August Nest Energy Report

I know I am being a bad blogger lately but with no DIY projects, it's just the day to day boring stuff like work and school.  Maybe I will do a "Day in the Life" post because I enjoy those on other blogs.

I got my August Nest Report today and I still can't explain how the Nest is doing anything productive/smart for the house.  For August we cooled our house for 317 hours - that is about 100 hours more than July.  Granted it has been super hot out here and August is always a peak usage month but that's a significant jump even with the "Auto Away" feature.  The only thing I have done differently is I bumped the temp down to 74* at noon on Fridays.  I have half days and when I come home it is pretty warm inside.  Maybe I will turn it back up and try to stick with fans only.

Another thing Nest did was tell me how many leafs I earned - we pretty much earn a leaf a day due to "Auto Away".  On average we probably use about 11 hours of AC a day.  This weekend it rained off and on steadily every day and we only used 3 and 4 hours of AC on Saturday and Sunday.  That was pretty awesome.  Apparently we are awesome leaf earners so that is motivating in the game of "use less energy".  Not sure how much motivation I have while it's still super hot outside but we definitely do not keep the house very warm in the winter.

This weekend we are hoping to finally make the push and get the rocks out of the back yard.  I would also like to change out a few lights on the exterior of the house - everything is motion sense and they don't work well because someone shot out the sensors with a BB gun so we would like on/off fixtures.

Cooking Steak in an Ice Chest

Sous-vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment for longer than normal cooking times—72 hours in some cases—at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 131°F to 140°F for meats and higher for vegetables. The intention is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and retain moisture.  {from wikipedia}

You can buy sous-vide cooking tools - this one from William-Sonoma will run you about $500.  You can also buy what is essentially a water heater and use your own container - this one will empty your wallet by $1,000.  Or you can be cheap and use an ice chest like we did!

This video is super simple and explains how you can cook a steak in an ice chest.  We practiced the day before with a thermometer to watch how the temperature fluctuates and added hot water as necessary.  I was really skeptical about whether this would work but I trusted the process and the husband.  This truly was the best steak I have ever had and we have spent over $900 for a luxury steak house experience at Wolfgang Puck's Cut in Las Vegas (which was also pretty awesome).

STEP 1.  Buy your steak (duh).  You do not have to use expensive steaks because this cooking process is low and slow.  We splurged on HEB 31 day dry aged ribeyes since it was Labor Day weekend.  Before you are ready to cook the steaks, get them as close to room temperature as possible.  You want room temperature because when you submerge them in the water, you want to maintain the water temperature and the initial drop off is the fastest.

STEP 2.  Our target temperature for the steaks was 134*F which meant our water needed to be around 138*F.  Boil your water, pour it in the cooler and check the temperature.  Make sure it is a few degrees warmer than you want to account for thermal loss.  When it is at your desired temperature, seal each steak into a ziplock with the air squeezed out or a vacuum sealed bag (if you have that).  Do not season the meat.

STEP 3.  Water temperature management.  Once you drop your steaks in, close the lid and set the timer for 5 minutes.  Check the water temperature and add water if necessary - we had to add two cups of boiling water.  Repeat at 10 or 15 minute intervals until you reach the desired time and level of doneness to the meat.  We cooked our steaks for 45 minutes at a target meat temp of 134*.  The water temperature inside the cooler dictates the temperature that your meat will hit - it won't go over that temperature so you can't overcook your meat with this method.

STEP 4.  Remove the steaks from the cooler.  Discard the plastic bags and pat the steaks dry.  The meat will look sad and not appetizing at all so you will want to sear the outsides and season the meat. Get your grill/cast iron skillet screaming hot.  We put butter on our griddle and seasoned the meat with salt/garlic powder/pepper.  Sear on each side of the steak for about a minute per side - a little longer if you like it crispier.  Remove once you are done searing.

gimme all the steaks!!!!!!

STEP 5.  Enjoy!  The meat is so tender and it has a different mouth feel to it - it is so moist that we thought it tasted super juicy and almost like the consistency of ahi tuna.  I will always like grilled steaks or cast iron skillet steaks but cooking a steak with a sous-vide method has totally changed my outlook on how an awesome steak tastes.  The only comment was the husband thought his was a teensy bit rare so we might go up a few degrees next time.

Recipe {Homemade Chili/Taco Seasoning}

I stumbled on this recipe one day because I was tired of taco and chili seasoning packets.  They are so high in sodium (and chemicals) and I wasn't finding a brand that had the taste I was looking for.  Tacos are our go-to lazy dinner and when it's cold we love to make chili.  After some quick googling I ended up on mybakingaddiction.com and found this little gem.  It is completely customizable and as it is, it is not too spicy but that doesn't mean you can't turn it up a notch!

This yields about 2/3 cup of seasoning and it stores great.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I like 2 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika (I like smoked paprika)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons sea salt (I do not put salt in my mix)
4 teaspoons black pepper (sometimes I omit this and do it to taste)

Combine in a medium bowl and mix all ingredients together.  Store in an air tight container at room temperature.  I use 2.5 to 3 tablespoons for each dish.  I believe this yields about 5-7 dishes worth of servings.

Paint Recommendations {Sherwin Williams}

Three years ago when we decided to start repainting our house we went to Sherwin Williams and bought a paint fan for $20.  If we kept the receipt and were done using it, the guy at the store said we could bring it back and get a partial refund.

When we bought our Little Elm house the paint colors were okay - they weren't necessarily our taste but it was move-in ready and that was what we were looking for.  Fast forward to moving in....and we notice all of these discolored spots everywhere with drips.  The owners decided to "help" by touching up the paint where they had nail holes.  They even went so far as to cut chunks of the drywall out behind the doors to try to color match the walls.  If we buy a house again that has move-in ready colors that we can live with for a little - we will write it into the contract that the seller is not to touch the walls - just take your things off the walls and leave them ALONE!  

We lived with it for a little while and finally found a painter to do the front half of our house.  He was nice enough but I would never use him again.  He recommended flat paint and we liked the idea of flat because the semi-gloss shine didn't need to be on all the walls in the house.  Aside from the crappy paint job he did, he picked SW colors and paint types.  Enter the ProMar series from Sherwin Williams.

This is hands down the crappiest paint I have ever paid for in my life.  We were sold on flat paint because it was "washable".  If any contractor comes to your house with ProMar cans - chase him away and tell him to buy something else!  Our second contractor showed up with this stuff after I specifically ordered something superior and he got an earful.  Here is why I don't like this paint and I would never recommend it.  ProMar 200 (or any ProMar series) is a contractor grade paint that is flat and goes on with a chalky-like feel to the touch.  It also is NOT washable.  We scratched the wall when a lamp fell over so I was trying to wipe the scratch with a damp cloth.  If the paint touches water it will discolor and rubbing it will cause the paint to rub off and expose whatever was underneath.  The only pro to this paint is that it does touch up fairly well (if you have a can still on hand) and feathers nicely but not having the ability to scrub makes it an epic fail.

Next up was when I painted our living room by myself.  Since I knew I didn't want the ProMar or to pay contractor pricing, I ended up going with the HGTV collection that SW sells for homeowners.

This paint is okay.  I wouldn't say it's epic fail category.  If you have a project and are a newbie painter I think this is fine.  My complaint is that I had to scrub some parts of the wall after it was painted (I was painting trim) and the paint came off like it was peeling plastic.  It's very rubbery and I felt like I had to use a ton of paint to get solid coverage on our textured walls.  Even the SW employee said it wasn't that great of a paint - thanks for the recommendation after I bought it!

Round two of painting our house through a contractor was about a year ago.  This guy was way more professional, super nice and continually reminded me he had been in Architectural Digest magazine.  That doesn't make me want to hire you more but good for you!  Anyway, his crew did a great job (we hired them a second time to paint out the rest of our house to list it) and the first thing I told him was that I do not believe in flat paint.  He quickly dismissed me saying that they use SW SuperPaint and it is indeed washable.  Skeptical but reminded of Architectural Digest magazine, wanting a flat finish and getting a ceiling thrown in for free, I agreed.  

SuperPaint by SW is amazing.  Seriously - it's totally amazing.  It has a great flat finish that isn't as chalky as ProMar AND it is washable.  When I had my foot surgery I couldn't get my foot wet for about 5 weeks so I had to splash around in the tub like a beached whale to take a bath.  I got paint on the walls one day and I was worried it stained - nope it dried perfectly with NO discoloration.  SOLD!  Wiping dog mud off the walls?  No rubbing off or discoloration!  SOLD!  This paint is amazing but it is pricey.  It retails for homeowners for about $55/gal so if you have a coupon or it's sale time, I would stock up.  We are members of the SW rewards club (or whatever it is) and we get 10% off purchases.  Next time you are in the mood to paint I highly suggest going with SuperPaint.  If I can ever get motivated to paint my entryway, I am buying SuperPaint!