One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1913 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.

Raising Backyard Chickens – Buff the Wayward Chicken Update

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 22, 2012 · 6 Comments

Do you remember me telling you 10 days ago about my neighbor Girly Girl, giving back Buff the ~~annoying~~ wayward chticken? Well, after a tough week of Black Fatty chasing her around and pecking at her every 10 minutes, Buff has finally been accepted back into the flock.

When she first came back, no one wanted to hang around her. At all. It was kind of sad, and I thought for sure we were going to have to get rid of her.

But then she got lucky. Black Fatty went broody about 3 days ago and there hasn’t been any trouble since. And since chickens tend to sit on their “eggs” for about 30 days or so, we should be able to enjoy some peace and quite around here for a bit.

Let’s just hope that when Black Fatty decides to get off the nest, she will forget about how much she doesn’t like Buff.

So what do you think? Has this ever happened to you? Do you think Black Fatty will forget all about it?

Looking for a book on how to keep chickens out of your yard? Check out Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard. It’s full of great ideas and Amazon has it on sale right now for $12.01

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Sunday Brunch Recipes – Heirloom Carrot Cake Pancakes

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 22, 2012 · 2 Comments

Carrots? In pancakes? Are you kidding me?

If you’re like me and have carrots coming out of your ears, you’ll totally want to give this carrot cake pancakes recipe a try. These hearty {and wholesome} pancakes are made with whole wheat flour, buttermilk and you guessed it, plenty of carrots.

This recipe makes about {12} 3″ pancakes, so if you have a large family or are feeding a bunch of teenagers, you may want to double the batch.

Ingredients {adapted from this recipe}

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoons ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoons ground cloves
⅛ teaspoons ground ginger
¼ cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk {How to Make Buttermilk}
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups finely grated carrots

Directions

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients together. Add in all the remaining ingredients except the carrots and stir well. Gently fold in the carrots.

Butter up your skillet, add batter in 1/3 cup proportions and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, flipping pancakes after each side has browned slightly. Serve with maple syrup. Yummm!!!

Need a griddle? This Presto Cool Touch Electric Griddle is the one I use, and Amazon currently has it on sale for $21.96 shipped.

Need syrup? Amazon has real Maple Syrup too!

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Easy Summer Recipes – Black Bean Salsa with Corn and Avocados

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 21, 2012 · 3 Comments

Is it just me, or is it too hot to cook dinner tonight?

Instead of making a real dinner, I took the easy way out and whipped up a huge batch of black bean salsa, with corn and avocados. There’s protein, vegetables and grains if you include the chips.

Yep, chips and salsa baby, that’s what we are having.

What is on YOUR dinner plate tonight?

Ingredients

1 can corn kernels, drained {or 1 lb fresh}
1 can black beans, drained
3 avocados, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black

Directions

In a large bowl mix together the corn, black beans, onion and jalapeno. Add olive oil, lemon juice, cider vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and toss together. Refrigerate for 2 hours then add the avocado chunks and serve with chips.

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is one of my favorites, and Amazon currently has it on sale for 46% off. Oh how I wish I could be a guest at Ina’s table!

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Mavis Garden Blog – Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 21, 2012 · 17 Comments

Check out this bouquet of basil I picked this morning, isn’t it lovely? Now comes the hard part, trying to figure out what to make with it. I already have a boatload of pesto in the freezer, so I’m trying to come up with a salad or a dish worthy of it. I don’t know about you, but sometimes there are just so many good recipes out there it’s really hard to decide what to make.

I’m not sure what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods, but here in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area it’s been wacky. One minute there are thunder storms and lighting and the next minute, sunshine. Luckily today there is sun, and I can’t wait to get my boots on and start playing in the dirt.

I snapped a few photos of my heirloom tomatoes this morning as I was opening up the greenhouse doors.

Luckily, no tomato blight has been spotted in the greenhouse, so that makes me happy!

Wahoo! I can hardly wait for these babies to ripen.

So excited!!

So what’s on your list today?

Staying in? Going somewhere exciting? Chores?

Mavis wants to know!

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