Freezer slow cooker meals!

In just under 1 hour, I made 8 meals! 8 meals! That is awesome, this is my second time trying freezer cooking and I have to say I am a huge fan, I literally don't have to cook supper all week now cause I spent just one hour preparing meals! Perfect! This is especially great for us right now, December is a crazy busy time for everyone and it is so nice to know that meals are one less thing you have to stress over! Brilliant! Now all you have to do is defrost them a bit, either in the fridge over night, or run in under hot water for a bit till it loosens up, then toss it into your slow cooker, all of the these recipes can be placed in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

So I found all these recipes on pinterest. This is the woman's blog, Genius! http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.ca/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

so i pretty much followed her directions, but I did make a few changes, I didn't have all the items in my home, so made a few substitutions.

These are the recipes

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
Teriyaki Chicken
Balsamic & Onion Pot Roast (I didn`t make this one)
Healthy BBQ Chicken *from mamaandbabylove.com *Stephanie's Goulash *adapted from mamaandbabylove.com *

My Grocery List:

Veggies:

Salsa ( I use this in place of peppers, easier then doing all that chopping)

Shredded zucchini (this is from my garden this summer)

Onions (I buy these pre chopped and frozen) (I used white, in place of white and red)

Potatoes (I used Purple potatoes we grew in our garden)

Carrots (This was the only veggie I had to peel and chop)

Celery (I left this out, cause I am not a fan, but by all means ad it if you like)
Meat:

Chicken Breasts 6 medium to large (depending on the size of your family you may want to ad more or less) (Chicken breasts go in the bags raw)

Ground Beef 4 pounds ( I used this instead of stew meat, cause we prefer ground beef) (All the beef in pre cooked) 
Extra Groceries

1 can of pineapple

1 can of tomato soup (I used this instead of tomato sauce, cause I didn`t have any on hand)

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

1 cup Clamato Juice (I used this in place of V8 juice)

1 large cans of diced tomato`s 

(it calls for tapioca but I left it out, I didn`t have any)

Beef Broth ( I used beef broth powder and water)

Frozen green beans

Gallon freezer bags

Label your bags before you get your goodies in there. Each one of these recipes makes 2 bags each. 

Teriyaki Chicken (2 Bags)
Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)
Healthy BBQ Chicken (2 Bags)
Stephanie's Goulash/Beef Stew (2 Bags)

Once you have all your ingredients out get ready to start filling your bags!

Teriyaki Chicken (2 Bags)

• Split a large bag of Baby Carrots between the 2 bags
• Cut Red Onion into Large Chunks and split between the 2 bags
• (1) 20oz can pineapple in each bag (undrained)
• (2) Garlic Cloves chopped per bag
• (2) Chicken Breasts in each bag
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce in each bag

*Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to mixture. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Serve over Rice.

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)

• Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
• (2) whole carrots chopped per bag
• (2) celery stalks chopped per bag
• (3) Red Potatoes chopped per bag
• (1) can v8 split between bags
• (1) 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
• (1) cup frozen green beans in each bag
• (1/2)TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
• (1) TBSP Parsley per bag
• (1) tsp Basil per bag
• 1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
• (1/2) tsp salt per bag
• (1/2) tsp pepper per bag
• (1) TBSP Sugar per bag

*Place in Crockpot with 1.5 cups of water and 15 oz Beef Broth. Cook on LOW 8 Hours

Healthy BBQ Chicken (2 Bags) * from mamaandbabylove.com *

• (2) Green Peppers Cut into Slices split between 2 bags
• (1) Red Pepper Cut into Slices-split between bags
• (1) Zucchini Chopped and split between bags
• (3) Onions Chopped and split between bags
• (6) Red Potatoes Chopped and split between bags (you can also use Sweet Potatoes)
• (4) Garlic Cloves Chopped & Split Between bags
• (4) Chicken Breasts Split between bags (I cut each breast in half again)
• (1/2) TBSP Quick Cooking Tapioca per bag
• (1) 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce Split Between bags
• (1) TBSP of Brown Sugar per bag
• (1) TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1) TBSP Mustard per Bag
• (1/4) tsp Salt per bag

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Serve over Rice or Egg Noodles

Stephanie's Goulash/Beef Stew (2 Bags) *adapted from mamaandbabylove.com *

• (1) Green Pepper Chopped split between bags
• (1) Chopped Onion per bag
• (2) Carrots Chopped per bag
• (2) Chopped Garlic Cloves per bag
• (3) Ibs Beef Stew Meat Split Between Bags
• (1) 6oz can Tomato Paste per bag
• (2) tsp Paprika per bag
• (1/4) tsp Black Pepper per bag

*Cook for 4 hours on HIGH or 8 hours on LOW in a slow cooker. Add (1/2) Cup of Sour Cream about 10 minutes prior to serving. Serve over Egg Noodles

Here are all the canned goods i used

Get yourself some good quality Gallon freezer bags, this is not where you want to spring a leak!

All the veggies! 

Seasonings and flavorings

I place both bags in the bowl, the bowl really helps them stay up and not spill over, very handy tip! 

                                A shot of inside one of the bags, yum! lol!

And the end result!!! This took less than an hour from beginning to end, including, peeling, chopping, hauling everything out of the freezer, pantry, cupboards etc 

This is so great for us and our busy life, but this would also be a wonderful gift for a new Mom, someone who just had a stay in the hospital, anyone really! Hope you enjoy freezer cooking as much as I did! 

If you have any questions don`t be afraid to ask! 

Let's stock up that freezer for winter with Freezer Burrito's!

My family and I recently made a trip to Qdoba, a wonderful little burrito joint, much like Mucho Burrito! I love all the real food and yummy options, I thought to myself, why don't I make these at home more often? Well the truth is when I hear the word burrito, I think "fart in a tortilla" !! LOL! The word burrito makes me think of refried beans, which I am not a fan of, but then I thought, I can put whatever I want on them, after a quick google search for burrito toppings, I came up with tons of option I knew me and my family would love.

Here are the ones I thought we would like the most: rice, cheese, black beans, parsley, hot sauce, ranch or sour cream, beef, tomatoes, garlic, tortilla's, salsa, peppers, bacon, onion, green chillies, hashbrowns or potatoes, eggs

You can also turn these into breakfast burritos by simply adding breakfast toppings to your tortilla

I made 24 burritos in about 45 minutes, beginning to end, and so can you! Here we go!

for my tortillas I used 24 of them, you can use more or less depending on how much you fill them up! 

 My filling, I chose, ground beef, black beans, salsa, corn, rice, seasonings, chili sauce, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, YUM!

 Next is the cheese, I grated one large block for my burrito's, you may need more or less depending on your preference

Then I added sour cream I put it in my Pampered Chef icing dispenser. Here is the link if you would like one, it is totally not necessary, but it made it easier and funner! lol! http://www.pamperedchef.ca/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=4552&catId=122

Look at that beauty of a burrito! drool! 

Now I have 24 of these sitting in the freezer, just waiting to be devoured! These are perfect for hubby to bring to work and for those late night suppers when you have nothing else, top it off with a salad or soup and you have a nice meal! 

So when you are ready to eat one, you just:

1. Unwrap frozen burrito from foil

2. Wrap burrito in damp paper towel

3. Microwave for 3 mins on high.

4. Wait to cool, then eat it!

Let me know if you give these a try! That was 45 minutes well spent!

Preparing for School Lunches!

My daughter is starting Kindergarten and one of the things I hear over and over again is how awful it is to make school lunches everyday, there are a few things you can do to make sure this task isn't so bad. First of all, be prepared, do the work ahead of time and it will lighten the load for those super busy school mornings. Second I am a huge fan of leftovers, if we have them, I am sending them! So here are a few things to get you started:

Chocolate chip zucchini mini muffins, I made 200 of these, took me about an hour and a half counting baking time, one day I will have a convection oven and cut my time in half, until then, it took an hour and a half lol!

I love these mini muffins, they are full of zucchini (4 cups) but kids love them cause they have no idea whats in them lol! I put these in individual baggies and tossed them all in the freezer, they are ready to go, no chemicals or processed junk, just home made goodness. Plus these cost next to nothing when you do a break down of all the ingredients and all those individual snacks on the store shelves are only getting more and more expensive, I have 100 baggies here, plenty of snacks for my girl! 

Zucchini Chocolate Chip muffins!

1 c oil

4 tbsp cocoa

½ buttermilk (You can use regular milk and add 1/4 tsp vinegar)

1 1/3 c white sugar

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 ½ c flour

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 bag of hersheys milk chocolate chips (I use half a bag)

2 cup shredded zucchini or squash

Mix ingredients in order they appear.



350 degrees 20 mins makes 24 muffins can also be made into a 9 x 13 cake and bake 35 to 40 mins! Good luck, enjoy!

Next I made Focaccia bread, a nice quick and easy bread, I wrapped around 40 individual wedges of this, it is quick to make and yummy, a good filler too, goes great when you have a soup or casserole and just need something to finish off the meal. These take no time to whip together and bake about 15 minutes, i did a double recipe to get 40 wedges. 

Gold Medal® Classic Focaccia

Ingredients

2 1/2

to 3 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour or Better for Bread® bread flour

2

tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1

tablespoon sugar

1

teaspoon salt

1

package regular or fast-acting dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1

cup water

3

tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Cooking spray to grease bowl and cookie sheets

2

tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1/4

cup grated or finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

• 1In a large bowl, stir 1 cup of the flour, the rosemary, sugar, salt and yeast with a wooden spoon until well mixed. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat the water over medium heat until very warm and an instant-read thermometer reads 120°F to 130°F. Add the water and 3 tablespoons oil to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, stopping frequently to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough is soft, leaves side of bowl and is easy to handle (the dough maybe slightly sticky).
• 2Sprinkle flour lightly on a countertop or large cutting board. Place dough on floured surface. Knead by folding dough toward you, then with the heels of your hands, pushing dough away from you with a short rocking motion. Move dough a quarter turn and repeat. Continue kneading 5 to 8 minutes, sprinkling surface with more flour if dough starts to stick, until dough is smooth and springy. Spray a large bowl with the cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place 30 minutes or until dough has almost doubled in size. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when you press your fingertips about 1/2 inch into the dough.
• 3Spray 2 cookie sheets or 12-inch pizza pans with the cooking spray. Gently push your fist into the dough to deflate it. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a flattened 10-inch round on a cookie sheet. Lightly spray 2 sheets of plastic wrap with cooking spray; cover the dough loosely with the plastic wrap, sprayed side down. Let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Remove plastic wrap.
• 4Heat the oven to 400°F. Using your fingers, gently make 1/2-inch-deep depressions about 2 inches apart in dough. Carefully brush with 2 tablespoons oil, using a pastry brush; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cooled.

Next comes the Best ever Chocolate chip cookies, these are so nice and soft, even after being frozen. I did a double batch, these are also smaller cookies, so two would be a perfect snack, all bagged and ready to go.

Best Ever Chocolate chip cookies

1 c marg (I use ¾ of a cup)

2 ½ c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2c white sugar

¾ c brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1pkg instant vanilla pudding (4servings)

2 eggs

1 - 12 oz package chocolate chips (I only use half the package; I find the whole package is WAY too much)

Cream eggs, marg, sugars and vanilla. Add all dry ingredients then chocolate chips. Bake 350 degrees f oven for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Now to figure out how to keep my husband from eating these cookies, they are his favorite too! 

Next I made a home made ham, veggie, barley soup and froze it in individual containers for those days where there is nothing to send, anytime you have leftovers, soup etc freeze it for lunches, it will come in handy one day when you have nothing to send.

Now I know I am a rookie here and I am not claiming to know it all when I have never had to make lunches day after day, I am just hoping these tips will help all of us, rookies and veterans! 

Send something delicious in their lunches today! 

Summer slow cooker meal plan!

I am so excited, I got me a brand new slow cooker, look how pretty it is:

LOVE IT! I sure did love my old one, but it has served me well and it was time for it to go, it was all cracked on the bottom and I just knew one day my dinner was going to come busting through the bottom. So we saved up our air miles and got this one for free!! This slow cooker is super smart, it can tell when your food is done and turns itself to "warm" so your food doesn't over cook and mushy, I love it and I am so excited to use it! So I started to look for some summer slow cooker meals, perfect for the days when you don't want to heat up the house! But who wants to eat soups and stews in the summer? Not me, so I went searching for meals in the slow cooker that actually go with summer time, and I found some interesting ones, so I will give them a try. Here is our meal plan for the next 2 weeks, including some summer slow cooker meals: 

This meal plan only has 10 meals cause we plan to be out and about for a few nights so we won't need home meals, also we never made the chicken ranch tacos from the last meal plan, so they are being carried over to this meal plan. The Balsamic chicken, the Mexican Haystacks, the ribs and the King ranch chicken over potatoes are all summer slow cooker recipes that we will be trying! Almost everyone of these meals is a new (to us) recipe, found on www.pinterest.com and I am so excited to try them all! just because it's summer doesn't mean you have to stop using your slow cooker! Keep reading my blog to see more summer slow cooker meals over the next few weeks, if you would like any of these recipes, just shoot me a message! Happy cooking! 

20 Cheap or free Summer activities!!

We all love summer, chillin' outside is everyone's favorite pastime in the summer, but the expenses can add up quick and summer or not, there are always bills to pay, so I thought I would help y'all out and give you a list of cheap or free summer activities! There is so much fun to be had out there and it doesn't have to cost a thing, the best things in life are free, and with family or friends by your side, you can't go wrong!!

1- Fly a kite, if you don't have one, you can easily make one, http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/lets-go-fly-a-kite/ making one might even be more fun!
2- Go on a nature walk, walk around your community you might be surprised what you see, flowers, butterflies, birds etc, bring your camera catch a few pretty shots, let the kiddo's take pics too, see the world through their eyes.
3- Go to a Parade, most people have a parade near by, parades are always free, they are fun for the young and old, bring your lawn chair and get some free candy to boot! Fun for all!
4- Have a Picnic! This is the same meal you would have had at home, so it is still free, grab a blanket and eat outside, you would be surprised how much better food tastes outside, everyone loves a picnic!
5- Blowing bubbles, we make our own out of dish soap, 1/2 cup blue dawn dish soap in a 2 liter bottle, top with cold water and you have enough bubbles to last all summer, you can buy some bubble wands or make your own out of pipe cleaners!

6- Celebrate the first day of Summer or any old day with a bonfire! Roasting marshmallows on a fire is wonderful way to spend the evening! Throw in some family and friends and you have got yourself a wonderful summer night! 

7- Go fishing, well you will need a license depending on your age etc, but they are usually pretty cheap and in the end you get dinner! (hopefully) There is so much fun to be had out at the lake with your line in the water, beauty! 

8- Visit your local splash park, or turn on your sprinkler, on a hot day, water is water, and we love it. Find a puddle lol! Most splash parks are free and so nice on a hot summer day! 

9- Harvest food and fruit from your community, if you live in the Country ask around find out where some local free food is growing and bring some home, yum! If you are out in the city, find a farmers market and get some delicious food, fresh off the farm! 

10- Go on a bike ride! Take the family or friends out for a ride! Everyone gets some exercise and a change of view too! 

11- Take pictures, take lots of picture, these are the moments, you don't want to forget them! 

12- Go to baseball or football game,  there are a lot of schools that have free ball games you can attend, take in a local game and cheer on the home team!

13- Watch fireworks, fireworks are always free and a great way to spend a summer night, get out and enjoy!

14- Plant a garden or flowers, for the price of a few seeds you can have entertainment all summer long, watching the seeds sprout and harvesting your fruits or veggies is tons of fun and about as organic as you can get! 

15- Catch butterflies, examine them, look up their breed, they are so beautiful and fun to catch, they have nets at the dollar store, 1$ for an afternoon of fun sounds good to me! 

16- Pick wild flowers, there are wild flowers growing all over this beautiful country of ours, go on a nice country drive, look for wildlife and for flowers, some  wild flowers are not to be picked, make sure you check that out for your area.

17- Send a post card to a loved one, post cards are inexpensive, grab one and send it out, you are sure to put a smile on someones face! 

18- Bird watching, head out to your local park and check out all the pretty birds we have here, bring some bird seed or bread and really make a birds day! 

19-  Set up an entertainment swap, gather some old books, board games and dvds, that you and your family no longer want and swap them with your friend and neighbor for their unwanted entertainment! This is a great way to try out new things and it doesn't have to cost you a thing!

20- Organize a garage sale or sell your stuff online, take the extra cash and go for ice cream! Or better yet, make your own ice cream! 

I sure hope this list inspires you to get out there and have some fun this summer, fun doesn't have to cost you a thing!! Enjoy! 

Your new summer meal plan!

Hi there everyone, with summer quickly upon us, our meal plans change, here is our summer meal plan for the next 2 weeks!

I love trying new recipe's there are a few new ones on this menu plan, you never know when you will find your families new favorite by trying something new! I spent sometime this week looking for summer slow cooker recipe's, cause I love my slow cooker all year, but I don't want to eat heavy soups etc in the summer, I found a lot of great recipes and my new fancy slow cooker is on it's way to me know, I am so excited to try out these new summer slow cooker ideas, much nicer then heating up your whole house on those hot days! Thinking ahead! Thanks for reading my blog and as always please feel free to leave me a comment asking for any recipe you might want to try! 

Meal Plan!

I sure hope some of you are motivated by these meals posts and have started planning your meals, every time you do it, it gets easier and faster! Meal planning is so convenient and with busy summer days coming, it is always nice to have your meals planned ahead of time! Now for my faithful followers you may notice some of these meals are repeated from last week, we ended up going out for supper a couple of time, which we hadn't expected, so we just roll over those meal ideas to the next week, we already have the groceries for these meals, so win win!

If you would like any recipes feel free to message me! 

Here is the Meal Plan for the next two weeks!

Hopefully some of you have started meal planning and discovering how much easier it truly makes your life, I don't know what I would do without it! So here we have my meal plan for the next couple weeks, make your grocery list, head to the store and that is half the battle right there! You can do this, and you will thank yourself for it too! Here it is:

 Week 1

6 meals

Spaghetti with garlic bread

steak and corn on the cob, scalloped potatoes

bbq'd cheese burgers, raw veggies and dip

lasagna and salad

turkey pot pie

leftovers

Week 2

6 meals

Rice and black bean Burrito's

Cheesy Taco pasta

potato and ham soup

ONE POT CHILI MAC AND CHEESE

Left overs

Chicken ranch taco's

if you have any questions or need any recipes don't be scared to ask, happy meal planning folks! 

Meal planning made simple!

You asked and you shall receive! Every two weeks I will post how I meal plan, 2 weeks worth of meals every other week. I only meal plan supper, breakfast and lunch are usually pretty simple to whip up on short notice, so supper is the only meal I bother to plan. So here it goes, first things first, get some flyers and shop those sales, once you have figured out what is on sale, then you choose what your recipes around that.

.

Now that you have figured out what is on sale, choose your recipes, grab your favorite recipe books, there are great recipes on www.pinterest.com or on www.facebook.com and then use all your family favorite meals that bounce around in your head. When ever I see a great meal I would like to try I save it. Next time you are doing your meal plan you will have a list of new recipes to try!

Now I go to my calendar and figure out how many days we will be home each week, sometimes we are going out for dinner, sometimes we are away etc, so count how many meals you really need.

This time I need 7 meals one week and 5 meals another week, so in total I need 12 meals, time to search my brain and recipes to find 12 meals. So here is my Meal Plan. The red meals are the ones we have already ate, the black ones are ones we still have to eat. I choose meals and add them to my list, i do 2 weeks at a time, so                       what you are seeing is week 1 & 2 are the past 2 weeks,                                    and week 3 & 4 are the next two weeks:

I prefer to do it this way instead of using a calendar I find this much easier cause then I am not committed to a certain meal on a certain day, you don't want to BBQ one day, that's cool, pick another meal, you get the picture. So now you have all these beautiful meals picked out, I often leave room for leftovers, cause we love leftovers and we cook big meals, so chances are you will be able to get away with one day of left overs :)  Easter Dinner with the family is supposed to be on there twice, we are having two dinners here this year.

Now that you have chosen your recipes, take a look at each recipe and see if you have the ingredients on hand, if you don't add it to your grocery list. Go through each recipe until you know you have everything either in your house or on your list. So, now the hard part is over, you have your Meal Plan and your grocery list. GO SHOPPING! I love to shop, I go once every 2 weeks and I get everything I need for those 2 weeks, I rarely have to make a random trip to the store for items, when we get snowed in, and lets face it we are in Canada, it happens often enough, I know for a fact I always have 2 weeks worth of meals in my fridge/freezer. It gives me a great sense of security when the snow starts flying.

So now you have your Meal Plan and all the groceries you need to execute it! Turns out when it comes to cooking, deciding what you are going to eat is half the battle, I have been meal planning for over a year and I would never go back, this makes life so much easier! 

So here we go, you wake up in the morning one of the first things I do is check my Meal Plan to see if I need to take anything out of the freezer, I have many meals to choose from, I choose the one that sounds best for that day, and I pull the ingredients out of the freezer if need be. When it is time to prepare supper everything is defrosted and ready to go, this makes our life so much easier! Meal Planning has also helped us eat better, there are no more last minute trips to the store to grab anything quick, everything is planned out so there is no need for that. You must try it, you won't regret it! And there you have it Meal Planning, made simple!  If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me! 

Happy Meal Planning! 

Springtime Bucket List!

It is finally feeling like Spring around here, it sure took it's time this year and here is hoping it is here to stay! So this means it is time to make our Spring Bucket list, every season we make these, we don't always accomplish everything on our list, but we sure try, the list is a great idea, it keeps you on track for Spring and helps you remember what you wanted to accomplish this season. Whenever we have a day with nothing to do, that is when I go to the list and see what we can accomplish! Here is our list for Spring 2014, have fun making your list and get everything checked off of your list too! 

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Spring, Enjoy!! 

How we renovated our Kitchen for 50$ out of our own pocket 350$ total!!!

This post is all about our new kitchen! We were on a very limited budget, but we sure got a lot of bang for our buck! It all started with the old kitchen, I loved the red when I did it, but it was dark and it went with the Coke Cola theme we had which neither my hubby nor I were really into anymore. So we needed a change, I had wanted to change it for a while, but we never had the extra $$ but on March 4^th I decided I wasn't going to let no money stop me and that I would just figure it out. So we started by taking our Kitchen Coke Cola collection to the Antiques store near by, we sold out entire collection and we got 300$ my hubby and I were both shocked and thought we would be lucky to get 100$ so 300$ was my new goal for my reno, sadly we went over by 50$ so we did have to invest some of our own money, but it was totally worth it, as you can see....Here are the before pictures, red, pine, dark, I hesitated to paint the pine, but it was worn out and had served it's time, so time for an uplift!!

 When painting pine good paint is a must, our reno would have cost much less with cheaper paint, but paint is one place you do not want to cheap out!! Our reno took one month give or take a few days off for appointments and to save our sanity lol! I am extremely grateful it is over. I don't want to see paint for a very long time! And now for the after pictures!

What a difference, it is so nice to see my vision come to life, in all the rooms in the house but this one in particular this was the hardest room we have done yet, we put our blood, sweat and tears into this one. So here is the break down:

-Everything got painted, ceilings walls trim doors, everything

-Our appliances stayed the same, but we plan to save our $$$ and get “new to us” ones soon

-At this time we couldn't afford new counter tops so these are covered in Contact paper Granite, which is supposed to last up to one year given no one cuts on it or puts hot pots on it, so far it is holding up great!

-All of the ornaments were either purchased or made by hand to save money, all the creative ideas are copied off of www.pinterest.com it is an amazing site with tons of useful tips and information.

-We opened up the top of the cupboards and put in big baskets which are filled with extra kitchen supplies (fondue pot, foil pans, cake pans) things we don't need everyday.

-We added new Hardware on all the cupboards and drawers

-We added a bead board backs plash, which adds so much, I love it!

My husband and I did this all ourselves with the help of pinterest and youtube videos we taught ourselves everything we needed to know, so now what you have all been waiting for, the break down of the budget.

White Paint – we bought Beauti~tone Designer paint, pearl Cabinet and furniture paint in white, this painted all the trim, walls, cupboards, shelves, ceiling, everything you see that is white, the paint was regular 49.99$ per can, since we needed 4 cans I asked my local Home Hardware for a deal and they gave it to me for 42$ per can savings of 32$ Love's it! White paint total 168$

Wall Paint – Scuba Green by Benjamin Moore, I brought the chip to my local Home Hardware and they made me the perfect color. We used the same color on the bead board for the back splash. In total this paint cost us 20$

Miscellaneous: TSP 5$, sand paper 5$, caulk 5$, paintbrushes 5$, paint roller 5$, Baskets 35$, decor 20$ (some of the decor I already had around the house), spray paint 10$, totals 90$

Bead Board, we bough 4 sheets of bead board 32 inches by 4 feet, and we have some leftover they are 10$ per sheet and once they are painted they are sealed and ready for water :) Love that feature! so since we have some left over our total was 35$

Counter tops, as I said earlier this is in fact Cont-tact paper, we applied this using a credit card and it worked great! When using this product you want to make sure you pay more and get the real Cont-Tact paper in granite, there are a couple colors to choose from, anything else might be too thin, this was 5.97$ per roll and I used 3 rolls and did all the counters! My counter top upgrade came to a total of 18$ 

The Hardware, this one was a tough one, hardware is so expensive and what we had was so out dated not even a coat of paint could save them, so we opted to make our own by bending our own spoons to use as hardware, they are so cute! We have 42 handles counting the drawers, and with our small budget nothing was working, till we found this spoon idea on pinterest, we did all our hardware all 42 handles for 11$!!! Love it! As for the hinges we spray painted the ones we had and they turned out great!

Totals 342$!! Reno'ing on a dime doesn't come easy it takes a lot of time and research, but if you have more time than money like me, you can totally make it work, I think for 350$ we got a great kitchen!! 

Decorating a Bedroom on a budget of 200$ or less - Part 2

So here we go, round two of decorating a room for under 200$ This is our room, Mine and my husbands, this was the last room we decorated, which of course should have been the first room done because we spend so much time there, but none the less it is finished and beautiful! But the day we moved in, not so beautiful, nasty really, this was our room:

Yuck! So glad that is long gone!

So when my parents owned this house they tore down the wall between my room and the playroom and made a massive bedroom, it worked for them, but not for us, the room was too big, it was hard to decorate, it was a waste of space and we needed the other room for storage.

So we put a wall back up! 

Now to our current room and the cost of decorating it, here you see our bed, my husband had this bed when we moved in together, the bedding we bought in the city I forget were it was, I think Zellers, it was 30$ for the bed set on sale, regular 75$, plus we bought microfibre summer sheets for 30$ on sale from 50$ and wonderfully fuzzy winter sheets for 30$ on sale from 75$ we were pretty excited! Okay I was pretty excited!  The stars you see above our bed were a garage sale find for 1$. On my husbands bedside table/floating shelf, you see, the wheat that was free from a ditch, I dried it out and I love it! The vase was won at an online auction, 1$, his frame was a birthday gift, the bedside tables them selves are actually floating shelves, my budget for bedside tables was 15$ each and when I went shopping I couldn't find anything in my budget, so bought these floating shelves for 9.99$! I love coming in under budget! My bedside table has a candle holder, a book and one of the center pieces from our wedding, all given to me :)

I made the "curtains" or whatever you would call that, window poof lol, out of 2 extra pillow cases that came with our bedding, free! The wall tattoo was 10$ from those parties people have lol. I love this accent wall, I picked the room colors after we got our bedding so it would match perfectly, I love matching! 

 Here you see a shelf which our DVD's are on, bought online at auction for 5$, our 32 inch tv was free from the same kind stranger that gave us Kenzie's bed, our Dvd player had been kicking around forever, the shelf that the tv is on was made out of my parents old water bed, FREE! The Dresser is my Memere's (Great Grandmother) dresser from way back in the day, a nice coat of paint and it has a new home in our room! everything on our dresser was gifts, from our wedding and my birthday other than the baskets, I bought those filled with bath goodies at the Boxing Day sales regular 42$ on for 6$ plus we had all the bath goodies to use as gifts too! The baskets are filled with our rice bags that I made.

 here we see two full length mirrors, my husband had both of these in his apartment, we painted the frames and the work wonderfully in here, everyroom needs a little black don't forget. The cowboy hats are beer hats, free with a case of beer, I just took the tags off lol! This dresser Joe's Grandpa bought him at a garage sale, we also painted this one to match and it works great!

 sometimes the wood stove heat doesn't make it all the way to the bedrooms like I would like, I hate being cold when I am sleeping! We had been using a little electric heater, but I had just told hubby wouldn't it be nice to have a little fire place in here, and lo and behold our friend/neighbor had posted one for sale online, she then turned around and gave it to us for FREE! We use it everynight and love the heat it gives, love it!

 I just wanted to show a picture of our bedside carpets, they are from IKEA they were 10$, they are fake sheep skin and I love it, it is so super soft and makes me happy everytime I wiggle my toes on it! lol!

So that is our bedroom, time to total up the costs! 

Bedding 80$

Bedside tables 20$

Garage sale/online auction finds 7$
Wall tattoo 10$
Baskets 6$
Carpets 20$
Paint room and accessories 40$
Totals 193$
I hope this post helps you see how you can do you room on a smaller budget, get out to garage sales, make use of online buy and sell type sites, there are so many great deals to be found, but remember, don't buy something just because it is on sale, or cheap etc, don't take something just cause it's free, you have to have a use for it or you are wasting your time or money. Good Luck!