Ultimate Backyard on a Budget

   Over the past year, we've been working on making our backyard a really fun play space for Grady, who is now a fast-paced, exploring, havoc-wreaking toddler. He loves to be outside and what better place to create the ultimate fun time for your kid(s) than your own backyard? Here's how we did it without breaking the bank:

   My mother-in-law is an avid thrift store gem finder. She brought us this crab sandbox which we chose to fill with water as a kiddie pool instead of sand. It also doubles as a dog pool :) $10. (Spare me the nudity outrage comments. Sometimes a little naked pool time is okay and our yard is fenced. Thanks.)

 
She also gave us this awesome fort slide that she snagged for another grandchild a few years ago. I recall her saying it was under $25. Grady LOVES it.

   Then came the homemade splash pad idea. I saw this while browsing ideas for the manchild's first birthday party last year - water/splash themed. I showed it to my handy dad and he knocked it out of the park.

All you need is an 8x8 tarp, 2 - 10 ft., 1 inch pieces of PVC pipe (cut in half), 4 corner pieces, 1 tee piece and a threaded piece for the hose to connect. Total cost for PVC - $15. Another $10 for a tarp if you don't already have one.

   Here comes the crazy fun. Add the fort to the splash pad and get this...

   We adding a digging component to the water fun by building a sandbox with a folding lid and bench seats. Find the tutorial here.  

   We don't really have a way to bring in a truck load of sand into the backyard with our fence the way it is so we did bags of play sand. It took about 18 bags to fill the box. The wood and sand collectively was under $100.  Grady could not wait to get in it.

 

   We had a 3 ft deep inflatable pool Ian found last summer on clearance but it bit the dust after baking in the sun for a year. It was hard to keep clean anyway and we were glad to see it go. We replaced it with this smaller one for $10 that's MUCH easier to manage.
   Until Grady is an exceptional swimmer, the smaller pool leaves me with significantly less anxiety about downing. We do have a doggy door from the house to the backyard that he has learned to escape from and the fear of that scenario I could not overcome.
  And there you have it. A backyard kid's oasis, another mother likened to "Disney World", for around $150. Parenting win!

Venison Sausage Pizza

   On the way home from work, I was really tempted to pull into Publix and hit the deli up for a box of fresh, hot, crispy fried chicken. But the Fiscal Fast is still going on. So, after coming home and raiding the pantry and freezer, our useful inventory for dinner included: a package of Pampered Chef pizza dough mix, an unattractive can of tomato paste and jar of mushrooms (raises eyebrow and wonders why these items are even in my pantry...), 2/3 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese - which I doubted was enough to cover a whole pizza - and a package of venison sausage links in the freezer. Again, cheers to the 2014 hunting season!

  I decided venison sausage pizza was a suitable and perhaps even tasty meal and got to work. The first thing you need is a helper who is willing to cover themselves in flour and olive oil for the good of the cause. Check! ------>
   Side note here: I think it's really important to let your kids help in the kitchen. Not only does it entertain them (because they will find the most inconvenient things to do while you're occupied in there anyway like open the pantry and break glass jars of pickles), it instills the wonder and passion of cooking in them. I want my kids to enjoy food and the process it takes to make it tasty. 
   The Pampered Chef pizza dough is quick and easy to prepare. You mix and knead for 5 minutes, let rest for 5, then shape onto pizza stone. Bake for 16-19 minutes. 

 
   While that was baking, I thawed the venison sausage and cut just enough to cook and slice into pepperoni-style pieces. I put the rest back in the fridge for another Fiscal Fast meal this week...perhaps breakfast on Saturday? :)
   The tomato paste was the least appetizing of ingredients. I thinned it out with some water, added 1 tsp. of garlic powder and 2 tsp. PC Sweet Basil Rub. It transformed into some pretty tasty pizza sauce. We brushed the partially baked crust with garlic infused olive oil and then brushed on the sauce. The 2/3 bag of cheese I had was actually the perfect amount of cheesy goodness.
   I tried to perfectly thin slice the sausage with my mandolin slicer but it was not successful so I went hands on with a knife. I spread the "venison-roni" and mushrooms evenly and baked another 10 minutes. Voila! Kid-tested, mother-approved.

A Week Without Spending $$

   Saving money is a habit. It's a mindset you have in the "on" position. If you don't practice it for a while, you get out of the habit. We did that for a while. You're hungry on the way to work? Pull in the drive thru. Want something specific for dinner? Buy whatever you want, putting aside sales, coupons, menu planning, etc. My favorite thing to do to jump start the habit again is a little something I call the Fiscal Fast. It's literally a week-long spending freeze on your household. No drive thru, no grocery store, no lunch money, na-da.
    The only thing I recommend doing to prepare for this week is to fill your gas tank. If one tank of gas won't get you to and from work for the week, this is the ONLY area you can "cheat." But, do be mindful of where you're going each day and the gas it will consume to get there. Limit your transportation to work only. Just for a week. It won't kill you. Consider carpooling if possible.
   Brew your own coffee at home or the office. Make some toast or a bowl of cereal instead of hitting the drive thru on the way to work. Pack your lunch every day. If your kids typically take lunch money, pack their lunch too. These are just a few things you can do to eliminate spending for the week.
   DO NOT go grocery shopping the day before you start. This defeats the purpose of saving money if you drop $200 in Publix on fresh produce and new shampoo. You might be panicking about what you'll eat for 7 days. I can almost guarantee, you have enough non-perishables stashed in your pantry to last you a week. And with the help from a few things in the freezer, you can survive. Use as many fresh ingredients from your fridge as possible to avoid waste and clean it out!
   Sometimes, you can even make a meal with leftovers for lunch or to freeze for another day. Here's what I made for dinner last night with only items currently in my fridge, pantry and freezer:

Mexican Tomale Casserole                               

• lb. ground beef, cook/drain
• 1 - 8 ox. pkg of corn muffin mix
• 1.5 C. of water
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 2 C. Salsa
• 2 C. shredded cheddar, divided 
• 1 C. corn canned or frozen
• 1 C. black beans, drain/rinse
• Chopped Romaine lettuce

   In a large bowl, combine muffin mix, water, eggs and chili powder. Add beef, salsa, corn, and 1 cup of cheese. Mix well and pour in greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake additional 5 minutes. Serve over lettuce and top with sour cream.

   I used a package of frozen venison from last hunting season. I also had extra of all of the above ingredients so I made a double recipe with plans to freeze the second dish for dinner on another day. I didn't have salsa, but I did have a can of Mexican seasoned diced tomatoes and half an onion in the fridge. I also added a piece of green bell pepper (chopped) I had left from a previous meal. Boom. Dinner is done. And so is lunch tomorrow and a future quick dinner in the microwave.

Cheap Family Fun

   While thinking of fun, affordable things to do with our family this summer, we decided to plan a weekend trip to Orlando. The best way I can advise doing this is by booking your hotel room through Hotwire.com. On numerous occasions, I have scored a 5 star hotel for under $100. You choose the area to stay in and your price range, and the hotel name is revealed once you lock it in. I've NEVER been disappointed. For this particular trip, we snagged a Crown Plaza room for $78 including tax, fees and parking.
   Back in December, Ian bought us Universal annual park passes for my birthday. We've used them 3 times since then and "got our monies worth". The bonus is that kids under 2 get in free so we can take Grady and just do the kid-friendly stuff, have lunch and leave - FOR FREE! You can even bring your own food and drinks into the park.

   There are several play areas in Universal including an epic ball factory. It's 2 floors of foam ball fun. There are air hoses that vacuum the balls up into a cage that dumps them on your head. Launch guns, a climbing maze (see above) and a giant twisty slide. Then just outside the ball factory is a pretty great little water park with dumping buckets, water guns, and a splash pad. A few feet from there is a toddler-sized covered playground. 

  Because I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, we did skip over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to get some Butter Beer, check out the dragon, use my wand to work some magic and ride the Hogwarts Express. I made my own HP maternity shirt out of an old bubble bottom blouse and magic marker. I Googled Harry Potter font and free handed this beauty...

   The scarf I already had made for a nice little baby bump sash :) 

   After a shower and power nap, we headed over to Downtown Disney (free to get in). They have tons of cool shops and restaurants to browse. Kid favorites include the Disney store with the giant Build a Potato Head exhibit where you can spend literally hours picking out your accessories and all you can fit into the carrying box is $20. The staff will even show you cool tips on how to stuff the box with the most pieces to get the best bang for your buck. Great customer service! Side note: you don't have to buy anything. You can spend time playing in there and leave empty handed if you so choose. 

   Another great place to play for free is the Lego store. They have a huge trough of Legos outside the entrance for your building enjoyment. To beat the heat, we like to sneak inside to the toddler building room where there are play tables with the junior size Legos. 

   Grady is obsessed with Legos right now so this was a lifesaver while we were waiting for our seating time at the T-Rex Cafe. I will confess we splurged on dinner because we had heard awesome things about this place and that the food and experience was worth the wait in line, and the price. 

   If you are on a tight budget, I recommend Earl of Sandwich for an affordable dinner at DTD. There are also great restaurants at the entrance near Cirque Du Soleil, but we came in the Market Place entrance and there is 2 miles between each entrance so we stayed on that side. 

   We had a pretty awesome family fun weekend for under $300. We closed out the trip by visiting Bass Pro - always a good time! - and a cheeseburger at Fudruckers.