Kitchen Remodel Week 6 - It's Coming Together

 

I waited an hour too long to order my appliances last week, so last week and most of this one was a bust.  They couldn't do anything (so they said) because they needed the appliances in before they did anything.  I'm not really sure why they couldn't do the backsplash and some of the minor details, but it's finally coming together.

They finished up the backsplash yesterday.  Today, the appliances came and the electrician mostly hooked them up.  There is a problem with the hood and garbage disposal install, but they said they should get that done first thing next week. There are some minor details to go (like trim, some backsplash tiles are missing too) but hopefully it will be inspected and released next week.  I'll go into detail on some of the appliances, design thoughts and special touches when it's ready to go.

My Menu:

Some of the stuff I ate this week:

Hummus, not the kind with listeria.

Sandwiches, an old standby.

Black bean enchiladas

I also made some drawer dividers.  You can buy drawers with dividers built in, but that cost a lot.  I had to trim the budget somewhere.  Buying the gourmet range really tipped my budget into the danger category, so I didn't get all the fancy add-ons with the cabinets.  These are pretty easy to make (and I made two different types).  When I get the kitchen together, I'll write up a little tutorial on them.

I am waiting to put the drawers together until they are finished making dust in there.  As you can see, when I designed the dividers, the drawer pulls weren't even on.  They were added today.

Kitchen Remodel Week 5: Countertops and Sink

 At least we're making progress.  This week they added the sink and finally the countertops.   That being said, they didn't come everyday this week.  It was my fault.  They asked me to order my appliance before noon on Tuesday and I didn't get the message until 12:30.

Because I didn't order my appliance, they won't be until May 22.  That's fine.  It will just be a bit longer to finish up.

The countertops are contrasting colors or quartz by Cambria. 

Oh, and the sink actually works.  I can't tell you how much of a difference a sink makes.   I think kitchen designers should actually try to install a working sink as soon into the process as they can.

Kitchen Remodel Week 3 and 4 - My Rival Roaster

I didn't write about my kitchen last week because they didn't do much.  This week they've been moving right along.  Cabinets are installed, flooring is set and I finished painting, except for the trim.  I'm sure next week will be slow because they have to order and get the countertops.

I was going to document what I ate everyday of the remodel, but to  be quite honest, the past few weeks has been mostly sandwiches.  Those are quite boring to photograph.  Plus, the last week was a week when I worked all night, so I was really too tired (they are quite loud) to even care if I ate.

Kitchen remodel = A whole lot of sandwiches

This is actually leftover Chinese rice with some fresh steamed veggies.  Yup, I ate Chinese takeout.  I'm not ashamed.

But, I do need to sing the praises of my Rival Roaster Oven.  I bought this last year on sale at Wal-Mart (for $10) and I've only used it once since I bought it.  I used it to keep stuff warm at Thanksgiving.  I've always thought it was a useless and big, and mostly takes up space (it doesn't even really have a place to live.  It was above my washer and dryer). I decided to try it out during the kitchen remodel and this thing is great.


I already wrote about baking bread in it, which is pretty amazing.  This week I made Hasselbeck potatoes in it.  You can't do that well in a microwave.  They were perfectly crispy on the outside and done on the inside.  It took about an hour, but that's about the same for a regular oven.  The ones I make in the oven seem to separate and fan out more, but they were still delicious.

I also made baked ziti.  This one has Greek yogurt, some frozen mixed vegetables ad spinach baked in.  It got all crispy on top too.  It was great.

 

I had to cook the pasta to almost done in the microwave, but I don't think fully microwaved ziti would taste as great as real baked ziti.  I know I couldn't do the enchiladas I had last week, bread or hasselbeck potatoes in a microwave.  The other option would be the outdoor grill, but it's been rainy and yucky.

If you're having your kitchen redone, I highly recommend  one of these things!

Kitchen Remodel - Week 2: The Timeline

Aren't the new cabinets pretty?

I didn't speak much about the actual timeline of a kitchen demolition last week.  That's something that I really had no idea about.  I watch the DIY network sometimes, and they do kitchens in a few days while sending homeowners on a nice spa vacation.  I knew the reality was much different (and much longer), but I had no idea how much longer.  Before I signed the contract, I asked my contractor, "How long is this going to take?"  I was expecting 4-6 weeks.  He said, "3-4 months."  I gasped and said, "really?"  Now that I'm in the middle of it, I can see why.

None of these different subcontractors do the same thing.  For example, week 1 was demolition week. I took out the cabinets myself that weekend.  Monday, they sent one guy in to remove the walls that were coming down, the bad drywall and the soffits.  That took a few days.  A different subcontractor removed the tiles and thinset.  That took a few days too.  Then yet another came in to break up the concrete slab so they could do plumbing.  So, the first week was more or less demolition.

This week, they actually started to construct the new kitchen.  Plumbers came in to lay down new water lines to go to the new island.  They also set the new gas line.  This took a few days.  They had to wait for an inspection before any further work could be done.  An electrician came in to place new lighting and set all of that in the wall where it needed to be.  He also had to wait for an inspection.  They poured the concrete for the slab and also hung and floated the drywall. That's a lot of work for a week (the drywall crew worked on Saturday).

The project has to be inspected multiple times before any work can go on.  Half of a day was spent by the electrician waiting around for an appointment the inspector was a bit late too, but it had to be inspected and he had to be here.  I knew things had to be inspected, but I never really thought about how much they had to wait around for the inspection.

The cabinets also came in.  We ordered them in February.  They're Brookhaven and custom built.  That takes some time to get in.  They may go in next week.  Currently, they're in my garage waiting.

Meanwhile, this week was more adventurous in my makeshift kitchen.  I put my roaster oven to the test for Easter.  Someone invited me for Easter brunch (because I don't have a kitchen) and I asked, "What can I bring?" They said, "bread!"  I normally make Challah for Easter.  That's hard without an oven.  But, not to despair.  I decided to test out my recipe in a roaster oven!

Easter Challah Rolls

I made my traditional Challah dough, but instead of a big loaf like usual, I made little knotted rolls.  I preheated my roaster oven to 325 degrees and place the rolls on a cookie sheet inside the roaster.  They cooked for about 20 minutes, until they were brown on one side, and I turned them half a turn (I found the roaster oven browns more around the edges than in the middle) and cooked them 5-10 minutes more.  They were actually quite delicious.

I experimented with the roaster during the week too.  I made enchiladas and mac and cheese in it. For these, I just made normal recipe and put them in the roaster.  The food takes about the same time in a roaster oven, but you can't open the top and check on it or it lets the heat escape.

Otherwise, the week was pretty boring menu wise.  I had leftover pizza Monday and I ate out on Friday, because it was a busy day and I didn't feel like cooking.  Otherwise, I had a grilled cheese and pressed potatoes on my panini press.  For the potatoes, I microwaved them until they were soft and then split them and put them on a hot panini press until they were brown.

I also made some chocolate chip waffles.  I know, I said eating in is healthier, but I would have been better off eating out the way I ate this week.

Hopefully, the cabinets and flooring will go in next week.

Kitchen Demolition - Week 1

A friend of mine suggested that I keep a journal of my kitchen demolition.  I really keep saying, "I need to blog more" so I thought I would do it here.

Last week I started a remodel on my kitchen which involved a complete tear out to change the layout of the kitchen.  Most of the work is being done by real professionals, with myself doing some of the demo (not the serious stuff, I took the cabinets, counters and some of the floor up to donate to Habitat for Humanity).  I'll probably paint too.  Anyway, above is my kitchen before.  Below is it as of today (Thursday).

The real challenge is going to be eating without a kitchen.  I have a crockpot, a vegetable steamer, a microwave and panini press.  I also have an outdoor grill if it gets warm.  It is unseasonally cold here.  I planned this time of year because it's normally perfect weather. 

I really don't like to eat out.  I try to only eat out socially or at new restaurants (it's at part of my job) and only a few times a month.  Without a kitchen, this is a real challenge!  This week, I ate Chinese food once, but the rest of the time I managed to make somewhat healthy meals (I did use a lot of tortillas this week).  I am hoping to keep eating out down to once a week, at least.   A bunch of friends are going for pizza on Saturday, so that makes twice this week.  So far, not off to a good start.

My Weekly Meals:
To be honest, I really normally only eat a big meal for dinner.  I normally grab some fruit for breakfast and leftovers for lunch.  Lunch is a problem, because I am trying not to have too many leftovers, because those make dishes I have to clean in the bathroom sink.  Yuck! 

I seem to have been in a Mexican mood this week.

This is the first day of my kitchen demolition (Monday). I grilled some chicken on my panini press and made tacos. This meal actually dirtied no dishes, aside from the cutting board and knife, because I covered the press with foil before grilling. 

This is pasta diablo with some fresh steamed veggies and I actually made homemade garlic rolls with my panini press.  They were a little flat, but they tasted pretty good.  The pasta and veggies were kind of messy.  I made the veggies in my electric vegetable steamer (which is hard to clean in a bathroom sink, but worth it) and I boiled the pasta in the microwave and covered it in some sauce I had stored in the freezer. The pasta wasn't cooked quite like I like, but it works in a pinch!  It was a little soft for my tastes.

Thursday night I had quesadillas and a big green salad.  The quesadillas were made in the panini press.  No dishes were dirtiedd in this one either.

The cabinets are supposed to be in next week!  Let's hope I get to show off my new stove with some new culinary adventures soon.  I didn't think about it when I scheduled this, but the remodel will cut into my Farmer's Market time! I really like writing about unique farmer's market finds.

Little Rock Marathon 2014 Race Report

I have officially finished the worst marathon I HOPE I ever run, and the biggest cluster of a finish that I can even imagine. They weren't wrong when they named it EPIC, and the lightening bolt is a piece of foreshadowing I'm sure the race directors didn't intend.  I would have regretted it if I had missed it, though, because it will be the most memorable Little Rock Marathon yet.  Let me take you back to Sunday.

The day started off nice.  It was a nice 50 degrees and no rain, but the weather reports had been saying 100% chance of rain all week.  One even said freezing rain during the marathon, so I was prepared to run in the rain.  I thought about wearing ski pants, but then thought that was a little much.  I decided to go with normal sweat pants and a hoodie. I would regret that later, but not at first. I actually had to take the hoodie first for the first 13 or so miles.

I was actually not making bad pace.  Not awesome, but not too bad.  Little Rock Marathon has an early start, which allows slower participants start at 6 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.  The only rule is that you can't go ahead of the 6 hour pacer.  So, I tend to stick with them for the race.  I was keeping pace until the elites passed (around the 13 mile mark), and it started to drizzle a little.  I put my hoodie on and kept on trucking. 

I made it past the hills and saw my friend, who started with me, on the other side of the out and back, when I was around mile 19 (she would have been 22ish).  I was so glad to see her doing well and that inspired me to pick up the pace a little bit and cross the 20 mile timing mat.

This is all I remember until the Ninja Turtles.  My hoodie is a Ninja Turtle costume.  I thought it was funny since I'm slow.  The ladies at the waterstop on the out and back (probably mile 21? I don't remember) said, "You're the first turtle we've seen! We have turtle heads. I know you're in a hurry, but we can go get them!"  I waited and had a photo taken with Raph and Leo.  So, at this point not even the volunteers were saying anything was wrong.

The temperature had been dropping all day.  I think it was in the 30s at this point and we were all wet.  I wasn't too bad in spirits, but I was cold and getting colder, but at this point in the race you're almost there!  Just a 10k left.  No problems.

It was shortly after the ninja turtles that the race got insane.  My Garmin said 24.25 when I saw the first cancellation sign, but I don't think I had really crossed the 24 mile mark. I know I had passed 23 and the 18 mile marker on the other side of the out and back. The following is not my photo, because I was really too confused to even think of a photo.  The weather didn't seem  too bad, and I wasn't sure what was going on.  None of the volunteers seemed to know either (one told me a storm with lightening was headed that way in a few hours, but they weren't sure where we we supposed to seek shelter). 

After I saw the black signs, a cop told us, "You need to find shelter now.  The race has been cancelled. Buses are being called in." I said, "But we're so close...can't we just finish?" and he said, "Finish what? The race is over.  There is no race."  As I said, my Garmin said I was 24 miles in.  I didn't see any place to seek shelter and everyone was just running on, so I walked on. I heard police on the other side telling runners that the course was closed ahead and they needed to find shelter.  It didn't make much sense to me to quit and load us all into buses 2 miles away, even if there was no finish.

Shortly after that, another cop says, "You need to get off the course and find shelter.  There's buses coming to the Wal-Mart at the right."   I do not ever recommend completing a race against police advice, but I did.  Generally, what the police say is good advice to follow.  I didn't follow this rule because of the specifics of the situation.  Generally, when they say a course is closed, it's closed.  Get off.  It puts the volunteers and yourself in danger to keep on going.

However, first of all, I didn't realize there was a Wal-Mart literally right there.  I was thinking, "Wal-Mart is miles away.  What is going on?"  I said, "Wouldn't it be quicker for us to just finish? We're just about 20 minutes away."  They, again, said there was severe storms and lightening so we needed to seek shelter.  My mom at the finish texted me almost that exact moment to say that the rain was picking up and ask if I was ok.  I texted her and said, "I think the race is cancelled. I'm not really sure what is going on.  Do you know?" She said, "Cancelled? People are still coming through.  The guys at the finish are joking around with them.  It's raining and really cold here, but no really bad weather.  Are you sure you're ok?" [I guess she thought I was delusional, ha].  Then she texted, "Where are you anyway? How are you going to get back?"  Good question.  I stood there and thought that we'd be sitting out in the rain waiting for a bus (I didn't even think about going inside Wal-Mart), so I might as well finish. 

So, I kept on.  It didn't make much sense to stand around and wait for a bus when downtown Little Rock so was close and my car was there anyway.

When I got to the church, a lady (a volunteer I think) said, "They're telling people to get on buses, but you can finish if you want to.  There's no course support, but you can continue at your own risk."  I was cold and confused at the point, but I kept on going. I know the course, so I know the last part, after that last hill, is easy.  I wasn't sure what would be at the finish, but I figured my family was there anyway and I wasn't running into a tornado, which is what I really feared.  Surely they would have told the people at the finish if that were the case.

I'm pretty sure mile markers and volunteers were gone, but I was trying to just hurry up and finish.  Right before you turn to the finish, there was a nice unofficial stop where they had beer.  A lady said, "I really just need water right now." and one of the guys said, "Beer is 95% water." Ha.  I love that.  The lipstick stop was the next volunteer I saw.  She said, "You want some lipstick?" and I said, "Today, this is as good as it gets.  I'll just be happy to go inside!"

The finish was still open. Nobody was acting like anything at all was going on there.  I was very confused, but I crossed, got a medal and some snacks and headed to find my family (and some warmth) in the River Market.  I was colder than I have ever been in my life.  But, after I took off the hoodie, I was mostly dry at least.

I really regretted not wearing the ski gear.

After warming up a bit, I went to Gus's for some chicken and waffles and to tell everyone the story.  I sat at a table next to someone who was forced off the course at mile 13 by the police.  I was happy I got to finish the whole thing (the paper listed me as a DNF, but I Did F.  Here's proof).

I did the 5k and the unofficial Capital Hotel 10k detour walk the day before.  Both of those were great weather and great fun.  The  Capital Detour was a little odd.  There were only about 20 of us and they basically handed us a map and said, "Have at it."  The bad part is that sent us, potentially out-of-towners, behind Central High and into that area.  If you know Little Rock, that's not the safest place to be alone.  That being said, it was daytime and we mostly separated into two groups: a fast group and a sightseeing group. I'm not sure anyone was alone.  I'm not sure I'd do this again, but I'm glad I was there because I think I was the only local in my group, and I know quite a bit of history of the area.  Nobody understood why Central High had a museum, for example.  It wasn't bad, but I was glad someone in our group knew how to read a map (the map could have been more detailed).

Disney Marathon Coming Up

So, I haven't blogged since around last year's Disney Marathon, but I always seem to blog more at the beginning of the year. I did lots of all cool stuff last year including visiting Australia.  I've been meaning to blog about the food and culture there, but I haven't.  I'll try to be a better blogger this year.  Right now, I want to blog about Disney.

I've been training for the Disney Marathon's Dopey Challenge this year.  This is a 5k + 10k + half marathon + whole marathon.  Yes, I'm crazy.  But Disney is crazy fun.

I used Hal Higdon's guide, because I used Galloway's official guide for Goofy last year, and I didn't feel prepared.  Do I feel prepared this year? Not really.  I'm freaking out just a little bit.

Besides doing all the races, I'll be hitting the parks and using the new MagicBands and FastPass+ systems.  I hope to blog about each of those things (and maybe some healthy eating choices on the dining plan).  I wish I would have blogged about my park days more last year, so I'm making an effort to do it this year!

I do have costumes planned because I'm a nut.  I'm going as Ariel for the first two races, Vanellope Von Schweetz for the half and JUST KEEP SWIMMING Dory for the whole (may change my mind about one of the Ariels).  I'm looking forward to an awesome Disney time.  I just hope the weather holds out. They're calling for rain.