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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.

How to Get Free Food Week # 10 – Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

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This past week I was able to pick up 4 boxes of fresh produce that was headed for the dumpster.

After The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird and I sorted through all of the boxes, we ended up with yet another amazing haul of free fresh fruit and vegetables.

Can anyone tell me how much all of this produce would retail for at a local grocery store? It has been so long since I’ve shopped for fresh fruit and veggies, I have no idea what it would cost.

  • 2.5 watermelons
  • 1 honey dew melon
  • 14 ears of corn
  • 2 bags of lettuce
  • 5 bananas
  • 3 sweet peppers
  • 2 pears
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 peach
  • 3 pounds of grapes
  • 34 tomatoes
  • A ridiculous amount of strawberries

Take a look at all the loot the chickens scored.

Not to shabby if you ask me.

So far we have make a round of strawberry banana smoothies,  dehydrated tomatoes, snacked on watermelon and even ate burgers with all the trimming.

Holy cow!  I hope we can eat all this free produce before we pick up the next round of boxes.

So Mavis want’s to know…

Have you tried asking your local grocery store, produce stand, or farm for their scraps? Have you had success?  Been turned down?  Do you have any tips for others?

To see what else I’ve brought home over the past few months? Check out the stories below.

Looking for a way to store your extra produce?  In Progressive International’s lettuce keeper, fruit, lettuce, and vegetables stay fresher longer for up to 2 weeks. The special design lets you wash and store all in one since the container doubles as a colander. A water reservoir in the base keeps produce moist, and adjustable venting regulates air circulation and moisture.

Has anyone tried one of these?  Amazon currently has the lettuce keeper on sale for $13.98 and the reviews are crazy good.

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.

Free Food Week # 9 Reclaimed Food: Show and Tell

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This past week was fairly decent.  We were able to pick up a ton of free chicken scraps as well as reclaim a bit of fresh produce for ourselves. Because I don’t have a need for it, I no longer hold back any of the lettuce {which typically fills an entire box}for ourselves. Even though it is perfectly edible,  we now feed it to the chickens.  The honeymoon period is over, and this whole how to get free food adventure of mine seems more like a chore to me as each week passes.

Well, it seems like a chore that is, until I bring the loot home.  The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird of course looks forward to the free boxes of produce the same way a small child wakes up on Christmas morning hoping to find treasures under the Christmas tree.

Each week brings something different.  Something I wouldn’t normally buy.  And so in that respect, it’s still fun.

Here’s what we were able to salvage

  • 2 portobello mushrooms
  • 4 white mushrooms
  • 12 tomatoes
  • 1 Brussels sprout
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 tub of watermelon
  • 2 quarts strawberries
  • 8 pears
  • 1 bunch of grapes
  • 1 green onion
  • 1 tiny orange fruit {what is it? Anyone know}
  • 1 cucumber
  • 22 apples
  • 14 ears of corn

The watermelon and grapes were eaten soon after they were photographed, and we used the corn to make 2 batches of Roasted Corn with Bacon.  We also made a round of dehydrated apples and I have some homemade apple sauce on the stove right now.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all those tomatoes.

So, Mavis wants to know, did you get any fresh produce for FREE this week?

If so, how?

Did you dig for it?  Did you barter for free groceries?  Or did you simply ask your local grocer what they do with their scraps?

To see what else I’ve brought home over the past 2 months? Check out the stories below.

If you are interested in eating more real foods, check out the book Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck.  Amazon currently has it on sale for $10.87.

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.

Free Food Week # 8 Reclaimed Food: Show and Tell

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Free  Food… Who wants it?

This past week I was able to pick up 3 boxes of “chicken scraps” from my local produce store.  There would have been even more delicious refuse to take home, but I had to call ahead and let my produce guy know I needed to pick my stuff up about 3 hours earlier than normal.

He was like “Hey Mavis, what’s going on?”

Then I told him about how I was going on a trip, and that I didn’t want to miss my pick up day so would it be okay if I came a little early this time?  And it was.

I figured it would be better to come early, pick up the loot, hurry back home and quickly process the scraps before I had to head to the airport, rather than cancel my pick up day. Was it convenient? No. But I think the key to this whole “I’ll come pick up your scraps” journey is sticking to your word.  Showing up when you say you are going to and not inconveniencing someone who is willing to give you something for free, just because he thinks you are a little soft in the head.

Because I only had about 30 minutes to process the food, I was not able to save everything that was edible.  But, I still think I was able to salvage quite a bit.

  • 2 plastic tubs of watermelon {1 day past their “sell by” date}
  • 2 gallons of strawberries {I froze them to use in smoothies later this winter}
  • 1.5 lbs mini sweet pepper {great for snacking}
  • 6 oz mushrooms {I think I’ll use them for stir fry}
  • 6 green onions {stir fry}
  • 1 lonely potato {The Girl will eat I’m sure}
  • 2 tomatoes {?}
  • A hand full of raspberries
  • 22 apples {snacking and dehydrating}

Everything else was divided up between our chickens and Girly Girl’s flock.

So there you have it.  Another week of free produce for Mavis.

It’s been 2 months now, what do YOU think?  Are you surprised at how much food I have been able to save from the trash?  Do YOU think it’s gross?  Have you tried talking to your local grocery store or produce stand to see if they are will to give you their scraps?

MAVIS WANTS TO KNOW!

Want to see what else I’ve brought home over the past 2 months? Check out the stories below.

If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a Food Saver…

Amazon currently the Food Saver Starter Kit on sale for $71.98 shipped and I am so tempted to but it. I’ve been hesitating buying a Food Saver System for years now, because of the cost, but I think I might be finally ready to take the plunge. Three of my neighbors own Food Savers and just rave about them. Do you own one? Do you love it?

  • Starter kit includes Heat-Seal bags and FoodSaver rolls
  • Keeps your food fresh up to 5x longer
  • Large, easy to read control buttons for easy operation
  • Two sealing levels – great for moist or dry foods
  • Double-wide sealing strip for the strongest seal

Go HERE for more information on the Food Saver Starter Kit.

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.

Turning Trash into Treasure: Reclaimed Food and What To Do With It

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If you were wondering how much food I was able to salvage from the “chicken scraps” the other day… Here you go. Not only does Monkey Boy and The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird have enough veggies for their lunches this week, there’s enough for a stir fry dinner as well.

I have 3 words for you: Reclaimed. Food. Rocks.

Here is what I was able to salvage from 4 boxes of scraps:

  • 5 gallons strawberries {now frozen, will use for smoothies}
  • 11 snack size bags baby carrots {lunch snacks}
  • 10 snack size bags mixed sweet peppers {lunch snacks}
  • 1 quart size bag mixed peppers {stir fry night}
  • 3 snack size bags grapes {lunch snacks}
  • 3 snack size bags cucumbers {lunch snacks}
  • 3 snack size bags sugar snap peas {lunch snacks}
  • 9 heads romaine lettuce {I think I’ll make a Cesar salad for dinner tomorrow}

I was able to prepare:

  • 2 {10 oz} glasses fresh grapefruit juice
  • 2 1/2 quarts homemade apple sauce
  • 2 pints fresh salsa
  • 3 quarts vegetable stock

Call me crazy, but I think my refrigerator looks pretty normal.  The only difference between my refrigerator and my neighbors? I probably paid less than $5 for its contents.

Go forth and be frugal,

♥ Mavis


Looking for a some new smoothie recipes?  Check out 500 Smoothies & Juices: The Only Smoothie & Juice Compendium You’ll Ever Need By Christime Watson.  Amazon currently has it on sale for $11.80.

Looking for a juicer?  Well, you probably don’t want the one I own.  This review by fellow Amazon shopper Kara pretty much sums up how I feel about it;

“I hate it, it hates me. Even when rolling the oranges and lemons, making them as soft as can be, it is impossible to use. Good luck squishing it all the way down. I’m not weak, and it was bad on my shoulder and hand. You have to balance the bottom, while swinging the top. Then when you want to take out the fruit, you have to finagle it up and it’s a mess. It always gets stuck. Small suction cups are worthless. It came with flattening tool. WHY. I tried to squish strawberries and raspberries. What a joke.” Kara

I’d buy this one instead.  The Breville Compact Juice Fountainis the highest rated juicer on Amazon and ships for free.

*Amazon prices are subject to 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.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy