Home Renovations

I haven't told Gary this yet but I decided this morning that we need a plan for all the home remodel ideas I've got floating around upstairs. This plan is going to be my favorite document over the next few years.

Why you ask?
1. It's in Excel. I LOVE EXCEL!
2. It will have different tabs for each "phase" and can track progress for each one.
3. It's in Excel. I really do love excel.
4. It will be a challenge that I have to win! Our house needs some help!
5. It will create motivation where as right now there is none.
6. It will help prioritize spending and savings on a better scale than we do now.

I felt really energized to do this because I saw a magazine at the home of the people I nanny for. It was a before&after magazine from none other than my favorite magazine - BHG! Yeah buddy. After taking a quick glance while feeding my little bugger friend, Jack, I took away that one of the most important tasks when doing a remodel is the planning beforehand. It said to have everything figured out before demo day: finances, finishes, equipment, appliances, etc. So that's what I decided we needed to do! Besides, I've been so overwhelmed with all my ideas that this will help sort out all the mess in my head.

Here's my list:

Current Project
Adobe CS6
Desktop computer with enough umph to handle design software

Phase 1 - to be completed by mid-2013
Cosmetic changes - paint in living room, master bedroom
New trim - white
New window trim - white
New inside doors - white
New closet doors - white
supplies
labor

Phase 2

Part 1 - Extra Room --> Half bath (possibly 3-piece bath) - to be completed by mid-2014
demo
new subfloor?
flooring
toilet
vanity/sink
shower stall?
bathroom door
close off room to kitchen
hardware
decor
towels
paint
supplies
labor

Part 2 - Upstairs Bathroom - to be completed by mid-2015
demo
new subfloor?
flooring
toilet
vanity/sink - double sink (PLEASE!!)
tub/shower combo
closet or enough shelf or storage in vanity
wall tiles
hardware
decor
paint
exhaust through roof
supplies
labor

Phase 3 - to be completed mid-2016
Demo
new kitchen sink
new dishwasher
new stove
new coutertop
new hardware

new washer
new dryer
new stairs to basement

supplies
labor

--

I wish you could see the excitement on my face! I know this is not our forever home but that doesn't mean we can leave a little Wiest stamp all over the place - it needs a little updating here and there is all. And really, who doesn't want another bath in this house? I most certainly do! There's also a Phase 4 if we ever get to it - that'd be to update our garage into a double or 1-stall with lots of storage space/shelving

More Halloween Crafting!

I decided that we need a little more Halloween on our porch. With the pumpkins that we didn't end up doing anything with in Elkader, I spray-painted instead! They turned out EXACTLY the way I wanted.

Can't wait for the Trick-or-Treaters! (I can't keep eating all this candy!)

What's for Dinner {11} - Sister, Sister Style!

I really wanted to get together with Bridget and Drew before they have baby Camp. Luckily for me, I had not only Friday night off, but all day Saturday so I asked if they wanted to hang out with Gary & I. Yay for living near my pregnant sister!! We opted for lunchtime on Saturday so that we could cook, eat, hang out and check out the church where we're having baby Camp's shower in a few weeks.

The church will be an amazing backdrop for the shower. I have so many good ideas in this ol' noggin but that will be a blog for another day.

Here are the NEW recipes we made:

Bridget's potato casserole with a crispy cornflake topping - a hodgepodge of items she had in the house: potatoes, sour cream, onions, cheese, cream of chicken, etc - We thought it was pretty good but thought it could use more cheese.

 

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken - 5 stars! So easy and really good :)

*1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
*1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
*1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
*6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix cheese, dressing mix and garlic powder. Moisten chicken breasts with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes with a Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

*1 1/4 cups cake flour

*1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*2 eggs

*3/4 cup sugar

*1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

*1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

*1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl. The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes. Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack. Frost as desired when fully cool.  

* A note about Cake Flour-  Cake Flour has a lower protein content than traditional all-purpose flour, which results in a more tender, delicate crumb in the finished product.  If you can not find or access cake flour, feel free to substitute as necessary, but your results will vary from the original recipe.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

*3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
*8 oz (1 block) cream cheese
*4 cups powdered sugar
*1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
*3 Tablespoons fresh raspberry puree (from about 1/2 cup fresh raspberries)

In the bowl of a large electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese, and beat further until the butter and cream cheese are fully incorporated and smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add vanilla. Again, with the mixer on low, add the raspberry puree, one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating, increasing speed to medium for about 30 seconds. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, and the moisture in your berries, the frosting may be on the soft side. I put the whole bowl of finished frosting in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to help the frosting firm up. If needed, you could add an additional cup of powdered sugar.

 

Thanks for a lovely meal, Drew & Bridget & Baby!!

 

And of course, I can't leave out Brisco!! He was sooooooo fun to play with!

 But perhaps the cutest of all, was miss Bridget and baby. I can't wait to be an aunite again :)

Door Decor {1} - Halloween Crafts!

I have Gary to thank for this post. He mentioned to me the other day that Halloween was coming up. Thanks for the reminder, Gspice, but I already knew that. Silly boy. No, the real reason he brought it up was that he was really concerned the kiddos wouldn't know that we had candy unless we decorated our porch.

So that is what I did.

Click HERE for the tutorial I followed.

Now ALL the kids will know we have candy. And lots of it!

What's for Dinner {10}

I woke up today really craving some pasta. Yeah, that's not all that unusual but I didn't want to have to go anywhere to buy ingredients so I had to use things I already had. Speaking of which, I don't have much. But alas, I figured out a good and super easy recipe that was actually pretty darn good.

Roasted Garlic, Brown Butter and Parmesan Pasta

Ingredients

* 1 lb. angel hair pasta

* 4 Tbs. butter

* 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

* 1 - 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, shredded

* 1-2 cups water from pasta
* salt and pepper

* Italian leaf parsley - I also added this because I have a bunch leftover from another recipe

Instructions

Cook pasta according to directions. Note Before draining the pasta, dip out 1-2 cups of the water and set aside. 

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to skillet. Cook several minutes until garlic is roasted and butter is golden brown in color. Remove from heat.

Add garlic butter and Parmesan to pasta. Ladle cooking water into pasta, tossing to melt cheese. Use enough water to get a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

I made a much smaller portion for myself but boy it was tasty!