Trailer Remodel

Welcome to our tiny home! 

It was a nice trailer before, pretty new, only 4 years old and in good condition. But it was so incredibly dark!! I never loved it. I liked how the space worked for us, but the kitchen had no working room because of the over mount sink. It took me a couple years and being locked down for a couple months for the hubbs to give in and let me go for it. Here is a picture of the kitchen after and before, I know, it should be the other way around... oops!

I started with the bathroom just to see if it would hold up and it did. We went on a weekend trip to the hot Colorado river and no problems with the paint.

 Before the bathroom was roomy, but very dark with all that brown wood and tan walls. Just kind of dark and blah. After painting I added a back splash some decor and painted our little shelf blue. Color makes me very happy!

I loved the way it turned out and every time I went in there it just felt so much like a real home. I was told very reluctantly if I sprayed the cabinets and did not roller them, I could do the rest of the trailer. The hubb's truly was not happy about this project.

I started prepping in the bedroom. It ended up being about 90 degrees this day and I was in this little hot box trying to get this paper and tape to stick everywhere I didn't want paint hitting since I was spraying. This is when it hit me how much work this project was going to be.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

It just feels so much cleaner and I can actually see in it now that it's lighten up a bit.

Here is a bit of the work in the main part of the trailer. We have a toy hauler, so it is a garage when we are traveling. Everything needs to fold nicely up to the walls to fit the dirt bikes in it. The beds in the back move along a track up to the ceiling.

Prepping this part is where I started asking for help, Dr. C knew he was going to make me a new counter top, but not a big deal, I told him that was all I needed him to do. He really didn't want to do any of the work, he even asked me if I was SURE I wanted a new counter. I have said I needed one every single trip we went on and we spend A LOT of time in our trailer. 

When I got to this portion of prepping, I was already physically exhausted. This was just a couple days into the project, but the ceilings in a 5th wheel are tall and I am 5 foot 3 inches. On a ladder there are portions of the ceiling that I can not reach. So reluctantly, he helped me.

We had 1 month between when we got home from our river trip till we were going on our summer road trip. I had less then a month to get this baby done! I was working as much as I could while neglecting my regular job and my kids. In the evening someone would come in the trailer and ask me about dinner, I'd have to stop painting and make dinner while the hubb's cleaned the paint spray EVERY SINGLE TIME! It's the little things. 

BEFORE

Remember how I said, color makes me happy? Well, I needed another place to put my lovely blue. I thought painting it behind the curtain where the beds are would be perfect, it makes it feel somewhat separate.

AFTER

 See that little table by the chairs? Again, with a toy hauler, nothing can be out. It gets really annoying when I have to pull all the tables out from under the bed when we are stopping at multiple places. I really miss having a dinnette that folds up to the wall like our old trailer.

BEFORE

 Dr. C had a nice little surprise for me. Unfortunately this is not the first one that was made.

I picked the stain, but it did not quite turn out what I was picturing and then before getting approval, Dr. C put a glossy poly urethane on it. I didn't want to say anything because he worked so hard, so I just mentioned I wanted a different poly on the counter top. But at the river a friend showed me a picture of a bar with burnt wood! I completely forgot about that technique and that was what I wanted!! Once the countertop was done, the hubb's could not leave this little table how it was. So, I got a second perfect little table.

It's the little things that go a long way. This lovely little painting tent was one of those little things and was made just for me to spray the doors! This saved me so much time and made them turn out so much better then if they were on the ground.

Here is my kitchen before, dark, no back splash, over mount sink, and no counter space.

BEFORE

Here is a picture of the blue risers on the stairs, this seemed to be the best place to stick this picture.

AFTER

Trailers have small kitchens to begin with and when we bought this trailer, I thought that little bit of counter would be enough, but with the limited cabinet room, it usually holds my banana's, melons and Malibu rum. So, not much space left to work. The faucet was horrible to work with also.

Changing out the counter top meant taking out the oven, since the oven was coming out, might as well take out the microwave to make my life easier. Dr. C is so helpful!

AFTER

Now, look at all that counter space, the wonderful faucet and the amazing countertop. My tiny kitchen is my favorite part of my tiny home.

This countertop is closeup worthy. It is made with stainable plywood. In a trailer you have to keep things light and we couldn't do much more than plywood for weight.

Trailer remodel - start to finish - 3 weeks! Now one week to get ready to go on a road trip. 

Kristen

Greek Salad

I have been loving Greek food lately! Here is a great lunch idea that is packed with nutrition. 

The oil in the dressing has Omega 3's, the artichoke hearts are great for blood sugar regulation and this meal is packed with fiber, good fat, and vitamins and minerals. One of the best parts is that this salad is very satisfying and I feel content until dinner.

Here is a little greek salad recipe I just add as much as I want of the ingredients so these are not exact:

-Cucumber

-Kalamata Olives

-Artichoke hearts (I get them in a jar in water, not marinated)

-Feta Cheese
-Tomatoes or bell peppers optional 

Home made Greek salad dressing:

1/3 c red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
2 t dijon mustard
2 c garlic minced
1/2 t Italian seasonings
1/4 t fresh ground pepper
1/4 c flax seed oil
1/4 c olive oil

I double this recipe and put it in a salad dressing bottle to keep in the fridge so I can use it with my daily salad.

Onion Rings - Gluten Free

Every once and a while we really miss one of those treats you just can't get gluten free. Onion rings is one of those in our house. They are really quite taste gluten free or not. I just don't like the mess they make.

 This recipe is so simple, you will need:

1 large onion pealed and thinly sliced.
GF flour (I used Pamelas All Purpose)
water
Grapeseed oil
little salt and pepper to taste

Be forewarned on this recipe, measurements are to texture and taste.

1. First peal and cut the onion.
2. Dust the sliced onion with flour.
3. In a shallow bowl mix about 1 c flour with 1 c water. Wisk until smooth, add water until think like pancake batter.
4. Heat oil in pan, only about 1/4 high. A little less if you prefer.
5. Drag onions through the flour and water then set in the pan to pan fry till golden.

Here is a picture of what the onions look like in the batter. I like my batter slightly thinner.

Remove the onions and set them on a paper towel. You can put them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit to keep warm while you cook the rest of your dinner. 

These were so tasty!! But I remembered why I almost never cook them. The kitchen was a disaster from the oil!

I hope you enjoy your GF onion rings once in a blue moon like us.

Kristen

La Iguana Chocolate Tour

Today we went to an organic family run Cacao farm. La Iguana Chocolate Farm. It was about 1.5-2 hours from Manuel Antonio. 

Here is a view on the way along the road.

They grow their own Cacao along with other fruits and spices and process the whole thing to the bar. It was really interesting! One of the things I loved most about this tour was that you could really see how much our guide, Jorge cared about what he was doing and doing it right. Organically and with the whole fruit, not taking out the cacao butter and adding in hydrogenated oil to sell the chocolate and cacao butter separately.

These are a few pictures around the farm. This is a tree house you can stay in for $40. It's just a room with a bed. Open air so you sleep in a mosquito net. There is a shared bathroom down stairs.

This is the chocolate making room. Coolest room in the place. The weather was actually quite pleasant.

This is a little area outside the bathroom. Those seats are made with moiter and reused glass bottles.

This one is going to eventually be an out door kitchen counter for the women to cook outside in the summer hot months.

We were quite early waiting for the tour, so we got to relax a bit with the dogs and chickens.

This is where the beans ferment over to the right and on the left is the drying room. It was so hot in the drying room and you have to go just to experience the smells. The fermenting was, well, stinky and the drying room smelled wonderful!

This is the inside of the fruit where the beans are found. The pulp around the bean is so yummy, not at all what you would expect. You must go and try it.

Making chocolate the traditional way.

The not so traditional way.

This was a really cool home made vacuum to use in part of the process.

C feeling totally normal...

Then out of nowhere, C started getting sick. Not sure what it was, but out of nowhere, his head started hurting really bad and he looked like he was going to faint. This is not the first time. Anyway, the family was very nice and helpful. Juan's mom made him some juice and a tea with honey. His sister got us a thermometer because he felt like his temp had dropped a ton. I was popping back and forth between L and Dr. C and little C.

L really enjoyed the chocolate making process.

I missed the end of the chocolate making, we quickly ate the yummy meal the family made for us, it was vegetarian and she even made gluten free muffins for C. They were so yummy and moist. I would have never guessed they were gluten free.

After our very yummy lunch with special gluten free muffins for our family, which were delicious by the way! We rushed out to get C to the hotel where he could sleep.

An hour of driving on a rutted dirt and gravel road sometimes only wide enough for a single car. He made it and when we got to the hotel, the bell boy was talking to me, then caught a glimpse of C's face and completely stopped talking. I told him he wasn't feeling well and he rushed us inside.

After the second round of throw up, C is all normal again! He is ready to eat again. Maybe these are new migraines he is experiencing, I'm not sure. The only change we have made is introduce peanuts back into his diet. I guess we will take those out again and see what happens.

Kristen