Lemon Icing on the Cheap!

So icing recipes are a dime a dozen on the internet, but for some reason we don't get along. I can make just about anything from scratch, but almost every time I try to make homemade icing it ends disastrously. Except this time.

The one time I don't follow a recipe!

So, here is the recipe in all of it's glory, may it help some other young mother who is failing miserably to ice their baby's birthday cake, and just doesn't have the time or money to go to the store and buy icing.

Technically it's a buttercream recipe, but I didn't have cream, so I used milk, and I didn't have vanilla, so I used lemon extract.

Lemon Icing

1 cup of butter -80 cent
1 16 oz box of powdered sugar - 85 cent (with coupon)
4-6 tablespoons milk - less than 1 cent
2 teaspoons lemon extract - roughly 60 cent (on sale)

Delicious frosting for $2.26 - comparable in price to store brands, but twice as delicious!

Whip until creamy and enjoy!

Musings about Chickens

So, Frugal Baby has pets. More pets than a 2-year-old should have. 11 pets, if you count the dog. 9 fat hens and an obnoxious rooster that is about to be fed to the gators out back.

 We've had the chickens for roughly 6-9 months. They produce roughly 6-9 eggs a day, more than we can keep up with. So I asked around and found a few people willing to buy some.

 Then, of course, my brain went into overdrive. Would it be worth it to sell them? Would we break even? Here are the 'musings' I threw together.

 It takes 4 lbs of feed to produce a dozen eggs.
 1 hen eats 1/4 a lb of feed per day.
 For 9 hens, that's 2.25 lbs of feed per day.
That's 821.25 lbs per year, or 16 50-lb bags per year.
A 50-lb bag cost roughly $15.
That's $246.38 a year.
 If our 9 hens produce 6-9 eggs a day, that's a roughly a dozen eggs every 2 days, or 183 dozen per year.
If I sell them for $2.50 a dozen, that's $457.50 a year.

 The cost of cartons for 183 dozen would be roughly $40.

 Total cost per year - $287.
Total profit per year - $170.5

. If we can cut feed costs, there would be a bit more profit. Either way, Anna's chickens can feed us and our friends without breaking the bank, and she'll have a bit to put in her Coverdell account! Because, you know, every 2-year-old worries about their college savings account.

 Peace out!
 ~Frugal Mama

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

So I was craving Chicken Pot Pie soup recently - Marie Callender's specifically. I LOVE this soup. So rich and creamy, and delicious to boot!

Alas, there was no way I was going to drive 5 minutes and spend $3 on a can of soup.

However, I figured out that I could easily make some Chicken Pot Pie soup with things around the pantry.

Thus, a $3.17 recipe that serves 4 was born. So for the price of one store-bought can of soup, I made enough to serve 4.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup
1 can of chicken - roughly $1.50
1 package of frozen veggies - 50 cent (on sale, add a coupon ;] )
2 can of cream of chicken soup - 50 cent (on sale, add a coupon)
1 cup of diced potatoes - roughly 30 cent
2 cups of milk - roughly 37 cent

Simply throw it all into a large pot, heat, and serve!