Addictive Crunch

It’s time for another deliciously healthy recipe from Decor and the Dog.

I was responsible for Treat Day last Friday.  I feel that every day is treat day at work.  Birthdays, holidays, Fridays of pay week, Flag day, etc.  but that’s besides the point.

I am always in need of a recipe for a quick treat.

One recipe that never fails me is Addictive Crunch.  It’s from Nate’s mom.  And it’s fabulous.  Can you go wrong with cereal covered in a sugary/buttery mixture?

Addictive Crunch:

• 12 oz. Crispix
• 1 can peanuts
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 1/3 c. white Karo syrup

Mix brown sugar, butter, and karo syrup in a microwave safe bowl.  Bring to a boil.  Add 1/8 tsp. baking soda.

Pour over cereal and nuts.  (I place this mixture 9 x 13 casserole dish.)  Microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Spread evenly on waxed paper or aluminum foil to cool.  Eat up!

I usually take this and Puppy Chow on the same day.  I bring cups for my employees to place the treats in.  What boss wants their employees hanging out in the break room all day?  I’m all about increasing productivity.

What’s your favorite quick treat recipe?  Do share!

Linking up to: Remodelaholic

Kitchen Goes White

Today I am going to tell you a story about how Nate’s sister’s kitchen went from this…

To this…

One Labor Day week-end, Nate’s sister invited us over to help her paint her kitchen cabinets.  How nice of her.  (She had previously painted the walls (Burnished Clay from Behr) and installed new flooring (Armstrong's Almafi Black Vinyl Tile.))

The cabinet doors were removed and set up for painting in the garage…

Nate’s sister went with Rustoleum's cabinet painting kit in Linen.  The kit contained a stripper (for the cabinets..get your head out of the gutter), a base, a glaze, and a sealer.  The stripper would have worked well if the previous owners hadn’t chosen to use gallons of varnish on every door.  The many layers of varnish did require some sanding.  We then brushed on 3 coats of the base on all of the doors and then cabinet frames.  Nate’s sister decided to skip the glaze and then finished with the sealer.  Overall, we were all impressed with Rustoleum’s kit.  The paint went on well and had a nice professional finish when dry.

After we left (we are only so loving), Nate’s parents helped install the counters (Custom Craft in Black Granite), reinstall the cabinet doors, and install the new cabinet hardware.

Nate’s sister then got to work on the tile backsplash the following week-end.

A couple of week-ends and less than $1000 later, she has a pretty new kitchen!  I’m pumped to wash dishes in this kitchen at Thanksgiving! On second thought, I vote paper plates so I can just admire the beauty of a newly remodeled kitchen.

Moral of this story: Painting your kitchen cabinets is totally worth the effort.  We do recommend calling all willing family members to help you out!  Nate’s sister also e-mailed me stating she would be willing to help us with our kitchen backsplash when we get around to it. Bonus!

Parade of Homes

This week-end was cold and gloomy.  A little rainy.  Boo.

We made ourselves take a break from projects.  It was nice to relax…for a few hours.  And then we were both a little stir crazy…and driving each other nuts.  We need projects.  We are project people.

We decided to head to the Quad Cities Home Builders Association’s Parade of Home.  Who wouldn’t want to spend part of their afternoon looking a new homes and getting bad ideas?  All free of charge.  The bad ideas…not completing them.  Unfortunately.

What ideas did we walk away with?  What trends did we notice?

We both really liked the built-ins/moldings in this living room…

We could see making this happen here…

But the tv would need to stay above the fireplace.  It would just be surrounded by pretty moldings.  I don’t want to tilt my neck to watch How I Met Your Mother.

We also both loved the moldings around these windows…(Please work with the cell phone photos.  We figured carrying around our DSLR may be frowned upon.  And we’re chickens.)…

Nate had tried to explain this idea to me a couple of months ago. I wasn’t understanding.  He thinks we can make it work here…

We have wanted the windows closer together top-to-bottom since the day they went up but we think that adding moldings similar to the photo above may make the gap less noticeable.  Or we could be completely wrong but it sounds like a fun project.

I fell in L.O.V.E with these pendant lights.  I have no idea why.  They just spoke to me.  “Put us in your home Michelle.” I e-mailed the company that did the lighting in the house to see if I should keep dreaming or if I can make them a reality.  Fingers crossed I hear back soon.

We were also looking for basement ideas during our parading around.  The only thing we walked away with is this cabinet…

It looks like us.  And it looks like a good place to store DVDs, games, etc.  Add it to the list.

What trends did we notice in the new homes?  We want to be sure to keep up with the times and not leave our house stuck in 2008.  Probably not a problem now…but in the future.

• ORB finishes.  Makes me want to replace our satin nickel but I’m too lazy just yet.  Maybe satin nickel was circle back around.
• Carpet on the stairs.  Nate pointed this out repeatedly so that’s why it made the list.
• Doorless walk-in showers.  Nate was a visionary on that one.
• Dark kitchens with walk-in pantries disguised with cabinet doors.  The hidden pantries were awesome but not something we can make a reality.

Have you been looking at house lately?  New or old.  What trends are you loving/hating?