a master gardener and wanted to go into the gardening business so I had to prove to my husband that I could do it. So I did! We have 2 gardens- the side garden and back garden. Last spring we cut down a smallish pine tree so we could expand the back garden and I was able to grow 18 tomato plants last summer. I grew so many other things in that garden- fennel, kale, chard, asparagus, garlic, quinoa, peppers, and all my herbs.

In the side garden we focused on peas, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, carrots, beets, pumpkins and squashes of all sorts. This year I’m going to start my own seeds for the first time! I got a beautiful grow light for Christmas and have started micro greens so far. Soon I will start my onions then eventually peppers and tomatoes.

I canned like crazy last summer! I made pickled beets, carrots, broccoli and squash. I canned about 80 pounds of tomatoes into quarters, sauce, and jam. I made a lot of pickles, jams, and relishes.

After we wrapped up the garden last year my hubby and I both said to each other “Man we went big this year. Next year? Even bigger.” We’re discussing bringing some chickens in so hopefully we’ll get that together in the next year or so.

I highly recommend using burlap sacks as weed barriers. We are lucky to live in the hometown of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters so we can pick up those bags for free. I used them everywhere to mark paths and keep weeds down.

There you have it! I hope you can use my story on your blog.

Thanks,

Sara

Nice work Sara, and thank you for sending in your photos and story, everything looks great!

~Mavis

{Denise from Spanaway: Garden Tour}

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.

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.