DIY Chicken Coop for $25

A chicken coop for $25??  Yep, you read that right!  Read on for our story on how we built a chicken coop with little funds.

Our 3 hens were quickly outgrowing their Rubbermaid tote in the garage, and we were not about to go and buy a brand new $200 coop.  A few months ago, we picked up a few fence panels and other pressure treated boards from a free pile with the idea to use them as a fence for our yard. Well, those fence panels never got used and had just been leaning up against the garage.  Here's a picture for reference, we had 5 panels total but only used 3:

Materials we used: 

3 cedar fence panels: free ninety free

3 pieces of scrap plywood: free- left over from a project

4 or 5 random boards: free- left over from a project

3ftx4ft piece of metal roof: free- found under our deck from previous owners

1 small piece of plywood: $5

2 pairs of hinges for the clean out door: $10

1 heavy duty latch for clean out door: $5

Nails n screws: $5? or free-ish if you have a bunch laying around

Chop saw

Drill

Nail gun or hammer (nail gun is waay easier)

Bandaids.  Metal roofing will cut you.

Time

My lovely husband deserves all of the credit for this project, I only held boards as he nailed or screwed them together. To start out, he began tearing apart the panels to see just how much we would be able to use for the coop. Below is from the main part of the panel.

We had some left over pieces of plywood from various projects around the house as well as metal roofing that we found under our deck (yay foreclosures?).  For this project, my husband only had to buy hinges, latches, and a couple boards, coming out to about $25.  Obviously, if you had to buy all of the wood, the cost would go up, but really not too bad. I've seen coops be made with wood pallets, which we could have used as well but those are a pain to break apart.  Moving on....

The first thing my husband did was measure out a piece of plywood we had to figure out the base.  That piece was 3ft by 4ft.  He then cut boards to kind of "frame" it, and cut 1ft long pieces of a pressure treated board for the base, 4 total.  He screwed all of that together to create a strong base for the coop, his lovely assistant helped hold it all together ;-) 

Next, we flipped it over and began working on the frame for the coop.  We decided an angled roof would be the easiest thing to build, since we are definitely not carpenters. I can't remember how tall it is at the tallest point, but it is approximately 3.5ft tall.

Lovely husband then framed out a spot for the door for the hens to go in and out of the coop, about 1ft wide and tall. After that it was time to start the "siding".  When you break apart fence panels, the boards are connected tongue-n-groove type so this worked out well for our coop.  Lovely husband cut the tops of the boards at an angle for the roof line and used a nail gun to secure them into place. 

After the two sides were done, he secured a board across the middle of the roof for support.   He then nailed on plywood to the roof, and finished it with the metal roofing.

He built a nesting box with 3 spots for nesting (they say 1 box is fine for 3 hens, but we didn't want our hens to have to share... ;-)  )  Inside he also put in a roosting rod.  Not pictured anywhere for some reason is the door he made for the end where the nesting boxes are.  He built two large doors the length of the coop that open up so you can easily clean the coop out and collect eggs.  He also made a hen ramp leading into the run.

 The nesting box comes out for easy clean up!

Curious pups checking out the hens, Kimberly, Francine, and Cecilia (KFC).

Finished product.  At the roof line, lovely husband drilled in holes for ventilation.  Ventilation is key when you have chickens!  The run was built by someone else, but is just wood and chicken wire stapled together, there is a large door on the left for easy access.  The run is stapled to the coop so the chickens can't get out and the dogs can't get in :-) 

Eventually, I will paint it up pretty but for now, it is just perfect!

This project took my husband and I 3 or 4 hours one day, he worked on it for probably 4 or 5 hours the next day on his own before it was complete.  So, prepare to spend anywhere from 10-15 hours  building if you aren't experienced :-) 

Good luck!! Check out Craigslist, Freecycle, or other freebie websites for free materials.  One of our smaller hardware stores has free pallets all of the time, so get creative and start collecting! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Freezer Meals, round 2! mostly ground beef/turkey

I may or may not be slightly obsessed with making these freezer meals.  When I think about how often I WON'T have to come home after work and cook a meal, it seems to just add fuel to the fire.  My freezer is officially full, and I shouldn't have to cook a meal unless I have the urge to for about a month.  Here is a new list that I recently tried out, I hope they taste as good as they look!  I'll report back once I try them out.  All of these recipes, except one use ground turkey, but you can use ground beef if you wish.

Hint: If you're using a lot of ground beef/turkey and don't want to cook 3-5lbs or more on the stove, just plop it in the crock pot and cook on low for a few hours until it is browned.  Super easy and you don't have to stand around stirring meat.  When it is done, just dump it into a strainer to get all the liquid out and put in a bowl until you're ready to use it for the meals.


Prepare all of your freezer bags by labeling them before you fill them with the name of the meal and how long to cook it, along with any special notes- all of these contain special notes that I put in bold so read ahead :-)

I only have 4 recipes for you today, but they look like good ones!  Here we go!

Lasagna Soup: Cook on low for 7-8 hours, add 2 cups of uncooked noodles and 1 cup of water when there is 30 minutes left.
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. parsley
1 T. basil
1 t. crushed red pepper
3 cups broth (I used tomato infused, super good, but you can use any broth)
28 oz diced tomatoes
1/2 jar of pasta sauce
1/4 t salt and pepper
1lb ground turkey/beef

Add in when 30 minutes are left:
2 cups uncooked noodles
1 cup water (or more if you want more liquid in your soup)

Cornbread Chili:  Cook on low 4-6 hours, top with cheese and cornbread batter and cook on high for 1 additional hour.
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 pkt taco seasoning
10 oz can of condensed tomato soup
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1lb ground beef/turkey

after 5 hours add on top of chili and cook on high for 1 hour:
1 cup shredded cheese to the top
1 box of cornbread batter (prepare as if you were going to bake it in the oven)

Tater Tot Casserole:  Line crock pot with frozen tater tots, fill with mixture and sprinkle top with cheese, then cook on low for 6 hours.
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans green beans
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup milk
1 lb. ground beef/turkey

day of cooking:
Line crock pot with 32 oz. frozen tater tots and dumb above mixture into crock pot.  Sprinkle with as much cheese as you desire.  Cook on low for 6 hours.



This last one is a chicken recipe, but it is a good one, I promise!  I actually have tried this one, and it is delish!!! Be careful not to overcook the chicken....

Creamy Ranch Chicken:  Cook on low for 4 hours or until carrots are soft and chicken is cooked but not overcooked.  Try to put the chicken on top of the potatoes and carrots in the crock pot, if possible.
4 chicken breasts
2 cups baby carrots
6 red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
1 can cream of chicken
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup milk

(if possible, stir ranch mix, milk, and cream of chicken soup together before throwing it into the crock or bag)

Crock Pot Freezer Meals- Chicken

I just jumped on the bandwagon and started doing Crock Pot Freezer Meals.  Now, I haven't had any of these yet, but if you are brave and would like to experiment like I did, keep reading.  I will update this when I have tasted each one, and let ya know if any of these are terrible.  But, they all smelled good and have "normal" ingredients, so I am hopeful. Included are any tips that I feel would make this process easier, but be prepared to spend 2 hours in your kitchen.  I did one meal at a time to keep my mind focused, which was still quite the task.

All of these recipes contain chicken.  Next time I make a bunch of freezer meals, I hope to try it with beef and turkey.  I didn't want to get too crazy on my first go around, plus my kitchen is itty bitty.

See??

FIRST write on all of your gallon bags with permanent marker, if you wait it is near impossible to write legibly on the bags....not that I know from experience...I wrote the name of the meal, how long to cook in the crock pot, and any other instructions (serve over rice, add tortilla, etc.)

SECOND thaw meals in the fridge overnight before plopping in slow cooker

THIRD: if you are using a vacuum sealer, be sure it is actually all the way sealed before moving the bag around....I may be speaking from experience. Maybe.

All of these meals cost me roughly $60.  I say roughly, because it might be off.  Some of these ingredients I had alright, like olive oil, vinegar, sugar, spices, diced tomatoes, etc.  At the end I will post a grocery list for all of these recipes, minus spices.  Pull out ALL ingredients and put them on your kitchen table, or anywhere else that is easily accessible.

Here we go!  

Chicken Chili (10 hours on low):

-3 chicken breasts, whole (I used frozen, but go with whatever is on sale or the best deal, or your preference.  It is all going to be frozen anyways, right?)

-1 can of black beans

-1 can of kidney beans

-1 8oz can of tomato sauce

-2 cans of diced tomatoes

-1 packet of taco seasoning

-1 T of cumin

-1 T of chili powder

-1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

-1 onion, chopped (I used yellow....don't think it matters)

-10oz bag of frozen corn (if you are making a bunch of meals, add up how many oz and buy a bigger bag to save money)

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

Chicken Fajitas (5-6 hours on low, serve with tortillas and any other fajita fixin's)

-2 green peppers, sliced

-1 onion, sliced

-3 chicken breasts, sliced

-1/2 cup chicken broth

-1 packet of taco seasoning

-1 t of chili powder

-1/2 t of paprika

-1 t of salt

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

Chicken Tortilla Stew (8-10 hours on low)

-3-4 chicken breasts, whole

-1 jar of salsa

-16oz bag of frozen corn

-1 bell pepper, chopped

-1 can of kidney beans

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

After it has cooked all day, add corn tortilla strips (shred by hand) and stir until they're slightly soft.

Cilantro Lime Chicken (8 hours on low, serve over tortillas)

-3 chicken breasts, whole

-juice of 2 limes (or 2 T of lime juice

-1 bunch of cilantro, chopped.

-1 16oz bag of corn

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1/2 red onion, chopped

-1 can black beans

-1 t cumin

-salt and pepper

TIP: if you have a food processor, throwing garlic cloves, cilantro, and onion in together makes it go quicker...and you don't have to try to chop cilantro...

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage. ***Tried this recipe and it is really good!!***

Hawaiian Chicken (6-7 hours on low, serve over rice)

-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/2 vinegar

-3 garlic cloves, minced

-2 T soy sauce

-1/2 can of pineapple chunks

-1/2 cup pineapple juice (from the can of chunks

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

Teriyaki Chicken (4-6 hours on low, serve with rice)

-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

-1 cup teriyaki sauce

-1 cup water

-2/3 cup brown sugar

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-ginger, sprinkled gingerly...

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

Honey Rosemary Chicken (6-8 hours on low)

-4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

-1/3 cup basalmic vinegar

-1/3 cup honey

-1/3 olive oil

-3 T rosemary

-1 t salt

Dump it all in a gallon bag. Try to get all of the air out if you don't have a vacuum sealer.  Freeze flat for easier storage.

Orange Chicken (4-6 hours, low, serve with rice)

3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

-2 cups carrots, chopped

-2 cups bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces...

-1 onion, quartered kind of, but maybe smaller...bite size piece...

-1/2 can of pineapple (the other half from the Hawaiian chicken recipe)

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 t salt

-1/2 t pepper

-8 oz orange juice concentrate (the frozen tube kind)

GROCERY LIST(minus spices)

-bags of frozen chicken:  I used approx 8lbs of frozen chicken breasts.  If you're buying fresh, you'll need 25 chicken breasts.  $15 (I bought 3 bags of frozen chicken for $6/bag, but only used 2.5 bags)

-2 limes(I had lime juice in my fridge, $1)

-2 bunches of cilantro ($2)

-42oz corn (~$4)

-Garlic, buy 2 heads of garlic ($3ish)

-3 onions ($1)

-1 red onion ($1)

-teriyaki sauce ($2)

-balsalmic vineger ($2)

-white vinegar ($1)

-olive oil

-6 green peppers ($4)

-1 can of chicken broth ($1)

-1 jar salsa ($2)

-2 cans kidney beans ($1.60)

-2 cans black beans ($1.60

-1 8oz can tomato sauce ($1)

-2 cans diced tomatoes ($2)

-1 bag of baby carrots ($1)

-8oz orange juice, frozen ($1)

-1 bottle soy sauce ($2)

-bag of brown sugar ($2)

-white sugar

-honey

-can of pineapple chunks ($1)

I might have forgotten something, so please double check before heading to the store.  This may seem like a lot to spend on 8 meals, but keep in mind you're only using portions of some of these grocery items.  If you have left overs and you're not sure you will use it before it goes bad, many things can be frozen.  For example, left over chicken broth can be frozen to be used at a later date, same with carrots, soy sauce, teriyaki, and even onions if you bought a ton like I did.  

Now, get in that kitchen!  Crank the music up, have a dance party with your dogs, and get busy!  (maybe I'm the only one that has dance parties with my dogs...is that weird??) 

We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 2: Kauai

We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 2: Kauai

Alright, here is our "itinerary".  We were there from Sunday June 15 about noon until the following Saturday about 10pm.

"Special" Things to Pack:
-GPS if your phone doesn't have one
-Kauai Guidebook as mentioned in my other post. The Ultimate Guidebook has good maps in it, but if your guidebook doesn't be sure to pick one up.
-Camera- just in case you forgot....
-Underwater camera...trust me.
-Extra luggage, we had backpacks from Eddie Bauer that zipped up small and were perfect for taking to the beach.
-Keens or other water sandals
-Sunscreen....the only time I got sunburned was on the fishing boat, when I was too sick to even think to put on sunscreen.  The sun is stronger in Hawaii...be smart.
-For the ladies- flowy dresses...it is humid here, its nice to have air between the legs. lol and a dress is easier to pull on over a wet swimming suit.  Speaking of swimming suits- pack a couple, they don't always dry overnight due to the humidity.
-Laundry soap---I packed some powdered soap so we wouldn't have to buy it-our condo had laundry in unit.
-We packed snorkel gear, but you can buy it on the island (or even rent it) for the same price...no need to pack any.
-Journal.  I wrote down what we did and what places we liked. And it was fun writing in it while my husband fished.
-Spices for cooking.  Our condo didn't have a lot of spices, so we brought small amounts of spices so we wouldn't have to buy it.  We did buy a spice called "DaKine Kona coffee rub" that is super good.
-Kite.  My husband loves flying kites so he brought one with him.
-Hat: if you thought you'd have pretty hair here, you were wrong.  Because it is humid, and rains off and on, and is windy at times, and all other things tropical your hair will be a hot mess. I rocked a French braid the majority of the time. It's cool, its not like you'll run into anyone you know...

Anyways, I'm sure there are more things, but do some research and look at other Hawaii packing lists.

Sunday: 
We arrived at 12pm in Lihue and went straight to Walmart and Costco to get food and misc. to take back to our condo.  Our room had a full kitchen, so we got breakfast foods and some lunch makings to take sandwiches to the beach.  We also purchased bamboo beach mats, sunscreen, snorkel gear, and misc. fishing supplies for my husband.
After that, we headed north to Princeville where we were staying.  We stopped along the way in Kapa'a and had lunch at the Shrimp Station (on your left).  From that moment on, we were pretty certain we weren't ever leaving...kidding.  But the shrimp there is amazing, and fairly priced.  $15ish got us a huge plate of shrimp, fries, and drinks.  After we got food in our bellies we continued north, taking in the amazing scenery all around.  We checked in to our condo, unloaded our luggage and put our bathing suits on.  We didn't really know where to go but knew we just wanted to relax for the rest of the day.  We ventured north from Princeville to Tunnels Beach (AKA Haena Park and caves) where we snorkeled and my husband fished (tons of fish AND turtles).  This beach is incredible.  It is a long stretch of beach and wasn't very crowded.  We watched the sunset and then packed up and went back to our condo where we popped a frozen pizza in the oven and went to bed early, we were exhausted.

Yes, we took this picture...this turtle was so close to us it bumped into my husband while we were snorkling.  Way cool.

Monday:
Eyes wide open at 5am...what is open that early? Beaches! We ate breakfast in our condo, packed some snacks and drinks, put on swimming gear, and headed out to Tunnels Beach again.  It was a short drive from our condo, so we went to Tunnels frequently.  We did some fishing and snorkeling some more, and then headed into Hanalei for lunch and walking around.  We had lunch at Puka Dog (sausage dogs wrapped in dough, with awesome mustard sauces) and Chicken in a Barrel BBQ.

After that we drove South a little ways. to try and find Anahola Beach Park.  It is very difficult to find, but once you do there probably won't be anyone else there.  We arrived and there were two other families there.  That's it.  Nice beach, shady parts.  We didn't stay too long because we were just checking things out.  We also located Anini beach, but it is really only good for surfing, at least that is what we observed.  Kind of cool though.  We headed back north as it was getting close to dinner time.  We stopped along side the road and bought some Lychee fruit from someone that was selling it out of their vehicle.  Turns out my husband is allergic, luckily just the itchy throat kind of allergic....lychee fruit is pretty good, very mild taste.

We kept heading north, and stopped at Lumahai Beach for some fishing for Eric.  This is where I received my first injury.  So, Lumahai is a pretty cool beach because it is where the Lumahai River joins the ocean.  Eric wanted to fish from some huge lava rocks on the other side of the river, so he easily jumped up on the rocks when the tide went out.  Me, who is not a strong swimmer and kind of terrified of riptides, ran and jumped, and I was wearing flip flops. This is when I learned flip flops are just not smart to wear when fishing with Eric.  Crash, burn, scrape, cut.  Lava rocks hurt.  I was bleeding but sucked it up and handed my precious camera to Eric so I could climb up there after the waves stopped attacking me.  We stayed there until it started to get dark.

We then went back to Hanalei and ate dinner at Tropical Taco, which I've read can get pretty busy at times.  It was dead, we were the only ones in there, it was great.  Their food was great and the staff was super friendly as well.  Prices were good as well.  We avoided any expensive dining experiences aside from the luau that we attended.

After eating, we headed back to Princeville and got some Shave Ice from Kauai's Best Shave Ice and took their recommendations: get the macadamia nut ice cream in the bottom of the cup, and the shave ice on the top.  I believe we did passion fruit, blue raspberry, and guava for flavoring and it was incredible.  SO yummy.  After that, we headed back to the condo, we needed to get to bed early because the next day was deep sea fishing.

Anahola

Lumahai

Painful rocks at Lumahai

Tuesday:
We woke up early for deep sea fishing.  My husband made us an awesome breakfast and I made sandwiches to take with us on the boat since we would be on it for 6 hours.  We packed up and headed down to Nawilili Bay in Lihue to get on Captain Don's boat.  Nice guy, I was the only chick on this boat but it was fine, and they all called me a trooper by the end...keep reading.  We ventured out and within 30-45 minutes I was so very sick, I'll spare you the details but lets just say I was chumming the sea.  My husband helped.  There were 4 other people fishing with us and we each had a pole in the ocean.  Of course, my pole was the one that caught a fish first, so I told my husband to take it, since I was obviously close to death and couldn't move.  He was able to keep is stomach contents in while he reeled in a huge tuna, and then let it all out after posing for a picture with it.  The second pole to catch a fish was mine again....we passed it to some 15 year old kid to reel in.  Anyways, I'm pretty sure 35 hours passed and it was time to go in, and just as I can see the bay again we hook a fish.  I was cussing all kinds of words and thinking it will never end.  We spent another 2 hours reeling in the fish, another tuna.  Eventually, after 8 hours of fishing (hey we got our money's worth, right? 2 extra hours!) I was able to climb to land.  We were able to take some fish with us, about 6 lbs total of Ono whitefish (the 15 year old caught it) which is quite tasty.  So, deep sea fishing is not for us, but Captain Don was nice and if you don't get seasick then go for it.  All of the guys on board were saying how awesome I am because I didn't complain once or plead to go back to dock...I was too busy dying to even think of complaining, but thanks guys.  Note: even if you are fairly certain you don't get seasick, or have been deep sea fishing before and didn't get sick, take some Dramamine or other motion sickness medicine...we didn't.  Because we thought we were professionals and such.  Did you know Hawaii is a string of islands, and therefore there is no other land for thousands of miles making the waters REALLY FRICKIN ROUGH? Yep.  SO, do yourself a favor and take Dramamine the night before to be safe.  Also, we did not get to take any tuna with us, just Ono and it was split up between everyone on board.  I guess that is typical of fishing charters with any fish over 50lbs, it is taken to market.  Just so ya know.

After almost dying/fishing, I remembered we were signed up for a Luau dinner and show.  I called to try and reschedule for later in the week because I felt so sick.  They were booked up, we would suffer through as this is the ONE thing I wanted to do on this trip.  We went back to our condo, drank a bunch of water and took a nap.  It was time to go. We felt a little better by this time.  We attended the Smith Family Garden Luau in Kapaa on the east shore.  We booked online, a couple weeks ahead of time. We paid $78 per person for dinner and a show, it lasted about 3 hours or so.  Free beer, wine, and Mai Tai's and the buffet was amazing- traditional Hawaiian cuisine including a pit roasted pig.  The food was so good.  The show was awesome, it goes through the different styles of dancing in different cultures from traditional Hawaiian, to Tahitian, to other Asian cultures.  Really cool.  Kid friendly if you have kids.

Wednesday:

Because I suffered through deep sea fishing, today was my day to pick the activities.  I think my husband felt bad for that experience.  We ventured to the Oepeka Falls which is outside of Wailua.  it is really pretty.  We then wandered around Wailua and Kapaa for some shopping and eating.  We had HeeFat Shave Ice in Kapaa and it was really good, not as good as the Shave Ice in Princeville, but still good.  We had lunch at Bushida Sushi in Kapaa and it was very tasty and not expensive, After that we went to the Kilauea Lighthouse outside of Kilauea.  Note: they do have hours of operation so make sure to get there when they're open so you can go inside it.  There is a small fee to get in. $4 or so.  After that, we went back to the condo and made fish tacos with our Ono fish.  Yummy.  Pretty sure we went back out for more Shave Ice after that.  Don't judge until you've had it. HAHA.

Kilauea Lighthouse

Oepeka Falls

Thursday:

Today we went to Poipu/Koloa on the East/South shore.  Koloa is a very cute quaint little town with cute shops.  We had more shave ice at Koloa coffee company which was very good.  My husband had Ahi Poke at the Fish Market in Koloa.  We bought some yummy nuts from the Kauai Nut Company, very tasty.  They have all different flavors and free samples.  We saw the Spouting Horn  which was very very cool.  We also went to the Kauai Museum that is in Lihue (also has hours of operation, so make some phone calls to get exact times they're open).  Today we also ventured to Queens Bath, which is like a very large tide pool.  The jaunt down to it is treacherous, going in flip flops would be a bad idea. We had Keen sandals and it was still questionable.  Once you get there, it really does look like a huge bath surrounded by lava rock.  It is really incredible.  It is also dangerous at times.  It is super super important to go at low tide, and avoid it at high tide, do your own research before going to it, people have died there.  And no local that we talked to would talk to us about it including its whereabouts, but do some googlin and you'll find directions to it.  Its in Princeville. In the Queen's Bath, you'll see a lot of fish so bring snorkel gear.

Spouting Horn

Spouting Horn

Friday: 

We headed North from Princeville first thing in the morning to Ke'e Beach as we knew this beach filled up FAST due to the Kalalau Trail that people like to hike, the parking lot is what fills up fast.  We arrived right around 8am and got a close parking spot and walked down the beach.  My husband fished and I snorkeled.  Snorkeling here is nice because it is calm, shallow, and there are a ton of fish.  I suck at swimming so I bought a pool noodle to stick under me (husband's peace of mind) but here, I didn't need it.  There are a lot of chickens at this beach (and other places on the island).  They leave you alone though.  When we were heading out, we hiked up the Kalalau Trail about 1/4 mile where there was a lookout, very cool.  This trail is 17 miles or so, for the hard core hiker.  We aren't hard core, so we only went to the look out.  After that, we went to Hanalei and found the Hanalei Pier, where there is also a small beach.  It appeared this is where the locals go, so we didn't stay too long.  The pier is cool, you can look down into the water and see fish.  People were jumping off the pier into the water too.  We had lunch at L&L Hawaiian BBQ which was very tasty.

Hanalei Pier

Saturday: 

We (sadly) flew out Saturday at 10pm. So we packed up everything in our condo and headed to the West side, which was about an hour drive from Princeville.  We crammed a lot into our day: 

-Hanapepe Valley lookout along the highway

-Kauai Coffee Company: we did the tour and sampled a lot of good coffee, fun stuff.  FREE

-Waimea Canyon: the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.  It was beautiful, so awesome.  It is quite the drive up with places to stop along the way for photo ops. On the way back down we stopped and were able to see the Niihau Island in the distance.  

-In Waimea we ate lunch at Island Taco, very yummy. There was also a craft fair going on along the highway where we stopped and bought an awesome piece of artwork that was done on taro bark (I think).

-Glass Beach- In Eleele there is a beach that is covered in tiny pieces of glass, very cool to see.  It is off the Port Allen exit, left onto AkaUla Street, past a warehouse on Walalo.  

-Kekaha- we drove this way to see about stopping to fish, because Eric was still into that, even with no luck the entire trip...haha. There is a beach, looks like it is for locals.  There is also a beach at the very end of the highway that almost requires a 4x4 to get to, we didn't risk it.  

-We headed back towards Lihue and stopped at Kalapaki Beach for one last jaunt in the sand.  We ate dinner at a pizza place called Rocco's Pizza that was near Kalapaki Beach.  It was actually really good, for some reason we were craving pizza after a week of eating fish.  

-Kauai Beer Company- not sure why we didn't discover this until the last day.  Eric is into beer, trying different kinds and all of that, so we came across this place.  He said it was pretty good.  It is pretty close to the airport on Rice Street

-Ninini Lighthouse.  It probably took us a good hour to track this sucker down.  Once we got there it was a good view of the coastline near Lihue, but that's about it.  It is a tall skinny thing, free because it really isn't kept up by anyone in particular.  It was a good adventure at least. LOL   We did see a pretty rainbow while we were there.

-It was getting close to the time to take our car back so we stopped at a gas station and vacuumed out the pounds of sand in the car and reorganized all of our stuff and headed back to the rental car place. 

Glass Beach

Ninini Lighthouse

Kauai Coffee

And the rest is history.  We flew out at around 10pm on the red eye...we didn't sleep a wink and were crabby the next day. Worth it? Yes.  But next time I will book farther in advance and get a daytime flight.  Below is a recap of what we did and saw and enjoyed on each shore.  Enjoy your trip! We can't wait to go back!

North Shore: 

Hanalei Bay beach/pier/overlook/town, good food, fun town.  Try Puka Dog or Chicken in a Barrel BBQ or Tropical Taco for good cheap food.

Haena/Tunnels Beach for snorkeling, also a cave right across the way.

Anini Beach- surfing, some books say you can snorkel but we didn't due to the surfers.

Ke'e Beach- great shallow calm water for snorkeling.  Get there early for easy parking, otherwise it is a nightmare.  

Kilaeua Lighthouse $5 entry fee.

Queen's Bath- only go low-mid tide. Wear tennis shoes or Keen-type sandals for hiking down, very slick, but short hike-less than a mile

Princeville: Kauai's Best Shave Ice next to Foodland shopping center.  YUM.

Lappert's Hawaii- ice cream.  There's one in Princeville, but also other parts of the island.

East Shore: 

Anahola Beach- once you find it, quiet beach lots of shade. 

Kalapaki Beach- smaller, close to the airport.

Kauai Museum- $10 entry, can't remember if it is per person or group.  Very cool stuff, fairly large.

Oepeka Falls in Wailua

Smith's Tropical Paradise, Smith Garden Family Luau in Kapaa.  $78 per person for food and show. AWESOME highly recommended.

Wailua Falls-near Lihue

HeeFat in Kapaa for Shave Ice

Kauai Beer Company in Lihue

Rocco's Pizza in Lihue

South Shore: 

Beaches: a lot of the beaches we came across down here were pretty crowded so we rarely stayed.

Spouting Horn outside of Poipu-at the end of Lawai Road. VERY cool to see.

There is a Puka Dog in Poipu.

Koloa Rum Company- we didn't go, but I hear it is fun if you like rum.

Koloa Coffee Roasters- in Koloa, has good shave ice.  but they also have ice cream and coffee.

Fish Market-  There are a lot of Fish Market restaurant's on the island, they are kind of like a take out place, fresh food like Ahi Poki.

West Shore:

Hanapepe Valley overlook

Kauai Coffee Company: FREE tour and FREE samples.  Can't beat that! 

Lucy Wright Beach in Waimea

Waimea Canyon

Island Taco- In Waimea

Glass Beach

Misc. Notes:

People: you will read that there can be theft on the island, but that is true in any touristy area.  Kauai doesn't feel touristy but don't be naive.  We always took caution and left my purse at the condo and only took what we needed that day.  In general, people are VERY nice.  

Driving: we read online and in our guidebook about driving here.  Don't be in a hurry, enjoy the drive, don't speed, don't be an a-hole on the road, chill out and go the speed limit.  We did this and it was hard adjusting back to the mainland drivers... :-)

Chickens: there are a ton of chickens.  Don't bother them and they won't bother you.  If they're in the road, try to swerve away from them...it is probably bad juju killing a chicken.  

Souviners: there are a ton of stores in each little town and they pretty much have the same stuff.  For T-Shirts we found that the ABC stores have the best deals but it was still fun to drag my husband into 100 stores with "all the same stuff". :-) 

Farmer's Markets: There are Farmer's Markets in a variety of towns all over the island....we got a printout when we checked into our condo with the locations and times.  We went to a couple, but the only things in season were Lychee fruit and these tiny bananas that were a mix between apples and bananas- very tasty.  

Do your own research, there are TONS of stuff to do on Kauai, we didn't have time to hit them all and our newlywed budget didn't allow for it.  We had an amazing time and are itching to go back.  We felt like we were in paradise the entire time we were there (except that awful fishing trip...haha). Happy traveling!

We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 1: Kauai

We Left Our Hearts in Paradise Part 1: Kauai

This is an off beat kind of blog post for me, but I feel it could potentially help many people.  I haven't posted for a while due to a whirlwind kind of year that included me getting married, going on our honeymoon, moving from Montana to Idaho, buying a house, and trying to relax somewhere in there.

 As mentioned before, I recently married the man of my dreams back in May.  In June we went on our honeymoon to Kauai....and we can't wait to go back.  The point of this blog post is to outline what we did during our time there to hopefully provide some helpful tips to future travelers.  We really did not spend a lot of money while on the Island due to simple planning and our natural ability to be thrifty.  We spent June 15-21 on the island, doing a straight flight from Seattle, WA to Lihue, Kauai. It was about a 5 hour flight, where they provided free Mai Tai's when we got close to landing, yum! For the record, I don't recommend a red eye flight unless you're able to sleep on a plane easily, we were not, therefore we might have been cranky when we landed back in Seattle.  Luckily that red eye flight was the one going home.

This will be a two part post and I'll start with the basics: airline, car rental, shopping, lodging, good eats, good beaches.  The second part will be most specifics on what we did on each day to help with planning, since I am a planning fanatic. Enjoy!

Basic Details:

Airline: We flew Alaska Airlines out of Seattle, I booked the tickets in March which was probably too late because the price and availability of seats and flights were slim pickings (see note above about the red eye mistake).  Lesson learned.  Luckily we had a companion ticket so we essentially only had to buy one ticket. Since it is a shorter flight, you'll get a typical beverage and snack service, but with a hint of Hawaiian goodness.  The snack was a blend of sweet macadamia nuts and they served POG juice (passion fruit, orange, guava).  They served free Mai Tai's towards the end of the flight.

The Lihue airport was small so you get your luggage fairly quickly, which is great because in June it is super humid, and the baggage claim area is open to the elements.  Coming back through to go to the mainland, you will have to claim any fruits, nuts, etc. you buy...do some research on what is allowed and what is not.  Lychee fruit is not.  They were weird about the sea salt we brought back.

Car Rental: The car rental places are not at the airport, but they have shuttles that will take you there.  We rented a car, but for the life of me I can't remember what company we went through- some discount place.  We noticed that prices are competitive there.  I think we paid less than $200 for the week for an economy car. And, unless you really really feel the need to go off roading in a RENTAL CAR (which isn't recommended for somewhat obvious reasons), get the economy rental, you'll thank me later.  Remember: gas is more expensive on the island ($4.90 a gallon).  We rented a Nissan Versa and were getting 40 miles to the gallon, I think we filled it up once and we drove a lot.  From North Shore to West Shore (since you can't drive completely around the island due to the Napali Coast) it was about an hour drive.

Shopping:  The first thing we did when we got our rental car was dig out my handy GPS I brought and punched in the local Walmart.  On the plane, I made a grocery list of things we knew for sure we needed like milk, juice (POG juice is so yummy, try it on the plane if you can), sodas, beer, condiments, snacks, etc. Other things we bought right away was a bamboo beach mat for $2.  Sand comes right off of those, much easier than a towel.  We also bought snorkeling gear at Walmart and my husband bought fishing gear, because anywhere he goes he needs to fish.  He brought 3 or 4 fishing poles on this trip.. FYI Walmart does not have grocery sacks, if you want your items bagged you will be charged 50 cents for a reusable tote- which came in handy later on in the trip, but if you're super thrifty bring your own bags.  Walmart also has a good selection of souviners and beachwear.  There is a Costco in Lihue, as well as a Home Depot, a small mall with various stores in it...etc.

Lodging:  There are plenty of places to stay on the island, we stayed at a family member's time share in Princeville on the North Shore.  We stayed at Bali Hai by Wyndam and it was a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo. It came with a fully equipped kitchen, living room, dining room, balcony, and jetted tub...although because it was so humid you didn't really want to sit in a tub of hot water.  Anyways, this condo was very nice, clean, and the staff were super friendly.  We were greeted with a Lei and Puka shells.  The grounds at this resort were kept nice with tons of greenery and flowers all around.  The North Shore is mainly for people that enjoy golfing and are retired, I noticed.  I could be wrong, but that is what was observed.  Super quiet which we enjoyed.  Our resort was also by the famous Queens Bath (google it as I probably shouldn't support tourists going there....but, it was amazing....)  In Princeville there is a grocery store, gas station, and a small market place with cute swanky shops in it, and THE BEST Shave Ice on the island.  And it is called Kauai's Best Shave Ice, for good reasons...make sure you get the mac nut ice cream in the bottom first!

Books/Other info:  Do yourself a favor and buy this book: The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook.  It maps out the entire island with what to do, see, eat on each shore.  I always had it in my hand while we were driving around.  I also picked up Kauai Trailblazer and it has trail maps for different hikes and other outdoorsy things to do on the island.


Next Post: Part 2 will have a more detailed list of what we did and where we ate.

Monster Cookies

This is my first time ever making monster cookies, and they turned out sooooo good.  They are easier than I thought they would be.


Ingredients:

In a medium bowl combine:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding mix (unprepared)
1tsp baking soda
SET ASIDE

In a large mixing bowl/stand mixer, COMBINE:
1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

BLEND UNTIL FLUFFY, then ADD:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla




















SLOWLY ADD:
Dry mixture: flour/baking soda/pudding mix






















Once combined and smooth, remove from mixer and stir in:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup M&M's (you can use mini M&M's but I used regular)

Preheat oven to 350*.  Scoop your cookie dough onto your cookie sheets, however big you want to make them, and slightly flatten them.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  Cool before enjoying them :-)

Doggie Pup Cakes

My boxer girl Roxie just turned 1 last Sunday and of course I had to make her some birthday "pupcakes".  She and her corgi sister devoured them!  These are "human quality" but are pretty bland, I wouldn't recommend them for a human treat... :-)  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:
3/4 Flour
1/3 cup Milk
2 tbls Honey
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
2 tbls oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and blend well.  Line your muffin tin with paper or spray with oil.  Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350*.  "Frost" them with whipped cream cheese and top them with a dog treat if you wish. 

I'd say the birthday girl enjoyed her treat :-)