A House with... Character?

Yesterday, June 1st, my husband and I went over to our new (rental) house to pick up the keys! YAY! We are planning to move in gradually, as our current lease doesn't end until mid-July. Moving in slowly lets us minimize chaos and stress, and allows our dog some time to visit the house a few times before irreparably traumatize him move. Plus it lets us move small stuff in our cars so we can avoid renting the BIGGEST UHAUL EVAR when we move for realsies.

Here's a shot of the house:

It was built in the 50s, but clearly the last major decorating was done in the 70s. There is shiny shiny wallpaper in the living room, the closets have these funky plastic accordion doors, one bathroom is pink-and-black while the other is blue-and-black, and I don't even want to talk about the kitchen. The entire thing is being replaced (THANK GOD) so I didn't take a lot of photos of it, but just.... here:

That floor. Those cabinets. It's just.... it's so special, you guys.

Further quirkiness is to be found in the basement, which has, for no apparent reason, a whole separate kitchen! Just, y'know. In case the entire other kitchen isn't working. There is also a full bathroom in the basement. IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM. I can't make this sort of thing up.

The yard is fully-fenced, which is great for our adventurous little dog, and has a big patio and a shed.

We are especially excited about the patio, since we plan to throw some BBQs! As soon as we buy a grill...

The yard is big, and great, but like the interior it's got.... quirks. There are a number of what I imagine were once well-tended gardens that have, shall we say, run amok:

The owner assured me yesterday that there's actually a little brick terrace somewhere under all that!

There are also a number of odd little "arbors" built by the owner's late husband, and some distinctly DIY patio extensions. It's... special.



Happily, it's rental house! So I don't have to care! I will be doing my best to design around/cope with the many quirks of this house, and keep the yard at bay but mostly I am just excited to have lots of new space to work with!

The house is so much bigger than our apartment (duh), so we are planning to have exciting new adult-type features like a guest room/home office, and not-so-adult features like a man cave. I don't even KNOW what we're gonna do with the basement yet! I'm planning to document that whole process here on the blog.

We went over there yesterday to move a single symbolic box and take measurements of the principle rooms so we (read: I) can figure out some furniture placement ideas. We also let Bilbo explore a bit, and he was somewhere between excited/curious and why-are-we-still-here-let's-go-home. Progress?

On the Menu This Week

So, June 1st is the beginning of my quest to eat only homemade foods! I am going to make an effort each week to keep track of what I'm cooking, when I cook it, and how it turned out! I mostly keep my recipes on Pinterest which is a little haphazard so this will help me keep track of things.

For now I will only be posting the recipes that I make here on the blog, and not the stuff my husband makes, because my husband is one of those toss-it-in-and-see-what-happens sort of cooks, like his father. Occasionally he will find a recipe online and use it, but generally he just mixes spices and measures ingredients to taste. If he ever comes up with a truly stellar combo I will do my best to document it so I can post it here!

The way our schedule is now, I cook two nights a week, my husband cooks another two nights a week, and the rest of the week we eat leftovers or fend for ourselves (aka, eat pasta). I may add in additional cooking days since this schedule was conceived with the idea that we usually eat out on Saturdays anyway, and that's something I will be (mostly) avoiding from now!

Anyway! Here's what I'm planning to make this week:

Breakfast

So the plan at present is to make a baked good, like a scone or muffin, on Sunday and just eat one every morning for breakfast. I usually eat breakfast after I get to work in the morning, so it's important that I have something that is portable and ready-to-eat, or at least easily microwaved. As such, for this week I have chosen to make: Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scones
 

Don't they look scrumptious? I love chocolate, and I love cinnamon, so I have high hopes for these scones!

Dinner #1

The first dinner I'm making this week is a new recipe for me, Panko Stuffed Chicken Breasts! I have never tried stuffing chicken breasts before, but these look sooooo yummy. 

Dinner #2

The final dinner I'll be making this week is Spinach with Chickpeas!  Except I am leaving out the raisins. Cause ew.

 

Mostly because I have to buy spinach anyway for the chicken breast recipe and also because we have a huge can of chickpeas I have been meaning to get rid of. I won't be able to use them all for this recipe (it is a BIG can!) which leads me to....

Snack Food

I want to make a new snack food every week. I enjoy having snacks, and I find them pretty essential at 3 pm on a weekday when I'm STARVING and have hours to go before dinner! I think having healthy, filling snacks will keep me from being so hungry when I leave work, which in turn will keep me from ordering pizza!

With that in mind, and with a big pile of chickpeas to eat, I want to try Roasted Chickpeas!









Chickpeas are protein-rich, which is great for filling up on. Plus more cinnamon, you guys. Yum yum!


Well that's the menu round-up! I will check back in a bit to review the results of these recipes and explain any ways I would to tweak them etc. Happy eating!