Good afternoon! Sit back + relax…this post is packed!

Saturday was quite the day! Our fridge now lives in the dining room/mock-kitchen, so the floor could be tiled.

Just wanted to show one of the kitchen cabinets completely finished, except for the door handle. This is how they will look with the bottom trim piece and two side cover panels. Lovin’ it!

You can better see the trim piece here. This was optional for the cabinets, as were the two side cover panels. The cover panels give it a nice finished look with the bottom trim piece. Also, if we ever want to install under cabinet lighting, this will hide the actual lights.

The pantry cabinet is UP! The bottom portion has two large drawers, that still need to be put together. The fridge will fit perfectly in the open space. I’m excited for the 24” deep cabinet above the fridge. It’s perfect for large serving plates and things that aren’t used often.

Here you can see the cabinets have just the cover panels, but the bottom trim is not on yet, except for the left-most cabinet. My uncle also finished the bottom cabinets, adding a few filler pieces to cover the odd-sized gaps. Counters will be installed on Thursday!

I wanted to keep breakfast light-ish, because a good friend was coming over with an early lunch for us. I’m starting to experiment with different protein powders, to find one that works best for me. In the past, I’ve tried many different powders. I actually really enjoy hemp protein powder and it is extremely environmentally friendly. It’s very easy to cultivate + takes little water to keep alive. However, the actual protein count is somewhat low, for a 1/4c serving. It’s typically around 9-11g. I’ve heard really good things about Vega products, and Sun Warrior, etc. but I have found that they all sweeten with Stevia, which I despise. Even in very small amounts, I can detect the strange sweetness and do not like it at all. I know Sun Warrior’s plain flavor does not contain stevia, but I haven’t found sample packs to try.

Most plain protein powders are pretty bland/chalky tasting, but that might just have to be the route I take, because they typically don’t have stevia added. Besides avoiding stevia, I’m also avoiding whey + soy protein.

I’ve been eyeing up this Raw Protein, from Garden of Life, for awhile now. I decided to splurge for the protein pack to try it out. I was nervous because it was just the “plain” flavor.

I blended:

1 packet Raw Protein
1 frozen banana
1/2c water
1/2c 2% milk
1T chia seeds
1t cinnamon
2T raw almonds

After blending until smooth, I let it sit for about 2-3min, which allowed it to thicken from the chia seeds.

It was a bit gritty, as I find with most protein powders, but it didn’t bother me at all. I actually LOVED it. I don’t think the flavor would be as detectable if you added more fruit, or peanut butter, etc, but I was trying to keep this breakfast smaller than usual. To me, it tasted sort of oatmeal-ish. The stats + ingredient list for this protein powder are stellar! This will definitely be on my list as a contender for my go-to protein powder.

1/4c serving = 80 calories + 1g fat + 3g fiber + 17g protein + <1g sugar

It’s made up of a RAW sprouted blend of real organic food. It includes things like: sprouted brown rice, sprouted amaranth, sprouted millet, sprouted quinoa, sprouted buckwheat, sprouted adzuki beans, sprouted chia seeds, and many more.

I won’t be relying on protein powder in my diet, but I just want one to always have on hand, when I need a little protein boost! I guzzled this down at about 8:45am and wasn’t hungry until noon, which worked out perfectly with lunch. I estimated it around 350-400 cals and about 25-27g protein. I’m hoping to try a few more protein powders, and will keep you posted with my thoughts.

Back to the house…

My uncle laid the tiles to see how it was going to work. We bought 18x18” tiles. They are HUGE and we love them. They actually make the kitchen look bigger too! Four full tiles fit across the main kitchen area perfectly.

Before I knew it, Maddy had arrived in style. Check out their fantastic bus!! Maddy has been away for a few weeks, touring the country, spreading the LOVE. Somehow, this extremely busy girl had time to drive up to Ft. Collins with a delicious lunch in tow. Amazing! [You can read more about Maddy + boyfriend Alex, founders of LGF, here!]

Of course she brought granola as well, and I might just share some with you! [hint hint]

We chatted away, while Maddy prepared our delicious lunch.

spinach + cold quinoa + feta + cucumber + tomatoes + olive oil + balsamic + feta

Perfection!! This was 100% delicious and 10x better because I didn’t cook it. :) She also brought us the most delicious truffles, from Whole Foods, for dessert.

We dined outside, in the gorgeous weather and then said our goodbyes. Such a lovely visit!

Time to get busy.

Furniture Project ONE - dresser

Huge bag of hardware!

Other furniture we have to put together:

2 nightstands
1 dining room cabinet/armoire
1 desk
1 couch
1 oversized chair

Oh what fun!

While we built, my uncle tiled.

The dresser was pretty easy to put together, but just took some time.

It came together in a few hours, and I can’t wait to fill it. Up until now, we had a crappy dresser [craigslist buy] that Chris kept all of his tshirts, etc in. I used this annoying hanging device in the closet for all of my tshirts. I’m excited to have this dresser that we both get 4 drawers in. Overflow will go in the old dresser and will be located in the spare bedroom.

I was on drawer duty!

Before we knew it, the floor was tiled, the dresser was built, and our fridge was moved to block the kitchen floor. The tile has to dry for 24hrs before walking on it. The dogs had already almost destroyed it, when they broke free of the fenced side yard and came barreling in the kitchen, while my uncle was working. Awesome. We stacked a few more things in front of the brown box because we were paranoid they would squeeze through when we left the house. I had visions of returning to the house, only to find the dogs trapped in the kitchen, playing catch with our tiles.