Split pea soup is one of my go-to meals. It barely slides into my "under $1" list; the split peas alone cost $0.44, the onion $0.33. If spices cost $0.03, you have $0.20 left to spend on cheese ($0.04/tsp.), crackers ($0.01 each) and meat. You can read my note about meat below. Hardcore frugalistas can grow their own onions ($0.03 each) or use 1 TB onion powder*** (about the same price), which would easily bring the meal to under $1.00. 

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced
6 c. broth or water*
1 1/2 cups dried peas
1 c. cooked ham or bacon**
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions:
Put onions, water, dried peas and bay leaves in the pot to boil together until the peas are done; about 30-45 minutes. Make sure you use a big enough pot and/or keep the lid off; otherwise it will boil over. Turn down the heat when the peas are soft and add spices and meat. Serve with cheese and saltine crackers.

*I wouldn't recommend cooking the peas in broth unless you are doing it purely for flavor, because boiling breaks down the gelatin. However, sometimes I will cook the peas in 4-5 cups of water and add additional broth when they are almost done cooking.

**You can omit or reduce the meat if you don't have it on hand. Often times I only put a handful of bacon bits or ham shreds in, not the full amount. The peas have lots of protein, so meat is mostly for flavor. When I don't have any meat, I try to add a spoonful of bacon grease for flavor.

***Using onion powder lessens the nutritional value of the meal (essentially no veggies...). But I've done it in a pinch. If you are like me and haven't reached the point of growing your own onions yet, you can always use onion powder and then serve free garden veggies that you DO grow as a side dish.

Chili is another meal that is extremely cheap to make if you have a garden and can find free or inexpensive meat. For this recipe I use home canned dry beans ($0.15 per pint), venison chunk meat ($0.00-$0.30/half pound), homemade taco seasoning ($0.10?), home canned tomato juice and/or hominy or sweet corn from the garden. The green onions are grown on my windowsill, or I use dried chives from the garden. Store bought crackers, sour cream and cheese for garnish are the majority cost for this meal.

Chili

Ingredients:
1 pint canned chunk meat (10 cents)
1 pint home-canned dry beans (10 cents)
2-3 TB homemade taco seasoning
Handful of chopped green onions or chives (use 1-2 TB if dried)
Salt to taste
1-2 cups hominy or frozen sweet corn
1 quart tomato juice
Saltines, sour cream and cheese for garnish

Instructions:
Dump meat into cooking pot. Use a fork to pull apart any large chunks or pieces that are sticking together. Add canned beans and corn/hominy. Add tomato juice and turn heat to High. Lastly, add taco seasoning, green onions and salt to taste. Cook until everything is hot. Serve with saltines, sour cream and shredded cheese.

I love using recipes that utilize what I've grown myself. In this recipe, I often use free veggies from the garden, free meat (see meat link for more info), cheap homemade seasoning and also (essentially) free homemade salsa. 

Fajita Rice

Ingredients:
Couple handfuls of sliced frozen bell peppers
1 onion, sliced
1/2-1 quart of canned meat*
1 egg
2 TB homemade taco seasoning
2 cups dry rice + 1 quart water
Sour cream, shredded cheese and homemade salsa for garnish

Instructions:
Cook the rice in water (I cook enough rice for the whole week, and then just use it up gradually in stir fry, fried rice, etc.). Fry the onions and peppers together with a little bit of fat from the canned meat. Add the meat, then when everything is hot crack an egg into to it. When the egg is cooked, add cooked rice. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and homemade salsa.

*In a quart of chunk meat, every square inch of the jar is packed with meat. When I can chicken meat though, I usually do bone-in drumsticks, thighs and backs, with a lot of water that turns into gelatin-rich broth. For this recipe I would use a whole quart's worth of chicken, but only 1/3 quart of venison chunk meat.

Every couple months I mix up a big batch of this stuff. I use it in most of my Mexican dishes.

Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:
2 TB cornstarch
2 TB onion powder
2 TB garlic powder
4 TB chili powder
2 tsp. red cayenne pepper
2 TB cumin
1 TB oregano
2 TB salt
2 TB paprika 

Instructions: Mix everything together in a bowl, and store in an airtight container.

Hello friends & homemakers! I've chosen to post a monthly hobby farm update/P&L here on the blog. I hoping this will serve as a reminder/motivation to run my hobby farm more efficiently and in time, have the animals paying for themselves. 

Goats
We actually had a lot happen last month in the goat department. Hubs built me a new milking stand to accommodate the Pygora goats (and their large horns). Lately I've been training them to get up on the stand. One goat, Alex (female) is fully trained. Yay for me! Robin is next on the list. Instead of backing out of the head lock, she thinks it is cool to push her whole body through the front in order to exit. I had Hubs help me with her... it's a work in progress. 

Back in December, we bought 20 bales of hay for $3.50 each. This should last us through the winter. Currently the goats are going through two or so bales per week, and about $10 worth of grain per month (we use a general sweet mix for cattle, half and half with shelled corn).

Cost per month: $10.00 grain + $21.00 hay = $31.00
Cost per goat, per month: $3.88

One problem area I discovered last month was goat lice. Thankfully it doesn't really harm the goats, but Robin is itching some of her beautiful locks off. This is not cool if I intend on selling the wool. I made some lice-deterrent with olive oil and tea tree essential oil, which seems to help.

Chickens
We've reached a milestone with my chickens, and that is... they are almost paying for their keep! In February I was able to sell 14 dozen eggs. Chicken feed is still costing us about $30 per month.

Cost in February: $30.00
Eggs sold: 14 dozen x $2.00 = $28.00

Net cost of chickens = $2.00
Cost per chicken, per month = $0.07

We were only one dozen away from eating free eggs last month!

My goal in March is to sell 16 dozen, or four dozen eggs per week. This will completely cover the cost of feed for chickens. Sales are pretty much guaranteed, IF my chickens can lay enough eggs! Currently it's been cold and snowy, and production dropped to about 8 eggs per day. At this rate they are laying 56 eggs per week, and selling four dozen eggs only leaves eight eggs per week for us to eat. This is doable, but it means I can't eat eggs for breakfast every day. :( Hopefully when the weather clears up next week they will go back to laying 10+ eggs per day.

I asked Hubs what is worse: Paying $30/mo. for feed and having far more eggs than you can eat, or not paying anything for feed and only having a few eggs to eat? Hmm... Four dozen per week is my goal, but we may be sitting at 3-4 dozen per week until the chickens start laying again.

Bottom Line for February

Net cost for goats: $31.00
Net cost for chickens: $2.00
Total hobby farm cost: $33.00

Great News!!!
In order to help make up this $33.00 difference, I've set up an Etsy shop where you all can purchase quality goat milk soaps for gifts or personal use. My favorite scent is Peppermint Patty.

Visit the Renaissance Farm Shoppe here!

Until next time,
-Bethany