BotO - Home Maintenance Log

We moved into our house three years ago this spring. It was a new construction so everything was brand-spankin' new and we shouldn't have had any problems, right? ::snort:: Sure. 

For a while we had a few minor issues that could be corrected easily by the big strong, manly men that built the house. Then, as is the case with anyone who has ever bought anything expensive, shit started to go downhill the second the warranty expired.

That included our furnace breaking twice over a holiday weekend this past winter, which just so happened to be the coldest nights of the year. That's my luck, forever. However, we were able to get it fixed relatively cheaply and easy. When I told my mom what had happened, she said, "You need to write this shit down so you know when the last time you had it fixed." I guess some work comes with a warranty? 

Thus the home maintenance log was born.

As part of the Brains of the Operation, aka household binder, the log allows you to track the servicing and repairs to major appliances. So instead of racking your brain to think of the last date you had the dishwasher repaired and only coming up with "there was snow on the ground. so November?" you can know exactly when it was repaired and what was done to it.

You can now get this printable and more in my Etsy Shop! 

The Home Maintenance Log is now part of The Good Wife Home Management Pack. You can also get CUSTOMIZED printables too!

To see other posts in my Brains of the Operations series, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day and there is nothing I love more than doing some cheesy holiday shit. 

Last year I made some crappy cards and a candy holder. This year I wanted to up the cheese factor by making the lamest, and by that I mean awesome-est, valentine treats ever. 

Since I didn't want to overload all the kids on candy and red dye #40, I made this treat bag with fish crackers. "You're a great catch!" LOL Get it?

To top off that bitch, I made this treat bag. "I'm bursting with happiness that you are my friend" filled with starbursts candy. Amazing.

I also made some Valentine puppy chow and threw these treats in hand decorated bags with kickass Valentines.

In short, I made Valentine's Day my bitch. I hope you have an amazing day too.

BotO - Pet Log and our new family member

This pretty girl right there is our newest family member. The Good Husband got her for me last Valentine's Day. And really, nothing says "I love you" like something else you have to clean up after. But she is a great dog considering I have never owned a pet before. Ever.

We got her from the local no-kill shelter and right off the bat she loved The Good Daughter and knew some commands but most importantly, she was house broken and crate trained. The shelter told us she was a mix of German Sheppard and Beagle. She has an amazing temperament and is very playful and loving. She really is a great dog. And she helps teach TGD some responsibility since it is her sole job to feed and water Foxy.

 

So now that I have a dog, I have to keep track of all the vet appointments and medicine we have to give her monthly. I created this Pet Log as part of my Brains of the Operation, aka Household Binder.

I included all the important information - pet name, age and breed, daily activity and food intake, vet contact information as well as a tracker for shots and heart worm medication. This helps me see, at a glance that Foxy is up to date on all her shots and if anyone were to ever petsit for us, they will know how much to feed and walk her daily. 

You can download this template for your own household binder here.

We Finally Decorated

Remember this post? My update to my cry for help to the interior design gods? I had finally decided on what I wanted above the fireplace. The Good Husband had wanted a clock. I had wanted a mirror. Then we reached a compromise with photos. But what? I had the layout decided in my head but we never really got around go commissioning the photos from our cousin.

Then a few weeks ago we were out for a night sans The Good Daughter and we happened to see these photos in  - of all places - a sporting goods store. TGH saw the top photo first and feel in love. When we asked if there were any more, we quickly found the two other smaller photos and ordered them. I second guessed the placement for a long time but I am happy with they way it turned out.

Eventually I will move most of the photos off the mantle since I think it looks too crowded. I just need to figure out where I want them and how.

And to date, we now have only 5 things hanging in our house. Yay for commitmentphobes.  

And yes, the plan is still to paint. I don't know if baby #2 will hasten or postpone that.

Family Mail Station

For the longest time there was no place to put bills and keys and my purse when you came into the house from the garage, you know, as we do every single time we come in the house. Everything would pile up on the end of the kitchen table and annoy the shit out of me. While our kitchen is large, it's just one big square with no defined spaces to designate as anything, really. 

The first thing you see when you walk into the house from the garage is the fridge. The "dining room" is to the left, the living room to the right and the kitchen straight ahead. So I thought the best place to make a mail station would be here. At first it looked like this: 

Crap on the fridge, the dog food bowels and not a great use of the space.

So, I found a mail station, moved an old end table up from the basement and ta-da! Family mail station.

Now when I come in from the garage, I can put my keys, my purse and the mail right away and it is no longer living on the end of the kitchen table and pissing me off. Since I moved the dog food bowls to the corner of the dining room where the food container was, that went where the food bowls where. The old switcher-roo.

I also got rid of all the crap magnets we had on the fridge, save the pickles. I want to replace the calendar with something like this, but that will have to wait for now.

The end table provides a great spot to keep our household binder, our home address book, thank you notes and my purse.

It is also great because now The Good Husband can put any mail we get in the "In" slot and if he were really good, would take any outgoing mail with him on the way to work in the morning. 

Eventually I would like to get a nicer table in the corner. Something like a secretary desk that will match our new buffet, but since new babies tend to strain the pocketbook, we will have to wait.

Best Smart Phone Apps for Greener Living

Since joining the 21st century at the beginning of the year and getting a smart phone, I discovered a lot of apps that help me live a greener life.

1. Dirty Dozen - This app lists the "Dirty Dozen" aka the dirties, most pesticide-filled produce in the market, along with the "Clean 15" or the least pesticide-filled produce. The information is provided by the Environmental Working Group Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The list is updated yearly. I like this app b.c while I have most of the Dirty Dozen memorized, it is still nice to be able to check and make sure I avoid buying the most pesticide laden produce by buying organic.

2. Fooducate  - This is a great little app that allows you to scan a barcode on any food item and it will give that food a grade from F for unhealthy to A for healthiest. It will offer healthier alternatives for poor food choices. It was created by dietitians and it tracks fat, sugar, food dyes and high fructose corn syrup. It has a large database of food but the great thing is, if a food you scan isn't in their database, you can add it.

3. Honest Label Food - Similar to Fooducate, this is another barcode scanner. I have found that sometimes if one product is not in one database, it might be in the other.

4. Locavore - This app tells you what produce is in season currently, and what is about to be in season. It is depressing, for me at least, to see nothing in season in winter, but such is the case for living in Illinois.

5. Seafood Watch - This app is from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program helps consumers and businesses make choices for healthy oceans. Our recommendations indicate which seafood items are "Best Choices," "Good Alternatives," and which ones you should "Avoid."

6. Seasonal Harvest - Similar to Locavore, this app tells you want is in season as well.

7. True Food Network - This app was created to help you find and avoid genetically engineered ingredients wherever you shop. Our guide gives you valuable information on common genetically engineered ingredients, brands to look for, and look out for, and common sense tips to keep you in the know.This one actually took me a minute to find the actual guide, but if you click on the menu button on the bottom on your phone, you will have the option to view the guide. But you probably aren't as stupid as I am and figured that out quickly.

If you know of any app, let me know!

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes and exciting news

First the exciting news! I am going to be a Good Mom again. The Good Fetus is due at the end of July. 

So to commemorate the growth of TGF, I thought I would make some pregnancy cupcakes to honor the little parasite currently sucking out all my nutrients. At 11 weeks, the fetus is the size of a lime. The only lime flavored thing I really wanted was a margarita and frankly, I get funny looks when I drink in public while pregnant. So I decided to make the next best thing - cherry limeade cupcakes.

A lot of the recipes I found called for a shitton of sugar. Aside from the fact that all that sugar will kill my diabetic ass, I just don't like my cupcakes to be super sweet. I modified the sugar content in the recipe and it made for a tart, lime heavy cupcake with an accent of sweet cherry. The reviews were mixed. Some people loved them and some thought they were a little too tart. (I ate two cupcakes and thought they were a nice balance of sweet and tart, but since I can't eat them all, I gave the rest to family and neighbors.)

 So change the sugar content according to your taste.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:

3 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoon limeade concentrate

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

For the lime syrup:

3/4 cup limeade concentrate

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:

3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 teaspoon (or more) maraschino cherry juice

For decorating:

fresh lime slices

maraschino cherries

Directions:
To make the cupcakes:

~Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl sift together the cake flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the limeade concentrate and vanilla extract and mix to combine.  Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.  Add in the flour mixture in thirds along with the milk.  Mix until combined. Do not overmix.

~Fill each cupake 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack over wax paper to cool completely.

~When the cupcakes have cooled slightly, whisk together the limeade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lime syrup.  Brush syrup over the top of the slightly warm cupcakes, allowing the syrup to soak in. Repeat until the syrup is gone.

To make the frosting:

~Combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla extract and maraschino cherry juice in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth.  Add more maraschino cherry juice as needed to achieve desired texture.

~Frost cooled cupcakes.  Garnish with lime slices and maraschino cherries, if desired.

recipe modified from: Annie's Eats

Thansgiving Day Foods

You know you are a fucking adult when it is your turn to host Thanksgiving. Now I know why my grandma was always pitching a huge bitchfit for the holidays and why the normally dry house had 3 boxes of wine. This is the second Thanksgiving I have hosted and last year was such a mess that we ignored it. This year we hosted for my mom and dad, so it was a small affair. We had stuffing and taters and gravy and green bean casserole and rotisserie turkey breast. I like doing the turkey breast on the rotisserie because you can just turn it on and walk away and don't have to bother with basting. 

Everything is fairly typical and boring.

For sides, we had the ever popular Cowboy Sushi, homemade french onion dip and stuffed mushrooms.

My Mom's Stuffed Mushrooms

This is one of the dishes that I can actually remember my mom making. But I know she hasn't made them in years. I thought it would be nice to make them for Thanksgiving. 

(and yeah I know I am just getting around to a fucking Thanksgiving post in January, but I have been a lazy heifer lately)

The white wine and mustard provide a sharp bite to the mushrooms while the cheese gives them a soft texture. My mom had forgotten just how good they were.

Ingredients:  

24 large button mushrooms

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 gloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1/3 cup dry white whine

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

18 Ritz crackers, finely crushed

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

~Remove stems from mushrooms and reserve and roughly chop.

~In a large skillet, saute chopped mushroom stems, onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Ass parsley, basil, wine and mustard. Simmer for five minutes.

~Remove from heat and let stand five minutes. Stir in cracker crumbs and cheese. Fill mushroom caps with mixture. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes or until done. Serve warm.

recipe by: my mom