One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1842 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.

Mavis Garden Blog – Planting Winter Kale… Again

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 2, 2012 · 14 Comments

This morning 5 the baby chick and I headed out to the garden. We cleared an 8’x4′ raised garden bed that was filled with sagging tomato plants and replaced them with kale starts.

Even though no one in the house is a major fan of kale, I need to reach my goal of growing 2,000 pounds of produce by December 31st, 2012. At this point my choices are pretty darn slim. Kale, Swiss chard, and {hopefully} carrots are my only reliable options. I’ll also grow some sprouts in the house, and try to grow lettuce in the greenhouse this fall and winter too.

If it turns out I’m one heck of a kale farmer, all the better. I’ll tie a pretty red ribbon around the leafy greens and pass out bouquets of it to my friends and family this Christmas.

Wouldn’t that be cool?

~Mavis

P.S. Did you know there is a blog called 365 Days of Kale? That’s crazy!

The Book of Kale: The Easy-to-Grow Superfood 80+ Recipes By Sharon Hanna ~ Amazon

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How to Cook a Pumpkin – Pumpkin Pie Puree Recipe

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 2, 2012 · 29 Comments

Fresh, homemade pumpkin pie, is just one of the reasons I LOVE growing pumpkins every year. When the kids were little I used to grow them for carving, never thinking about actually using the pumpkins for the what Pilgrims intended them for, PUMPKIN PIE {of course}.

Making your own pumpkin puree is totally cool. So each fall, once the front porch has filled up with “decorative pumpkins” I like to get busy in the kitchen and process all the pumpkin puree I can while I have the chance.

If you have never made your own pumpkin puree before, I want you to try it this year. Not only is making pumpkin puree super easy, your house will smell pretty awesome too. And if you have chickens, even better, because they have fun pecking away at all the extra pulp.

How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Wash small sugar pie pumpkins, and cut them in half
Scrape pulp and seeds from the center of the pumpkin and set aside
Lightly brush pumpkin halves with butter
Place prepared pumpkins face down on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees or until the skin starts to wrinkle
Cool 10 minutes and then remove the pulp with a large spoon
Place pulp in a blender and puree
Place puree in quart sized zip baggies {I usually measure out 1 or 2 cups per bag}
Use a sharpie to label, date and write the portion size on your baggie and freeze

I’m curious, do YOU make your own pumpkin puree every year, or do you just buy the canned version from the grocery store?

~Mavis

Pumpkin, a Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year is filled with 125 recipes celebrate the varied ways that pumpkin can be used in everything from appetizers and snacks to soups, salads, main courses, side dishes, and desserts. Amazon currently has this book in stock and ready to ship.

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How to Get Free Food Week # 22 – Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 2, 2012 · 9 Comments

What’s up with all the free lettuce lately? To bad you can’t freeze the stuff, or I’d have a years supply of iceberg by now. Luckily, between our chickens, and Girly Girls Chickens, not a bit of it goes to waste.

If there is one thing the chickens love {besides corn}, it’s iceberg lettuce, it must be because of the crunchy texture. Before we were getting free “chicken scraps” from the produce guy our chickens would pretty much eat anything. But over these last 5+ months of getting fresh fruit and vegetables non stop, they have become total foodies. Before you know it they’ll start to demand we serve their beloved “scraps” on dinner plates and serve them with white gloves.

Chickens in suburbia, dang, they’ve got it rough.

Here is what The Girl and I were able to salvage from the 4 boxes of scraps. Plenty of cantaloupe, pineapple and honey dew for breakfast, iceberg lettuce for tacos and lettuce wraps, and half of a papaya and a boatload of strawberries. Hmmm. Looks like another week of smoothies for breakfast. Yee-Haw!

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great day. Now go forth and eat trash!

~Mavis

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past 5 months?

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

500 Smoothies & Juices is packed with 500 refreshing recipes, all of them clear and easy to follow. Filled with tips on how to select the right ingredients for your smoothies and juices and then how to make them taste absolutely perfect, this is the only book of smoothies and juices you will ever need. Amazon currently has the book in stock and ready to ship.

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Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Italian Chicken Pasta Soup

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 1, 2012 · 10 Comments

Since school started over a month ago, I’m been using my crock pot about twice a week now for dinner time meals. And why wouldn’t I? The weather is getting colder, everyone is coming home at different times, and it’s so stinkin’ easy to take 5 minutes out of my day to toss a few items in the crock pot for a hot dinner everyone likes.

If you haven’t dusted yours off yet from storing it all summer, now is your chance. This recipe for Italian Chicken Pasta Soup rocks. And seriously, it takes only 5 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients {adapted from Betty Crocker}

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts {I used frozen}
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
48 ounces chicken broth
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta { I used mini bow tie pasta}
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings {I used McCormick’s blend}
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a large crock pot, stir, cover, and cook on the low setting for 8 hours or on the high setting for 4 hours. About 20 minutes before serving the soup, use two forks to shred the chicken in the crock pot. Add pasta, stir and continue to cook in the crock pot for 20 minutes or until the pasta is tender {be careful not to overcook it}. Ladle soup in to bowls and serve.

Looking for more slow cooker recipes? Check out Art of the Slow Cooker By Andrew Schloss. There are over 80 recipes in the book ans it has great reviews. Plus, Amazon currently has it in stock and ready to ship.

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.