House Week 8

Okay, this is really really late, like three weeks I think. Last week Neil and Michelle only went up, the week before that I wasn't able to go, so yeah....three weeks ago!

Remember that weird trap door that is the access to the crawl space? Here it is tiled with handles for lifting.The handles had to be flush so the fridge could roll over it.

Front entry tile so you don't get the carpet muddy when you come in!

Pulls on the cabinets in the kitchen.

Front porch, fully equipped with a swing! I got this for a deal off Craigs List. (the new columns went up the next week)

New privacy fence

New garage door and remaining siding. (This got painted last week)

Unfortunately I do not have final pictures yet. Carpet is going in this week and we are having a block party on Saturday. We will be inviting the neighborhood, church, and anyone else who is interested. Come by, have a hot dog and see the end results! If you can't or aren't in the area, I will post final pictures after the block party.

Crock Pot Week-Meal Plan

This week I wanted easy. I didn't have a lot of time in the evening so I wanted to come home to a mostly already cooked meal. So far, so good. I do have a disclaimer though....these are not meals for company. Since they are crock-pot...they don't look so pretty. But they taste pretty darn good, and that's all that really mattered to us!

Meal #1-Lasagna
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/01/super-easy-crockpot-lasagna.html
I highly recommend seasoning this pretty well. I didn't add much seasoning and it needed a bit more. It was fine with a little salt but definitely season. Oh, and this really isn't pretty but still yummy. I also used frozen chopped spinach (its cheaper). Just be sure to defrost and squeeze the water out of it.

Meal #2-Enchilada Bake
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/01/crockpot-enchilada-casserole-recipe.html
This is up for tonight so I can't tell you much yet, except to say there will not be black olives in mine. Yuck! We will garnish with cilantro, salsa, and sour cream.

Meal #3-Creamy Beef over Noodles
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/04/creamy-beef-over-noodles-crockpot.html
This just looks like comfort food to me. It will be our Wednesday so I can't tell you yet what I think. I might have to add some veggies on the side though.

Meal #4-Chick Fil A
Supporting my sis and her family for a fundraiser night

Meal #5-Gumbo
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/04/crockpot-gumbo-recipe.html
Now this is majorly lacking in the spice department so you will want to spice it up if you like traditional Gumbo. I will be.

These all come from a really cool gal who decided to use her crock-pot every day of 2008. She has since written a cookbook. Most of her recipes are on her website, but if you are like me, you just like to have the actual cookbook....and its very inexpensive. She usually does a "verdict" section where she tells you if her husband and kids liked the meal. Very helpful. Also, keep in mind that most of her meals are pretty low on the spice level for her kids, so if you love spicy stuff like me, you will have to add that on your own. Oh, and a bonus....they are all Gluten free!

MELTing over this restaurant!

image from http://cincinnati.metromix.com/restaurants/eclectic/melt-northside/606028/content

Last night I finally got to go to dinner with one of my former co-workers and friends Nicole. We hadn't seen each other since the spring and that was way too long! We considered about a hundred restaurants before settling on MELT in Northside. I have wanted to try this place for a while as I had heard many good things. Let me just say......THEY ARE ALL TRUE! It is really worth a trip....especially if you are gluten free. Yes, its a sandwich shop (get it? MELTed sandwiches) but they offer gluten free bread. They also offer many vegan and vegetarian options. But don't let that deter the meat eaters out there. They had some quite tasty looking sammies with Roast Beef and other carnivorous options as well.
I wish I had taken pictures (not sure what I was thinking) but I didn't. :( Next time I definitely will. I ordered the:

Tuscan Chicken    $8.50
pesto, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken and romaine melted on focaccia


Yum-yum! Of course, mine wasn't on focaccia. I also got a side and chose the Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes. I don't know what was on these things (besides rosemary of course) but they were scrumptious!
Oh, and when I ordered I noticed these beautiful little Flourless Chocolate Tortes they had in a display case. Yes sir, I will take one of those as well! If you have never had Flourless Chocolate Cake please please go try some this weekend. It was around long before us GF people were looking for good desserts, but man oh man, its the best! Especially with a couple of fresh raspberries on top like was served to us. 
They have an adorable setup with only about 8 tables and a hand written chalkboard menu

Image from http://natinosh.wordpress.com/

And the couple (I think they are a couple) that was running the place was absolutely adorable. I think she was about 7 months preggo and easily one of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen. Anyways, you have to go here....shoot, I have to go back here....soon! Its a great little secret (sorta) of Cincy.

House Update-Week 7

So by now, you know this is the front of the house. Neil and I wanted to keep the very cool original door but it had a broken pane. Josh and Neil fixed it so we are able to keep it! We also put the first bit of color on it!

The bathroom is really super close to being finished. Lighting is in (thanks James), grouting is done, and we even have a fancy granite top! (This was a deal that Neil got...we aren't that crazy to spend that much money!)

More new lighting in the hallway

and on the front porch.

Michelle washing brushes....we do a lot of this,especially at the end of the day, but today was especially chilly. It rained on us and the temps didn't get out of the 60's so we all went home and tried to warm up

Josh and Kelly replicated the old 8" base molding. Once this is painted it will look just like the beautiful stuff in the living room and other rooms.

Bringing in some new appliances

Working on the front of the garage. We had a few panels that were falling apart and really needed to be replaced rather than just painted over.This will be painted to match the rest though.