15 Inexpensive SPRING/SUMMER Date Nights

The hubby and I love having date nights! We try for at least once a week to do something special, just the two of us. Here are a few ideas for some free or inexpensive date night ideas for you and your sweetie this spring and summer! 

UPDATE: Check out Fall Date Nights and Winter Date Nights too!

1. Picnic - have fun packing your picnic lunch together and then go to a park and just have fun! Don't be afraid to swing or slide on the slides! 

2. Free concerts - lots of towns have free concerts, especially during the summer. Bring your blanket and picnic along!

3. Goofy Golf - only cost a few $$.  Make it fun...loser has to make breakfast in bed or dinner the next night!

4. Bonfire - we love roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in our back yard! Play some yard games too!

5. Farmer's Market - head to your local farmer's market and then take all your goodies home to make a new dinner and dessert recipe!

6. Batting Cages - at our local batting cages you can hit 20 balls for $1.00! Great fun! 

7. Bowling - we always find coupons for FREE games of bowling at local restaurants.

8. Exercise - Go for a hike or bike ride..free and great for your health!

9. Camping - in your backyard for free or only a few $$ at a local campground. Don't forget the smore's stuff!

10. Beach Day - Plan a day at your local beach including a yummy picnic lunch and fun making a sandcastle together! 

11.  Movie - Go to a drive in or rent a movie and stay home! 

12. Star Gazing - Find a star map and take outside to locate different stars and constellations! Bring along a blanket and some wine!

13. Game Night - Play your favorite board games on the porch or on a blanket in the back yard.  

14. Homemade Ice Cream - If you don't already have one, borrow a homemade ice cream maker from someone you know. Shop for the ingredients together and have fun making and eating your yummy creation! 

15. Water Gun Fight - grab some water guns at your local dollar store and let the water wars begin!

Feel free to share your free and inexpensive date night ideas too! :)

$15.00 Porch Facelift

Here was our porch before...not very attractive or inviting... 

I bought this new rug and it was my inspiration to make the porch feel a little more "homey". I really liked the brown, green and pink together.

First stop was Dollar Tree to pick up a couple pots and then Home Depot for some geraniums on clearance!

Next, Target for some new garden tools and gloves, also on clearance!

These cute little watering can hooks, the birdie and the metal/twine flower below were at Hobby Lobby. All of their Spring & Summer stuff in currently on clearance as well! 

This rusty plant basket was a 25 cent yardsale find! 

We already had this shelf and items on it at home.

Just a few more shots of the porch...

I like it much better and it only cost a few dollars!

Homemade Vegetable Stock in a Crock Pot

Vegetable stock is a great way to add some flavor to lots of things! I like to use it in soups or use instead of water when cooking rice.

It's super easy to do. I just save all of my vegetable scraps in gallon freezer bags. By scraps I mean anything left from a vegetable you would otherwise throw away. The stems, the tops and bottoms you cut off, the peel, etc. all goes in the bag! No need to use new, fresh veggies. Just save your scraps and it's FREE! :)

Once you have a bag or two full, just toss all your frozen scraps in the crock pot. Fill crock pot with water to fully cover all your scraps plus a little more. Set on HIGH for 6-8 hours. When finished pour through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth. 

You can freeze your vegetable stock in bags, containers or ice cube trays for a few months. Refrigerate is fine, but should be used in a few days. Personally, we like to can ours because it saves room in the freezer and will last for a long time. 

I love easy, green and free recipes!

Red, White & Blackberry Cobbler

Here is a little 4th of July inspiration for ya! I found this centerpiece idea on Pinterest to wrap a mason jar with a piece of burlap, tie with some red and white ribbon and fill with red geraniums. 

LOVE  IT.

We are having my family over for dinner and then going to watch fireworks!  Since my sister has Celiac, I always like to find desserts that she can eat too. These are made with Kellog's Gluten Free Rice Krispies. Marshmallows and M&Ms are already gluten free so this was simple and fun to make!

For lunch we will be with Derrick's family so I made a blackberry cobbler made from blackberries we canned last Summer! 

Check out the recipe below and hope you all have a fun and safe 4th!

Blackberry Cobbler

- 3 cups blackberries
- 2/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
- 1 Tbs flour
- 2 Tbs butter
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- Premade crust

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine in saucepan and heat to a boil: blackberries, sugar, and flour
3. Place hot fruit in bottom of 8 inch baking dish
4. Dot fruit with butter
5. Place crust on top and sprinkle with cinnamon
6. Bake cobbler about half an hour

DELIGHT

 DELIGHT - To take great pleasure in.

One of my favorite verses and probably one of the first that I memorized is:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Pslam 37:4)

For the longest time, I thought that this verse was saying, if I delight in the Lord, then he will give me EARTHLY desires of my heart. (great family, good job, health, etc)

I finally came to realize, that this was not at all what the author of this verse was saying.  If we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, trust Him that His ways are good, then the greatest desire of our heart should be HIM. To really take great pleasure in knowing HIM and having a relationship with HIM.  

How do we do this? By spending time in the Word and in prayer and by worshiping Him who saved us eternally through Jesus Christ.

Not only should we delight in Him and want to know him more, but He wants the same. He wants to delight in US.

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” ( Zephaniah 3:17)

Wow.  How awesome is it that we have a God who loves us and takes delight in us. He quiets us with His love when we are anxious and worried and He rejoices over us with singing, because He delights in us. 

I'm thankful that I have a God that loves me even when I fail, even when I don't deserve his forgiveness.  That I have a God who wants to delight in me and have a relationship with me.

I pray that we will all desire Him more than anything else, that we would delight ourselves in Him...and He would give us the desires of our heart.

Healthy Summer Lunch

I love Summer! You can't beat all the fresh fruits and veggies this time of year. One way to cut grocery expenses is to grow your own produce by planting a garden or landscaping with edible plants such as fruit trees or grape vines. Visiting local farmer's markets is another great way to buy fresh produce and prices are usually very reasonable. 

Another way to cut grocery expenses is to use all that fresh produce when meal planning. I am trying to plan at least a couple vegetarian meals each week to cut down on the cost of meat and to use up all the fresh veggies in our garden!

For lunch today I had whole grain crackers, cheese and grape tomatoes fresh from our garden!

I also had some fruit salad made up of cantaloupe, strawberries and red grapes. Unfortunately, our grape vine and strawberry plants aren't yet producing any fruit, so had to buy those. Still, a very inexpensive, healthy and delicious lunch! 

Anything yummy on your summer meal plan?

DIY Burlap Pillows

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon these two small burlap sacks at a yard sale for $0.50 each.

I decided they would make cute pillows! Since three sides were already sewn together all I did was stuff them and sew up the last side. 

They were still a little boring, so decided to paint Mr. & Mrs. on the fronts. 

I really like the way they turned out, and especially since it only cost $1.00!