My favorite (at the moment) weeknight chicken:
This is a perfect recipe for a simple hot weeknight dinner made in a crock pot without heating up the house.
Honey garlic chicken in a slow cooker
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup honey
3 tbsp ketchup
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
Mix together the minced garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce and oregano. Pour this mixture over the chicken and stir to coat well.
Add the chicken to the slow cooker
Cover the slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high. Top with sesame seeds and scallions.
Blog
Month: <span>August 2018</span>
Aug. 25: Wine Walk & Art Walk, New Smyrna Beach. This is always a fun event. Stroll Flagler Avenue and explore over 100 interesting wines inside local pubs, galleries and restaurants during this monthly progressive wine tasting event. $25 tasting passports on sale day of the event at three locations along Flagler Avenue. If you have enjoyed this event before, bring back your official glass and get a discount for the wine walk event held 1 to 7 p.m. This event is held in conjunction with Art Walk. Local and visiting artists display art work, along with entertainment and demonstrations from 10 am to 5 pm.
It is the start of magical dining month in Orlando. This will be the 13th season for this month-long event!
A three course meal with over 90 restaurants to choose from for $35.00 – what a deal! This is not only a good deal for diners, but a good deal for charities too, as $1.00 from each magical meal served during magical dining month is donated to pre-selected charities. The dates for this event are August 24th through September 30, 2018 and if you visit the Magical Dining Orlando site you will see the list of restaurants and their magical dining menus.
In 2017, two local non-profit organizations shared a total of $208,620.00 raised from this event. A record donation raised during 2017 magical dining month, it sure looks like we have a lot of foodies in the neighborhood. The two charities selected to receive the donations in 2017 were Freedom Ride and Base Camp.
Freedom Ride is a non-profit 501c, volunteer-based organization dedicated to enriching the lives and experiences of children and adults with disabilities in Central Florida through therapeutic horseback riding and related activities. If you would like to donate, or volunteer, you can find more information at www.freedomride.com.
Base Camp is a non-profit 501c organization based in Winter Park. What does Base Camp mean? Base Camp has double meaning; First it is an acronym for believe, achieve, support and educate and second it is symbolic of the encampments found at the base of a mountainside where climbers stop for rest, first aid, nourishment, and encouragement along their journey up the mountain. Base Camp offers a place to stop along the journey, a place to gain strength and support for the climb ahead while fighting a life-threatening illness. Base Camp provides a year-round base of support for children and families who are facing the challenge of living with cancer and other life-threatening hematological illnesses. Base Camp serves not only the children who are patients, but their brothers and sisters too. You can find more information at www.basecamp.org.
Central Florida is more than good food and kind acts. The longer we live in Florida the more certain we are that we are not only living life in a beautiful state, but we are living life surrounded by kind and generous neighbors and friends.
Wanted to wish y’all a happy Labor Day. Sending wishes early as the next newsletter won’t be out till after the Labor Day party is over! Labor Day signifies the unofficial end of summer and the start to the fall season. Well almost, as fall does not usually arrive in Central Florida until about November, then it basically lasts till February when spring starts. I just love it here!
How long should I hold on to my investment property?
ROI (return on investment) varies based on many factors, your costs to maintain the property; taxes, HOA, insurance, etc. If the investment property carries a mortgage, the interest rate is a factor as well. There is never a guarantee that a property will increase in value, but let’s say you did some solid research, purchased your property in a desirable location at a good price. This is where the old real estate adage applies; location, location, location. You can now assume your property value will hold, and most likely will increase by about 2%-3% per year. Yes, this is a modest increase, but in today’s real estate market this is a reasonable expectation. Markets do change quickly, and your investment property value rises or falls dependent upon geographical stability, age and condition, size and improvement, population movement, taxes, and the surrounding neighborhood. It is always a smart move to closely watch all investment properties to be certain that your investment is providing the return you anticipated. Of course, if your investment property is generating an income; it pays to hold that property until you have achieved your personal goal. I have many clients who purchase homes in anticipation of living or retiring to their investment property in the future. In the interim, the client has a home in a great location, purchased at a good price, that is generating an income. When they are ready to retire to Florida their home is ready to live in and enjoy.
Many clients also rent their Solivita home for the winter season; usually November thru April. During the other six months, they visit, vacation, and enjoy the benefits of owning a home in the award-winning community of Solivita. If you were to choose this option in Solivita your property would not generate an income but instead would cover the ownership costs and provide you and your family a great place to relax and vacation while you try out the fabulous Solivita lifestyle.
Not to be forgotten in the equation is the tax benefits of a rental property. However, you choose to manage your investments, home ownership is always a good choice to consider.