don’t forget about this week’s MSPaint contest! I finished mine yesterday!

Submissions are due Thursday!

This week I decided to take spatula in hand and play chef mike d at the House of Rock. There were a couple reasons for this. One, I got a handful of new recipes and have been wanting to try them out. And two, our weekly menus had been downgraded from Thrilling to Dull. In fact, last work week we had some sort of pasta related dish every single night.

I am ashamed.

So here’s a sampling of this week’s menu. Sunday night I made stuffed red bell peppers. They came out pretty well. The tomato and beef based stuffing was flavored with cumin, pepper flakes, onion, garlic, and thyme. And the red peppers softened up very nicely in the oven. Overall it was, a simple, quick, and delicious dish.

Last night was Chicken Paella. I got this recipe from a co-worker and it came out very nice. The chicken dish had fun flavorings of sausage, parsley, paprika, lemon juice, tomatoes, peppers, onion, s&p, and oregano. It also called for Orzo instead of rice. It was enjoyable.

Tonight we’ll be having lemon Asian chicken. Tomorrow pulled slow-cooked chicken. And Thursday something less exciting because I don’t think I’ll be around to cook.

I’m especially eager for Wednesday’s crock pot meal because I will be trying out liquid smoke for the first time.

Ahh foodery. How I love thee.

NOTE: This is the second “diversion” posted as part of Defy S. McQuaid. In a diversion, no user-submitted question is answered, but instead, a topic of interest is discussed. (By interest, I mean “interest to me at the moment”, and possibly not interesting to you. Sorry.)

The Question

What is the best material choice overall when re-flooring your basement that was flooded during the torrential and continuous rains last week?

The Answer

Gee, I just happen to have a great answer for this one. Seems that’s exactly the situation I’ve been working on for the last week or so.

Last Monday (not yesterday, the one before that), I happened to go down into my finished basement as usual in the morning to check email and the like. Sitting at my computer, I noticed that the dog had followed me down the stairs. Next, I heard slurping.

It turned out that I was sitting in the only dry spot in the basement. Everything else was soaking wet.

After sucking 100+ gallons of water out of the basement, it became apparent (via the smell) that the carpet we had had down there was done for. But what to put down to replace it?

Here are the options:

Nothing. Just leave it open concrete
PRO: Do nothing. No work.
CON: HUGE downgrade. No way.
Replace the carpet
PRO: Carpet is nice to stand on. Also, the tack strips are already there.
CON: If water happens again, it has to be replaced again. This is expensive. (I NEVER had water down there before, and they ARE saying this is a “100 year storm”, but I don’t trust them.) Also, carpet in a basement can only be musty after a while.
Install wood floor or laminate
PRO: Well, it will look nice. Expensive though.
CON: Well, if it floods again, it’s done. Even if the laminate is moisture-resistant, it can’t stand up to actual water. Also, it’s expensive. And you have to put foam under it, which will absorb water.
Install linoleum
PRO: Linoleum is safe. If it floods again, you mop it up.
CON: Good linoleum is expensive ($2+/sq. ft). Cheap linoleum is not, but you still have to have it installed, which is expensive. More expensive than carpet.
Install your own vinyl tile
PRO: Cheap!
CON: Cheap looking! Also, work. I’m tired now. Seems like a bit of a downgrade.
Install indoor/outdoor carpet (glue down)
PRO: If it gets wet, it dries without dying. Also, it’s inexpensive ($0.62/sq. ft.) and installation is cheap too if you’ve removed your carpet already (which I have). Also, you can do the stairs instead of leaving the sea-foam green old stained carpet on it. Also, you don’t have to install it yourself.
CON: …..still waiting…..nope, ain’t got one.

I assume that you, the gentle reader, can ascertain my choice.

Next week: Back to your regularly scheduled answers!

Does anyone else get a super itchy nose whenever they floss?