Gardening and Rabbits DO NOT Mix

After a long winter, I look forward to getting outside to plant my containers full of festive colors.


I love pansies because they are cold-tolerant and I don't have to wait until the last frost to plant them.

By late March, I try to get some pots planted with my favorite colors. It changes the mood in the back yard. It changes my mood too.

Until I see this and then...let's just say...my mood takes a turn.

Those rabbits feasted on all of the blooms in this pot.

I then walked over to my vegetable garden.

Not the sugar snap peas....please not the sugar snap peas.

So I have declared war on the rabbits. My husband tightened the fence around our Square Foot Garden and they should stay out of it now.

Just in time, because the 'purple' green beans sprouted through yesterday.

And hell hath no fury like a woman whose veggies have been munched on!

Have those furry little beasts done any damage in your garden? What are you doing about it? Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the varmints out of my pots?? Please let us know in the comments.

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This post is linked to:

• $5 Dinners Square Foot Gardening Update
• Tuesday Garden party at An Oregon Cottage

Pulled Chicken BBQ Sandwiches

Are you looking for an easy weeknight meal that is tasty and economical? Look no further...I bet most of these ingredients are already in your pantry.

Pulled Chicken BBQ

• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup mustard
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts

In the morning, place the chicken breasts in a crock pot with enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, so the chicken doesn't burn. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

When chicken is finished cooking, remove from crock pot and allow to cool slightly for a few minutes. Shred the chicken with two forks. Set aside.

Mix the top 6 ingredients together on medium heat in a large sauce pot. Add the shredded chicken and stir to heat through.

I served with corn on the cob and steamed broccoli.

Enjoy!

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This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
• 5 Dollar Dinners
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Last Chance Of Frost Has Passed, Time To Plant The Garden!

I live in the northeast and in my area, May 15th is the magical last date of potential frost. On May 15th, local gardeners venture outside to plant their tender gardens and flowers.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how I was converting my 4 X 12 foot box garden where I planted randomly to a gridded square foot garden where I planted deliberately.

By following the garden philosophy of Mel Bartholomew and his book All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!, I could now potentially plant 48 plants in the same box where I used to plant around 15.

In April, I planted some cold weather vegetables, such as carrots, lettuce, spinach, arugula, sugar snap peas and broccoli.

On May 15, I planted 4 tomatoes (roma, grape, big beef, celebrity), 1 tomatillo, 1 jalapeno, 1 yellow sweet pepper, 2 squares of beans, dill, flat parsley, pineapple sage, sweet basil, lemon verbena, rosemary. I sprinkled in some marigolds to help stave off the pesky bunnies. Because my mint is so invasive in this box, I kept the last 2 rows or 8 squares for the mint.

I am especially excited about the tomatillo plant. I have never planted it before and I can practically taste the salsa verde now.

I wanted to plant some bush beans and this purple variety intrigued me, mainly because my girls' favorite color is purple. They are an heirloom variety that turns deep forest green when cooked and are good frozen.

Back in April, I also bought a rhubarb plant. It is growing nicely, but unfortunately it can't be harvested the first year, so I have to wait until next year to enjoy it.

I planted 2 blueberry bushes last year and they are growing nicely. Although I have a fence around them to protect from the bunnies and a net to protect from the birds.

Do you remember my post on my new topsy turvy strawberry planter? Well I had to move the planter. I had it on a shepherd's hook that wasn't able to handle the weight, so we nailed a hook to the shed and it is holding it up well. I bought an ever-bearing strawberry variety and they are growing well, but no flowers yet. I'm not sure when to expect them and I'm also not sure if I should even expect many berries this year.

Do you have your garden planted? How does it look? Did you try anything new this year? Let us know in the comments.

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This post is linked to:

• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom
• Gardening Link-Up at $5 Dinners

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Associate, and if you make a purchase through my link, I earn a small percentage--at no cost to you! Thanks for supporting Family Balance Sheet.

When Your Garden Hands You MINT, Make Ice Cream.

In one of my more brilliant moments - ahem - I decided several years ago to plant some mint in my tiny little box garden. When I was a child, my nanny would make iced tea from the wild mint that grew in the fields on my grandparents' farm and I wanted to make some of that tea. I rooted some mint in my kitchen from a plant that I received from our CSA. I then planted it in my box garden.

I now have enough mint to make tea for the entire neighborhood. I am constantly ripping mint out of the box to try to control it. I don't want it to go away entirely, because my husband really loves the tea that I make, but I would like for it not to take over my entire box garden.

Okay, ignore the fact that my lawn needed mowed, but this pic was taken before I planted my veggies. The growing season was just starting in the northeast, but the mint started proliferating weeks prior.

Hopefully, you can see my dilemma, I can't make the tea fast enough, the mint just keeps growing and growing and growing...

I came upon this recipe a few years ago in a Martha Stewart Living magazine. I ripped it out and never tried it, until it was time to make some room for my tomatoes.

We like mint ice cream, but does ice cream made from mint from my garden taste the same as store bought?

Ready for the stove.



Ice mint bath, anyone?

Crushed mint leaves with milk.

At this point I had to take a long phone call, while I was making the cream, so I didn't take any pictures. There was a lot of stirring involved with heavy cream, sugar and eggs.

The finished mint ice cream.

I poured the ice cream into a container and put in the freezer to harden up a bit.

Doesn't everyone eat their ice cream in a martini glass? I shaved some dark chocolate on top of the MINT ice cream and garnished with mint leaves.

The verdict... We really enjoyed the ice cream. The flavor is different than what you will find in the grocery store. The mint flavor is subtle, but very fresh. It is comforting to know that the light green color comes from the plant and not dye. This will make a great dessert for a summer dinner party on the patio.

The recipe for Fresh spearmint ice cream courtesy of Martha Stewart Living.

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

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This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
• Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
• Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
• Works for Me Wednesday at We are That Family
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things
• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom
• Grow. Eat. Save at $5 Dinners

This post is a reprint, with a few edits from 2009. Enjoy!

Need Some Guest Posts For An Upcoming Blog Break

I will be taking a blog break for a week next month and I am looking for some well-written guest posts to publish during that time.

The topics should be related to frugal living, family finances and saving money. I am also looking for two recipe posts, with the recipes made from whole foods ingredients, not processed foods.

The guest post must be YOUR original content and not previously published elsewhere. Include a short bio with a link to your site, if applicable.

Please do not include affiliate links or key word links back to your site in the content.

Please send submissions for consideration by May 22, 2010 to familybalancsheet (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks and I look forward to reading your submissions.

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

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Family Office Manager: Does your family have one?

A couple of years ago I read, Thomas J. Stanley's Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen, and I had one of Oprah's aha moments. Chapter 17 is called "Why not run the family office?". He wrote about Susan, who handled all of the financial issues in her home, such as budgeting and making investment decisions. She treated her role like a job and helped her family achieve financial independence. I could relate to Susan and it has become my mission to emulate her success. If you get a chance, find this book at your library and read it and this chapter.

After reading about Susan, I realized that my role in our family is not just of a wife, mother, and home-keeper, but also the Family Office Manager. We would like to become debt-free and financially independent. These things don't just happen on their own. It takes planning, research and time to manage a home office. In our marriage, I handle the finances. I have an interest in the topic of personal finance and my husband would rather eat bugs than deal with this subject, so in our home I am the Family Office Manager.

(My office on a good day...)



I might manage the family finances, but we make all financial decisions together and I review everything with him. Last year, when my husband needed to purchase a laptop because his current one was on the verge of breaking into two pieces, he came to me to ask if we had the money for him to make the purchase. It was a necessary expense, but also an expensive one and neither one of us would ever make such a large purchase without consulting with the other person.

My husband does get involved with some financial activities; he did an amazing job negotiating the purchase of our last vehicle. He is actively involved with any major purchase, like a car, computer, or home improvement project. He enjoys researching those things and I would rather eat bugs.

What does a family office manager do and what are their responsibilities?

It will vary from home to home, but in our family, my responsibilities include:

• Track spending vs. the budget.


• Review budget. Where are we over-spending? How can I reduce the grocery budget? Do we have enough money for Christmas gifts? Where can we reduce spending so we can start saving for college funds?...on and on and on...


• Reconcile all accounts: checking, savings.


• Pay bills in a timely manner.


• Manage and monitor our emergency savings & Health Savings Account.


• Project short term cash needs.


• Manage retirement planning: how much will we need? How can we reduce our fees, but increase our return? Research funds and asset allocation breakdown. Make sure we max our contributions.


• Taxes: I work with an accountant because of our business taxes. I also make sure we take advantage of as many deductions as possible.


• Monitor and reduce our liabilities: I am currently working on our 5 year debt-reduction plan. I am also in the process of refinancing our mortgage and car loan again. My hubby will come along to sign on the dotted line.


• Prepare our Family Balance Sheet and review with my husband.

This arrangement works in our home and our marriage. In our home, the family office manager happens to be me, the wife, but it could be either partner. The key to success is trust, communication and organizational skills.

Does your family have an office manager?

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This post is linked to:

• Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Associate, and if you make a purchase through my link, I earn a small percentage--at no cost to you! Thanks for supporting Family Balance Sheet.

Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach and Feta

If you haven't noticed by now, sun-dried tomatoes are a staple in my kitchen. That is because I buy an 8 oz. container of them without oil, because they are cheaper that way, and I can get several different recipes from that one container. I use them in my hummus, Chicken Parmesan with Sun-Dried Tomato sauce, Turkey Sausage, Arugula and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta and now for my stuffed chicken.

Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach and Feta

• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, soften in warm water for a few minutes and drain
• 10 oz box frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze out all of the water
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup feta
• 4 chicken breasts, flattened to 1/2 inch thick
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup homemade chicken stock, store bought is fine too
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp water

Mix the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and garlic in a food processor.

Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and mix in the feta.

Spread the feta mixture on each of the flattened chicken breasts.


Fold the chicken breasts up and hold together with bamboo skewers or toothpicks.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet at medium heat and add the chicken breasts. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on one side. Use tongs and carefully turn the chicken to the other side to cook for 3-4 minutes. The chicken will not be cooked all the way through, especially around the skewers.

You will probably need to cook the chicken in batches. Four breasts with skewers will be very tight in the pan.

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and transfer the chicken to that pan. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

To make a pan sauce: Add the chicken stock to the skillet where you cooked the chicken and heat at medium-high heat. Scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan as you stir as this will add flavor to the sauce.

Mix together the flour and water until smooth and add to the stock. Stir until the flour mixture and stock are combined and smooth. Simmer for about 8 minutes and the sauce should thicken, stirring occasionally. Spoon sauce over the chicken to serve.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS through your RSS Feed, please click here to sign up. Or sign up for FREE email updates, by submitting your email address in the top left side of this site. Or click here to follow on Twitter.

This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• $5 Dinner Challenge
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

The $500 Challenge - The Final Tally and Link-Up

It is time to add up our money and see how close we came to finding $500. I started this challenge because I wanted to find $500 in spending money for our family's summer vacation. I didn't want to dig into our savings and charging our vacation on a credit card isn't an option.

So how did I do?

• $180.00 - Yard Sale
• $85.00 Change jar
• $50.00 Visa Card Rebate for switching to a new electric company with a better rate. Read here for more information on the electric rate increase that took place in PA.
• I was hoping once I reviewed our April spending that we would have come in under budget, but our spending in April was right on budget, almost to the dollar. I guess I could be happy that we didn't over-spend, but honestly, I didn't concentrate on reducing our spending in April as much as I should have. I proved to myself back in January that when we put our minds to it, we, as a family, can reduce our overall monthly spending, but that didn't happen in April.

So, our total came in at $315. I am $185 short of my goal, but I am not going to beat myself up. The yard sale took a lot of my time in the beginning of the month and I was happy that we were able to make $180 AND get rid of a lot of stuff. I will just have to concentrate between now and our vacation to find the difference.

How did you do? I can't wait to read all about your challenge. I want to thank all of you who participated in the challenge. It was interesting to read about everyone's progress, set-backs and successes.

If you are a blogger participating in the challenge and making updates on your site about your progress, please link up your final update with Mr. Linky. If you are not a blogger and are participating in the challenge, please let us know how you are doing in the comment section.

Make sure you take some time to check back over the next few days and visit the other links to see how the other bloggers are doing with their challenge. This is a great opportunity to find/meet/support other bloggers and get some ideas on how to find $500!

A few Mr. Linky guidelines:

• Please link your most recent challenge updates to Mr. Linky. If you are not a blogger, please tell us about your challenge updates in the comment section.
• Please post the link to your update, NOT to your homepage. To do this, click on your update post, copy and paste the whole url address into the Mr. Linky.
• I also ask that you post a link back to Family Balance Sheet in your article.
• If you are reading this post via a reader or email, you will need to click through to post your link and to visit others who have linked up.

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

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Make Your Own Iced Sun Tea

Who doesn't love a glass of refreshing iced tea on a hot summer day? We love iced tea, but hate all of the sugar in the gallon jugs of iced tea that you find at the grocery store. And at $2.00 or more a gallon, iced tea can definitely blow the grocery budget. On a hot day, a gallon doesn't go very far...did I mention that my husband and I drink alot of iced tea in the summer?

We have been sun-brewing our own tea of years. Throughout the summer, if it is a sunny day, we're brewing tea. You can tell my pretty sun tea jar is an old one, circa early '90s.

Every batch of sun tea tastes different, so you'll never get bored. I fill the sun jar with water and add 6-decaffeinated, green tea bags and about 10 sprigs of mint from my garden. I have loads of mint in my garden, so I make a lot of iced mint tea. I put it in the sun around 9:30am and leave it there until about 4:30pm. I pour the tea into another pitcher, squeeze out the tea bags and mint, add more water to get to the gallon line and add about 1 tablespoon of sugar to sweeten slightly to our taste. We go through so much tea in the summer, that I don't keep the tea in the sun tea jar, because I usually have to start brewing another jar in a day or two.

I also make flavored iced tea with 6-decaf, green tea bags and 2 flavored tea bags. We like raspberry or peach. Or, I will replace the mint with other herbs like pineapple sage and lemon verbena. Although, the mint seems to brew with the most flavor.

The key to making great tasting tea is to experiment until you find the combination that you enjoy. You can use more or less tea bags, use different herbs for flavoring and alter the sugar to your taste.

How does it add up? As stated above, a store bought gallon of iced tea can cost about $2.00. I can buy a box of 40 green tea bags for $3.50 and make almost 7 gallons of iced tea, saving about $10. I'll save even more when I use the FREE mint from my garden instead of the flavored tea bags; the flavored tea bags usually cost about $2.00 for 20 bags.

Do you make your own tea? What is your favorite recipe?

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS through your RSS Feed, please click here to sign up. Or sign up for FREE email updates, by submitting your email address in the top left side of this site. Or click here to follow on Twitter.

This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Thrifty Tip Tuesday at I Am A Money Magnet
• Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
• Frugal Friday at Life As Mom