Fun With Photoshop: Part 2

If you have access to this wonderful program, it is a huge help when it comes to envisioning a home that is less than perfect. We don't all have fancy 3D CAD skills like the Property Brothers, but even with a few simple pattern fills it's much easier to visualize a future home or a design project in the works.

Kitchen: Before

Living Room: Before

Not that spanish tile is BAD thing, but seeing as how it is not my style in this house for sale, I wanted to know what some nice laminate snap flooring would look like over it. I would definitely try to 'live' with this on a budget, but red/orange just doesn't go with my dream theme of spa-like turquoises and neutral taupes.

Kitchen:After

New drawer pulls, a little tiled backsplash, and that kitchen is fresh and new again!

Living Room: After

The light laminate floor makes a nice flow from the kitchen, and then a bolder neutral accent wall freshens everything up. My furniture is brown so I'd try to keep everything else lighter. 

Eggless Whole Food Banana Bread

When I was growing up, it was a common thing in my house to answer the question, "why is your freezer full of rotten bananas?" Well you see, my mom is a banana bread making fiend, and valuable fridge space is always taken up by those lovely little black fruits. Then the time would come where she'd make her huge batch of banana bread loaves and muffins, and all would be right with the world.

Today, I am making my own rendition of this sweet and chewy treat using my clean-eating, real-food tactics and omitting the dreading WALNUTS. Who puts WALNUTS into bread?? This recipe is great as it can easily be translated into vegan for your cow-and-chicken-hugging friends, also I never seem to have eggs on hand (or don't want to waste them baking), so making anything egg-less is a key for me. Most importantly, there is zero refined sugar in these bad boys as ripe bananas are chock full of sweetness already, then just add a little pure honey and vanilla to offset the starchiness.

Ingredients

3-4 super ripe to black bananas
1.5 cups of white whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand is my fave)
1 stick of butter (melted) - sub coconut oil for vegan
1/2 cup of honey...seriously this shiz is sweet enough!
1/2 cup milk - sub water/almond milk for vegan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice (the secret ingredient!)

Directions

Pre-head oven to 375. Add the bananas to the bowl first and pre-mash. Not the most scientific, but I personally just dump everything into the mixing bowl at the same time, or you could hold off on the flour and slowly add that in if you are patient. My muffins did not come out tough like I was warned if I did that. Pour the batter into greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, check periodically with a toothpick so you don't end up with dry paperweights. I like my muffins and baked goods barely cooked and gooey, so I took them out at about 21 minutes. Let cool and demolish like a boss.

Patio Privacy: The Last Stand

When you complain about apartment neighbors, be careful what you wish for. After various complaints from all the other residents, the reclusive indoor-loving owners of the world's most obnoxious boston terrier got kicked out for not curbing their dog's excessive barking. Score! Little did I know what hell-spawn demons would move in and ruin my deck tranquility...

Three people cramming into a 2-bedroom apartment, OK. Sounds like a plan. You have blue dreadlocks and some tats? No problems with me, I use to go to punk concerts weekly back in college. But, when you add a little alcohol to the mix (several times a week) and a blatant disregard to the strict no smoking policy, then you invite friends over  to loudly burp, cough, yell, and make merry on your patio until quiet hours do I then have a problem. But how do I 'complain' about people who are just having a good time and I don't want to make eye contact with their scary friends from 5-feet away, and it prevents me from watering my plants when a dude is out there just sitting in a deck chair smoking? I have an idea, passive aggressive gardening!

Since we just renewed our lease and the deathly hot summer killed all my edible plants for the second year in a row (let's just call my lemon tree 'Lazarus' for coming back to life several times), I decided to ditch my urban homesteading ways and just go for pure utility in my next batch of plants. I'm talking invasive, water-sucking bamboo that yields and iron curtain 8 feet tall. Try to make your smoker's coughs get through THAT, neighbors! So goodbye tomatoes and hello vicious grasses! Hope by next summer I can keep my sanity and sip a beer quietly on the balcony without my introverted soul feeling scarred.

Bamboo all up in this heezy. I'll stick the tomato growing to real farmers who have access to more than 2 x 3 feet of potting soil.

Bookcases: Now for ceramic knick knacks!

If there's one thing that makes a house look pretty and organized, it's those damn 'styled' bookcases that designers artfully arrange. According to those images, I own way too many books and in reality would need at least 10 bookcases to keep the adorable ratio of glassware, ceramic owls, and perfectly covered books of the exact same height. Is there a tutorial for those who have giant Anatomy textbooks their boyfriends won't throw away? Or one that actually shows something with *gasp*, BOOKS in them? Please...because I'm sick of putting together flimsy Walmart shelving units.

I have exactly 3 sets of books that look awesome and matching, and the rest are various thrift store or ancient college purchases. And because getting rid of a book is like cutting a friend out of your life forever, it takes a lot to decide which to actually part with. I don't have a solution for this problem, just a rant that is ending NOW.

Just Some Funnies

Apart from decorating and cooking, sarcasm is just another free service I offer (I have a beer coozie that let's you know as well). The workplace is a treasure chest chock full of sarcastic gold doubloons and tasty nuggets of hatred! Here is my compilation of random workplace sentiments and Pinterest related musings. Taking full credit for all of these so please attribute to my awesomeness :)

More Patio Fun

More patio fun! Used a cheap plastic frame, rope from Home Depot, chain from Home Depot, and a printable quote. Hung this on my boring tan shed door:

I hate the A/C unit, especially since we are eco-conscious and budget-strapped and never use it. I surrounded it with planters and things that like the full-sun hot hot hot location on the face of Mercury in the afternoon.

(That healthy-looking tomato plant I grew from a seed? I killed it by using the A/C for 5 minutes one blistering afternoon and withered off all those nice leaves! )

Home-made fried rice

If you're trying to eat healthy, there's pretty much every downside to ordering Chinese food. Salty, starchy comfort food, soaked in oil and doused in sauces abound. But, it's not hard to make a satisfying healthy version, if you can live without the more oil-sodden version. Starting out with healthy ingredients like brown rice and veggies is key, and then flavoring with pepper, vinegar, and only a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil does the trick. Plus, it's way less more carb-laden than that white paper tub speckled with hints of chopped veggies. Filling and tasty!

Ingredients:
Brown rice (Trader Joe's instant), scrambled egg, chopped broccoli, carrots, peppers, onions, peas, cabbage, and pre-cooked shrimp with a dash of rice wine vinegar, olive oil, and sesame oil.

Instructions:
Microwave the brown rice to give it time to 'dry' out, then leave the opened steamed package on the counter to cool. Chop veggies and stir  in olive oil until tender, throw in the peas and shrimp after everything else since they are pre-cooked. Add a tsp of sesame oil and sprinkle in rice wine vinegar to taste, along with some black pepper (no salt!) Scramble the egg separately, and then mix in when you add the rice, turning the heat up to high to get a nice crisp. Let the rice heat up, get crunchy, and infuse with the veggies, then add soy sauce to taste. Since there is such a high ratio of rice to veggies, you only need one cup of rice per person and still end up with a huge bowl of food! Very filling and satisfying.

This would be easy to go full vegan without the meat, adding tofu, and whatever fake egg substitute they are pushing now. Easy to add whatever fits your fancy, including chicken, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and squash!

The Frugal Poultry

Now I love to cook, but there are several things I draw the line at including rolling my own pasta or trying to replicate a delicious rotisserie chicken. There's just no way I want to spend hours hunched over an oven basting and turning and whatnot. While my favorite local grocery store has these for $7.99, Costo has them for a mere $4.99 (I was shocked) and I definitely can make that meal stretch for several days for two people. My time is worth more than a few bucks saved, and you get a quality taste that would probably have left me with burned fingers and a dried-out chicken.

Hello, my tasty little friend.

Meal 1: Chicken Tacos

This is usually the first night after purchasing my beloved chicken, after coming home exhausted from work there is nothing easier than ripping off a few slivers of cold chicken meat. I like the mini corn/flour mix tortillas, and then pile them with lettuce, cilantro, salsa, and anything else I may have around. It is a taco, after all! Usually we'd eat 2-3 tacos each, so meal one is 4-6 tacos (for street taco sizes you don't need a ton of chicken with all the other ingredients)

These aren't mine, but they look good!

Meal 2: Chicken Sandwiches

Oh, I love me a good chicken sandwich for lunch! So tasty with tangy mustard and creamy mayo, piled with crispy lettuce on a fine sourdough bread. Needless to say I was literally watching the clock to hit noon so I could dive right in! I used chicken to make two full sandwiches, apparently I was the pig and finished mine while my boyfriend only ate half. Hopefully he snacked on it later or ate it for lunch the next day! So now we are up to 6 tacos and 2 full sandwiches.

Meal 3: Chicken Lasagna

Lasagna is my favorite pasta to make, thanks to Barilla no-boil noodles and the fact you can dump anything into it that you want. Since I was short on things I usually love to pile in such as steamed spinach and onions, I simple layered shredded chicken over one layer of noodles, sprinkled with some Italian seasoning, and then another layer of noodles and pasta sauce on top with some shredded parmesan. And that was the end of the chicken meat, filling half a large baking pan's worth. I was worried it would be lacking in flavor, but it got two thumbs up! We each ate one large piece and two small end pieces, with a piece left over for lunch the next day! So 6 tacos, 2 sandwiches, and 4.5 pieces of lasagna. But wait, not done yet!


Meal 4: Chicken Stock

I love making chicken stock, now that I know how easy it is. I saved all the carcass as I was finishing up my chicken tearing frenzy and dumped it into a pot, bones, meat, and everything but the skin. I covered with water, added some pepper, bay leaves, and dropped in a couple baby carrots I had on hand. The seasonings of the roast chicken works perfectly, as you get a delightful seasoning flavor to the stock. I made about a 'carton' worth and saved in a tupperware in the fridge, and will freeze whatever I don't use that week. Then whatever meaty pieces ended up in the strainer I picked at as a snack, yummm. This is where you can use your extra patience and make soup by waiting for all the meat to fall off the bone or pick at it and drop in the stock (too lazy and summer is not chicken soup weather)

Get fancy with jars and stuff!

So there you have it, 3 full meals and a big tub of stock for you, all for $4.99. Leaving the 'stock' out of the equation (even though that's like $3 a carton at the store usually), that comes down to just $1.70 per meal, or 83 cents a person!. Supplement with the other cheap per use ingredients such as tortillas, bread, noodles, and sauce, and you have yourself some mighty frugal meals.

Patio Weather, Making an Apartment Summer Bearable

Ahhh, summertime and the living's easy...come home, have a glass of wine as the sun is setting, gazing out at your impressive garden landscape. But not so much if you live in an apartment. Typically it means stark stucco walls, peeling paint, faded wood, or other ugly patio feature along with gazing directly into your neighbor's kitchen window across the way (ooh, meatballs!). I love alfresco dining and just coming home to a cool evening and enjoying a glass of wine, but so far my patio has served more as functional for bike storage and growing edible plants, with little emphasis on making it an extension of our living area.

This year I  wanted to get more of the "indoors out" feeling, so decided instead of purchasing expensive $40 chevron-print weatherproof pillows for our dull beige chairs, I would Google around to see what materials were recommended to make my own.

These were $40 at Overstock.com. Um, cute but no thanks!

I lucked out and found almost an exact replica yellow waterproof chevron print tablecloth from Ross for a mere $11, since I didn't want to go full cheap with a straight up flowered vinyl version for half the price. Then I stole one of our 'guest' pillows that are always shoved at the bottom of our closet we never use and I had my stuffing. Since I don't own a sewing machine, cement-type glue from Home Depot worked just fine (thought a little messy and extremely fumy), and I even had fabric left over to actually use it as a tablecloth. I wanted to add a nautical rope detail along the edge, but was already fed up with huffing glue fumes and getting my fingers all gross and sticky.

Potted basil, glass lantern, and birdcage table decor

We already had these cool patina birdcages for free from a parent's garage sale reject, so I put some potted plants inside that like a little filtered light, and this new glass lantern from Ross was $3.99 plus a cheap pack of tealights, and I was all ready to plan a romantic outdoor dinner. For once, none of our 'across the way' neighbors were home so it was a rarely quiet, enjoyable night of chatting until the sun went down along with the level of our bottle of wine.

A perfect outdoor summer meal!

Chairs and Computers are Evil and Want to Kill Us

I've come to a terrifying conclusion after working in an office for the past six years, after my long college 'career' of peddling wares in various shops that required me to stand and walk all day...desks and computers are teaming up to kill me. Yes this post-apocalyptic world known as a 'corporate job' is slowly destroying my once strong and healthy physique that thought nothing of staying out until 2am or bodysurfing waves that would now bend my weak spine into thirds.  At the tender age of 29 I feel as if I've lived someone else's life crammed into an uncomfortable desk chair and training my eyes to a screen 8 hours or more a day, and it's definitely taking its toll. So why, in this age of teleconferences  smart phones, Skype and file sharing, is it required that we kill ourselves by the act of sitting and staring at one spot all day? It's because computers are robots and they are trying to kill us without us ever suspecting that the simple act of staying put leaves huge stress on our bodies that were designed to move, exert, and flourish outdoors.

The Death of a Spine
It all started harmlessly enough, it felt great to come into work after a rough Thursday night of partying and just...sit. And work. And stare at a screen. But slowly over the years, I've had one ailment after another, from spinal subluxation, constant headaches, and even threw out my back for no reason, leaving me bedridden for four days. All this in my 20s! I can't even imagine what my less than resilient body will react to when I'm reaching the hopeful end of my office career in my 60s or 70s. Chairs are cruel mistreses, they lure you in with comfort, but humans are not meant to sit still for hours at a time, causing our spines to get out of order and the crucial muscles that hold it in place to atrophy. I've had session after session with chiropractors just to get everything 'back to normal', along with an exercise routine on the pilates ball to re-bulid the core strength my years in a chair have destroyed. The solution? Putting more emphasis on not only exercise, but regular movement during work hours, which includes building my OWN standing desk that I can switch to with ease when I feel my back and butt rejecting my latent posture, talking a daily walking break, and sitting on my balance ball when watching TV at home instead of flopping on the couch whenever possible. The chair is still my foe, but a more manageable one now.

Getting on My Nerves
Oh yes, and with injury to the spine comes a host of other fun afflictions! These have included stressful bouts of both jaw clenching and eye twitching, from both the stresses of a normal job but also not being aware of how our spinal health can affect everything about our bodies. Staring at a screen constantly while wearing contacts is hardly a picnic, as they constantly dry out or make it hard to focus far away when you finally take a break. The eye twitching went away on its own, hopefully due to my methods to reduce stress along with warm eye compresses at night. The body is a mysterious thing that only Google knows the answer to when I look up my symptoms and try to use home remedies. And the jaw clenching was fixed by yet more visits to the chiropractor, as he moved my mandibles in place like I was a shark about to swallow its prey whole.

Working in an office has been the unhealthiest undertaking I have ever endured, thank goodness I'm not a coal miner or deep sea crab fisherman! Regardless of the lack of danger or even remote excitement in the corporate world, these seemingly small afflictions have an easy answer...don't require your employees to be in their seats constantly! At least encourage one day a week to work from home, provide standing desk options, and encourage walking breaks without making people feel guilty of taking some time for their health. Even looking out the window to give my eyes a rest makes me feel like if someone caught me, they would think I've been slacking and staring into space for an hour. There's no getting away from computers in this age of technology, but we can still ditch the chairs and all the pain they cause us down the road.

Apartment Projects

Let's not fool ourselves...unless you are in New York City where it is the norm, apartments suck. They are bland, white, asbestos ridden and bleak, no matter how often the gardener leaf-blows at 7 am or they replace the 80's linoleum with 21st century linoleum. It's up to the creative of minds to make it feel like home, and we usually don't have a lot of money to do it in. This month I decided to create a new wine bar and fancy looking tub bench seat like those awesome teak ones they sell in Sky Mall.

First up was the bench seat...I love taking baths, but hate looking at the gross corner mildew that nothing seems to get rid of, short of calling up the property manager and not being able to shower for several days while the caulking cures. My philosophy? Just hide it! I thought by creating a cool bench seat I could make the boring white tub/white fake tiles a little more interesting and spa like, so we picked up a batch of 1x1 (4ft long) redwood planks from Home Depot, and with some wood screws and water-proof stain we were done! It some how came out a little crooked (using the wrong edge as a spacer) but we're gonna shave off the edges with a chop saw, problem solved.

TO PINTEREST PEEPS: Sorry I do not have a step by step on this, it was very simple cuts using a chop saw and then short wood screws. It's very simple measuring from edge to edge of the tub, using a spacer to get the right slats between the boards, then using the leftovers as the 'grounders' underneath holding it all together. I highly recommend using a very water proof stain or polyurethane, as the normal outdoor deck stain tends to run off with the water hitting it constantly. Still way better than those pricey teak ones online!

Nice 'spa' wooden bench seat for only a few bucks!

Looked even nicer in my Mom's bathroom! (Build Location)

Second project was getting rid of my old rickety metal and glass wine bar that I always precariously run into in the middle of the night, jangling the glasses and scaring the crap out of me. Plus it took up what seemed to be an out-of-the-way corner near the kitchen but it just wasn't working out. Since I already had a nice free buffet hutch, I decided to purchase a $40 wall unit from Amazon and do some cute wine inspired decorations...but nothing overtly cheesy.

All I needed was a table runner, and a plate stand for the cool "Zinfandel" trivet my mom got me, and I already had the cool glass decanter and kept my favorite wine corks inside as a display. The rest I saved for my wall/table art.

Then I got to work on making my wine cork art, so I productively spent my work hours hunting for a blank wine bottle graphic and added in the text/color myself using Photoshop. I really wanted "In Wine We Trust" vs. the typical "In Wine, Truth", but "In Vino Nos Confidimus" didn't really fit in the graphic. Then I printed it out and taped it inside an existing picture frame I had without the glass, then glued my horde of wine corks onto the edges as a frame. Insta-art, to showcase  my unhealthy relationship/obsession with wine. It's currently propped up on the table after drying, but it can be used as a tray or hang on the wall like a picture, I haven't decided.

Things I've Learned on My Real Food Journey

Phew...it's almost like I'm back in college, rolling out of bed in my pajamas to take a dreaded midterm. My "MBA" in educating myself on real, wholesome, natural foods is going to be a lifelong education as it has been a study cram-session these past six months. What I had always thought was a superior knowledge of what was good for my body, I had to come to terms that I was a brainwashed product of the food industry just like every other person I secretly roll my eyes at guzzling sodas and KFC at their desks. Thanks to a wealth of info on my favorite blogs, Pinterest, and random Google searches, I feel like I've amassed a pretty solid foundation to make good food choices for the rest of my life, for myself and my future family.


1. Create a new 'norm'

I'm talking about, oh today I feel like a bag of chips, I'll get Pirate Booty or PopChips instead. Sure, that makes sense if you are only doing it once a week or so, but wouldn't a better ultimate goal be to ask yourself why you are craving the chips, and what would be a healthy alternative in general? Is your body going to be satisfied by that snack, or will you just be left with more cravings? Of course I'm never an advocate of an all or nothing lifestyle (take my wine and cheese, you lose a finger!), but if we can truly assess our personal needs vs.wants and think hard about what it is doing for us in the long run, maybe we'd reach for carrot sticks and hummus instead. Our bodies are truly surprising and can come to love our new snacks over time...I've found that the snapping sound of a V-8 can is just as satisfying as a Diet Coke now!

So you're saying...these aren't HEALTHY??

2. There's more to labels than calories

Oh yes, women are the ultimate guilty party here. Who doesn't want to think that an innocent cracker or cookie will harbor the evil caloric monster who's only job is to enlarge our cellulite and make men run from us in horror? However, calories aren't the enemy to me anymore, unnatural food additives are, anything that my body doesn't need to function or may harm me in the long run. This includes preservatives (potentially harmful by causing cancer and aggravating respiratory allergies such as asthma), food dyes especially Red and Yellow that are known carcinogens and banned in other countries, filler ingredients that serve no purpose other than to increase shelf life, and unpronounceable chemicals created in a laboratory. Why do I need these in my body? If a box of plain Triscuits or Ak Mak crackers with minimal ingredients are just as satisfying as crackers with corporate gunk in them, there is no need to reach for the less healthy alternative (except price, which I will address later).

3. Look beyond the Marketing

You know, I'm in Marketing/PR, and I get it. We have to make exciting claims that get people wanting to buy our stuff, and for foodies that includes words like "All Natural", "Multi-Grain", or "Organic". This is where consumers really need to take on the arduous task of educating themselves on what these labels really mean, which will involve LOTS of web searches, research, visiting food/health blogs, etc. While most of these claims aren't truly dangerous (unlike saying a product is gluten free and it isn't), it matters if you were looking for the most humanely raised eggs and spied 'organic' on the package, but that doesn't mean they are cage free or pastured. Multi-grain bread may have a variety of grains, but that doesn't mean they are the healthiest whole grains or mixed with enriched bleached flour. Marketing can also be your friend, just know to look for "100% Whole Grain", "Pastured", or "No Preservatives" on the box. Basically, go in a little skeptical, read labels, talk to the companies, and get as much feedback as you can before voting with your wallet.

You know it's 'real' if you cook it yourself!

4. Long Term vs. Short Terms Costs

Sometimes, I question the sanity of dropping $7 for a pack of organic nitrate-free bacon or passing over the $2 milk on sale for a brand I know to be hormone free and uses sustainable farming practices. Who wants to spend money they don't need to, and gaping at my $300 grocery bills for 2 people each month I sometimes feel greedy. There's so many people who can barely afford to feed their families, and here I am only buying the best ingredients to make dinner for two each night. However, I had to get past the short-term grocery bill shocks and know that over time I will be nourishing my body to perform at its peak, eschewing junk food to fill up on organic veggies and meat products, and feeling better about my effects on animals and the planet by only choosing farmers I know practice sustainability and treat their animals humanely. I'm anticipating lower health bills over time (high blood pressure, diabetes that run in my family) so I can justify the costs much easier now. So yes, cage free eggs may cost a couple bucks more, but having owned chickens myself I try to picture them stuffed into cramped cages never allowed to peck at bugs or come running when we come out the door with dinner scraps to feed them. I will prioritize top quality food for my family, and maybe spend less on unnecessary things like premium cable or nice cars.

Large food bills, low doctor bills is the ultimate goal!

5. The Battle Rages On

In my lifetime, I doubt the majority of America will be educated to the grass-roots causes surrounding our food system. Corporations will not suddenly stop lobbying to keep people ignorant from consuming their junk and presenting them with shiny marketing campaigns to greenwash/leanwash/and pinkwash our perceptions. I will need to keep involved in continuous research and vote on legislation that brings issues to light, such as the GMO labeling initiative that got shot down in California. No one else is going to do it for me, I have to take it upon myself to stay abreast of the latest research to make the best choices for my health.

Quasi Paleo for a Week

If there is one thing I can't stand, it's diehard (hah) crossfitters and paleo dieters...not because I'm personally against eating healthy and exercising in those ways, just that people get overly zealous and feel the need to constantly....talk...about...it. I don't need to hear you harping on how bad grains are for your body because cavemen didn't eat them or how many squat lunge thrusts you did with a truck tire. But now the tables have turned and I wanted to see for myself how this low-carb and low-sugar diet would fare for me. The only difference is that I have a diet buddy this week and am only texting her about my exploits, not going on and on to my friends each time they reach for a plate of pasta.

Sunday Night (unofficial start)
Came home tired from a ski trip and ordered the chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle with only black beans, grilled veggies, salsa, and lettuce. Paleos shun eating beans but to me they are a good source lean of protein, so there.

Monday
Breakfast - Soymilk smoothie with mixed berries, coconut water, protein powder, and kale
Lunch - Egg and bacon sandwich with no bread, spinach salad with almonds and cranberries
Dinner - Satay peanut chicken skewers with raw shredded coconut, asian inspired cabbage and cilantro salad with sesame dressing and cashews. I cheated and had one oatmeal cookie my grandma made....you wouldn't have me insult GRANDMA, would you?

I could live off that salad!

Tuesday
Breakfast - Plain ol' scrambled eggs with salt and pepper (I rarely salt anything!), coffee with soymilk
Lunch - Lean Cuisine turkey with cranberry, almonds, and green beans in a saucy gravy

Condo or Small Scale Patio

Everyone wants that cozy outdoor space to enjoy a fine lager and sit lazily with friends, but what if your situation isn't permanent or your budget confines you like a pair of skinny jeans? There's lots of great temporary patio solutions, but why not give yourself that high-end appeal with just a few bucks and a little bit of non back-breaking labor? The solution: river rocks and large tiles!

Why not use this indoors tile, outside?

Prices at $1.58 per square foot at Home Depot, these 16" x 16" porcelain yet 'slate looking' tiles are about $2.80 per tile, or a couple of pre-wrapped packages would only set you back about $50 to cover 30 square feet! I would make sure the porcelain has enough support underneath with some packed sand so no rowdy guests jump on it and make cracks. With this nice river rock selling for $15 for a bag covering 6 square feet (and I'm sure there's cheaper options at a local quarry), you're looking at a cute little patio that would fit a small BBQ and a bistro table for under $150! Even add some random tiles on the outskirts for holding large pots for plants. Perfect for rental condos with a dirt yard or a small lounge patio for houses.

For the sake of math:
2 x packs of 16 x 16 tiles covering 30 square feet: $50
5 x packs of rock covering 30 square feet: $75
Grand Total: $125

More Fun With Photoshop

If there's one thing I abhor, it's when people don't find the time to stage their house before snapping pictures for the world to see on major real estate sites. And if you're the realtor, bad marketing! Sure, I watch plenty of DIY and home improvement shows, letting me see potential where others would probably falter. Still, it doesn't hurt to have a visual aid when trying out new designs, colors, or layouts (I single handedly convinced my mom to paint a bold red accent wall after showing her the end result without any work on her behalf). I may not have fancy rendering software like my boyfriends on Property Brothers, but basic 'Shop skills certainly can come in handy!

Below is a house I had my eyeball on, it didn't have a lot of outdoor space and I don't think the current owners were using it to their potential. Crowded and cluttered, it was an eyesore and not a selling feature AT ALL:

No sense of landscaping, too much chaos with the empty pots and plant stand, and strange layout with the random step. I would refinish the deck to a bright redwood or cedar (gets so dark underneath those Semperviren trees!), and choose some tasteful planters that make use of the space without overbearing it. I would eventually get rid of the ivy for a more native plant or shade garden, but that was way too much work to hide :) Finally, privacy is key so a new fence and privacy bushes would be needed, topped off with a fresh and modern coat of slate grey paint, new trim, and a fun metal garden art piece on the wall. I can picture summer barbecues much easier now!

A Hairy Habanero Situation Turned Spicy and Delicious

Some days I'm shocked I leave the house with my shoes on the correct feet, but then there are those grocery store mishaps that I end up giving myself a virtual forehead slap. Always in a rush to get out of the cramped aisles full of people who seem to enjoy turning over each apple and inspecting every avocado for invisible imperfections, my strategy has always been the ol' 'grab and go', enabling me to get the food home, cooked, and immediately into my hungry belly.

This normally fool-proof method backfired on me several weeks ago at the Superbowl, when I unwittingly filled a produce sack with not a few, but a whole POUND of bright orange, deathly spicy habanero peppers I mistakenly saw marked as innocent jalapenos. Well, the mistake was made and I hate to waste food, so the best option I foresaw was to just beat those peppers at their own painful game.

First, I roasted them into submission, then pickled them for a week in sugar and vinegar, with a bit of dill and bay leaf for added panache. Then I decided to the most science-experiementy cooking endeavor that I had ever undertook...making spicy pepper jelly. What could possibly go wrong with just boiling and canning some pureed fruit? As it turned out, not much at all for once!

Though I was never a fan of chemistry (opted to take an AP natural science class that involved more bird watching than Bunsen burners), I decided that slowly following directions for once wouldn't kill me. I had my 'DOH' moment when I realized I added the fruit pectin a few minutes too early into the boiling process, and yet after cooling the jelly at room temp for a couple hours, I was shocked at how store-bought it looked (and tasted)!

My recipe was as follows:
1 cup red bell pepper, pureed
1 cup pickled habanero peppers, purreed
5 (yes 5!) cups of natural cane sugar (you know, trying to be healthier)
1 cup unfiltered cider vinegar from Trader Joe's because they are the only ones with that type
1 packet of liquid pectin (Pectin? What the heck is that? Thanks Google)

Final result was a sweet, slightly spicy, delicious mess that perfectly complemented a bagel and cream cheese along with a fancy quesadilla. Not bad for a first time chemist!

A Domestic Update: Compost Smells.

Oh, how silly of me to think that decomposing garbage wouldn't smell. Unfortunately due to laziness and user error, I now have an orange bucket of refuse that quite literally smells like poop. Scientifically, I had not spent enough time aerating (shaking) the bucket or adding more carbon-rich products like newspaper to my ever growing veggie scrap collection, causing the anaerobic bacteria to flourish and kill off the aerobic bacteria that apparently don't smell as awful when they excrete. Unscientifically, I lost interest in this project after getting a whiff of the unseemly mess I created.

Luckily, the slow process of fixing my error is in tow...I've held off on adding liquid-rich items like my endless coffee grounds and more water-laden produce to allow the good bacteria to build themselves up. I have been turning the bucket daily now, and leaving in the sun to allow the heat to reach a stable temperature for breaking down. Minor setback, but laziness does not pay when you don't want to deal with the odor of rotting garbage. I look forward to the day my compost smells like slightly orangey potting soil once more.

FEBRUARY UPDATE:
After leaving my compost to it's own devices for several months (more lazy disinterest ensued, cold weather), it has since turned into what resembles garden-ready dirt with just a few larger chunks left. No smell, and most of the excess moisture was taken care of with piles of carbony plant clippings. Almost success!

Happy Valentines Day!

I love love, but cards I hate. They leave a bitter taste in my mouth not unlinke after mainlining the green candy hearts. Stick it to the man with these 'straightforward' Valentines Day cards.

The Not So Secret Garden

Spring is almost here! While not as romantic as planting bulbs with Dickon behind rose-covered stone walls, my pragmatic suburban garden did well in it's first year, and I'm so excited to try more this coming spring! Our off kilter California weather has left us with plenty of sun but little rain and some frosty nights, so I'm trying to get back into visiting my plants daily instead of just on the weekends. They are right there on the patio, but sometimes those brisks nights are just too much trouble!

To further motivate myself with thoughts of tasty greens, I decided to plan out my plot when the weather decides to cooperate and give us some refreshing rain and warmer nights.

Currently my withered mass of bug-pecked leaves and grizzled flowers is less than appealing. My herbs however continue to deliver, so they leave the glimmer of hope of good things yet to come. I'm trying to do more actual 'gardening' than just my plant and forget method, doing more extensive research before planting on soil pH and companion plants. Here's hoping to a bumper crop of juicy tomatoes, fragrant herbs, and tasty zucchini (New home-built planter box in progress)!

Wiki of Companion Plants

Priorities.

The other week, I was purchasing a small gathering of lunch and dinner food, after my usual painstaking care of label reading for only the finest ingredients. My basket contained the store's bakery whole wheat bread, organic cheese, and some other delectable items like prosciutto and pesto to make a mini sandwich. The woman at the register actually exclaimed in amazement "$5 for a loaf of bread!", leaving me to wonder what other people are paying for their nutrient-free white pasty loaves.

Though my trained bargain hunting eye can always spot a price tag and my sense of decency doesn't permit me to spend more than $40 on a pair of shoes, I have typically and even more strictly of late have decided that my lifetime's health is not worth saving money on inferior food. It's easier now just feeding two people and only having a budget 'penciled in' for the month, but I'm sure I'll be even more stricter with what my kids eat when that whole family thing eventually happens.

Thanks Mint.com...easier to visualize spending habits!

No surprises there, rent takes up a significant chunk of my budget, leaving just enough leeway for my expensive cooking habits to take a second place. I'm noting that my doctor's budgets are only check up related visits, and hope they stay that way for the remainder of my life. Though I'm terrible at creating meal-plans or setting my budget in stone whenever I go to the store, a majority of my food mindset is based on purchasing whole, minimally processed foods and keeping snacks to a minimum. I think that there is nothing weird about paying $6 for a pack of nitrate-free organic bacon, $5 for a loaf of whole wheat bakery bread, or $7 a pound for organic ground beef. I may not care so much how nice my furniture is or having the latest fashions, but I hope my healthy eating habits never take a backseat to a budget fit only for white bread and Sunny Delite.