Cleaning and Painting!

The last two weekends have been spent cleaning and painting our new house. Thanks sooo much to all who helped in the process! You all made it a lot easier and faster.

Cleaning the windows...

Dan fixing the leaky faucet...

Those who have painted before, please sympathize with us...this is what we had to paint over. There is a sun and two monkeys painted on other walls of this room. The other bedroom is purple, and by that I mean PURPLE. It has a "famous autographs" wall where all the girl's lovely friends signed the wall in all sorts of permanent marker, RED marker (the hardest to cover), and puffy paint. We seriously did not know what we were getting into.

After coat 1...can you still see the rainbow? I can. The rooms now have 2 full coats of primer and the awful areas have 3. So after we put all this work into the primer, what do we notice??? We did not sand the walls enough and the OUTLINE of the shapes is still there, daRn. I think we'll just put a dresser or picture on the wall. What do you think?

The happy homeowners painting the living room...

Ta-Da! It's done. The living room actually turned out quite nice. The family had primed this room in the hopes of making the more bland white sell the house better. So we just had to slap 2 coats of paint on and it was finished. Maybe I should clarify, "turned out quite nice" is according to Dan and I. If you should come over and notice the various roller marks and lines where we painted the trim too thick. Just say "looks great!" and don't mention what you see...
So that's the update on the house. We are heading back to the house after a wedding this weekend, and we hope to put some real paint on the bedrooms upstairs. This is Dan's first painting project, and he has discovered that he hates to paint. So if anyone is good at painting and is for hire, we would gladly hire you to finish the remainder of the rooms. :)

Oooo, Lacey, Mom, and Erin, this is for you. Try these recipes. There are yummy. Both scored a 4.75 out of 5 from Dan and I.

Apricot Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 T butter, melted, divided
1 C biscuit/baking mix (or less)
1 T parsley
1 T oil
1/4 C apricot preserves
2 T orange juice

Flatten chicken to 1/4 in. thickness (I've skipped this part and it turns out fine). Pour 5 T butter in shallow bowl. In another mix biscuit mix and parsley. Dip chicken in butter then coat with dry mixture.
In large skillet, cook chicken in oil and remaining butter over medium heat for 9-10 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.
Meanwhile, in small microwave-safe bowl, combine preserves and OJ. Cover and microwave until melted, stir until combined. Drizzle over chicken and cook for 1-2 more minutes or until heated through.

This is super simple and soooo yummy. I bought a little bottle of the apricot preserves because I didn't know if we would like it, and that jar has made at least 4 recipes and it's not gone yet.

Peanut Chicken Stir-fry (like Kung-Pao Chicken)

2 t cornstarch
3/4 C chicken broth
1/4 C creamy peanut butter (I'd do a tad less the next time I make it)
3 T soy sauce
1 t ground ginger (Lace - If you don't have it, I'd be happy to share the pound or so that I have!)
1/4 t pepper
1-1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
3 t olive oil, divided
1 C chopped onion
1 C thinly sliced green pepper
1 C thinly sliced sweet red pepper (just use whatever you have, I never have red and it's not a big deal if you leave it out)
1-1/2 C sliced fresh mushrooms (it would be really good with these, but I didn't have any the first time I made it)
1 t minced garlic

Hot cooked rice

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients until smooth, set aside.
In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in 1-1/2 t oil for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove with slotted spoon and keep warm.
Stir-fry onion and peppers in remaining oil for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, stir-fry for 3-4 minutes longer or until veggies are a crisp tender.
Stir liquid mixture from step 1 into pan. bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken and heat through. Serve with rice.

This one was really great. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter, but I liked it. The first bite is a kicker though, you have to get used to the flavor. Dan really loved Kung-Pao chicken, but that is made with whole peanuts and the peanut flavor doesn't really get through the whole dish. He loves this one because that nutty flavor is spread evenly through every bite. Try it!

I'm so making up for lost time with this huge post! See you all in a few weeks! Anyone else interested we are moving on August 9! ;)