Pool Deck Makeover

One of the things that we were excited but extremely nervous about was the on-ground pool.  Neither one of us had a pool growing up so we weren't really sure how to care for it.  The first thing that we had to do was to make the pool and access to it, safe.  When we looked at the house, Tony walked around the pool and there was a bounce in the decking.  The "decking" was plywood covered with outdoor carpeting.  I'm sure when they installed it, it worked great until it rained and the plywood filled up with water.

Tony and his dad started by ripping up the old decking.  This was the easy part.

During demo

The next step was to cut the 1 x 4 boards to length and sand down the corners.  With Tony's mom and I both sanding and the boys laying and screwing in the boards, it went pretty quickly. 



Prep and Install

After the deck was installed, we had a new liner put in.  The old one was bleached and ripped in the corner.  Not bad for a weekend project!

Completed Pool!

Easy Classic Brownies

I am always looking for ways to save money.   The grocery bill is a good place to start.   Brownies are a favorite in our house so I wanted to find an easy from scratch recipe where it was less than the pre-packaged Pillsbury and Betty Crocker boxes.   It's also nice to know exactly what is in the brownies.   I stumbled across this one:

CLASSIC BROWNIES
Servings: Makes ~12 brownies
Total Time: 30 minutes

Classic Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup veg oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup chocolate chips or nuts (I use semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Grease the bottom of an 8x8 pan.
3. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.

I pre-mix the dry ingredients in mason jars so all I have to do is add the oil, vanilla, and eggs.  In 30 minutes, you can have homemade brownies that don't have any preservatives.

Hope you enjoy trying the recipe! 

Master Closet Redo

Last March, I was off to Japan for a couple of weeks.  Tony decided to redo our closet. The initial closet just had a main bar and a shelf. It really wasn't practical (especially for all of my clothes and shoes!). White paint, instead of peach, and a Rubbermaid Closet Kit from Lowe's was a quick fix. They were minor changes but they have made all the difference!!  If you are looking for an easy closet makeover, this is the way to go!

Closet - before and after

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

One of our favorite sweets is mint chocolate chip ice cream.  It's our go to if we are ever out getting ice cream.  I found an easy recipe to try.  It turned out pretty well!  


MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM
Makes: 2 quarts
Prep and Cook Time: 3 hours

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 cups 2% milk 
2 cups heavy cream 
1 cup sugar 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon peppermint extract 
green food coloring (optional) 
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the green food coloring. 

2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

*If you are using a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment, after about 12-15 minutes into the freezing, add the chocolate chips. After the ice cream has thickened, about 20-30 minutes total time, spoon into a container, and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Step One - Paint

When we purchased the house, the first thing we needed to do was paint!  The ceilings in the kitchen, dining room, and hallway, were blue.... Blue!  Who paints ceilings blue??  I could understand a sky mural in a little kids room but in the majority of the house?!  We went with a traditional white ceiling. 

Poorly painted blue ceilings

The master bedroom was a peach color which wasn't really our cup of tea.  We went with a purplish-grey color to match our black furniture and repainted the ceiling white.  I'm happy with how the color came out but I think Tony would want something more "manly."

Master Bedroom

The room that we designated to be our guest room was initially painted bright purple because it was a little girls room. We went with a light blue to match the bedding and again repainted the ceiling. 

Guest Room

Our office used to be the little boys room and had crayons all over the walls.  It needed a fresh coat on almost all walls.  The one wall was in pretty good shape so we painted the other walls white to create our Penn State room.  It'll do now until we have a house with a finished basement. 

Before

After

My amazing sister came up to help us paint!  Having an extra set of hands was a huge help.  We still haven't painted the rest of the house but we'll get there... Hopefully soon.

Easy No Work Chicken

With Tony and I working opposite hours, we don't get to see each other during the week let alone share a meal.  My motivation for cooking dramatically drops during the week.  It's easy to just buy lunch at work but $4 or $5 everyday for lunch really makes me mad.  I could cook a meal for both of us for a few days for about $5.  The big question is, what is good re-heated?  I went back through my recipes and I found a family favorite.  No Work Chicken.  It's simple and easy.  When we would spend a weekend on a houseboat, my mom used to prep it beforehand and bring it with us.  It was always a crowd favorite.

NO WORK CHICKEN
Makes: ~6 servings (easy to double or triple the recipe)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Marinade time: 2-24 hours (your call!)
Cook Time: 1 hr

No Work Chicken

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breasts (3 large is about right for the marinade below)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Optional: 1 tsp curry powder if you want a little kick

Instructions:
1. Mix everything together.  
2. Let the chicken sit in the marinade for 2-24 hours.
3. Bake at 350F for 1 hour.

If I cook it for a meal, I usually serve the chicken over white rice with some broccoli.   This week, it was used as lunch.   I cut up the chicken and mixed it with rice plus some of the extra marinade.   A couple of minutes in the microwave and violà!

Lunch - No work Chicken

If you try it, please let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Candied Walnuts

I'm trying to eat healthier but I have a natural sweet tooth.  One of my favorite salads is spinach, feta cheese, grilled chicken, and candied walnuts.  If you ever buy candied walnuts, they are expensive!  I like them a lot but don't want to shell out the $10 for them.  I decided to make them.  For just about $3, I have 3 cups of candied walnuts!  

Here's the recipe!

CANDIED WALNUTS
Makes: 1 1/2 cups
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes 


Candied Walnuts

Hints:
Check around to get the best price on walnuts.  At Wegman's, I could buy walnuts from the trail mix bar for $5.99/lb or I could but them from the nut section for $7.99/lb.

If you want more than 1 1/2 cups, make two or three batches.  The sugar cools very quickly and it will be difficult to separate the walnuts.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of walnuts
1/2 cup of sugar
pinch of salt

Instructions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Lay walnuts out on a baking sheet (I recommend one with a lip) in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes. Test for doneness. If not quite toasted enough, toast for 1 or 2 more minutes. Be careful not to burn. Remove from oven and let cool.

2.  Pour sugar into a medium saucepan. Have the cool walnuts nearby, ready to quickly add to the pan at the right time. Cook sugar on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon as soon as the sugar begins to melt. Keep stirring until all the sugar has melted and the color is amber. As soon as sugar is melted and the color is a medium amber, add the walnuts to the pan, quickly stirring and coating each piece with the sugar mixture.

3.  When the walnuts are coated with the sugar mixture, spread them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use two forks to separate the walnuts from each other.  Work quickly!  Sprinkle with salt. 

4.  Cool and Enjoy!

Let me know how yours turn out!

My completed lunch!

Spinach, Chicken, Feta, Candied Walnuts,
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Our First Home

We are about a month and a half away from celebrating the one year anniversary of buying our first home! I can't believe it's already been a year.  



Our First Home

When we decided to start looking, we figured it would take us a couple months and several houses until we found the one.  As it turned out, the second weekend we went house hunting, we found one that "felt right."  I never thought that we would get that feeling but we both did.  We weren't ready to buy a house just yet but we decided to jump in and go for it.

I never realized how stressful it is to buy a house.  We went back and forth with the sellers on the price.  Eventually, we couldn't reach an agreement.  It was going to be on to finding a new house... Bummer...

Luckily, the next night, we got a call that the sellers had changed their mind and had agreed to our final offer!! It was an amazing turn of events.  It took me a few hours to get in touch with Tony since he was working.

At the end of February, we finally closed on our first home! Stay tuned to see the improvements that we have made thus far...

Happy 3 Years, Mom!

Earlier this week, my mom asked if I was going to re-post any of the posts from my old blog, especially Goodbye Montefiore, to this blog. I figured it was still on the other blog so I didn't need to. 

Well, yesterday was my mom's 3 year anniversary of her liver transplant which happened on January 8, 2011. When looking back, all the pain and stress that stated December 23, 2010 seems like a distant memory. I guess time does heal. I figured it would be good to post something new. When looking back, I don't focus on all the things that happened during those stressful 2 1/2 weeks but on all of the great things that have happened over the past 3 years. Here's a summary of everything that my mom has gotten to experience over the past three years because the doctors took a chance on her and on our family.

A Family Trip to Aruba

A New Puppy

My master's graduation 

Amy's internship at Movado

A family reunion in Oregon

 My Engagement 

My Wedding

Thank you to everyone who has given us love and support and the much need prayers over the past 3 1/2 years. Here's to many more years and many more memories!

Soup from Scratch - Attempt 1: Butternut Squash

This year, I am going to learn to cook if it kills me... I am a really impatient cook.  If I want it to cook something faster, you just turn up the heat right??  My goal is to cook one new item/recipe per week.

This past weekend, I was craving butternut squash soup.  Fortunately for me, my sister-in-law, Shelley, posted a great recipe on her amazing blog, The Experience of Eating.

Here's the recipe...

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Makes: 6 servings
Prep and Cook Time: ~2 hrs 



Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 small to medium  yellow or Vidalia onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
3 medium butternut squash (or 2 large), halved and seeded
2 ½ c. low-sodium, fat free chicken broth or vegetable broth
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
4-8 oz. cream cheese
Sour cream, for garnish

Instructions:
*HINT: Shelley recommends boiling the squash for 10 minutes to make it easier to slice them.  I boiled them for 5 minutes and they sliced just fine.  

1. Apply olive oil to flat sides of squash with a silicone basting brush and dust with salt and pepper.  
2. Roast the squash face down on a baking sheet at 400˚F for 45 minutes.  
3. Scoop out the pulp and toss the skin. 
4. In a large saucepan or stockpot, sauté onion in butter until tender.  
5. Add squash, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. 
6. Turn off the heat.  Add the cream cheese, starting with 4 oz. and adding more if desired.  I added all 8 oz.
7. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  Reheat if necessary, but do not allow to boil. 
8. Add a scoop of sour cream when you’re ready to serve.

It came out great.  Glad the first recipe went well.  We will see what I try next weekend.  Stay tuned!

New Year New Project

Hello! My name is Jen and I am 25, soon to be 26, year old.  I've been married for just a few months to an amazing man who has loved and supported me for almost seven years.  We have a 7 year-old Shih-Tzu who is spoiled rotten and gets away with everything. I've always toyed with the idea of creating a blog and now I finally have the time.

For us, the past year and a half has been crazy...

I graduated from school with my Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

I got my dream job.

I moved to upstate New York (no, not near NYC).

We got engaged at Penn State where we fell in love!

I traveled to Asia for the first (and second, but not last!) time.

We purchased our first house.

and last but no least....

We got married!

Things have finally started to slow down. At least for now.... 



Please join me as I venture into the world of married life and home ownership. This blog will cover our adventures as we try new recipes, improve our home, and expand our horizons. The past few years have been crazy one and I am excited for the craziness and excitement of the upcoming years. 

I hope you all enjoy!