One Hundred Dollars a Month

Getting a glimpse into the lives of my readers through the  $20/$20 Challenge has been awesome! I love seeing your cupboard and pantries of course, but getting to see your cute families is so fun, too! Here’s Megan’s story:

Hi Mavis-

My name is Megan I am a nurse and mom of two boys {3.5 and 6} and we live in a suburb outside of Portland, OR. I have been reading you blog for years and have tried and loved many of your recipes. Having two growing boys I have realized when they were young that feeding them was going to be a challenge, and I often joke that we will need to buy a cow at one point to keep enough milk in the house. We are lucky to have a big yard and we have slowly expanded our garden over the last few years. Last year we had a good year and were able to grow potatoes, lots of tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, cucumbers, onions, carrots, kale and lettuce. The first picture is the beginning of my garden last season, we also have two pear trees we planted outside the fence in the side yard and last year we got our first crop of pears. I have plans for this year to add two more raised beds and try to convince my husband to let me put in more berry bushes.

I have slowly started canning mostly jellies, salsas and last year I did whole tomatoes from the garden. This year I might try adding something new. I have a small laundry room and turned half of it into my pantry. I keep my canned goods, baking supplies and equipment, and extra dry goods in there.I am running low on canned good already, all of the empty jars on the top were filled at some point last year. I also have a chest freezer, that’s usually full of extra meat, large freezer items, frozen stock and sauces, and frozen fruits and veggies.

In my kitchen freezer you will find similar things, but this is also where I keep my bag of veggies scraps to make stock, bread scraps to make croutons, and used citrus peels to make a vinegar cleaning solution. We participate in a biweekly food box from a local organic produce company and it has been great. Its a good way to get my two picky boys to try new foods. However the things that we won’t eat or get excess of I have learned to be creative with. For example things like beets and greens get pureed and frozen in ice cube trays for using later.

Over the past few years I have tried to influence my families health for the better by buying local and making things myself. Growing up I always hated that my mother never bought us pre-made cookies or frozen dinners, I think I was the only kid who had a mom who made cookies and bread from scratch. But as an adult love that I have that skill and have taken it a step further to make my own seasoning mixes, salad dressings, and sauces. Where we live we are close to many farms and go fruit picking in the summer, and I try to take the kids to the farmers market when I can. I often think to myself that I must have been a farmers wife or pioneer woman in another life because I am so into growing, baking, preserving etc.

Here is a photo of my fridge, pretty bare right now as I am due to go to the store next week. We are running low on dairy and meat, hence my thought that livestock in the backyard might not be a bad idea. I have beef stock in there defrosting for dinner, herbs, juice, leftover potato soup, and a pineapple upside-down cake, I made last week. The Spiderman lunch container is one of the best things I bought at Target, I just fill it up with odds and ends for lunch with a small dessert and we call it a “lunchable.” Its amazing how my kids will eat so much more if its in this container than on a plate {I also have a Ninja Turtle one for my older son}.

This last photo I added was my last summer, picking veggies in my pjs, as usual, after working a 12 hour day at the hospital.

Thanks
Megan
Are you getting your pantries camera ready? You can participate in the $20/$20 Challenge by simply sending in pictures of your pantry. Find out more about the $20/$20 Challenge: Show Your Pantry – Fill a Pantry!