One Hundred Dollars a Month

Mornings with Mavis – Kindle Books, New Printable Coupons, Crocs, Dansko, Yoga Journal, Butterfly Garden and More

June 13, 2013 2 Comments

I turn around for one second, and Lucy the trouble dog is licking the plates clean. HA!

Happy Thursday everyone.

~Mavis

Coupons.com just released a boatload of new printable coupons:

$1.00 off any one MAXWELL HOUSE or YUBAN Coffee
$1.00 off any ONE (1) PLANTERS NUTrition Mix
$1.00 off any TWO (2) KRAFT Barbecue Sauce
$1.00 off any ONE (1) A.1. Steak Sauce
$1.00 off ONE KRAFT Mayo or MIRACLE WHIP Dressing
$1.00 off any TWO (2) KRAFT Dressing
$1.00 off ONE (1) PLANTERS Nuts, 4 oz. or larger
$1.00 off on any TWO (2) OSCAR MAYER Hot Dogs

Available Kindle Books I think are cool…
Eat Like A Farm Girl; 3 Ingredient Plant Based Recipes $4.99 {This is Awesome!}
Homesteading {Back to Basics Guides} $3.39
Simpler Living $3.03
31 Days to Clean – Having a Martha House the Mary Way $4.99

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can.

These Gourmet Classics 12- by 12-inch Microfiber Dish Cloths {Set of 4} are on sale right now for only $6.38. I own several sets {in white of course} and I LOVE them! Prices start at $6.38 and they are worth every penny.

Today only you can get 50% Off Tiny Prints Thank You Cards. If you have never ordered from Tiny Prints before their cards are very high quality. Plus enjoy free shipping with orders of $49+ with code: fs49

Looking for something fun to do with the kids? The Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden is on sale on Amazon.com for $12.99 The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird hatched butterflies for about 5 summers in a row when she was younger and loved this kit!

Cuisinart Nonstick Hard-Anodized 14-Piece Cookware Set $174.76 Shipped

1-1/2- and 3-qt saucepan, 8- and 10-in skillet, 4-qt saute, 9-qt stockpot, 7-3/4-in steamer insert, and 9-1/2-in pasta steamer insert–all with covers
Hard-anodized exterior with aluminum core; Quantanium nonstick interior
Riveted stainless-steel handles stay cool on the stovetop
Tight-fitting, break-resistant tempered glass covers for easy monitoring of cooking food

Zulily has Crocs for the whole family on sale today. Everything from Flip flops to sandals to closed toe shoes for the beach.

Already a Zulily Member? Go HERE to Get This Deal

REI Outlet Deal of the Day is the Columbia Basecamp Digital watch.

SODIAL- Laser Finger Beams $.97 Shipped! These finger laser beams would be perfect for the 4th of July!

6pm has Dansko summer sandals and more on sale. Plus you receive FREE SHIPPING too!

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Yoga Journal Magazine for only $4.99 a year when you use code 9253 at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 6/13/13 at midnight EST so be sure and grab your subscription before then.

Don’t forget… Amazon Local is offering a $30 worth of Berries for only $15! These chocolate dipped sports berries would be perfect for Father’s Day!

This week you can expect to find 2 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper. 1 Smart Source and 1 Red Plum.

Go HERE to view the entire list of coupons that will be available in this Sunday’s paper.

Don’t get the Sunday paper? Check this site for great deals for newspapers in your area. In many areas you will be able to subscribe to only the Sunday paper if you’d prefer.

Find More Printable Coupons

Filed Under: Amazon.com, Mornings with Mavis, Online Deals Tagged With: amazon, mornings with Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, Online Deals

Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad

June 12, 2013 4 Comments

Last night I made a simple {I mean REALLY SIMPLE} pea salad for dinner and it was delicious. Fresh sugar snap peas are one of those vegetables that taste best when they are super fresh. If you have some growing in your garden, or you’ve got a neighbor who’s growing them that you can barter with, try this recipe for sugar snap and radish salad, you’ll love it. We sure did.

Ingredients

1 pound sugar snap peas, stringed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil {ZOE is my favorite brand}
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 radishes, thinly sliced
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil and black the peas {about 1 minute}. Drain peas and run them under cold water to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper. Toss in the peas and radishes and stir together until all the vegetables are well coated. Garnish with feta cheese and serve.

Looking for more great salad recipes? Check out the book Salad for Dinner. It’s packed with all sorts of goodness.

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Recipe, salads, Salads & Sides Tagged With: peas, radish, Salads, Salads & Sides, Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad

Foraging for Free Food – Where to Find the Good Stuff

June 12, 2013 15 Comments

Have you ever wanted to go foraging for food but didn’t know where to start? Now, there is a map that shows you all of the places around the world that you can score free food. NPR featured an article recently that told about how two committed foragers created a map of the world that leads you to places with public fruit trees, free veggies–and for the really brave, dumpsters with a steady supply of food. Fallingfruit.org even allows locals to add to the map as they find free food sources.

At first, I thought this was going to be a dumpster diving sort of deal, but when I clicked on the map, there are tons of fruit trees on public land, blackberry locations, and really fun not-so-common scores, like currants.

And the best part? It’s totally FREE. Woohoo!

In the land of plenty, foraging just got a little bit easier.

~Mavis

Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: Foraging for Free Food, frugal living, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips

Growing Tomatoes, Basil and Cucumbers in a Greenhouse

June 12, 2013 2 Comments

Just before watering the plants in the greenhouse this morning I snapped a few pictures so I could show you what’s growing. Last year I had a lot more tomato and pepper plants in the greenhouse around this time, but it was nuts. I packed way to many plants in there and could barely move around, so this year I promised myself I wouldn’t do the same thing.

After all, plants need room to grow just like humans do.

Right now we have cucumbers, basil, Swiss chard and peppers growing on the left greenhouse wall.

Once the cucumbers get a little taller I’ll wrap some garden twine around them and create little trellis so they can grow along the top eves of the greenhouse and dangle down. I did it last year and they looked pretty cool.

This is round two of our greenhouse basil. The first batch was grown in a flat. This time around I thought it might be fun to try growing the basil in gutters. Have you ever tried this? I think it will look cool once it gets growing.

And Swiss chard. You can grow this ~~crap~~ yummy delicious stuff anywhere.

Check out the strawberries! We are harvesting juicy red berries from the greenhouse gutters every other day now. We had strawberry shortcakes last night and they were delicious!

Here is a picture of my beloved green zebra tomatoes. I LOVE THESE TOMATOES!

Last year the plants grew so tall they were coming out of the top vent in the greenhouse. It was crazy. But I’m looking forward to it happening all over again because these tomatoes are delicious.

And last but not least, here is a picture of the potatoes and chives growing alongside the greenhouse.

How is your garden growing? Do you co-plant anything with your potatoes?

~Mavis

You can see more pictures of our greenhouse and the progress we are making, in my Growing Vegetables in a Greenhouse Series.

Filed Under: Gardening, Greenhouse

How to Grow Your Own Food – 6/12/2013 Garden Tally

June 12, 2013 10 Comments

This year I’m on a mission to grow 4,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in my suburban backyard. In 2012 I was able to grow 2,028 pounds, and in 2013 I’m going double or nothing. I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be able to achieve my goal. But, as with any adventure, half the fun is getting there. ~Mavis

*******

Did you plant peas this year? How are they doing?

The sugar snap peas we planted alongside the teepee poles are growing like weeds I tell you. Right now they are about 5 feet tall and bursting with pods. We’ve already picked them twice and we are about ready to pick them again. I keep thinking we are going to have stir fry for dinner but last night I made a pea salad {I’ll post the recipe in a little bit} and the kids keep munching away at the extra snap peas as well as packing them in their lunches.

Life is good! I love this time of year. Garden fresh strawberries and peas. You just can’t beat that.

Now, if we would just get the tomatoes to hurry up, everything would be perfect.

Oh, and I don’t want to forget the Swiss chard. We collected stalks of that too {for the chickens}.

~Mavis

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 7 ounces

Our second round of basil is poking through the soil in the greenhouse. I LOVE making fresh pesto.

Beets - 14 ounces

So far this year we have planted 2 batches of beets. I think I might start another batch next week.

Bok Choy – 4 oz

Check out this Asian Noodle Salad with Bok Choy I made. It’s pretty awesome.

Carrots – 3 ounces

I planted carrots again last week for the 3rd {or is it 4th?} time. Usually carrots grow like crazy in my garden but this year I’m having a problem getting them going. Or should I say growing?

Chives – 11 ounces

We are picking about an ounce a week to use in recipes.

Egg Count – 1,385

We collected 68 eggs this past week. What a bunch of slackers!!!

Lettuce – 21 pounds 6 ounces

We harvested the last of the endive and freckles lettuce last week. Now all that’s left is the romaine we have growing in the pallet garden.

M icrogreens 5 ounces

I need to grow some more of these. My favorite way to eat microgreens is with egg salad sandwiches.

Oregano - 2 ounce

Peas – 2 pounds 10 ounces

Sometimes it’s really, really hard to get a basket of sugar snap peas in to the house. The Girl and I picked a bunch last night and immediately weighed them. What you see is what made it to the back door after snacking on them for a few minutes.

To me, fresh peas and strawberries, feel like the beginning of summer.

Potatoes – 2 pounds 9 ounces

Radish - 22 pounds 2 ounces

We have just enough radishes left for a salad and then they’ll all be gone! Eeeek! I totally forgot to plant more. Now I’ll have to add that to the list.

Spinach – 6 ounces

Sprouts -2 pounds 2 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 2 pounds 10 ounces

Swiss Chard 2 pounds 8 ounces

Wheatgrass - 7 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 71 pounds

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 1,385

If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more on the topic of organic gardening, my #1 favorite book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Tally, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 Garden Tally, Gardening

Mornings with Mavis – Butterball Coupons, Lane Bryant Sale, Glass Beverage Dispensers, Sloggers Boots, Canning Supplies

June 12, 2013 Leave a Comment

Happy Wednesday everyone! Check out this cool strawberry stacking container Heather from Massachusetts sent it. Isn’t it cool? If you have a single picture of something you’ve got growing in your garden, send it in, I’d love to feature it in the Mornings with Mavis spot.

If you have a whole bunch of photos and you’d like to take the time to write up a story about your garden, chicken coop, or other treasures, you can send those in too and earn a $20 gift card to Amazon.com.

Have a great Wednesday everyone. I’ll be canning with my neighbor Hulda today. Yee- Haw!

~Mavis

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day – Save 59% or more on the Little Classic Ladder with Locking work Platform. These ladders come highly rated by fellow Amazon shoppers. Want to know the best part? Amazon ships them for free! Wahoooooo!

Butterball has a great coupon out right now, save $1.00 off an one Butterball refrigerated product. There is also a coupon good for $1.00 off any Butterball Frozen Turkey Burgers.

Attention Lane Bryant shoppers… Zulily has Lane Bryant clothing on sale for up to 60% off. Dresses, Tops, Pants, Intimates, you name it, it’s one sale.

Just in time for summer! Zulily also has tons of glass beverage dispensers on sale today starting at $14.99 in their Easy Entertaining Sale.

Already a Zulily Member? Go HERE to Get This Deal

If you are looking for a new pair of rain and garden boots, you can snag a pair of Sloggers for around $27 shipped. There are over a dozen styles to choose from.

Need a flag for the 4th of July? Amazon has the U.S. Nylon US Flag 3X5 ft- Embroidered Stars on sale for only $10 and it is Made in the USA.

Thinking about doing some canning this year? Amazon has the Back to Basics 5-Piece Home Canning Kit on sale for only $10.50. This is the kit I use!

Need a canner? I use the Granite Ware 21-1/2-Quart Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner with Rack. Amazon has it in stock and ready to ship!

Amazon has Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil, 15 Ounce available for just $5.98 when you purchase $25 or more worth of items on Amazon. This is a great deal!

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Vanity Fair Magazine for only $6.99 a year when you use code 6536 at checkout. This deal will expire tonight 6/12/13 at midnight EST so be sure and grab your subscription before then.

One of my favorite deals is back -Vistaprint – 140 Customized Labels for only $5 Shipped.

Just choose your favorite design from a gallery of templates {or even upload your own design or picture}, then customize them for any occasion and pay only $5 with shipping included! Hurry, this offer ends on Friday, June 14!

Find More Printable Coupons

Filed Under: Amazon.com, Mornings with Mavis, Online Deals Tagged With: amazon, mornings with Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, Online Deals

Sweet Cherry Cobbler

June 11, 2013 4 Comments

Last night I made a sweet cherry cobbler for dessert using some of those free cherries I picked up from Mr. Produce Guy the other day and it turned out delicious. This sweet cherry cobbler was so good, next time I think I’ll serve it for dinner. Ha!

Here is the recipe, I hope you like it.

Ingredients for the filling

6 cups sweet cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Ingredients for the Topping

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1⁄4 tsp. salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 eggs
2⁄3 cup milk {I used 2% milk}

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place all the ingredients for the filling in a medium sized bowl and toss to make sure the cherries are coated evenly. Pour filling mixture in to a buttered 9×12 baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and, using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture all at once and stir until a sticky dough forms.

Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop {or a large spoon} drop spoonfuls of dough on top of the cherry filling until the top of the pan is covered with dough. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes then cover with foil. Cook an additional 15 minutes or until the cherries are bubbling.

Serve with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Looking for a cherry pitter? I use the Progressive International Cherry-It Multiple Cherry Pitter. It rocks!

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe Tagged With: cherries, cobblers, desserts, recipe, recipes

Mavis Mail – Lindsey from Texas Sends in Cinder Block Garden Photos

June 11, 2013 2 Comments

Wow! Check out this uber cute cinder block garden Lindsey from Texas sent in.

This is Cindy’s second year using cinder blocks for her raised beds and she absolutely loves them.

Here is what she had to say about her garden:

Our cinder block raised beds hold potatoes, green beans, strawberries, tomatoes, cilantro, hot and sweet peppers, onions, carrots, lettuce, marigolds, ranunculus, sweet peas, sage and mint. We also have a plot of land dedicated to watermelons, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew and corn, and a second plot that I’m about to plant our pumpkins in.

We have a three year old and a one year old that love to help out in the garden – they love looking for strawberries to eat while I’m out there weeding and watering. In addition to the all of the veggies that I’ve planted, we also have dewberry vines that grow wild on our land, so we now have our freezer full of berries – at least the ones the girls didn’t gobble down. We have also canned two batches of dewberry jelly and one batch of salsa this year already.

Last September we got our mixed flock of six chickens – Nugget, Cuckoo, Weezy, Doodlebug, Pepper and Ginger.My husband, father, and father-in-law built an amazing coop for them which I still need to paint! Our plans are to eventually move our raised beds within the chicken run (fenced in from the chickens of course) so the chickens can keep a bug patrol around the perimeter of the vegetable garden.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

~Mavis

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
Cool Arts & Crafts - Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go HERE for the official rules.

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening, Mavis Mail Tagged With: cinder block garden, garden tours, Gardening, mavis mail

Blueberry Jam with Mint

June 11, 2013 4 Comments

I spotted this recipe for blueberry jam with mint last winter and have been waiting until I had enough blueberries to make a batch. Well yesterday was my lucky day!!!

This jam is the kind of thing you’d find in a specialty food store {like Oakville Grocery in Napa, California} for $15 a jar. Yumm a licous does not even begin to describe it.

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh blueberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 6-inch sprigs of mint

Directions

Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars {I used wide mouth pint jars} and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

Combine the blueberries and water in a 5-quart nonreactive pan. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce the heat a fast simmer and cook uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Stir in the lemon juice and sugar. Bring the mixture to a slow boil and let it cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon.

Now for the exciting part! Pour the berry mixture into a 2-quart, heat-resistant, glass bowl {I used a giant mixing bowl}. Tie the mint sprigs together with bakers twine and place them in the jam. Slowly submerge the mint and and gently crush it along the sides of the container of the glass bowl to release the oils. Let the crushed mint steep for about 5 minutes.

Remove and throw away the mint, and then ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on. Place jars on elevated rack in a canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.}

Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. Yields 3 pints or 6 1/2 pints.

See More of my Canning Recipes HERE

Looking for a few more awesome canning recipes? Check out Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Amazon has it currently in stock and ready to ship.

Need a canner? I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack. And if you need a tool kit, I use one similar to this one.

Filed Under: Canning 101, Recipe Tagged With: blueberries, Canning, canning 101, recipe, recipes

How to Freeze Fruits and Vegetables

June 11, 2013 7 Comments

Freezing fruits and vegetables is super simple, as long as you take a few steps to make sure you don’t have gray mushy produce. For both fruits and vegetables, make sure you get heavy duty freezer bags. It’s an extra cost you won’t regret. Also, make sure you remove as much of the air as possible when you zip or seal the bags up. Freezing fruits and vegetables now to enjoy later in the year is a great way to cut costs in your grocery budget.

When it comes to freezing, fruits are easiest–and by easiest, I mean quickest. Wash and dry all of the fruit. For delicate fruits, like raspberries and strawberries, lay them out flat on a cookie sheet and freeze them {I like to do this with most fruits, just because I find they don’t stick in one big clump in the freezer bag that way}. Then, when they are individually frozen, move them to a freezer bag.

For fruits that brown easily, like peaches or apples, use an ascorbic acid powder. You can also use crushed up vitamin c tablets or use a water and lemon juice bath. Just slice the fruit, treat the slices per the instructions on the ascorbic acid, and then go about the freezing process.

Vegetables require a little more effort. To maintain their color and texture, most veggies need to be blanched first {though you can skip this step on some veggies, see the chart below for which ones}. Blanching is basically giving them a quick dip in boiling water. The blanching time for each vegetable is important, because the goal is NOT to cook them. Cooked, frozen veggies equals mushy paste in your mouth. After you blanch your vegetables, you want to immediately plunge them into an ice water bath.

Vegetables continue cooking after you remove them from the boiling water, the ice water bath will stop the cooking process. This whole process is called blanching and shocking. After the ice bath, lay veggies flat on a kitchen towel and gently pat them dry. Again, I like to freeze the vegetables on a cookie sheet before I put them in bags to prevent clumpage, but it’s up to you. Also, it’s best to go ahead and freeze the veggie exactly how you plan to eat it, i.e. sliced, diced, shredded, etc.

Here’s a handy dandy little chart to guide you with your blanching times:

Vegetable	Blanching Time {minutes}	Can Be Frozen Without Blanching
Artichoke Hearts	7	No
Artichoke – Jerusalem	3-5	No
Asparagus	2-4	No
Beans – Snap, Green, Wax	3	Yes
Beans – Lima, Butter, Pinto	2-4	No
Beets	Cook Completely	No
Broccoli	3	Yes
Brussels Sprouts	3-5	No
Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage {shredded}	1 1/2	Yes
Carrots {diced or sliced}	2	No
Cauliflower	3	No
Celery	3	No
Corn off the Cob	4	No
Corn on the Cob	7-11	Yes
Eggplant	4	No
Greens	2-3	No
Onions {Rings}	10-15 seconds	Yes
Peas – Edible Pod	1 1/2-3	No
Peas – Green	1 1/2	No
Peppers {strips or rings}	2	Yes
Pumpkin	Cook Completely	No
Rutabagas	3	No
Soybeans	5	No
Summer Squash	3	Yes
Winter Squash	Cook Completely	No
Sweet Potatoes	Cook Completely	No
Turnips or Parsnips {cubed}	2	No