Crock Pot Wisdom

When I first moved out on my own and got my "real" job, my parents had told me what the value of a crock pot was.  You can set it up in the morning and come back to a hot meal with very little prep time.  Sounds good to me!  I bought one at random back in 2004 (read cheap) and I have been using it every since loving the set it and forget it feature which cooks food for as long as you tell it to and then goes to warm to keep it happy while you get around to eating. 

I made a crock pot meal for my sister and brother-in-law when they were here helping paint the nursery in January.  I had never made the meal before, but the directions had mentioned that I would have liquid left over in the pot when I was done and this was not the case for me.  In fact everything looked like it had been overdone a bit.  My sister had liked the recipe enough she tried it when she got home and confirmed some suspicions I had been starting to have about my crock pot.  She told me hers turned out different and had liquid leftover and that she suspect my crock pot was running hot.  This wasn't the first time I had thought this, but I kind of figured crock pots never "went bad".  There were a few other meals I had made that had what looked like hot spots in the pot when the meal was done, but I just thought, "oh it's being quirky". 

I have finally conceded that my crock pot was broken and decided to replace it.  The beauty of crock pots is that they are relatively cheap for a kitchen appliance, so for me, it's a matter of admitting mine is junk and throwing it out.  I wouldn't want anyone else using this piece of junk which is really too bad.  But it doesn't cook things properly, so who on earth would want that?  Here, have my broken stuff! 

Being the spend thrift that I am, I started my search on Amazon, which in my experience usually has some of the better prices for almost everything.  Not to mention a healthy mix of reviews for whatever you are looking for.  So I plugged in "crock pot" and started to read.  What surprised me was reading about the crock pot I owned.

It was rated 2 stars and had 185 reviews.  Most of the ones I read mentioned cooking food too hot.  Amazing what other people had also found with this stupid crock pot. 

Anywho, I moved on in my research and ended up with a Hamilton Beach one that has a programmable feature and has generally been rated very well.  After finding it on Amazon, I checked good old Bed Bath and Beyond to see what they had for a price.  It was the same as Amazon, but I could use a 20% off coupon, so we made the trip on Monday to pick it up.  Saved myself $10 doing it that way and got it instantly.  Tonight, I made the same crock pot meal to test it out and see how it did.  I'll be damned if it didn't turn out like it was supposed to according to the recipe.  I am really happy with it and am glad we bought it!

Recipe from tonight's meal if you are interested.

Slow Cooker Chicken
6 bone-in chicken thighs skin removed (about 2 1/4 pounds)
1 large onion diced
2 medium carrots chopped
3/4 cup unsweetened apple huice
1 garlic glove
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried apricots chopped
Couscous

Spray the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.  Place the onions and carrots in the bottom on the crock pot and then place the chicken on top of them.  In a small bowl, combine the apple juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.  Pour over the chicken and vegetables.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove chicken from crock pot, shred chicken with two forks and remove bones.  Add apricots and chicken back to the crock pot to warm.  Make couscous and serve over the couscous. 

It's tasty and easy to make!

Project Wrap-up

We have been working on a number of projects around the house that are finally getting wrapped up.  Some are those annoying pesky projects that aren't glamorous but need to get done and others are completing projects that have been more or less hanging open for that one last step to be finalized.  Either way, the thing they all share in common is that they are DONE!  Here's the project wrap up!

The Master Bath

Before:

We started this overhaul the day after we got the keys to the house because I think wooden toilet seats are just the most disgusting thing on the planet.  So that was immediate and the paint job and new hardware were within the past month.  We put in a new towel bar to accommodate two towels instead of one and upgraded the toilet paper holder to match.  Some day we might tackle the tile, but not anytime soon.

After:

Kitchen:

Before:

This was one of those pesky projects that just required moving the stove and applying a coat of paint to make the wall look more continuous instead of like it had a huge void (by something like say a huge ugly double oven circa 1970s).

After:

Basement:

This is a two part project update/completion.

Before Part 1:

Apparently this is as close as I can get to a before photo for this part of the basement.  We did have our chairlifts in here against the far way (with the peg board) since we moved in, but they were largely in the way.  We moved them against the other wall, sorted through all the old paint the prior owners left behind, hung our bikes, and re-arranged the peg board.

After Part 1:

By placing all this stuff in this "cubby" in the basement, we were able to open up the floor space a lot more to allow for the next phases of the basement overhaul.  Which is essentially trying to make the most out of our storage space.

Before Part 2:

Our silly washer/dryer/deep sink configuration.  We knew we were going to need to fix this when we bought the house.  It was functional, but not very efficient for a few reasons.  One, the dryer piping (which you can't see) makes roughly 4 right turns just to get a good run along the ceiling.  For every right angle in the pipe, that's like adding another 5 feet of pipe to get to the outside.  Not to mention a choke point for dust and clogging.  Rob and my father-in-law were able to move the deep sink over to swap the configuration of the washer and dryer, cutting down the amount of pipe needed and eliminating all those right turns.  The other perk is that our washer (not shown) being a front loading machine has a door that opens to the right.  Now I won't have to toss clothes over the door into the dryer.  WOHOO!

After:

I am currently running a load of laundry now just to see what the improved efficiency of our dryer is.  When they took the piping off it was very heavily coated with dust and junk.  Now with clean flexible piping, we should be getting better air flow!  This is when you know you have reached adulthood folks, when new piping on a dryer causes you to do laundry just to see how much better your dryer runs.

So those were a number of projects just hanging open that are now officially closed.  Of course, let's celebrate but remember, there's a much longer list of "haven't even started" projects just waiting.  Ahhh, home ownership!

Day Care Search

First, let me say this is probably my least favorite part about having a baby.  Knowing that you take the time to create this little tiny human and you get a ridiculously tiny amount of time (in the grand scheme of things) before having to turn them over to a care provider (strangers) so you can continue to earn the income necessary for the majority of people to function. 

I have now been to 3 day cares, which probably is considered way to few given I am 6 months along, but none of them have wait lists, so I am not really THAT concerned.  Basically I want someone who is competent, will pay attention if our child needs them, and returns them to us at the end of the day in more of less the same state we left them off in.  I don't really care what kinds of things you are going to teach a 10 week old baby.  For the most part, they sleep, eat, and poop.  I love looking at the curriculum at each place because they sound like your 8 month old baby will be able to identify colors and count.  How about we work on crawling?  I will consider this more important when they are slightly older and can actually be taught things.

In all three of these cases I have been less than impressed with how they have presented themselves.  I can't decide if this is a lack of training or they just generally think it's not important.  Most will show me the room our baby will be in all day and then run through charts, changing station, and point out the cribs.  At one place they went a little more in depth on what kinds of things you as a parent might get from their day, photos, an art project, etc. and some activities they do that's a little bit different like sign language on Fridays.  But then they just turn to me and say, do you have any questions?  All I can think is, you do this for a living and presumably have more than just me coming by to check out your place and you can't fill in any details beyond the state requirements?  What the heck do other people ask?  Is there an FAQ somewhere? 

Maybe I am thinking there's more to this than there really is, but none of the places have really put their best foot forward in terms of wowing me.  I am not asking to be wined and dined, just show me why you are the place we should trust with our infant.  I should also say, none of the places sent me away screaming or thinking that if I were to pick that place, our child would be in danger.  It's a room that can be sanitized, everyone gets their own crib, they all have sheets to track your child by, requirements for food you bring in, and there's a certain teacher ratio they maintain.  I just thought there was more to this whole day care search than what it has presented me with so far. 

One of our friends pointed out also that we won't really know how the day care is until we start to use them.  I am ok going in with the notion that we don't have to stay in one place forever, but it's just annoying that they are a little lacking in presentation.  Maybe if I had $2k a month to drop on day care, I would see a difference, but umm, that's not in the budget.  We also don't have days upon days to take time to go see every last single place on the planet.  See we need day care because we WORK during the day.  I guess we will find a few more places, but hopefully one will shine through as a clear winner.  Hopefully.

Half Bath Facelift

We know that our free time is about to get a whole lot more precious in terms of what we can and cannot do or have the ability to do come April, so we are trying to check things off our list as best we can now.  One of these things was adding a fresh coat of paint to the main level half bathroom.  It's probably one of the most used bathrooms in the house and we just hadn't done anything with it. 

For the most part it was ok, but the flat beige paint was really starting to wear on us.  That and the brushed brass fixtures, crappy light switches and plugs.  We also figured since it was one of the smallest rooms in the house we would paint, it's the perfect size job for a weekend project. 

After about 3-4 coats of this yellow paint (same as the color in our bedroom), we were looking good!  I have to say, painting in a small space while pregnant can be challenging.  Don't worry, I had the fan on and the door open, but maneuvering around the back side of the toilet was pretty tricky. 

Please enjoy the still frame, 360 tour.  :)

In addition to the paint, we swapped out the vent cover, light switches, towel bar, toilet paper holder, and installed a towel ring and a GFCI plug.  The plug is probably what I am most proud of.  We read the instructions, figured out which were the load wires and which were the line wires and installed correctly on the first try!  As Rob said, "Now our house is slightly less dangerous!"  We didn't have any GFCI plugs anywhere in our house.  It was noted in our home inspection that we should do something about that.  One done, probably 3-4more to go!

The only things we have left to do are the change the sink faucet (had to locate the basin wrench we borrowed and thought we gave back, but found we still had it) and add a couple of pieces of art.  We will eventually replace the lights with brushed nickel to complete the look, but we can't find ones we like that don't cost $60 a piece which I think it too much for lights right now.  These are still functional, although they are dated looking. 

For those keeping track at home, there are now only 5 rooms (3 of which are bathrooms) and our upstairs stairwell and hallway that remain unpainted from when we moved in.  With any luck, 2 of those bathrooms and one of those rooms will be painted very soon! 

Life in Suburbia

I now understand what it really means to "Keep up with the Jones''".  I always understood what the phrase meant, at least as a concept, but never had I felt like I needed to keep up with OR at least be on par with neighbors.  This is mostly because previously they were all nit twit renters who smoked on their balconies or practiced their organ at 7am.  However owning a home seems to flip the switch and suddenly there's so much more to your neighbors than before.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say this is probably because you will live next to one another for many years and you can't help but become aware of their habits and behaviors. 

We definitely take notice of what our neighbors do and it generally does inspire us to make changes or at least not be "that" house.  For instance, our neighbors re-leveled their lawn and put in a new sidewalk to their house.  In comparison our lawn now looks like the neglected mangy mutt on the block.  We thought the lawn was fine when we bought the place, but we have since learned it needs some love and our neighbors, through their lawn care, have shown us that.  Not on purpose, but I would like to think Rob and I are perceptive people and we can tell our lawn is not the star around here.  It's kind of the same way that I felt when I came home one May day and found everyone else's lawns were miraculously mowed and ours was looking forlorn and unattended to.  That night we bought the mower to remedy that problem.

On the flip side we also pay attention to our neighbors behaviors.  Most notable has been who parks where, when they leave for work, how they behave with others, who decorates for the holidays, and when they are gone.  Thanks to being in a town home, most of this is observed through our windows and doors and we pass in and out of our home.  We are especially interested in the behavior regarding the parking habits of one neighbor which seems to offer a lot to talk about.  Probably more than it should except, that's what we do now.  "Did you see where neighbor so and so parked again?  The nerve!"  Or some such phrase comes out.  I could get into why this is so fascinating to us, but I would bore you to tears. 

Tonight we came home to find our recycling bin had "disappeared".  Rob and I are religious recyclers with a full bin out every week.  We have some neighbors that don't bother (how rude!) and others that are on par with us.  Each house was assigned a recycling bin at some point in time.  What people have done with them over time is not my concern.  All I know is we have had one since we got here and we intend to keep it that way.  There was a week sometime over the summer where it was taken, but we were able to snatch it back the next week.  It is my personal feeling if you didn't put one out, you don't get to take one.  If you are missing yours, call the recycling people and get a new one.  Anywho, I went on a rant about who might have theoretically taken ours (again, providing much topic for conversation).  As Rob and I were on our way out for dinner tonight, I saw our recycling bin down on a neighbors lawn.  It wasn't taken into their home and Rob mentioned they didn't set out a bin that morning, just a giant cardboard box.  He went and retrieved it and placed it in our house before we left. Now it will fuel more discussion about these neighbors as they happen to be the same ones with the parking issues.

I think he said it best with, "If you had asked me ten years ago what kind of adventures I expected to having as an adult, 'stealing the recycling bin back from the neighbors' probably would not have made the list."  We have officially been assimilated into life in Suburbia.

Snagging a Great Deal

As many of you know, we are making room for one more in our lives come April and with that means needing a LOT of new stuff we don't currently have.  Thankfully my parents have taken care of the crib, but that's unfortunately one small piece of the pie.  But also thankfully, there are people on Craigslist that have plenty of nice stuff they want to sell for cheap.  :)

Last Friday I happened to be goofing off and doing a "I wonder what's on here today" search and stumbled across a posting for a used BOB Stroller.  Friends of ours bought one for their daughter and love it.  They were demoing it at the reunion over the summer and how fabulous it is.  I have heard great things about them from other sources as well and so I emailed the lady.  She said I was the first one to respond, so I got dibs.  We went to take a look at it and ended up buying it.  They retail for $300-$400 (MSRP on this model is actually $469, but I doubt people pay that) and we snagged it for $65.  It's been used and you can tell with some sun slight sun fading and worn spots where little feet go, but overall it's still in great shape.  I think she thought I was nuts when I said, oh I bet I can put it in the wash, but haha, jokes on her!  I got it in there about 30 minutes after I got it home. 

Leave an engineer alone with a screwdriver and curiosity and you'll find yourself with pieces of whatever used to be assembled.  :)

This was actually remarkably easy to take apart and get all the fabric off of it to wash.  The hardest part was looping the pull cord through the backside of the fabric.  

A few times in the washing machine and BAM!  Looks like new!  The cats have sniffed it a few times, but largely ignored it.  Guess it will sit and wait until this spring, but at least it's one more thing off our prep list. :)

One Last Paint Job

Projects around our house had slowed considerable since our gung-ho rush the first few months we were in the house.  We knew this would happen, so we gave it everything we had while we could sustain it to get as much done as possible.  We did pretty well, but we still had a glaring project that was still looming over us, painting the living room. 

It's not that we didn't want to paint it, we did, its just its easy to get used to status quo and get comfortable with how things just are.  This is especially true when it's neutral and more of less background noise.  With the help of family and some encouragement, we tackled the living room after Thanksgiving.  We actually got a lot done the day after Thanksgiving or right around then with their help.  We were able to get everything moved to paint, insulation in about half of our attic and even a gutter check (which btw, we found out we have guards on ours - hooray!). 

As a reminder, this is what we were working with for a "before" photo or two.

And hey look at that, a nice reminder of the stair lifts we took out as well.  Sometimes I forget all we have really done around here.  Anywho, here's some of the "after" photos:

While these photos may not really show it, the blue makes the room seem infinitely brighter.  You would think beige wouldn't be so dark, but when it's a flat paint, it really just kind of sucks in all the light in and holds it.  We also changed out all the plugs and switches in this room as well.  They don't show in the photos, but as I have mentioned before, changing out painted over pieces of junk with clean white functioning new parts is quite nice and adds so much to the finished look.

With this project complete, the only other immediate paint project is the space behind the kitchen stove that still needs some attention from where the old stove was.  Feels nice to have another project off the list!