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Most people wish that their kitchen looked a little better. This is the one room that most people remodel right after buying a home. There are many ways that you can update the room, but it is also a very expensive update. You will want to stick to a budget for your kitchen when thinking about remodeling ideas. You need to take some time and really look at your kitchen and what you see that is wrong to you and what you would to do to make it better. This is the starting point of remodeling.

This week’s organizing challenge is one that might sound simple (Yay!) but actually will yield some impressive results. Here it is:

• This week focus on clearing out and decluttering (re-organizing) at least three kitchen cabinets. This means completely emptying the cupboards, wiping down the inside surface (our Very Vinegar spray is great for this!) and then getting rid of the extra stuff that is either past it’s food life OR passing on stuff you won’t use to someone who needs it. Then neatly pile the food you are keeping inside.

You can also read more about the challenge at this week’s newsletter: http://www.happyslob.com/newsmar1908.html

Post a comment and let us all know how you did!

Before The Remodeling Started

This is the beginning of a project we did a while back or a family in Medway, Ma. We had a lot of fun doing it, these customers could not have been more friendly or courteous and at the end of it they had a beautiful new kitchen and dining room that provided everything they had been wanting.

When you look at the picture of the original area to be remodeled above, you will see the dining room on the right and the kitchen on the left. There is also a sunroom that you will notice through the dining room (we did some work in the sunroom as well, but that’s for another time). Now, of course, in this picture you can’t really see the kitchen. All that you can see is the doorway on the left, that enters into the kitchen, and the doorway on the left side of the dining room, which also enters into the kitchen. That was one of the main things that this customer was hoping to change about their kitchen/dining room area, to open it up to the other adjacent common areas of the house, i.e. the living room and sunroom.

We would achieve this openness by removing the walls around the kitchen and replacing the one load bearing wall with a post and beam setup that would span half the length of the house. I love these kinds of projects! In addition they wanted as much as of a cathedral ceiling as was possible inside of the affected area. Can do.

We achieved the cathedral ceiling by removing the existing ceiling joists and installing new rafters that went from the new beam to the midpoint of the existing roof rafters. Although we did have to add additional support to the existing undersized rafters, we still got our proper insulation r-value by using foam board insulation in layers. Creative engineering indeed. My design engineer earned his money on this one, and we got it done right and tight!

Another highlight was a brand new rounded-top Andersen picture window that we installed. The rounded-top was fitted with beautiful custom stained glass. You don’t have to wait for me to talk about them to see more pictures of this job. Visit the gallery for this project here. It also has pictures that I won’t necessarily be discussing specifically in an article, enjoy.

Up next: demo is done, framing is done.

For a while, I’ve been thinking about reviewing some cookbooks for you all. Unfortunately, not every cookbook on the Internet is free like mine, and I figured that you’d benefit from knowing what my experiences have been with specific cookbooks. Perhaps I can save you from buying a useless one, or help you find one that meets your needs.

So, from time to time, I’ll try to offer you a review of a cookbook I’ve had experience with. The first one is an e-cookbook called Official Secret Restaurant Recipes - The Original CopyCat Cookbook. This cookbook looked especially cool to me, because if there’s one thing I enjoy more than cooking it’s eating out. On top of that, there are so many great restaurants they just don’t have here in Mid-Michigan.

While I was able do deconstruct the Olive Garden recipe for their Venetian Chicken, I’ve had a tough time trying to crack their Shrimp Diablo. The CopyCat Cookbook not only provided me the recipe, I think that these turned out even better than the original. The same could be said for the Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits. I found a recipe for these a while back, and they were OK, but they just didn’t quite do it for me, know what I mean?

Make no mistake, though. There are some duds here. I liked Seinfeld as much as anyone else, but the Soup Nazi Mexican Chicken Chili was just plain yucka. They also couldn’t seem to get the Chilli’s Southwest Egg Rolls right, either.

Of the dozen or so recipes we’ve tried from this one, though, I’d say that at least 8 of them were a close enough match to the original to make it worth it.

Recipe Secrets has a special right now where you can get Volume 2 for free if you order Volume 1. I’m seriously debating on whether or not I want to go ahead and re-order, and I can then give my old Volume 1 to one of my friends as a gift. They’re throwing in other eCookbooks now, too, including: Secret Sauces Exposed!, Good Ole Comfort Foods, The Grill Master’s Guide to Grilling, Special Occasion Cookbook, Diabetic Delights, and Kid Approved Cookbook. I have no idea about any of these, and I’m not impressed with how they look in the ad, but I’ll let you all be the judges there. If they’re half as useful as the copycat cookbook, I’m sure I’ll get plenty of use out of them.

At just under $30, this one is $20 less than what I bought it for just a few months ago, and it’s guaranteed to save you money. When our family skipped Red lobster one time in favor of using the recipes in this cookbook, the thing paid for itself. 

To get this great cookbook, click here: Official Secret Restaurant Recipes - The Original CopyCat Cookbook. 

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Brownie Recipe - Brownie Bombs

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup each butter or margarine, semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2/3 cups sugar, divided
3/4 tsp. vanilla, divided
4 eggs, divided
3/4 cup flour
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
4 tsp. flour

Directions:
In saucepan, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter over low
heat. Remove from heat and add 1-1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
Cool mixture 15 minutes. Add 3 eggs and 3/4 cup flour. In bowl, mix
1/3 cup sugar, cream cheese, 1 egg, 4 tsp. flour and 1/4 tsp. vanilla.
Spray 8×8×2″ pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 2/3 chocolate
batter in pan. Spoon cream cheese layer over batter. Dollop with
remaining chocolate batter. Bake at 350º F. 20 minutes. Sprinkle
with chocolate chips and bake 12 more minutes. Let cool and eat.

Chicken legs are roasted and then simmered in a spicy chipotle cream sauce for a true Mexican chicken recipe. Serve it with rice and salad, and don’t forget the warmed corn tortillas!
INGREDIENTS
8 chicken leg quarters
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon margarine
salt to taste […]

Coconut serunding is a typical Indonesian side dish when served with steam rice and accompanied by meat entree, such as rendang or fried chicken.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups grated coconut
• 4 tbsp dark brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 shallots, minced

Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Heat a skillet and dry fry on medium heat. Keep stirring until the mixture has turned golden brown. Note that the stirring is essential so that the mixture will brown evenly.

This can be stored in air tight container for a week.