Temporarily Signing Out!

We are so blessed to have a healthy baby boy, but my precious lamb has struggled in the eating department as soon as we came home from the hospital. For the past 4 weeks I have been to 4 lactation appointments (all of them 2 hours long) and 4 weight transfer appointments (to see how much breast milk he's taking) to figure out how to get him to nurse well and get a better latch.

In the meantime, I am breastfeeding him with a supplement tube inserted in his mouth to siphon out previously expressed breast milk so he can get fed while practicing a good latch. It's all hands on deck--literally! Then, I pump for 10-15 minutes to get milk for the next feeding. The whole process can be quite an ordeal--typically 45 minutes to an hour! When I'm not feeding Ari or pumping, I am trying to invest in my other 2 children or get a household chore done.

All of this is to say I am taking a break from blogging. I love to blog, I love the friends I have made, I love how crafting and DIYing recharges my batteries and stimulates my mind, but for now I need to take a step back and give 100% of my attention to my family, especially my son.

During my sabbatical, I'll be keeping in touch with Melissa for the Piece of Cake Party each week and keeping tabs on all my favorite blogs, maybe even find some new favorites during those early AM pumping sessions. I hope not to be gone long from the blog scene, but I'm not setting any timeline either.

We've been blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who are helping us out with childcare during Ari's appointments, supplying us dinners, and lifting us up in prayer.  It's not the easiest road, but I know there are others out there who are on a much harder one than I and I try to keep that perspective.

Until later...

Signing Out

Oatmeal Cream Pies (with REAL cream)

I wish I could be more active at pursuing my passion of DIYing, but the most DIYing I've been doing is trying to help my 4-week-old baby with his nursing issues. So, there's not much time or energy left in the tank. When I do have time, I am tending to the daily household chores or spending it with Eden or Avery.

Well, yesterday it was rainy from Tropical Storm Beryl, so when Avery and Ari were napping, I got some much needed Eden/Momma time whipping up together Stella B's Oatmeal Pies from this week's linky party.

Don't they look amazing! How could I resist?

Stella adapted her recipe from Pioneer Woman, who adapted the recipe from an Amish Cookbook. I in turn have adapted Stella's cookie recipe a bit to fit my family's palate:

Oatmeal Cream Pies:

1/3 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce  (Crisco substitute)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
lots of cinnamon shakes
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla 
3 cups of Old-Fashioned Oats
1 cup whole wheat & white flour (equal parts)
I wanted to use up the little I had left of the white; otherwise I would have used all whole wheat.


Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together and form into 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet. Cook for 10 minutes and let them set on the cookie sheet another 2 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

This recipe gave me enough for a mini cookie batch for the girls (using the 1 inch balls) and a larger cookie batch (using 1 1/2 inch balls) for Jared and I--16 cookies total.

The Cream Filling:

5 Tbs. white flour
1 cup half & half
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white sugar
1 stick of softened butter

In a small saucepan, whisk together flour and half & half over medium heat, stirring constantly till it thickens. Remove from heat and place the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

In a separate bowl, beat sugar and butter together with a hand-mixer on high. Add vanilla and continue mixing till it's fluffy. Add the cooled half & half mixture to the buttery sugar and blend until it all resembles whip cream.

Scoop some onto the back of a cookie and sandwich the cream with a similar-sized cookie. Place cookie on it's side in an air-tight container and let them set in the refrigerator.

 Stella's cream filling had just the right sweetness and they were delicious! Thanks Stella!

Go Outside and Play!

Thanks to my husband I can finally tell me children to "Go outside and play," when they get squirrely and start ramming around my house (my family always said ramming instead of running, is it just them or a southern Ohio thing?). The past two weeks my husband transformed our backyard from this:

  to this:

We searched and searched for pre-fabed playsets and settled on this one from Toys R Us:


Pros: It was in our price range. It be ready for the girls' birthdays.

Cons: No rock wall, fireman's pole, clubhouse w/ window, only one ladder, and only 4 monkey bars!

We have a great sandbox and my children do not need swings. They need an outlet for hanging and climbing other than the doors in my house, the baby's crib, the baby's swing, the cabinets, my couch, etc.

Option 1: Pay double the amount to get the equipment we want.

Option 2: Jared designed and build his own.

Obviously we went with Option 2! Jared drew up the plans himself, bought all the play accessories on-line, and went to town! Our friend, Chad, is an amazing carpenter and was very instrumental in the construction process as well as allowing Jared use his truck for transporting the wood. It was a labor of love and Jared LOVED every minute!

The battle wounds: 150 screws later!

Jared included everything we wanted and add a few extras like the baby's swing, rope swing, a bucket pulley system at the top, and safety handles. Eden's birthday party is next weekend so this weekend we will finish mulching the play area and get it nice and safe for her guests. 

Thank you my Love!

The Quality Cheap Breakdown:

We funded the playset several ways:

1) I sold the little climbing toys that were "decorating" my front yard on Craigslist and made $50. I was quite pleased with my profits considering the fact that one of the climbing toys I swiped out of my neighbor's trash pile.

2) Family contributed money instead of buying birthday gifts--$450

3) Publix supermarket had a deal where for every $25 you spent on groceries, you could buy a $50 Lowe's card for just $40! This saved us around $90.

4) Jared recycled some wood from our neighbor's deck which he used for the ladder.

5) Mulch around play set was FREE!

The Grand Total: $721

Out-of-pocket cost for us: $130

*Construction process and where we purchased the accessories to come.*

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Linky Party #8...

Welcome to

At 2:00 this morning, I sat down to write my Linky Party #8 Post and received this message when I went to view the link-ups one last time:

Linky Tools Subscription expired. List not available.

OOPS!

Bad news: I was a horrible hostess this week. I am so sorry I do not have any features this week, and I apologize that your link-ups from POC #7 are no longer available for others to view.

Good news: Melissa renewed the Linky subscription so this is a one-time thing. She also was able to write her feature post before the subscription expired; here's what caught her eye:

Features for Loving this {crazy} life:

Vanessa at Nifty Thrifty Things

Bonnie at Simply This and That

Sharon at Lililkoi Joy

Lizy at Lizy B Bakes

Kim at Too Much Time On My Hands

Great work ladies!

...................................................................................

HERE WE GO!

Just like this week, next week I will be featuring some of my favorite DIY Projects for #8's Linky Party along with It's a Piece O' Cake Linky Party #9. 
 

Make sure that anything you link up is: 

• Made by you.
• Not a Link Party, an Etsy shop or a giveaway.
• Show me the love and make sure to link back to me by grabbing a button!  If you followed my blog, that would be great as well!
• Make sure you link to your specific post featuring your project, not your entire blog.
• Take some time to check out some of the other links and pass by their blogs to show them some love as well!
• Please note: If you link up you are giving me permission to use your photos on my blog without contacting you {only to show off you amazing projects of course!}

 Are you ready?  

Grab a button and show me your Piece O' Cake projects!

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Contact Me

I'd love to hear any comments or questions you might have. Send an email my way at qualitycheaphome@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

A Crock Load of Stock

I love my Crock-Pot. It make me feel like Super-Mom with mega-multitasking powers--"cooking" dinner while I'm hanging the laundry or working on another project, all the while the kitchen is spotless due to my sidekick, The One-Pot Wonder! Last night we made some homemade chicken stock from a leftover chicken carcass.

My friend Jen over at How to Peel an Onion got me started on making my own stock. Yes, it's great for soups and stews, but with summertime approaching, I use it as a water substitute, especially when cooking rice. Chicken Stock is super good for you and cooking it in the crock-pot requires zero attention and zero culinary skills! This is a non-cook's dream!

The How-to for Crock-Pot Chicken Stock:

• Bones (meaty is fine) from a roasted chicken; giblets and/or organs are optional
• apple cider vinegar
• water
• salt and some peppercorns to taste
• bay leaf
• garlic cloves 
• vegetables --celery, carrots, leeks, onion (optional for flavor and added nutrients)

Place the meat, bones and parts into a large crock pot. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the pot (helps extract minerals and nutrients from the bones), fill the pot the rest of the way with water and add the remaining ingredients.

Turn to low and let cook for 24 hours (the long cook time = more health benefits). That’s it!

Strain the stock and allow it to cool. The fat will rise to the top and the stock will become more jelly-like as it cools. You may want to skim the fat off, but know that you're actually getting rid of good, healthy fat. The stock lasts a few days in the fridge and 6 -12 months in the freezer.

 Some of the Health Benefits:

• Homemade bone stocks are rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and other trace minerals which are essential for optimum health.

• Bone stocks also contain glucosamine, chondroitin and gelatin--good for joint and arthritis pain.

• It's good for digestion and lines the gut with a protective mineral coating.

• Boosts the immune system (the ultimate cold remedy--chicken soup).

The Quality Cheap Breakdown:

I bought the chicken so I might as well get the stock for FREE! Homemade chicken stock also has the nutrients that are often lacking in store-bought, MSG added stocks. I can save anywhere from $3-$5.

Shout-Outs!

My husband, Jared, is a middle school teacher. I LOVE teaching, but would relinquish my teaching certificate before I EVER taught middle school. Jared though comes alive with them. At the end of each period he sets aside time for students to volunteer praise and encouragement to their fellow classmates--shout-outs. At a time in their lives when peer-affirmation is so coveted, I can't think of a better way to foster class unity and encourage self-worth.

Well, Emily at Entirely Emily gave me a HUGE shout-out and awarded me this:

Out of all the talented people who have amazing blogs, I was one who came to her mind.  Thanks Emily, you've given me my first blog award. I must say your line of: can't remember why I went into that room again cracks me up every time I visit your blog! For not remembering why you went into a room, your mind sure comes up with some creative projects!

According to the Kreativ blogger rules, accepting the award includes the following:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated me to receive the award and providing a link back to their blog
2. Sharing 10 things about yourself that bloggers might find interesting!

3. Nominate 6 other bloggers to receive the award and inform them.

About Me Facts (I'll finish my profile page someday, but here's a start):

1. My lack of writing skills almost kept me from having a blog. Fortunately, blogging is more of a typed-out stream of consciousness--I can do that!

2. 90% of everything I buy (food, clothes, paint, craft supplies, or toilet paper) is on sale or I had a coupon for it. If not, I wait for one or the other. The best is when I get both$

3. We are able to comfortably live off of one teacher's salary by following 2 rules:
1) It's not about how much you make, but how much you spend.
2) Buy used and save the difference.

4. My sewing skills are limited to straight seams only.

5.  I usually have 3-5 projects that I am working on at any given time. Currently, I am hunting for fabric for the girls' bedding, making birthday decorations for Eden's party in two weeks, picking out paint for the living room, and working on a dress for Eden.

6. I love to host parties--showers, birthdays, games night, etc. Come on over and we'll have some fun!

7. I don't like to cook, much less eat. I wish I could be a plant and photosynthesize. Eating takes me away from other things I rather be doing--sunbathing, playing at the beach, DIY and crafting!

8.  I love IKEA!

9. I HATE clothes shopping, but could shop all day at garage sales, flea markets, or thrift stores!

10. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Quality Cheap Home's shout-outs of more amazing bloggers and blogs:

Melissa @ Loving This Crazy Life: She has been an inspiration and mentor to me as I navigate through the blogging world. She is also a true friend. We lost touch for years, but when we reconnected, we just picked up where we left off. Abrazos y besos mi amiga!

Heidi @ Budget Wise Home: I have been following Heidi for two years. I found her during one of Avery's 2am feedings. Her ideas just get better and better. Love her taste and fabric finds.

Kristi @ ishouldbemoppingthefloor:  Kristi's personality just seems to come through on her blog. She is down to earth and her DIY ideas can't be beat.

Kate@ Cheap Crafty Mama: Kate's budget isn't much larger than mine so I like how she gets creative with the things she has.

Deanne & Reed @ Crafter Meets Craftsman: They're newlyweds, they tackle their home together, and they just started blogging this past February. They've also recently been featured on Stylist Home--congrats you two!

Erin @ How to Nest for Less: She has great easy DIY craft and decorating ideas. She recently celebrated her 1 year anniversary in blogging and I think it's great how successful she has been. Kudos to you for following your passion. I know you'll have another great year!

Those are my shout-outs!

 You have all been inspirations to me!
 Now, here's to you and your Kreativity:

CHEERS!