One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1907 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.

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

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 30, 2012 · 10 Comments

Move over Ryan, I found a new boyfriend. Sure, he may not speak English, but he frequently wears velour track suits and travels with large tour groups, so that’s a plus. And, did you see his hat? I’m a Rock Star? Be still my heart.

As far as my shopping went, it was a rather boring week, and so I only made two purchases. But, I did get a lot of canning done so in the end it all worked out.

Here is what I purchased this past week.

Fred Meyer – $6.00

I don’t normally buy chocolate milk. Latoya made me do it. Monkey Boy was rather happy and he drank the entire carton within 24 hours {of course he did, he’s a teenage boy, that’s what they do}.

Barter with my neighbor Mrs. Hillbilly – FREE

Barter with my neighbor Girly Girl – FREE

Girly Girl had just come back from a run when I called asking if she had any laundry detergent. I ended up trading her 4 rolls of free Albertsons Paper Towels for 1 bottle of Purex. The funny thing about it was, 6 months ago I had traded HER THE BOTTLE OF PUREX for something. Ha Ha Ha.

Safeway $20.85

Everyone knows the best time to buy fruit is when it’s in season, and this week I picked up about 18 pounds of cherries. I canned cherries, made a batch of cherry jam, and dehydrated a few batches. Hopefully it will be enough to tide us over until next summer.

So there you have it. I told you it was a boring week at the market.

How about YOU? Did you buy anything exciting? Did you get a new boyfriend?

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great week.

♥ Mavis

Total Spent This Week $26.85
Total Spent This Year $830.94
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $496.58
Total “Seed Money” donations received $23.00

Need a laundry hamper? Amazon has the Rubbermaid Foldable Laundry Hamper on sale for $13.54.

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Canning 101 – How to Make Raspberry Jam

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 29, 2012 · 19 Comments

I know there are all sorts of freezer and low sugar recipes out there for raspberry jam, but this one {and all it’s sugar} is still my favorite. For the most part, we don’t consume a lot of sugar. But when it comes to raspberry jam, I like mine sweet, and in my opinion, this recipe is da’ bomb.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, then you’ve probably been to the Puyallup Fair and had a Fisher Scone slathered with raspberry jam. Be still my heart. Scones + raspberry jam will always = love.

This recipe comes from Kraft, and I’ve been using it for years.

Ingredients

6 cups raspberries, crushed
1 box of pectin
1/4 tsp. butter {I used unsalted}
8 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

Crush raspberries, and measure 6 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. sauce pot.

Stir pectin into prepared fruit in sauce pot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil {a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred} on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 4 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.} Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.} Recipe Credit

Looking for more canning recipes? The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook By Rachel Saunders is jam packed {ha ha ha} with delicious recipes, and comes highly rated by fellow amazon shoppers.

If you are looking for a canner, I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack to can my homemade cherry jam. If you need a tool kit, I use one similar to this one.

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Mavis Garden Blog – Tomato Blight

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 29, 2012 · 25 Comments

I feel like a total slacker lately. My kitchen looks like a bomb went off, the laundry is stacking up, and the HH is freaking out because the 2 of the 4 wheels fell off the dishwasher this morning. There are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. If I could stop time and have 24 hours totally to myself, I think I could get caught up. But fat chance that’s going to happen anytime soon, so for now, I’ll just deal with it as best I can. One mini project at a time.

Yesterday, I finally got around to whipping the garden back into shape. There were a few casualties.

Especially in the tomato department.

I heaved 2 tomato plants out of the greenhouse and into the back woods, and then tried my best to prune the remaining heirlooms. I think the most important lesson I have learned this summer {garden wise} is that I should never, ever plant 20+ tomato plants in a greenhouse. It was a recipe for disaster, just waiting to happen.

Maybe I was doomed from the beginning because I didn’t do enough research, {okay, hardly any at all} about growing food in a greenhouse before I went all out and all those plants in there. Or perhaps it’s just not the year of the tomato.

But one thing is for certain. Tomato bight sucks. Anyway you look at it.

Am I the only one out there with a bunch of rotten tomatoes this year?

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

~ Mavis

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Sunday Brunch Recipes – Blueberry Buckle

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 29, 2012 · 3 Comments

I found this recipe for blueberry buckle on my friend Jane’s blog a couple of years ago and have been making it ever since. With all the blueberries starting to ripen in our backyard garden, I figured now would be the perfect time to bake this for Sunday brunch.

I like using an 8×8 inch cake pan when I bake this blueberry buckle because I want a big, fat, satisfying slice. I’m sure there are a ton of calories in a ~~coffee cake~~ buckle with only 9 servings, but who cares, sometimes you just have to live a little.

Got blueberries? Go make this. You can thank me later.

Ingredients {slightly adapted from Jane}

1/2 cup butter, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
3 cups blueberries {fresh or frozen} *If you use frozen your batter should stay white.

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp. butter, room temperature

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add egg and vanilla. When combined, alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk to the mixer, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Remove from mixer. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. To make streusel topping, mix cinnamon, salt, brown sugar and flour together; cut in butter using a pastry blender or fork until fine crumbs are formed. Using hands, squeeze together most of the mixture to form large clumps. Sprinkle topping generously over batter.

Bake for about 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing sides of pan. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

If you are looking for the perfect pan square pan for cakes or brownies, Amazon currently has the Fat Daddio’s Anodized-Aluminum 8-Inch Square Cake Pan on sale for $11.76 and the reviews are great!

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.