Monday, May 31, 2010

I feel stupid

I can't figure out the mobile posting thing.

So if a picture of corn pops up like 8 times, you'll know hitting the send button REALLY hard doesn't make it work better :)

(btw, 300 ears of corn, 5 bushels "put up" today...peaches and cream - yum!)

Kitchen Update - Long

Soooo like the 4 of you following my kitchen destruction are probably wondering what happened?

Water damage my friends. Lots of water damage.

I started taking out the kitchen sink side. Once I stuck my head under the sink, I smelled something funky. It took TWO DAYS to take out those cabinets. I bet you I pulled out 30 4 inch nails. Anyway, when I got to the sink my oak subfloor (the one on top, I have another wooden floor underneath) was dirt instead of oak. I guess I've had a slow leak for who knows how long.

Not covered by insurance because they said it was a maintenance issue. I really agree with them and didn't push. Besides, I had already planned to get the kitchen replumbed because the bath was already done.

So for several days I cleaned. I was picking up pieces of subfloor with my hand. I had to tear out drywall, remove insulation, cut out all the bad floor and replace it with concrete board. My plumber dude also came by and removed the old bad plumbing that came through the floor and put it in the wall where it belongs. Cost wise, it didn't cost me anything extra to repair the damage. Mom gave me a piece of scrap drywall. I had a piece of scrap concrete board and a leftover roll of insulation. But boy did it take a TON of time.

So now, on the sink side, I have one cabinet to hang up and a frame to build to hold the countertop where the new dishwasher will be (I pulled the old one, it sucked). I already have my plywood and concrete board for the countertop tile that will be in sometime this week (I did order the granite!). I bought a new sink, a huge single bowl. I have to still pick out a faucet. But anyway, sometime next week I should be able to call the plumber to finish the copper line stuff and install my sink and faucet. A little bit of paint/drywall mud and that side will be done!

Now, remember the side that was so gross that I primed? Well I had an idea. Visualize this...a living room that shared a wall with the breakfast nook, but in order to get to the kitchen you had to walk through the bedroom hallway. Well I fixed that first thing, several years ago with my handy dandy reciprocating saw. Now my living room feeds into my breakfast nook.

So really, the hallway was handy but in a 1040 SF house, it was wasted space. So just as soon as I get the kitchen done, I am knocking down a wall in my bedroom and I'll gain an extra 3 X 10 in my room. Also, the hall closet is much larger than my current closet. My current closet will be...wait for it.... transformed into a built in area with another bathroom sink. THEN the kitchen closet which only holds junk (that can go into the basement) will now be accessible from my bedroom. Are you following me here? Yup, shower stall and potty. Now I know it is weird to have the sink away from the toilet area like that (they will be about 6 feet away), but you work with what you have.

So that will create a 3 foot weird area in the kitchen. Well I've already slid my fridge into that spot and I have to move the cabinet that goes with it after I build a wall. That will give me a place to put my last wall cabinet that was going to waste and....drumroll please.... a 7.5 foot countertop to the left of my kitchen stove. The 3 middle feet will be my home office and it will get it out of my bedroom (going from 100 sf to 130 SF and losing the home office part - my bedroom will be HUGE lol). I'll add in storage organizer type things for laundry (my washer and dryer are across from this). And it will be lovely.

So anyway, when I finish I'll post pictures.

In like 2 months. haha

Meal Plan Monday Week of 5/31/10


I've been slacking lately. My kitchen isn't done. My house is a wreak. I've not been planning out anything at all. Heck I barely managed to make it to vacation-land (and notice I've not even uploaded pictures from that yet? slacker!)

So in an attempt to get back on track, I am doing Meal Plan Monday again. Ohhh ahhhhh

Now keep in mind, I can't boil or bake in my kitchen for another month easy (don't you love home improvement projects that take like 4 months?).

Monday
B - Eggs & Sausage
L - Home made Pizza and corn @ Nana's house
D - Spicy rice (They marked down all the precooked shrimp yesterday to 2.99 a pound. So I am going to throw some of those in with some sausage, chicken breast, zucchini, onions and carrots. I'll prob use some Tabasco in it too.)

Tuesday
I have three pieces of white fish to do something with. More than likely I'll just steam it a little in the electric skillet. We'll have a salad and cantaloupe too. I'll also make cucumber/onion slaw for the week.

Wednesday
D - Marinated grilled chicken and corn on the cob (using Ken's low fat Ceasar on the chicken, it is good!). I'll also save a zucchini to grill. Oh and cantaloupe, we have two of these to eat up this week.

Thursday
I'll take one of the Wednesday chicken breasts and make chicken salad out of it. We have fancy rolls to put it on. We'll do the salad and cantaloupe thing again.

Friday
I'll grill ham slices and make mini sandwiches out of them. I'll also make broc salad.

Saturday
Chicken Casserole (chicken breast, carrots, gravy, broc & stove top top all mixed up together. Sounds gross but it is tasty). This might turn into leftover day if i have lots of leftover.

Sunday
I am going to do a pot of navy beans with sausage bits in it.

Whew I think that is it. And that should use up all my fresh stuff.

What are you cooking?

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Back!

Back from vacation! I will post pictures soon :)