Finding Ashley again: The Cheap Life

Well, I guess we could have less money, but we are by no means rich.

We still know how to have some fun though :)

So here are some things we did this week on our budget!

Cookies - I called these "Pantry Cookies." I started out with making peanut butter cookies, and then...

I looked at my pantry shelf and decided to throw a bunch of stuff together to make these :)

Like I said, I started out with a basic peanut butter cookie.

So I started with the sugar.

Then I thought, maybe it would be even better with some

butterscotch chips! Mmmmmm

So then I went to add the peanut butter to it. But I didn't have enough creamy :(

Then a stroke of brilliance, CRUNCHY!!!

But why stop at cream and crunch peanut butter, when there is Nutella on the shelf!

Who doesn't like nutella?

^^^ These were the results.

This cookie is not for those on a diet (clearly) and are very sweet.

The peanut butter and butterscotch also make them very savory.

Definitely need milk with this cookie, and it is a crumbly cookie (best warm IMO)

It has a slight crisp on the outer shell, with a nice soft crumble middle.

Joshua, Evelyn, Joshua's brother, and myself are the official taste testers, and we all approve!

Pantry Cookies:

1 C Granulated sugar

1 C Confectioners sugar

1 C Light brown sugar

0.5 C Creamy peanut butter

1.5 C Chunky peanut butter

0.5 C Nutella

1 Large Egg

2 TBSP water

1/4 C. Vegetable Oil (If I were to remake this, I think I would use coconut oil instead)

2 Tsp Hazelnut extract

Half of a bag of butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick spray on pan (I use a mix of 2 parts water, 1 part vegetable oil, in a spray bottle). I mixed the dough with my hands because it was easier with all the chunky stuff in it :) then I rounded the cookies into balls a little over an inch tall. I put them in the oven for about 7-8 minutes, then immediately pressed them down with the spatula, and put them on a cooling rack. They were delicious :)

Halloween Decorations - Halloween is my favorite holiday, and Autumn is my favorite time of the

year. Unfortunately, I never have the money to buy all the stuff I see in the

store to decorate :( sad panda. But luckily I found an inexpensive way to

bring in some holiday cheer :)

I have a one year old in my house, who eats a ton! I know I can not be the only one. After throwing so many baby food jars away, I started feeling horrible :( So instead I started washing and saving them. I had no idea what to do with them, until recently when I figured it out :)

I already had the jars, and each bottle of paint can be found for less than a dollar at craft stores.

I used a sharpie for the black lines. The tall ghost on the far left was made from a Gerber treat tub.

Also, you may notice the sticky decorations on the windows (the clingy ones). I got those after Halloween last year. It was on sale and I got two packs of them for 20 cents each. Seriously how awesome is that? I always get them, and other holiday decorations, after the said holiday.

I also used some chicken noodle soup cans :)

50 cents at Michaels the week after Halloween! :)

^^^ also 50 cents :) This is on our front door.

Now this is my favorite thing that I have done... I painted a cheap flat canvas, and then put it in an old frame that I didn't have any other use for. I decorated the frame with google eyes, and just used dabs of paint for the glue. Then I put it on our front door, so our neighbors could see :)

I also got a black skull table cloth, an orange candy bowl, and a Halloween sign for the kitchen.

I got them all at Dollar Tree. So for all my decorations, I didn't even break 10 dollars.

It is amazing how much stuff is around that I no longer have a use for, that I can turn into a craft.

Romantic Dinner - I wanted to do something special for Joshua and myself, so I made dinner last night.

Unfortunately, sometimes you cant be too, too cheap lol. Over the weekend I bought a bottle of Mascato from World Market. They are awesome and have lots of wine discounts :) So I got a bottle for 8 bucks (and it is delicious)!!!! This is not the too cheap part, this cheapness was awesome!

The cheap part was the steak I bought :/ I got a pair of steaks that were in the clearance spot because they were only a couple days away from expiration. Since we would be having them very soon, I didn't think too much of it. I marinated them all day with my own marinade (apple cider vinegar, lea and perrins, soy sauce, a little brown sugar) and then cooked it in a seasoned pan (onion powder, my own non-stick spray, a little garlic, and basil). Joshua likes his rare, and I like mine medium. However they were so thin, they both cooked up really fast. My fault for going the cheap route. The flavor of the steaks was delicious! But they were chewy :( and I actually choked on a little of it. It made for some really nice laughs though :) and now we have a fun memory of the horrible steak lol with the delicious flavor. Next time I think I will have to splurge and pay more than 4 dollars for a pair of steaks haha.

We also had scrambled eggs :) with a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper. They were yummy :)

So "steak" and eggs, with a glass of wine :) I finished my wine first and he poured me some from his own glass so we could toast. Another great memory...

Josh pours some wine in my glass from his, I go to take a drink, he said NO! We have to cheersy. Cheersy? I asked. He thought for a moment, laughed and said toast! We have to toast! I teased him a little, and we "cheersyed" and drank the rest of our wine. Not a perfect evening, but at the same time, perfect <3 Less than 15 dollars for two orders of steak and eggs and wine. With lots of leftover eggs, and wine. Though really I think I have to pay more for steak next time :/

Cheers!