The Idealistic Husband

The Idealistic Husband
The Idealistic Husband who says tackling home renovation projects with him is "right in my wheelhouse!" Hmmm....I'm anxious already.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Food Experiment #16: More Pulled Pork & Thai Veggies

"THIS FOOD IS TOO SPICY!!!!" 


Ok, that answers my first question. Could I get enough flavor into the meat. 


I was rather generous with the red pepper flakes, even thought they weren't even in the recipe. Part of this experiment was to see if Thing 2 would notice. He claims he doesn't like spicy food, then puts hot sauce on stuff HE wants to eat....like nachos.


Time to double down on the slow cooker action.


Would he also notice the red curry paste in the veggies? Yeah, he claimed they were too spicy too.


Thing 1, the older brother, patiently explained to Thing 2 that "You have to understand that this doesn't taste spicy to her."


Thing 1 Rating:  6.5 (out of 10) 

Thing 2 Rating:  4 (out of 10)

I asked Thing 2 what saved the dish to even get a 4? He said the meat itself was good.

I'll take it.

The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The Food Experiment #15: Berry Basil Pork Sandwiches

Snow! Already. And it's 15 degrees outside. Brrrr. Time to break out the slow cooker.





The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika


The Food Experiment #14: Homemade Hot Fudge!

Needless to say, this was a popular experiment with the boys.

I can make homemade hot fudge, who knew?







The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika


The Food Experiment #13: Sweet Potato Bread

Very dense and warm and spicy. Great on a chilly morning.





The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika


The Food Experiment #12: Make Your Own Pizza Night

On the back of the package, they recommended prosciutto ham & arugala. Turned out to be really good on pizza. And turned out to be a really fun activity. When I tried it before wtih a different crust that needed to bake for a long time it wasn't feasible. But this crust only needed about 12 minutes and I could put everyone's in the oven simultaneously. We actually made these for breakfast on a Saturday morning. Smiles!









The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!

pinterest.com/unexpectederika

The Food Experiment #11: Brown Sugar Meatloaf

"Put sugar in it." Enough said for making teenagers happy.




The Food Experiment: An Angsty Black Woman on a Quest to fill her two teenage sons with some good home cookin' before they graduate high school and go running for the hills, never to eat a leaf of spinach again. Guess I'll throw in some desserts so they come back every once in a while. Cheers!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!

pinterest.com/unexpectederika

Monday, November 10, 2014

Hiding The Leaves in the Dark

I don't think I've ever raked leaves before. Apparently today was my day to start. I like the crispness of Fall and hearing them rustle, but there just got to be SO MANY of them all of a sudden. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were there. They were good sports most of the way. 

The big news here is the WAY we managed to get the leaves from the driveway to the pick up spot. Watch....



Light bulb went off in the old noggin!




Pause to pose.


Yes, I do try to capture the Kodak moments even while running down the street.





This is my proof that at least for a moment my impressive plan worked.


Husband said "You know that hiding the leaves in the dark doesn't count, don't you?" 

He's got jokes. Ha. Ha.

In the blink of an eye the driveway will be full again. But for now, we did it!

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika

Sunday, November 9, 2014

"What Can I Tear Up First?" or "My Fridge is Texting Me"

This is what my garage looks like. Notice the distinct lack of the vehicles that are usually in it.


Let's back up to WHY my garage looks like this. That would be because two kitchen cabinets need to be rebuilt. And THAT would be because the new smart fridge doesn't fit. But that thing really is smart. Look, it sent me a TEXT that the door was ajar. My fridge is TEXTING me!


Anywho, remember, the installers came and it was a smidge too big.


 Literally, a smidge.


So Husband bought a few new tools a few weeks ago and demolished the cabinets to get the fridge from out of the middle of the floor.



Which brings us to where the story picks back up today. With measuring, leveling, drilling, sawing and other -ing's to rectify the situation.






Oh good, the new table saw is not going to waste.




Oh hello little inconvenient electric box that used to plug in the microwave that we took out because turns out it didn't work - inhale - but is now in the way of being able to put in a one piece board and has my Husband back at the sawing thingy.


...and at the store. It's Saturday, and we're not at Home....Depot. But we ARE at Lowes.


But, by gosh look at 'im. He's really doin' it. So far, my cabinets have a bottom so if nothing else I can start using them again for my appliances.



Three cheers for my guy! Now we need doors. New doors made out of the old doors that are obviously longer than need be.


And which my Husband said I jumbled up from the placement where they were in order of how they were to be mounted back up. Ooops. All I know is that they were leaning against the wall in my dining room, IN MY WAY. So I moved them. And apparently now they're backwards. 


I thought Dr. DIY numbered them like he did the drawers. THOSE I would easily have been able to tell him which one goes where because of what stuff was IN them. Doors, not so much.

So, it's back to the store on Sunday morning for stuff that makes the cabinet doors fit.


Add in some reinforcements.


And now I finally get to see why we bought a router. It makes this little groove in the wood that makes the difference between the cabinet door fitting vs. oddly sticking out and looking unfinished.


A coat of paint....


Et Voila. My cabinets 2.0!!!! They're leaner and more compact and more welcoming to the fridge....good thing it's so smart since it sure took a lot of effort on "our" part to fit it into the kitchen.


Almost ready for the next Kitchen photo shoot. The question is, what color will we paint the side walls? Stay tuned.

Subscribe on the Home Page ~ Share ~ Leave a Comment!
BLOG: theunexpectedhome-maker.blogspot.com

Follow on Pinterest!
pinterest.com/unexpectederika