We're....Buying a house!

My hubby and I finally put our house on the market about 2 weeks ago after looking at a house 3 miles down the road from my parents.  We had originally had every intention of building on the 2 acres in front of my parents' house.  But after living with them for the 7 months, we decided having our own little place with more acreage would be nice.  

This brick house has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath on the main floor & a full unfinished basement.  It belonged to an older couple who'd passed away & their children inherited it.  We looked at the house and land several times, got pre-approved & put in our offer (which was accepted!)

Needless to say it's just a tad outdated.  BUT my hubby & I have every intention to make it totally awesome & modern.  The house is the reason I haven't blogged as much as I'd hope to this year.  Bank paperwork galore, applications here, inspections there.  WHEW.  It's been an exhausting 2 weeks and that doesn't even include all of the kids' activities and sickness.  Kade had pinkeye, Kyleigh had an ear infection.  And, we also signed Kade up for soccer.  This is sure to be our busiest year yet.  But it's super exciting.

Just wanted to give you guys an update ;)

Snow Cream

We got snow yesterday and it hasn't quite melted away today.  I decided since I found some clean snow to make some snow cream for my babies.  My neighbor introduced it to me a few years back.

You take::

4 cups CLEAN snow

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients & enjoy 

It's a win with Kyleigh

My poor baby couldn't even feel his fingers well enough to hold his spoon right but LOVED it.

Hubby's New Favorite ;)

So, I joined in on the Mason Jar Salad thing.

My hubby said this is his new favorite lunch.  He loves Burger King's Apple Cranberry Salad.  I didn't have apples to make them but I improvised with what I had.

Baked Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

Grape Tomatoes

Cucumber

Lettuce

Cranberries

Hubby isn't a fan of a lot of dressing on his salads so he carried his Balsamic Vinegar Dressing with him. 

Just wanted to share on the possibility anybody's looking for some possible combinations.

Ooey Gooey Bars

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it. Something I tried off Pinterest that looked flawless wasn't so hot looking coming from my kitchen but BOY is it yummy! Anywho, here's the recipe.

Crust::

1 box butter-recipe cake mix

1 egg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling::

1  8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1  16 oz. box powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Light grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  In a bowl, combine cake mix, egg & butter with an electric mixer.  Mix well.  Pat into the bottom of prepared pan & set aside.  Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs & vanilla.  Dump powdered sugar & beat very well.  Reduce the speed of the mixer & slowly pour in the melted butter.  Mix Well.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour filling onto cake mixture & spread evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes (closer to 50 so it's not too ooey & gooey).  You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't let it stay in too long.  Remove from oven & allow to cool completely.  You can add chocolate & drizzle it on top after cooling for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool for at least an hour & then cut into bars and enjoy!

Pinkeye Remedy

This Monday, My baby girl's eye started draining.  My husband had been complaining of his eyes watering a lot from allergies so early Monday, I'd written this off as just allergies as well (her daddy and her are both super sensitive to a lot of the same things!)  By Monday evening, the draining turned to GUNK.  Red Flag.  I knew it either had to be pinkeye or an ear infection because the last time hers did this, it was her ears.  I started frantically looking for something I could do at home to ease this.  

Honey.  Seriously, the best stuff ever.  

3 tablespoons of honey & 1 cup of water.  Heat in the microwave (or boil if you prefer).  Then apply the entire amount to the affected eye.  We keep real-deal honey at our house at all times.  I started this Monday evening at her bath time.  On Tuesday, I scheduled an appointment to see her doctor.  They'd told me with my son that sometimes pinkeye can cause drainage and lead to an ear infection.  I couldn't get her in until Wednesday afternoon.  I continued to clean her eye with this solution once a day.  Her eye NEVER matted shut.  The picture below is her eye (the right one) after having pinkeye for 2 days.  No matting.  Today it's slightly pink around the eye, but not severe & not hurting as bad. 

 I will also add that since she had viral conjunctivitis, she ended up with a fever shortly after her doctor's appointment.  But by 5 am today, it's been gone since.  This was a picture of my baby sleeping last night.  Again, with NO matted eye =) 

So mamas, if your babies get cursed with this crud, try the honey ;)

Homemade Chicken Quesadillas & Hot Salsa

Quesadillas are hands down one of mine & my husband's favorite foods.  But of course, cutting back on our grocery portion of our budget isn't going to allow us to splurge to go eat mexican anymore.  So this week, I got a rotisserie chicken to stretch out over two meals for us (I will also add that this was SUPER easy to make). I decided to try my hand at making homemade quesadillas.  I SUCCEEDED! My hubby loved these more than our local mexican restaurants! And it runs roughly $10 to make 6 of them =)

To make them, I used::

1-1/2 lbs rotisserie chicken
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, diced
1  16 oz tub of goat cheese 
Flour Tortillas

Start by dicing all of your veggies.  Then put them in a frying pan with some EVOO on medium high heat to saute.  While your veggies are on, tear your rotisserie chicken & heat up your goat cheese.  When your veggies are done, make a thin layer of them across your tortilla.  Then make a layer of chicken on top.  And then add your cheese.  I also choose to pour cheese on top of my tortilla once i've folded it up (My name is Amanda & I'm a cheese addict.) Then enjoy ;)

I also made my hubby a tub of homemade hot salsa as an added bonus!

To make my salsa, I use::

1  12 oz jar of hot jalapeno slices, not pickled!

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1 onion, diced

1 tbsp garlic

Add all of these in your blender, mix & enjoy ;)

Budgeting Progress

This was only a little bit of my groceries I managed to get today.  I went to Aldi & got all this for $20. I got sour cream, spinach, mini corn dogs, Jif to-go cups, 2 packs of flour tortillas, Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, Baked Beans, 2 lbs onions, Cherry tomatoes, lettuce & a pack of diapers.  

I also went to Sam's and Walmart as well to get my meats & other groceries I needed for the week ahead.  I also got a rotisserie chicken to work for 2 meals, a 4 lb pack of boneless skinless breast, salmon, sausage biscuits for my princess, stuff to make ooey gooey bars, and other random things.  

I felt super accomplished when I got home and had all the groceries laid out from all 3 trips. Sticking to a $50 a week budget for my household may not be so hard after all.  And this all was with NO coupons!! 

Hopefully next week I can get pictures of my entire trip and do even better!