Apartment Blog

If you plan on celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day this year, make sure you do so with traditional Irish foods.  Here’s a great recipes for Corned Beef and Cabbage that you can make this holiday!

Corned Beef & Cabbage with Horseradish Sauce

Serving Size: 8               
Categories: Beef, Irish                            

Ingredients (Amount & Measure)
——–  ————  ——————————–
   1      Onion
   4      Cloves-whole
   4      pounds Corned beef
   2      Parsley sprigs
   8      Peppercorns-whole
   2      pounds of Cabbage
   1      cup Sour cream
   1      tablespoon Prepared horseradish

Work Time: 15 minutes   
Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes

Directions:
Peel onion and stick with cloves.  Put corned beef, onion parsley and peppercorns in a large pot and cover with water.  Cover, bring to a simmer and cook gently until tender, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  Cut cabbage into wedges and core. Add to the pot, cover and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Combine sour cream with horseradish.  Serve the meat and cabbage with some of the broth ladled over all and the horseradish on the side.

Nutritional Value:
Per serving: 553 calories, 36g protein, 40g fat, 2808 mg sodium, 11g carbohydrates, 135 mg cholesterol.

*Exported from MasterCook*

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Source: http://fp.enter.net

You have enough on your plate this month with Easter rolling around, pictures needing to be taken and baskets to be assembled. Why not have your little ones help you out this Easter dinner? Below are really easy and simple recipes for you and your little helpers!

Edible Easter Bunny Salad



Ingredients:
Pear halves
Raisins
Miniature marshmallows or cottage cheese
Lettuce
Apple slices or Almonds

Directions:
Place a lettuce leaf on a plate. Add the pear half on lettuce, for body. Insert raisins for the eyes and nose. The ears are made from apple slices or almonds and a miniature marshmallow or cottage cheese become the bushy tail.

Banana Pops

Ingredients:
• 2 Bananas
• Honey (or melted chocolate)
• Dessicated Coconut (or rice krispies)
• Popsicle sticks
• Plates
• A baking dish lined with baking paper
Directions:
1. Peel the bananas, then cut them in half and push Popsicle sticks into the bottom of both pieces of banana.
2. First, Roll the bananas in some honey, and then in the coconut.
3. Place the banana pops on a baking tray lined with a sheet of baking paper and then freeze.
4. Your banana pops will be ready to eat the next day

Source: dltk-kids.com & amazingmoms.com

Are you throwing a Valentine’s theme party this year? Do you need some ideas? Check out our five tips for throwing an awesome bash this year!

Tip 1: Invitations

Depending on the formality of your party, you can choose official invitations, emailed invitations or just verbally announce. Either way you choose, make sure it’s using the holiday colors and verbiage (lots of LOVE) while also setting the tone for the party.

Tip 2: Décor

Obviously you’ll want to stick somewhat to the color scheme of Valentines, like red, white and pink. Incorporate these colors in many of the decorations to give your party a truly lovely look. You might want to think about streamers, plates, napkins, cups, table cloth and of course the party staple balloons! And as I mentioned in our ‘cheap decorations’ blog, you can always make a lot of your decorations by using construction paper, colored plates cut out in the shape of hearts, or print out images on your computer. It’ll add just a bit more flair while not depleting your funds!

Tips 3: Food/Beverages

This is where a lot of your budget is going to be spent. You could do the usual finger foods for the party, i.e. chips, dips, wings, etc. Or you could do a dessert buffet! Give your guests all the treats they can take! J For beverages you can have the normal soda, water, etc. Or you can have a theme drink like ‘lovers punch’ or something of that nature.

Tip 4: Entertainment

You’ll want your guests to be entertained during your party. So make sure there are plenty of fun games for everyone to be involved in, music for the background and/or dancing as well as crafts for any children involved or adults that particularly enjoy it! But if you’re having an informal gathering where everyone knows everyone, then it may not be necessary to do all this. Just let everyone mingle!

Tip 5: Gifts

If you are going to be doing games, make sure there is a prize for each of the winners. You could also do door prizes or a gift exchange. And don’t forget little party favors as a thank you for the guests attending.

Did these ideas help? Will you incorporate them in your Valentine’s Party? I sure hope so!

I’ve lived in numerous rentals. But I just LOVE living in an apartment; for me the reasons far out weigh any other living situation. Here are mine….what are yours?

Reason #1: Only Tied to a 1 Year Lease

Let’s say I change job and now my commute is a lot longer. I have the flexibility in an apartment to move a lot sooner than say, owning a home. And while some would prefer not to move around numerous places (for the shear hassle of moving things), others may prefer a change of scenery, which again is easier if you rent an apartment.

Reason #2: Who you gunna to call when something breaks/leaks?

GHOAST BUSTERS! Just kidding…..the maintenance personnel! They may seem like heroes when they come, but they don’t have those cool guns to zap rodents!?! But that’s a big reason I LOVE renting an apartment! I don’t have to worry about calling a repair man and how much it’s going to cost me! I just call the maintenance number, or the leasing office, and get someone out there. Sure I may have to wait a day, depending on the severity of the situation, but I’m not paying $400 to get my toilet snaked either! J

Reason #3: Less Responsibility

Yes you’re paying rent, utilities and other items. But the responsibility of owning a home is much greater than renting an apartment. When owning a home you have to continually do maintenance to the outside (yard work, siding, and roofing) as well as periodically make updates to the inside (update appliances, re-surface the floors, etc.). If you’re not ready for that responsibility, you may want to consider renting an apartment!

So there are my top reasons why I LOVE apartment living! Sure, I’ve heard all the benefits of owning my own home, taxes, return on my investments, etc. But for me, it really boils down to these three reasons why I continue to rent! Eventually I’ll be ready to purchase my own home, but for now…..I’ll stick to living in my two bedroom apartment!

You want to host a Super Bowl party with all your friends and/or family, but have to watch what you spend? Food/drinks is obviously going to be a larger expensive, rightfully so, but how can you have a bit of décor to your themed party when you’re on a budget? Well, here’s a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Make Your Own Football! This is a really cute and neat idea. Just take some paper plates, cut them into shapes of footballs and decorate them (i.e. color them brown w/white threads or in the colors of the football teams playing that day). You could even hole punch them and string them up around the room like a banner!?!

2. Bake A Football Cake! Since you’re already going to be providing food (or maybe have a pot luck) make sure there is a football decorated cake. You can use food coloring for the icing and little sticks (or going really economical-matches) for the goal posts. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, decoration centerpiece and a yummy surprise!

3. Styrofoam Bricks! These are really cute ideas for people to throw on the ground when the referee makes a bad call or their team gets scored on. Guaranteed to get some use!! Just go to your local arts and craft store and pick up a bunch of blocks. Get some spray paint (preferably the reddish/brown color of bricks) and paint away! Stack them up in the middle of your room, they’re bound to be discovered!

4. Balloons Galore! Balloons are a cheap and easy way to decorate your house for this party. Get a few bunches (probably not more than a dozen, which can cost you about $6 dollars) and strategically place them where the majority of your guests will be. They will make a big impact for not a lot of $$!

5. Paper Chains! Going back to your childhood days when you use to make decoration out of paper strips, staple them together in circles and build from there. It made a cute little chain that you could decorate the classroom with. Why not mimic that for your party? Sounds goofy, but for two packages of different colored paper (very inexpensive), you can cut them into five strips each and get a pretty decent size streamer around your room! Be creative and do one of the teams colors around the food and the other team’s colors around the T.V.

6. Use Your Computer! Have you found all sorts of neat graphics online that you’d like to use? If you have a color printer, why not use it! Print out some of these images and cut them out. Tape them on various surfaces around your apartment. It actually turns out quite nice (and really good for your budget)! Place them on the bathroom mirrors, the kitchen cabinets or on the fridge. It’s just a little bit of decorations everywhere without a lot of extra money coming out of your wallet!

7. Use The Dollar Store! I swear by this place to everyone! Seriously it’s amazing. Go here for your other items that you have to buy (i.e. paper plates, napkins, cups, utensils, table cloth, etc.). It’ll really save you money in the end and still be sufficient enough for your party! Other stores that are economical that might be in your area are: Dollar Tree, 39 cent store, Party City, etc.

Do you have anymore cheap ideas for decorations? Let us know! The more ideas you share, the more money in everyone’s pockets this Super Bowl Sunday (especially for any of you who have wagered on the game and might loose!!)

So yesterday was our office Holiday Cookie Exchange. Several people from our department brought in their favorite holiday goodies. If you or someone in your office is thinking of doing this too, here are a few tips:

1. Invite the entire department, quad or group to participate.
2. Ask each guest to bake enough for the exchange and perhaps a few extras for people to take home to their families.
3. Avoid duplication of cookies by asking guests to tell you (or whoever is organizing it) what they are bringing.
4. A neat idea is to ask others to choose a recipe that is traditional to their background. That way everyone learns about traditions from another culture and/or ethnic group!
5. And of course a great present to everyone (besides the yummy treats you bring in) are the recipes so others can use them for their holiday feast this year!

We had a nice selection of treats for our exchange. Chocolate Chip w/Mint, Candy Cane Jo Jos, Sugar Cookies with holiday decorations, Pistachio and Macadamia Nut cookies, Grandma Kisses and so much more! Here are a few recipes from those that participated so you can try to make them!

Reindeer Poop:

Ingredients:

1- box of Chex cereal (any flavor)

1- stick of butter

1- bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

Powdered/confectioner sugar

Directions:

Melt together the butter, chocolate, and peanut butter on medium. Pour evenly over cereal then cover with powder sugar. If you want to do this in a big Ziploc bag, it may make shaking it around to evenly cover a little easier!

Mint M&M’s & Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Toll House Cookie Dough

Mint flavored M&M’s

Directions:

Leave cookie dough at room temperature for at least 10 minutes so it’s soften. Greece baking pan(s). Take a slice (or scoop depending on the size of cookie you’d like) and put in as many or as little mint M&M’s you’d like (more M&M’s will give it a bigger mint flavor). Roll repeatedly in your hand for form a ball. Make sure all the M&M’s are surrounded in dough (although some can be on the edges). Put mixture on cooking ban and bake for 11 minutes at 375 degrees (leave in longer if you’d like it crunchy versus soft and moist)

Do you have any additional Holiday Treat Recipes you’d like to share? Any you learned from your Holiday Cookie Exchange?? Let us know!

Here’s a holiday recipe to share with your friends & family this season!

Homemade cream corn…it’s sooo good, very fatty but very good!

Cream Corn: 2lbs corn (any variety)

4 oz. butter (1 stick)

8 oz of cream cheese (1 regular size package)

salt and pepper to taste

Place in the crock pot for 2 hours on high stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to low for another two hours and continue to stir occasionally.

Serve and enjoy!!

Let us know what your favorite holiday recipes are to serve this holiday season!

Thanks,

ForRent.com

When trying to create a look for your new apartment, I’m sure many colors pop into your mind. Either you want your favorite color or perhaps a color scheme you had in your old place. Regardless, before you start decorating; check out some helpful tips for color combinations that work well together.

You could use a monochromatic color scheme, which is a color scheme that uses variations of lightness and saturation of a color. Using a monochromatic color scheme will help you accomplish a clean and elegant look as well as create a soothing effect. A good suggestion, should you want to use this color scheme, is to use greens and blues since their shades complement each other. As an accent color to the monochromatic color you’ve chosen, stick with neutrals such as black, white and gray.

Or for a richer look to the monochromatic color scheme, chose an analogous color scheme. This is where the colors used lie next to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as the main color while the other is used to enhance the scheme. An example would be yellow and yellow-orange.

Another idea would be complementary colors. I’m sure you all can recite a color and its complementary color (the color on the opposite end of the color wheel), but did you ever think about decorating your home in such a scheme? This scheme is extremely high contrasting and draws maximum attention to your room in your apartment.

Other color schemes that you could use include: Tertiary colors, which is any three colors that form an isosceles triangle on the color wheel, or using Primaries which would be using a primary color (red, yellow or blue). Warm colors are reds, oranges and yellows or cool colors such as greens, blues and violets.

While ideally these suggestions would be used for painting, if you live in an apartment community that does not allow you to paint, think of other methods! Use fabrics in the color scheme you choose or creative décor pieces, such as paintings and trinkets. Regardless of what color scheme you do choose, make sure you decorate your new apartment with colors that reflect your personal style-after all, you are the one who has to live there!