One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1743 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.

Easy Slow Cooker Recipes – Chicken Noodle Soup

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 31, 2012 · 23 Comments

Yesterday I made a batch of homemade chicken noodle soup in the crock pot. Sure I had to beg some carrots and 2 stalks of celery off of Girly Girl to make it, but man was it good.

I used to think Crock Pot meals were for busy days when there was no time to cook. But apparently not. Rolling out of bed at noon to toss a few ingredients in your crock pot then heading back to bed is totally acceptable.

And tasty too.

I present… Chicken Noodle Soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients

8 cups chicken broth
3 chicken breasts {I used boneless, skinless, frozen ones}
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Tapatio hot sauce {the HH loves this stuff!}
2-3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
8 oz egg noodles, uncooked {I used No Yolks brand}

Directions
Toss all ingredients EXCEPT the egg noodles in a 6 quart crock pot, stir, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

When the soup has finished cooking, remove the bay leaf and discard. Shred the chicken meat with a fork in the crock pot, add noodles, and cook soup {with noodles} for an additional 20 minutes.

Serve with a crusty chunk of bread.

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

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New Year’s Eve Around The World

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 31, 2012 · 8 Comments

New York – Times Square {photo credit}

Sydney, Australia {photo credit}

Paris, France {photo credit}

Acapulco, Mexico {photo credit}

Moscow, Russia {photo credit}

Las Vegas, Nevada {photo credit}

London, United Kingdom {photo credit}

Rome, Italy {photo credit}

With literally a world of possibilities, where would you choose to ring in the New Year?

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Mavis Garden Blog – Planting a Rock Border

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 31, 2012 · 14 Comments

The area around the chicken run has finally all been cleared, and yesterday I started on a new project. I’m thinking it should take me a few afternoons to complete.

If you read my garden posts this past summer you probably noticed there were not a whole lot of weeds in the mulched areas of my backyard. Want to know my secret?

Landscape fabric. I’m totally addicted to the stuff. Each spring Costco gets it in stock and I typically buy a few rolls whether I need them at the time or not. Home Depot sells it year round, but when Costco has it in stock, they tend to have a better price so I buy it and save it for various projects throughout the year.

Once I laid the landscape fabric down, I began to dismantle the backyard fire pit. I think we only used it once last year, and it’s sitting smack dab in center of where I want to build a new garden.

So I simply moved the rocks from the fire pit, and created a fat rock boarder about 2 feet from the back of the fence.

Okay, now I need YOUR help. I would like to plant some TALL flowers against the fence, and some shorter ones towards the front of the rocks. The space is very shaded and is about 3 feet deep and 15 feet wide.

Do you have any ideas?

Help!

~Mavis

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Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

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By Mavis Butterfield on December 31, 2012 · 32 Comments

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard…

Let me just say this… I will be at Costco bright and early when they open their doors at 10 am on January 2nd. I’m not exactly sure why they are closed on New Year’s Day, but I’ve made it this far… waiting another day to fill my refrigerator with food isn’t going to matter, right?

After all, we have 3 pounds of Christmas salami {my mom gets The Girl one every year for Christmas} some eggs, pasta sauce and a wee bit of juice left tide us over.

Feeding my family for $100 a month this past year was more challenging than it was in 2011. Slowly backing off the processed foods we used to buy all the time, and working towards growing and learning how to prepare healthier recipes has been an adventure.

So now the big question.

Will I do it again next year?

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Here is a little slice of what went on around here in Mavisland this past week.

On Christmas Eve we headed over to my parents place where Monkey Boy received his annual package of Charmin toilet paper {he LOVES the stuff and I typically don’t buy it, so Granny buys him his own stash every year}.

We also played our traditional game of 31.

When I was a kid my grandparents would play with nickels. Over the years we’ve upped the ante and now play with $5 gift cards. My brother ended up winning this years game and went home with $130 in gift cards to cool places like Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Target and more.

The next morning we hopped on the first flight to Orange County and spent Christmas Day with the Handsome Husband’s family where there was lot’s of food, kids, animals and toys, toys, toys.

I think I gained at least 10 pounds.

Because we had ham the night before at my parent’s house, I opted for a fully loaded baked potato for dinner. While I was eating my Brother in Law proceeded to tell us his cat had herpes.

Which was just really, really, lovely.

Then he offered us dessert.

The highlight of trip {besides learning the cat had herpes, overeating and hanging out with family} was all those Panera gift cards I won from the “Christmas Quiz” game my Mother in Law plays every year. Let’s just say I studied on the plane ride to So Cal. and it really, really, paid off.

Because of the holidays, and all the travelling we did last week, I didn’t go to the store once for food. And you can bet your bottom dollar I won’t be going to the store today either.

In it to win it baby!

~Mavis

Total Spent This Year $1,195.67
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $536.26
Total “Seed Money” donations received $51.00

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

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