switch it, change it, a-rearrange it!

what a clever cheerleading title! hehe.

i was looking for rugs online at ikea the other day and was inspired by some of their design pictures.  it made me realize that our couch doesn't have to be mounted against a wall.  you can switch things up to make it look more updated.  so that's what we did!

after a little room re-arrange we also decided to paint the doors in the great room.  not the whole door, but just parts of it so that the depth and details are more appreciated.

here is what our great room looked like "before":

 

and here's what it looks like "after":

and no, it wasn't nighttime in the "before" picture... look at the light outside the windows!  it was just THAT dark in there.  i think the white paint on the doors really brightened it up a bit.  what do you think?

dinner on the cheap- the final volume!

day five- friday

toddler food night?

hahaha okay, i admit it, i ran out of supplies and creativity tonight. 
if you look back at my original shopping list, you'll see i blew through everything except for... drum roll please.... that trusty can of tomato soup! 
so for tonight's dinner we had grilled cheese and tomato soup! 

and, get this, i found some frozen chicken nuggets in the freezer that i had bought for when my cousin was up visiting with her young kids, and they never ate them, so billy had chicken nuggets too!  oh my gosh i made dinner for kindergartners! hey, who cares, our bellies are full and i MADE it! five days of dinners for two on $25 bucks!  *curtsy* *curtsy*

so, this week was a great little challenge and i'm definitely going to try to stick to a budget for groceries and be creative with what i have instead of looking in the fridge, going "blah!" and ordering a pizza.  i realize that some weeks i'm going to need more groceries than others, like when i run out of my staples, but i honestly think i can do it for under $50 even on those weeks!

i'll keep from boring you with on the cheap blogs everyday about baked potatoes and grilled cheese sandwiches, but when i come up with something clever like chinese take out night i'll be sure and post it.

also, billy and i rearranged the great room tonight and it had a huge effect so i'm going to post a blog probably sunday night about it.  there MIGHT be a little painting happening in there sunday afternoon as well!  eeep!  just a little, but hey it's a step!  wait til you see!

dinner on the cheap- volume four

only one day left to go on my $25 food budget for the week! :)

thursday night- pasta night!

i think it's pretty widely known that spaghetti is one of the all time cheapest meals you can make.  it costs almost nothing!  i always have at least one box of pasta on hand and one jar of sauce, because it is the easiest and tastiest go-to dinner!

i'm no italian pasta pro, but there are a couple of tricks up my sleeve that i pull out for spaghetti night that i think sets it apart.  as soon as i drain the cooked pasta, i ALWAYS toss the noodles in olive oil and garlic powder.  it keeps the pasta from sticking and gives it extra flavor.  my second trick is to add a little spoonful of sugar to my jar of pasta sauce while it's heating on the stove.  i think it cuts the acidity a bit and balances the flavor.  :) now you know!

so tonight i used the rest of my bag of salad and the cucumber from my grocery trip, plus a spare tomato i found lurking in the fridge to make a delicious salad to pair with the pasta.  i also threw some regular old wheat bread in the broiler with butter, garlic, and italian seasoning to make delicious garlic toast points.  that plus my trusty pantry staples of pasta and sauce allowed for a great dinner!

(we ate in the family room tonight so we could watch charlie brown's the great pumpkin on tv! :))

tonight's dinner was super tasty, and i promise i DO have a plan for tomorrow night!  i knew it was possible!  stay tuned!

dinner on the cheap- volume three

wednesday- fall harvest night!

tonight i decided to take advantage of the flavors of fall! we have always tried to eat "in season" and it's especially easy to eat in season on the cheap! 

i started with a simple and delicious fall salad with the bag of lettuce i bought for the week (my favorite is butter crunch) and some red apple that we had in the fridge leftover from our trip to the orchard.  apples are great in salad this time of year! it adds an awesome sweet crunch!  i made a dressing with some balsamic vinegar and honey and tada!

a simple and beautiful fall salad! if you have already carved your pumpkins, this salad would be great with some roasted pumpkin seeds tossed in it! 

next i had billy chop our acorn squash in half, and he did such a great job that i let him prepare the whole thing!  he stuck a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of brown sugar in the "well" of the acorn squash and then sprinkled the rest with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. 

they roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. the butter and sugar melt into delicious nearly dessert-worthy yumminess!  but secretly, acorn squash is SO good for you!  (and if you want to be even healthier you can use smart balance instead of butter ;))

next i grabbed the remaining chicken breasts out of the fridge.  they had been marinating in italian dressing for the past couple days so were sure to be extra yummy.  to give them a special autumn twist i seared them in apple cider!  mmm!

this dinner has been my favorite dinner on the cheap meal this week so far! the flavors were really great together... the balsamic vinegar and honey in the salad mixed with the sweet earthiness of the squash mixed with the apple cider kick in the chicken breast all went really well together.

and if you look back to my grocery list from earlier this week, you'll see that this half of my chicken for the week was $3.25, the acorn squash was $1.50 and i used half of my bag of salad at $1.75... that's $3.25 a piece for our delicious and healthy meal tonight! woot woot!

this is fun!