Under Cabinet Lights

You could consider this the first project of 2022.  Changing out our current under cabinet lights has been high on my list for a while, and hub surprised me while I was napping with this less-than-30-minute job.

We have such high ceilings in our home and when we first moved in our kitchen only had canister lighting.  That meant that when the lights were on, they were inadequate for kitchen tasks, but terribly bright for anything else.

We’ve since added the pendant lights, changed out the kitchen nook chandelier, added rope lighting above the cupboards and used plug-in lights for under the cabinets.

Those plug-in lights were ok to add a little extra light, but the cords were ugly, partially visible and I still needed something over the beverage station.

Battery-operated lights have become so much better recently so I requested a change out.

John took his usual Saturday-morning trip to Home Depot and picked up two packages of three Defiant Remote Control LED lights.  Color choices are white (which is great and useful) to blue, green and red.  The other colors are not much help but are dynamite for the mood department.

John likes red best for ambiance.  I took a few shots very early morning so you can see the efficacy of using these along with the rope lights on top of the cupboards, but without the bright overhead lighting.

The little remote is tiny, handy and operates all six at once or singly. Those colors are kind of creepy, right?

Installation is a choice between a screw or double-sided tape.  John chose the tape.

We got a lot of satisfaction bang for our buck on this one.

What I’m Eating

Every once in a while we eat a frozen meal.  I’m not saying it’s healthy or the best choice, but there are certainly worse choices a family could make when prepping and cooking a meal is not going to happen. 

Trader Joe’s lasagna has been a good option for us.  It’s a small package, cooks well in either the microwave or oven and tastes good.

I baked it in the countertop Cuisinart and got the cheese nice and brown and crispy.

DF Evon came over for cards and “snacks” Friday night.  By which I mean we had a lot of food including the yummy meatballs she made. 

Also from Trader Joe’s we tried a jar of olive tapenade among our many snacks. 

Delish.  But there is a whole LOT left over.  Hmm, how can I use that creatively?  I’ll be on the search.  Piling tapenade on top of crusty bread is not, even in my book, an acceptable everyday meal.  Darn it.

What I’m Reading

I usually like to give a review of what I’ve already finished, but frankly, the audio book I’m listening to right now is so long, it could be a few weeks.  As in 24 hours long.  That’s a lot of walks.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is a happy find I stumbled upon.  Can I just tell you how much I am in LOVE with this story already.  Much like Ethan Canin who wrote A Doubter’s Almanac, Verghese is a physician and a professor at Stanford.  I wonder if those guys know each other. 

Anyway, this is shaping up to get five stars and I can’t wait to recommend it.

Wrap Up

DFs Evon and Denisse joined us for a yummy breakfast/lunch out and then a visit to the home show and a tiny home tour.  The line to get into those homes was so long.  And what we saw was not quite as charming as I see portrayed on YouTube channels. 

And they were going for around $100K.  What?!!?  Give me a single-wide any day.

Darn, I am entranced by those things and wanted to love them, but, alas, another myth popped.

Thank you for joining me on my journey and I’m sending prayers your way this week.