Saturday night dinner!

I see nothing wrong with this;)  Did you all have a wonderful Saturday?  I cleaned, watched Lifetime movies for the first time in forever, and took a nap:)  Have a great night, everyone!  Go Red Sox! 

Photo courtesy of tenalicio.us

Photo courtesy of farm1.static.flickr.com

Cold, wet, New England weekend...what should I make?

I'm shaking cold!  For the first time in over a week I've had to put the heat on!  Come on weather!  I've gotten so used to wearing my cute sandals (yes, toe nails painted), and cute spring shirts, sweaters, and pants...not to forget shants too!  If you want to know what shants are, reply to this post;)  Tonight it's a balmy 40 degrees with a windchill of about 32 with cold cold rain.  Sounds wonderful, doesn't it.  The husband is braving it at Fenway...die hard right there.  I'll be there Tuesday when it's sunny and about 25 degrees warmer;)  And no, I am not a fair weather fan, I just don't want to get sick.  Period.  I am a huge fan.

Anyway, what should I make this weekend to keep us warm?  I'm thinking tacos tomorrow night, if we don't go out into the nastiness, and Crock Pot Orange Chicken for Sunday, but what about the inbetween?  Hot grilled cheese?  But we have no soup to go with it.  Coconut brownies?  But I love ice cream on top, but it's too cold for that!  Cinnamon rolls?  Cupcakes?  Nah, we had these recently.  I wish I had bought spaghettio's at the grocery store last night.  Those are nice and warm.

So what should I make/bake while I'm staying inside as much as possible and cleaning, reading, and watching TV?  Oh yes, and going thru my Us Weekly as well.  What are your favorite things to make/bake during a rainy weekend?  Do they differ from a snowy weekend?  What are your favorite rainy weekend movies?

Please have a nice thought for my husband who is sitting in the rain at Fenway...he's a trooper.

Holy Wow, House Hunting is Crazy!! Part 2

Welcome back for another edition of house hunting is crazy!  We've searched on Saturdays, Sundays, and weeknights; had our own private appointments and gone to open houses.  I prefer Saturdays and private appts - what do you prefer when house hunting?

Our second house hunting adventure was on a Sunday and included an Open House and some private appointments.  We've been so lucky that everyday we've looked at a house(s), it's been sunny out, but has followed some rain storms so we can check out the basement for wet spots;)

Today started with this awesome yard...which had a house on it too:)

I think we would have put an offer on this house if 1.  the living room was functional/front door was moved a bit and 2.  and 2 nothing!  The living room was a huge deal breaker.  The kitchen was brand new, had a covered porch out back, huge yard, and wonderful baths/bedrooms with walk in closets.  But the doorway/living room.  When you walked in the door - which if you look at the above picture is to the left of the window on the right - you walked down a small hallway, and then there was a very large opening to the LR.  This made positioning the living room furniture, and TV, almost impossible.  If they had just positioned the doorway all the way to the right w/out that long hallway, it would've been a great house for us!  Here are some more pics:

Aww, it's still too bad - you saw in my last post about my worries in backing out a driveway onto the street - this one had a very long driveway shaped in a U - no worries there.  Darn living room.

Next we moved onto this house:

Our second love, after the red house with the cows across the street.  This house was amazing - on a quiet street, but close to amenities, like Papa Ginos which the husband loves;)  Heated work area above the attached garage, big enough yard, sunken living room, huge kitchen, amazing bathroom with a skylight, and a basement already sectioned into rooms - what more could you ask for!?!?

So since we loved it so much, what did we do?  We went to our next appointment as scheduled

In a town that has great schools, but holy wow did this house need work - hence the price.  If we wanted to do a lot of work, or were very handy ourselves, this would've been a great project - lots of space, pool in the backyard, but a funny neighborhood with a school, nursing home, and houses.  To me, strange.  So we hurried hurried hurried back to our realtor's office and made an offer on house #2!!  Guess what, so did some other people!  Not surprising because the house was great.  Not a 2-story, which is what is optimal of course, but was an amazing ranch.  Guess what - we didn't get it:(  Our first house hunting disappointment.  How did you feel after putting an offer on a house and not getting it?  Did it break your spirit?  We just kept trucking along...check back for the next installment to see what happened during the next time out:)

Wicked Cheap Wednesday presents Maple-Pecan Chicken!

Happy Wednesday, all!  Hope your week is going great!

I'll get to the recipe in a minute, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to the cooking class Melissa and I took last night!  I'll be posting the recipe I made another night, but I just wanted to say how interesting it was - felt totally over my head, and it tested a lot of my fears - cooking in very hot oil, sharp and large knives, and cooking in front of people, but it was fun and a nice new experience...maybe I'll even take another one:)  Check out the site here - we took the Asian Dumpling class, but I think I'd like a dessert one;)  You get to taste everyone's recipes and take a ton home!

So on to tonight's recipe!  It was nice to make something new!  I thought about the flavors all day and wondered how they would work.  Turns out, they worked great!  Husband gives it a 10:)

Maple Pecan Chicken from Betty Crocker!

What you'll need:

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breast pieces, cut in half
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup panko or regular breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  If you like, pound meat into thinner pieces, or keep thick (I kept them thick). 

In a shallow dish mix together maple syrup and mayonnaise (I hate mayonnaise, I pretended it was butter while I stirred it in!)

In a shallow dish, mix together breadcrumbs and pecans.  Dip chicken into syrup mixture, then nut mixture, then place on foil.  Spray tops of chicken with cooking spray as well.

Bake 25 minutes, or until cooked thru.

It was crunchy, sweet, and filling!  Using what I had in our cabinets/freezer, I made some green beans, teriyaki noodles, and crescent rolls!

Chicken - 1.25 lb - $5.50
rolls - $2.00
pecans - $2.00

= $9.50!  I had everything else, but if you didn't, add on about another $3-$4 - love it!  So easy, too, so I could make our weekly grocery list while everything was cooking...and watch a rerun of The Office;)

What did you eat tonight? 

Holy Wow, House Hunting is Crazy!! Part 1

That's right, folks, it's crazy!  Fun, but crazy!  Where before weekends consisted of cleaning and fun, they now consist of house hunting and...that's pretty much it.  You get so emotionally attached to some houses, and even the process, and it's so hard to not let it get the best of you.   But you can't, because that perfect first house is out there for everyone:)

The first part of course is to find a realtor that is right for your personality.  We were so lucky to be referred to Margaret Snow Reagan, a realtor with over 30 years of experience in the area we wanted to look in.  You're bored?  Okay, on to the houses!

I think we've seen 20 houses or so...we started with this gem

I bet when I said "gem" you thought it was going to be ugly, right??  No, we loved this house - open floor plan, huge closets and bedrooms, amazing yard, and a garage!  We knew going in this house had an offer on it that was already accepted, but we still wanted to see it, just in case that offer fell through - admit it other house-hunters, you sometimes hope other people's offers fall through for whatever reason...we all have that evil side when it comes to house hunting!  The problem with this house, the cows across the street.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some cows, and we even had one when I was really little that I fondly remember, but the smell in the summer...ehh not the best.  Here are some other photos of this house - again pluses were huge bedrooms/closets and open floor plans...minuses were probably a smaller size kitchen and the cow smell:)

I apologize in advance for this and all posts in relation to house hunting that show photos - I don't know how those realtors/whomever make their house photos look so amazing - I am BAD at taking house photos!

The same day we also saw this lovely house...lovely downstairs, for short people only (okay for me, not okay for the husband) upstairs - it was built in the 1800's!

The downstairs of this house was amazing - 2 offices, beautiful floors, a beautiful sunroom, and a huge pantry.  Upstairs broke my heart - small bedrooms/closets and very low ceilings.  If only the husband wasn't so tall;)  A great house for someone though:)  But oops, looks like I've deleted the rest of my pictures from this house!

The final house of this, our first Saturday of searching, was amazing - picture a cute yellow Cape...yes, I forgot to take a picture of the outside - oops!  Beautiful yard, amazing open kitchen to a family room, 4 bedrooms, and the biggest dining room with fireplace that I've ever seen.  The problem - the red blinking light thing about 30 feet from the driveway...and a single-car wide driveway - no good!  Backing into the road is never a good idea!  Here are the highlights:

See, I told you my pictures were bad - I didn't even get the fireplace in this one!  You'll all have to let me know if Part 2's pictures are any better:)  Expect that later this week, as tomorrow night Melissa and I are taking a cooking class - thanks for the awesome birthday present bff!

Per Kacey's Request - what I want to cook/make in our dream kitchen!

Thank you for the great idea, Kacey!  As you know, with all the house hunting, the meals I've been making are either duplicates of recipes I've posted before, or simple, like hotdogs.  Yum.  I'm sure you all want to hear about that, right...no.  :)

So instead, tonight's post will be about what I can't wait to cook/make/bake in our dream kitchen!  And yes, our first home will be our dream kitchen, for now:)

1.  Anything grilled.  Okay, so yes, that won't be done in the kitchen, but on the deck/outside.  See, since we've lived in our rented townhouse, so the past 2 years or so, we haven't been able to grill; it's just not allowed.  See, before we moved into this area, per rumors, another townhouse renter, or maybe even owner, was grilling outside, as it was allowed then.  They decided it would be smart to put the embers/coals/whatever it was in their closet after the fire went out...yes, you read correctly, their closet.  Well, of course ever so surprisingly, there was a fire, big renovations needed = no more grilling for anyone.  So we CANNOT WAIT to grill!  But of course, we have to buy a grill...how much do those cost??

2.  Homemade spaghetti sauce.  I've made it once in a crockpot before (I don't remember how, it was a snowy day and we just used what we had), but I can't wait to experiment.  That is one thing I know I don't have to buy at the grocery store, and if I make a huge mess and stain the countertop, it's my own countertop that I own stained, not someone else's:)

3.  Thanksgiving dinner.  I've made a small one before, but I can't wait to make a big one for like 20 people!  Insane, right??

4.  Sharyn's homemade mac & cheese - bacon, gruyere cheese, yum yum yum - this may be the first thing I make there - it will make this dream kitchen smell wonderful!

5.  Brownie sundaes.  Just because;)

Also....how would you decorate your dream kitchen??  If I had to buy 3 things to make my kitchen homey and useful, what do you suggest they be?

I hope you check back tomorrow night for the first in a series of  "Holy wow, house hunting is crazy" posts:)  I meant to get to it today, Sharyn, just too busy:)  Goodnight all!