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.

Maine In October – Front Porches, Fall Foliage and Spooky Decorations

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 16, 2019 · 25 Comments

Have I told you how much I love it here? Who knew that living steps away from a historic downtown would be the something that was missing. The intermittent stream of people walking their dogs and the noise from the traffic passing by somehow, it’s all so charming.

I am surrounded by small houses, grand houses, houses from the late 1700’s to the 1950’s. The simplicity of it all. This time of year reminds me of the movie E.T. and the 80’s, and the way life should be. Ghosts and goblins and little kids bursting with excitement over the decorations they just set out.

Maine in October… I am in love.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone,

~Mavis

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Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Recipe

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 15, 2019 · 5 Comments

Every time I hear the word meatloaf I think of the movie a Christmas Story and Randy and his double beetloaf, don’t you? 😉 Ahh meatloaf, how can you not LOVE it? Maybe if Randy’s mother had tried this recipe for bacon wrapped meatloaf he would love the classic American meal a little more.

The HH tried this recipe the other night and we both really enjoyed it {and I was surprised because I generally dislike anything made with a can of cream of mushroom soup}. The Girl even ate it the next day for breakfast. BREAKFAST!!! Can you believe it? 🙂 Kids, they’re so weird.

Bacon wrapped meatloaf… Who knew?

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 lb pork breakfast sausage {can do 2 lbs of ground beef instead}
1/4 cup Cream of Mushroom soup
1/3 cup sourdough bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese,
1/4 cup parsley, minced
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
10 thin slices of bacon
BBQ sauce {optional}

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small skillet, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender. Set aside. Combine onion/garlic mixture with meat and all ingredients up to, but not including, bacon in a large bowl. Fold thoroughly until well combined.

Line a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with bacon strips and then carefully press the meat mixture into the loaf pan so as not to disturb the bacon slices in the pan. Line a broiler pan with foil {or a baking sheet with a 2″ edge} and place the loaf pan upside down on the pan to allow the fat to drain out while cooking.

Bake for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the meatloaf and brush the meatloaf with your favorite BBQ sauce and bake for another 30 – 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees and the bacon is nice and crispy. Let rest for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Serve warm with all the fixings.

~Mavis

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How Much We Spent on Groceries and What We Ate – Week 41 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 14, 2019 · 36 Comments

Local Bakery $5.50

Hello Monday! It was a fantastic week for home cooked meals. 2 of the 3 dishes the HH prepared last week were perfect for leftovers and we were even able to sneak two new recipes into the mix.

Market Basket $114.90

We went grocery shopping TOGETHER last week… can you tell? 😉 Also, I found the Good N’ Plenty’s {but still no Red Vines} and now that my husband has discovered Toasted Cheez It Crackers I have a feeling those will make their way into every shopping trip as well.

The bottle of wine was for a fancy beef stew recipe and haddock was on sale so we picked that up too. I was happy to find Ginger Gold apples and I think I’ll make a pot of applesauce later today. Homemade applesauce is the best, don’t you think?

Hannaford $9.95

Cabbage $0.49 a pound, Asparagus $1.99 a pound, Butternut squash $0.79 a pound, English cucumber $0.99 and a 5 pound bag of potatoes for $2.49. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to do with the cabbage yet, maybe fried cabbage with bacon, but if you’ve got any good ideas, I’d love to hear about them.

Getting older is a kind of a funny business. It seems like every recipe we make these days lasts two or three days. This beef stew for example. It called for 3 pounds of chuck roast, and we ate the stew for dinner one night, and lunch the next two days.

Not having super hungry teens around anymore is probably the reason why food lasts a bit longer around here, but it’s still kind of weird getting used to the idea that maybe we should start cutting all the recipes we make in half if we don’t want to end up with a fridge full of leftovers. Maybe it’s all in my head, I don’t know.

Haddock with roasted vegetables and rice.

Newman’s Own Pizza. I like that the crust is thin and not super doughy.

Bacon wrapped meatloaf. {I’ll share the recipe tomorrow}.

It was a good week, I even baked a batch of the best chocolate chip cookies on earth, made a mini salami and cheese platter and made a list of meals to cook for this week. Even though there is still a long list of projects to plow through, it seems like things are finally starting to settle down and we are getting back into the swing of things. 🙂

Have a wonderful fall day everyone, winter will be here before we know it.

~Mavis

P.S. If you haven’t bought your Halloween Candy yet, Amazon has it on sale today for 25% off.

Total Spent on Groceries Last Week $130.35

Total Spent on Groceries in October $175.82
Total Spent on Groceries in September $249.15
Total Spent on Groceries in August $253.38
Total Spent on Groceries in July $300.74
Total Spent on Groceries in June $259.12
Total Spent on Groceries in May $262.39 {More meat!}
Total Spent on Groceries in April $284.56 {My husband bought a smoker and a BUNCH of meat!}
Total Spent on Groceries in March $321.69
Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $2372.96

You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories

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My 22 Goals for 2019 – Week 41 of 52

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By Mavis Butterfield on October 13, 2019 · 16 Comments

My 22 Goals for 2019

Goal #1 — Spend More Time Doing What I Love

Sweet Lucy Puggle! She may not have chickens to chase around the yard, but she sure has plenty of new places to explore.

Goal #2 — Garden, Garden, Garden

Fall foliage / front porch tour is in the works! There are so many beautifully decorated homes around town {some over the top and some elegantly simple like the one above} and I’m excited to share them with you. Especially for all you peeps who live in places where fall just sort of passes you by without a big change in leaves.

After installing the boxwood hedge last week we decided to take a break from gardening and work on indoor projects this week. We installed a new towel racks and t.p. holder, painted out one of the bathrooms, hung a new shower curtain, a new mirror and now all that’s left to do is make the roman shades for the bathrooms. The fabric should be here on Wednesday so I’ve cleared my schedule for Thursday to make 2 shades… so wish me luck.

Goal #3 — ~~Plant an Orchard {Calling it Quits on this one.}~~

Poor Miss Lemon! Since bringing her inside last week she’s loosing her leaves like crazy. I’ve fertilized her, and kept her roots well watered so I’m hoping it’s just the shock of coming inside after being outdoors for the past 6 months and that she’ll bounce back soon.

Goal #4 — ~~Gussy Up the Potting Shed~~ Done!

Goal #5 — ~~Grow Enough Extra Vegetables, Eggs and Flowers to Earn $1500~~ ~~at my little roadside vegetable stand.~~

It was totally my intention to grow a ton of fruits and vegetables to sell at the farm-stand when I made my list of goals for 2019 last winter, but then we moved. So, that whole goal was sort of a bust.

Goal #6 — Finish Every Single Unfinished Rug Hooking Project in My Pattern Bin + 10 Things from back Issues of Magazines/Books I’ve Been Meaning to Make.

I was able to finish 2 sunflowers and 3 pillows along with a pumpkin table runner and upload them to my Etsy shop last night which was good progress considering we are still settling in. Next week I’ll work on a special order pillow, and a few flowers and then I’ll finish up the work on my big top secret holiday project.

73 rugs in my pattern bin {now down to 29}
183 hooked flowers {finished 135, now down to 49}
10 “things” from back issues of magazines {finished 0}

~~Goal #7 — Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns {with at least half of them being large ones}~~ DONE!

So far this year I’ve added 12 new rug hooking patterns and 13 beginner rug hooking kits to my Etsy shop.

New rug hooking patterns I’ve created and added to My Etsy Shop this year:

Rug Hooking Kits

Busy Little Bee {in 2 different colors}
Folk Art Heart
Small Nantucket Whale
Primitive Crow
Miss Robin {in 2 different colors}
Simple Kitty
Primitive Flowers
Sunflowers
A Basket of Spring Posies
Fat Brown Hen
Chicky’s Garden

Goal #8 — ~~Split and Stack 2 Cords of Wood for Next Winter~~

All that firewood! We sold it. 😉

Goal #9 — Do Something with the 5,002 Photos on My Phone

Current number of photos on phone is 13 million.

Goal #10 –Lose the Muffin Top

Moving bricks from one end of the yard to the other. That was my cardio for this past week.

Goal #11 — Run, Walk or Crawl a 5k, ~~10k~~, Half Marathon and ~~Marathon~~

The planning for the inaugural Bakery and Tea Half Marathon is underway. The Girl and I are VERY excited. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Goal #12 — Read or Listen to 26 New Books {19 down, 7 to go}

I started Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen on audio-book 2 nights ago but fell asleep to it playing in the background both times. I can tell that if I can just stick it out with his monotone storytelling voice though it will be good.

Also, I snagged a few books at the library book sale the other day. Fill a bag for $5! WHAT A DEAL. I had this really clever idea to fill the bookcases in the family room with books that have red, white or blue bindings… so that’s why the collection of books I swooped up is a little eclectic.

I’ll be diving into Nowhere Near Normal, Mozart’s Starling and Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie first. Wahoo. 5 Bucks!

Currently on the request list:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Books I’ve Read or Listened to So Far This Year:

Marilla of Green Gables #1 Still my favorite
The Great Alone #2
The Aviator’s Wife #3
Before We Were Yours #4
Secrets of a Charmed Life #5
Where’d You Go, Bernadette #6
Carnegie’s Maid #7
The Gown #8
Unbroken #9
The Alice Network #10
The Shape of Mercy #11
Will’s Red Coat #12
Big Little Lies #13
Mr. Churchill’s Secretary
I Feel Bad About My Neck
Bunny Mellon {Doesn’t count because it was my second time}
On Writing {Doesn’t count because it was my third time}
Walden
Finder’s Keepers
Delicious!
Following Atticus

Goal #13 — Try 52 New Recipes.

27 down, 25 recipes to go. Last week I shared a recipe for mini pumpkin cheesecakes and this past week the HH tried out a new beef stew recipe as well as a new meatloaf recipe.

Goal #14 — Clean Up 52 Old Recipes on the Blog

9 down, 44 to go. I’ll get crackin’ once fall {and cooler temps} come around.

Goal #15 — Fill 100 Canning Jars 48 down, 52 to go.

I picked up some ginger gold apples to make something… but I just haven’t figured out what yet. 😉

So far this year I’ve I canned:

Goal #16 — Finish Furnishing Our House

The good news is our two chairs and couch for the family room have arrived. The bad news is I’ve still got a boatload of painting to do in the room before we can put the furniture in position. I’ve already painted the walls and the ceiling in there but still have all the trim, the windowsills, the radiators and the bookcase/mantel area to paint.

The goal is to have the room completed by the end of November {Thanksgiving actually}. And that includes making all the art to hang on the walls, AND sewing all the roman shades for the windows.

Breaking down projects room by room is really the best way to go if you ask me. It’s stressful, but so much LESS stressful in other ways. It helps to keep me focused and on task and away from completing the house in a piecemeal fashion.

Goal #17 – 52 Dates with the HH {32 down, 20 to go}

1 date last week. It involved a pastry. 😉

Goal #18 — ~~Take One Adult Education Class~~ Done {I’ve taken 3!}

I’m keeping the first class I took with my neighbor top secret for now {Mel know’s what it is though} 😉
Spoon Carving Class with Heather.
Mini pottery lesson {I loved it! and now I want to sign up for a full class}

Goal #19 — Secret {for now} Holiday Project

The big reveal will be on Friday, November 1st.

Goal #20 — Create 12 Wowie Zowie Party Platters

6 down, 6 to go.

Goal #21 — Visit 12 General Stores

9 down 3 to go.

I was supposed to tell you about a new general store last week but got totally distracted. Oops. Will share this week.

Chase’s Daily {I think it should count}
Squam Lake Marketplace
Harrisville General Store
Dodge’s Store in New Boston, New Hampshire
Zeb’s General Store in North Conway, New Hampshire
Dan and Whit’s in Norwich, Vermont
Hussey’s General Store in Windsor, Maine

Goal #22 — Compete with Carole….. Get on My Front Door Game On

I ordered a little bling to hang in the tiny front porch alcove area for Halloween and I’ve very excited to hang it up. I’ll share a picture next week once I get it all decorated and Mrs. HB’s wreath on the door.

I LOVE this time of year!

Front Door Bling I’ve Made So Far This Year to Compete with Carole:

Late January : Valentine Heart
Late February : Shamrock
Late March : Giant Carrot
May: White wave petunia hanging basket
June/July: Tin Star and Flag Bunting
August : Sunflower
September: Indian corn and pumpkins

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How about YOU? What are your goals for 2019? If you told us about them HERE, check in! We want to know how you are doing. Because seriously, it’s so much easier to get those goals checked off your list when you have people rooting for you! 🙂

Have a great day everyone,

♥ Mavis

You can read more about my 22 goals for 2019 HERE.

Have a Great Day!

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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