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One Hundred Dollars a Month

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.


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How to Get Baked-on Grease Off Pots and Pans

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I got a question from a reader about a grease problem. While most of you probably won’t be dealing with what she’s dealing with, I thought I’d share my response, as you’ll probably encounter baked-on grease at least once in your life. Now you’ll know how to get it off!

We moved into a rental house 2 years ago and the oven and stove top was coated with grease and the house smelled like a fast food fryer. I cleaned and cleaned until it wasn’t such a hazard. Well, after 2 years my cookie sheets, muffin tins, and pots and pans have baked on grease on them. I can literally scrape the grease off with a fingernail, yuck! I really don’t want to throw my high quality baking items out when I move later this summer, but I don’t want to use them in my new range at our next house if they are so yucky. Do you have any suggestions or methods to clean them and bring them back to an original state?

Brianna

How you clean your pots and pans depends on what type they are. Here are the cleaning methods for 3 different pan types:

Non-stick

The easiest way to avoid this situation is to never use grease or cooking spray on a non-stick pan. It will always result in a gunky mess! Buuut, since poor Brianna was in a situation where she had no control over the grease level, all she has to do is coat the pan with a sprinkling of baking soda and then pour vinegar over the top. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then scrub away! If you pan does not have a lip, you can do this in the sink with a little vinegar soak and some baking soda sprinkled on.

Aluminum

Make a paste using baking soda and water. Rub it all over the grease spots. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and then scrub.

Stainless Steel

Sprinkle your pan with baking soda and drizzle on some vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes, then scrub with a stainless steel scrubbing pad.

Any secret cleaning method you know about that we should be using? Share below!

~Mavis

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.

Hoover Pet Vacuum, Online Grocery Deals, Cashew Almond Bars, a Giant Elephant and More

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Quote of the Day “Just do it.” ~ Nike

Hello Thursday! If avocados are on your grocery list be sure and print off {2} $0.75 off 1 avocado from Mexico coupons before they are all gone. I LOVE guacamole!!!

Have a wonderful day everyone, the puggle princess and I will be hanging out with her baby chicks and doing laundry today and working on taxes. Pretty exciting stuff if you ask me. 😉

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deal of the Day for 2/16/17 – Hoover Vacuum Cleaner T-Series WindTunnel Pet Rewind Bagless Corded Upright Vacuum $74.99 shipped

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Garden and Gun Magazine for only $4.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire 2/17/17 at midnight EST.

Home and Kitchen Deals

Cashew Almond Bars – These are like kind bars, only way more cost effective.  Plus, I am a pretty big fan of the grab and go option.

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

Prime Pantry Deals

If you are an Amazon Prime Member, you can get FREE Prime Pantry shipping {a $5.99 value} when you buy five qualifying items. Shop Prime Pantry.

dig-for-your-dinner-1

If you’d like to map out your next few months of garden chores, grab a few Dig For Your Dinner eBooks. That way, you can read about gardening, even when the weather is not nice enough to be outside gardening.

Kid’s Stuff

Getting married soon?

Create an Amazon Wedding Registry! Check out these benefits:

  • 10% Gift – Receive a wedding gift after your event date. Get 10% off most products on Amazon for a savings up to $100.
  • World’s Largest Selection – Register for all the items you both want.
  • It’s universal – keep track of what you want from anywhere. Add from other websites to your Wedding Registry with the universal button.

Create an Amazon Wedding Registry HERE.

Check out these New Printable Coupons:

$0.75 off one Always
$1.00 off one Izze
$2.50 off Any Two (2) IZZE 4-packs
$0.75 off one Avocados from Mexico  {Yes please!}
$0.50 off one Frigo
$0.75 off one Angel Soft

Find More Printable Coupons

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.

America’s Sweet Potato Obsession

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As a kid, the only time I ever saw sweet potatoes on the dinner table was at Thanksgiving {Sweet Potato Casserole, anyone?}. But now, I’d say I probably go through at least 25 pounds, if not more a year. I love them. My family loves them. And I use them in all sorts of recipes. Apparently, I’m not alone. America is growing the most sweet potatoes since WWII.

Sweet potatoes are cheap and really easy to grow, so they became a staple to ward off hunger when funds were scarce. Plus, sweet potatoes satisfied a sweet tooth at a discount for Americans strapped for sugar.

“By the end of the war, U.S. farmers were growing more than 3 billion pounds of sweet potatoes. But when soldiers returned home, people went back to work and the economy hummed.”

No more sweet potatoes. Industrialization of farming and the rise of processed foods left sweet potatoes in the dust. U.S. production dropped by a billion pounds within two years after the war and it bottomed out in 1980, with less than 1 billion pounds total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sweet potatoes were on their way out, until the recent surge.

The reason? Our obsession with diets, namely the South Beach diet, Paleo diet or Atkins diet. Since those diets were so restrictive, a sweet potato became an allowed sweet treat. Even TV personalities like Dr. Oz highlighted the magic of the vegetable. they are locally grown everywhere, cheap to grow, inexpensive to buy. The perfect storm for a big comeback!

In 2000, Americans ate about 4 pounds of sweet potatoes per person. Today, it’s nearly double that, at 7.5 pounds per person.

So where do you fit in to those stats? Are you sweet potato obsessed or would you prefer a good ol Russet? If you do love your sweet potatoes, what’s your favorite way to eat them?

I love Roasted Purple Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary and Thyme or Baked Sweet Potato Fries a lot, but I’ve never met a sweet potato I didn’t like, really! What about you?

~Mavis

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.

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Giveaway – Enter to Win One of My Favorite Botanical Interests Seed Collections

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The crew at Botanical Interests Seed Company is at it again, bringing another awesome seed giveaway just for One Hundred Dollars a Month readers.

Back in 2013 I was invited to take a private tour of Curtis and Judy’s trial gardens {they are the founders of Botanical Interests} and let me tell you Bob, the garden was beautiful.

I’ve been using Botanical Interests Seeds pretty much exclusively for over 5 years now and I think they rock! Their seeds are the best, and now you have a chance to win 3 of my favorite collections. Three lucky winners will each one of these cool seed collections:

Heirloom Tomato Seed Collection: A collection of heirloom tomatoes with wonderful old-fashioned flavor.

  • Tomato Cherry Red & Yellow Pear Organic (30 Seeds)
  • Tomato Pole Beefsteak Organic (30 Seeds)
  • Tomato Pole Black Krim Organic (30 Seeds)
  • Tomato Pole Brandywine (30 Seeds)
  • Tomato Pole Cherokee Purple Organic (30 Seeds) I grow these every year
  • Tomato Pole Pineapple (30 seeds)
  • Tomato Pole San Marzano Organic (30 Seeds)

Chef’s Herb Garden Seed Collection: No cook should be without these standard herbs!

  • Basil Dolce Vita Blend Organic (1 gram)
  • Chives Common Organic (700 mg)
  • Cilantro/Coriander Long Standing Organic (3 grams)
  • Dill Bouquet Organic (3 grams)
  • Fennel Florence Finocchio (1 gram)
  • Oregano True Greek (100 mg)
  • Parsley Moss Curled Organic (1.5 grams)
  • Rosemary (30 Seeds)
  • Thyme English Organic (350 mg)

Super Organic Vegetable Starter Seed Collection: Whether you are a first time gardener or a seasoned professional, you’ll find that these basic vegetables and herbs are easy to grow and will provide a delicious and bountiful harvest.

  • Basil Italian Genovese Organic (1.5 Grams)
  • Chives Common Organic (700 Mg)
  • Bean Bush Contender Organic (1.5 Grams)
  • Carrot Scarlet Nantes Organic (1 Gram)
  • Lettuce Romaine Parris Island Organic (1 Gram)
  • Pepper Sweet California Wonder Organic (300 Mg)
  • Squash Summer Black Beauty Zucchini Organic (3 Grams)
  • Tomato Italian Roma Organic (30 Seeds)

Rules

Life’s pretty complicated sometimes, so I like to keep things simple around here. You have TWO ways to enter: 1 required and 1 bonus entry. That means you can leave a total of TWO comments below for TWO awesome chances to win.

1. *REQUIRED ENTRY* Which seed collection would you like to win? The Heirloom Tomato Seed Collection, the Chef’s Herb Garden Seed Collection, or the Super Organic Vegetable Starter Seed Collection? Leave a comment below letting us know your answer.

2. *BONUS ENTRY* Do you like/friend/follow Botanical Interests yet? Pick one or all and like/follow Botanical Interests via one of these forms of social media: Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube! Leave a comment below with the name of the site you followed, ie. “liked Botanical Interests on Pinterest and Instagram.” Only 1 comment/entry regardless of if you follow them on all 5 sites. Which you totally should anyway.

This giveaway ends Sunday, February 19th 2017 @6 pm PST and the winners will be announced in the 2/20/17 edition of Mornings with Mavis. You will be notified via email and have 48 hours to claim your prize. If you do not claim your prize within 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited. Note: This giveaway is only available to US residents. Due to national and international agricultural restrictions, Botanical Interests is only able to ship seeds within the United States.

Good Luck! I hope you win!

♥ Mavis

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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.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy