One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1916 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.

How to Dehydrate Carrots

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on July 18, 2012 · 17 Comments

Imagine how much easier life would have been for the pilgrims if they would have only had food dehydrators. The pilgrims would have been able to dry tons and tons of vegetables for winter and provide hot and hearty stews for their peeps.

But I suppose they would of needed electricity for that. Oh well, at least this pilgrim has electricity.

Making dehydrated carrots requires two easy steps.

Slice clean carrots 1/4 -inch thick
Place carrots on dehydrator trays and turn the food dehydrator on {about 6 hours}

Once the carrots are fully dried, place them in an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place.

Pretty easy stuff if you ask me.

What is the strangest thing you have dehydrated?

~Mavis

Looking for more ideas on how to use your food dehydrator? Check out Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook. The reviews on her book are rock solid! Need a food dehydrator? Go HERE.

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.

Side Dish Recipe – Peas and Bacon

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on July 18, 2012 · 2 Comments

Yesterday I was thinking about canning all those peas I picked. But after reading everyone’s recipe suggestions I quickly bailed on that crazy idea, and decided to take reader Elena’s advise and adapt her recipe for peas and prosciutto.

I didn’t have any prosciutto on hand, but I did have some bacon. So with the addition of a few chopped sun dried tomatoes, I whipped this side dish up in about 5 minutes flat.

On a scale of 1 to 10 this peas and bacon side dish scored an easy 10. Seriously. The Handsome Husband was hovering over me as I made it. In fact we were so excited to try it, that we totally forgot about the Parmesan cheese.

So what are you waiting for?

Go get some peas, and make this tonight. You’ll be thanking me {and Elena} you did.

Ingredients

4 cups fresh peas, shelled
8 slices bacon, chopped
1 large purple onion, chopped
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings {optional}
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add red onion, and cook until caramelized {about 3 minutes} Add peas and bacon. Cook another 2 – 3 minutes or until the peas are tender. Add sun dried tomatoes, and salt and pepper. Remove form heat and garnish with a wee bit of Parmesan cheese shavings. Serve warm.

Fast, Fresh & Green By Susie Middleton ~ Amazon $15.02

More than 100 recipes for side dishes–many that can double as starters or main dishes, and many that are vegan–include Spinach with Shallots and Parmigiano, Sweet Potato Mini Fries with Limey Dipping Sauce, Roasted Broccoli with Two Dipping Sauces, Braised Fingerlings with Rosemary and Mellow Garlic, and Summer Vegetable Ragout. Fast, Fresh & Green is an excellent resource for vegetarians and omnivores alike.

* Amazon prices can change at anytime.

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.

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park – New Zip Line and Ropes Course

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on July 18, 2012 · 6 Comments

Yesterday, I took The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird and Monkey Boy to try out the new zip line course, “Zip Wild” at Northwest Trek. The Girl is afraid of heights, and I thought this would be a great way to overcome them.

I don’t know about you, but I think dangling form 60 feet in the air is pretty sweet. I mean, you’ve got a safety harness on for Pete’s sake, how dangerous can it be?

This was the third time I had done a zip line, but it was the first time the kids had done one. Monkey Boy was pretty pumped about it, but The Girl was a little more apprehensive.

The original plan was to have Monkey Boy wear the Go Pro Cam but in the end I ~~got stuck with~~ wore it. Which is pretty rad because you can’t exactly wear a head cam AND glasses at the same time. So I quickly had to decide between glasses or Go Pro.

Here is a totally boring video.

The whole course took about 1 hour to complete, and the kids and I had a blast. No one fell, threw up, or broke any bones. I’d say it was a succes, wouldn’t you?

Oh, and I almost forgot. We also saw a pair of bald eagles.

And a wild monkey too.

Peace Out Girl Scouts. Life is short. So get out there and have some fun!

♥ Mavis

GoPro HD Helmet Hero $249.99 ~ Amazon

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.

How to Grow Your Own Food – Weigh In Wednesday

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on July 18, 2012 · 14 Comments

This year my goal is to grow 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. I think I can do it. With 16 raised garden beds, a greenhouse, a raspberry patch and a few more planting beds sprinkled throughout our property, I believe growing 2,000 pounds of food is an attainable goal. Even if I do live right in the middle of high maintenance suburbia, and my neighbors think I’m nuts. ~Mavis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past week I was able to harvest over 38 pounds of fruits and vegetables from our backyard garden. I could have picked more, but I feel really good about having surpassed the 10% mark. Carrots, beets and a whole lot of peas were gathered and with the raspberries finally starting to make their appearance, this week is shaping up to be a good one.

The problem I’m facing now, {and why I didn’t pick as much as I could have} is what to do with all this food. We all know growing vegetables is a lot of hard work, but as each day passes, I finding out that preserving the bounty is becoming increasingly harder with all the different vegetables that need to be dealt with on a daily basis.

Maybe getting a booth at the Farmer’s Market wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.

Here is what I have harvested so far:

Basil 1 lb 12 oz

Beets 30 lb 40z {how to can beets}

Blueberries 3 oz

Broccoli 4lb 14 oz

Broccoli Rabb 1lb 6 oz

Cabbage 25lb 7 oz

Carrots 35 lbs 11 oz

Cauliflower 2lbs 3 oz {cauliflower hummus rocks!}

Chives 14 oz

Kale 1 lb 4 oz

Lettuce 14 lb 0 oz

Butter Crunch 12 oz
Mixed Greens 4 lb 2 oz
Romaine 10 lb 11 oz

Mint 2 lbs 9 oz

Onions 2 lbs 5 oz

Green Onions 14 oz
Red Onions 2 lb 1 oz
Scallions 6 oz

Oregano 2 lbs 7 oz

Mushrooms 9.25 oz

Shiitake 9.25 oz {read more about how I grew mushrooms}.

Peas 1lb 2 oz

English Peas 21 lb 11 oz
Sugar Snap Peas 8 lb 1 oz

Peppers

Jalapeno 2 oz
Sweet Peppers 3 oz

Radish 12lb 5 oz

Easter Egg Radish 2 lb 3 oz
Crimson Radish 1 lb 5 oz
French Breakfast 8 lb 13 oz

Raspberries 4 oz

Spinach 2lb 5 oz

Sprouts 10 oz

Strawberries 6lb 1 oz {dehydrated strawberries are awesome}

Sprouts 10 oz

Mung Bean Sprouts 7 oz
Sandwich Sprouts 3 oz

Swiss Chard 23 lb 15 oz

Tomatoes 1 oz

Sun Gold 1 oz

Zucchini 1 lb 8 oz

Miscellaneous 8lb 2 oz {This means we let someone come and pick vegetables, or did not get a chance to weigh them individually, and this was the total weight of all the vegetables combined}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that’s what I’ve grown so far this year… How about YOU?

Are you starting to feel overwhelmed with all the vegetables yet?

Total Food Harvested in 2012: 221 lbs 13.25 oz

I have spent a total of $$484.86 on seeds, soil, plants and supplies for this year.

The Complete Kitchen Garden By Ellen Ecker Ogden ~ Amazon $9.98

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.