Posts about how to

2022 Healey Gardens

.blog a { text-decoration:none; color:#fb6c30; } .blog p { font-size: 16px; } .blog li { font-size: 16px; } .blog h4 { padding-bottom: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; } .blog img { padding-bottom: 20px; } Healey Urban Garden We are just about ready for another year of gardening at the Healey Urban Gardens! Last year these gardens were built with the help of the U of I's Metropolitan Food Systems program and U of I Extension to give residents a way of growing their own food. The garden has 29 beds, both raised and flat, a water spigot on the south end for watering, and a gate with bunny wire around the perimeter. There is also a compost bin available for residents and gardeners to use. (If you would like to learn more about composting check out our blog post). A volunteer group of residents helped us design the gardens as well as develop rules for the garden: Gardeners should only use the plot assigned to them. Gardeners should prevent their plants from growing into paths, or other gardeners’ plots. They should also prevent plants from excessively shading neighboring plots. Gardeners should not let weeds in their plot go to seed. No one besides a gardener should interfere in that gardener’s plot, except with permission. Other exceptions are to remove weeds close to seeding or parts of plants spreading into paths or other plots. Gardeners are welcome to have guests help with their plots If a gardener does not want to maintain their plot any longer, they should contact Royse + Brinkmeyer and ask to relinquish their claim to the plot. Gardeners should not harvest others’ produce without permission, even if that produce seems at risk of going bad. Gardeners should return the shared tools to the area they got them from after use. Gardeners should not store their personal tools in the public space. Gardeners should check in with Royse + Brinkmeyer before applying any pesticides. The supervisor will ensure that the specific pesticide is safe and acceptable to the gardeners in nearby plots. Gardeners should not leave watering systems on when they are not in the garden. Gardeners should not use lights to work in the garden when the sun is down. Mint should only be grown in containers like pots. Smoking is not allowed in the garden. Pets are not allowed in the garden. Gardeners should wear masks and keep them six feet apart. The maximum capacity of the garden is 15 occupants: if the garden is full more people should not enter. Plots are $30 for the season, we aim to build two more gardens in 2022 that will likely not open until the fall! If you would like to reserve a plot for the 2022 season, fill out this form .

Winter Coat Drive

Warm Your Neighbors It's cold out there! While many of us take things like coats, hats, and scarves for granted, not everyone can afford to bundle up in the winter. For those of us that can, it can be wonderful to help those in need. We want to help our residents help one another, so this year, we are collecting coats, gloves, hats, and scarves to give to residents who need them. We will be giving coats and cold weather gear to your neighbors in need and donating anything that is leftover to Unit 4's Warm-A-Kid Coat Drive or to Salt and Light. If you would like to donate coats, gloves, scarves, or hats you can bring them to our leasing office at 211 W. Springfield Avenue . Please donate clean items that are in good condition. Are You or a Member of Your Family in Need of a Coat? If you or anyone in your family needs cold-weather gear, fill out this form We will try our best to match you up with any donated items we receive in your size. We have some sweaters, scarves, and coats in the office at the moment that need a good home! REQUEST A COAT .blog a { text-decoration:none; color:#fb6c30; } .blog { font-size: 14px; } .blog h4 { padding-bottom: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; } img { padding-bottom: 20px; }

Holiday Clean Up Week

Now that the holiday season chaos is over, it's time to rest. But all the holiday decorations are still up! And who wants to haul a Christmas tree to the curb? Well, that's where R+B@Home comes in! From Monday, January 3rd to Friday, January 7th R+B@Home will be visiting each property to haul away donations, trash, Christmas decorations, and yes, Christmas trees. We'll also be offering a discount on cleaning services scheduled for that week! Schedule a cleaning service between January 3rd and January 7th and get $10 off! The schedule and pricing can be found below: Pricing (includes pick-up and disposal) Full "moving boxes" filled with miscellaneous items (Christmas lights, wreaths, old toys) - $10 per box Christmas trees (Monday through Thursday only) - $20 Electronics (televisions, computers, printers, video game consoles) - $35 per item Large Furniture (sofas, recliners, dining furniture) - $50 per item Paper Shredding - $10 per banker's box Pickup Schedule Monday, January 3rd Prospect Pointe, Misty Cove, Hartwell Drive, and Hartwell Court Tuesday, January 4th Anthony Drive, 520 N. Neil Street, State Street, Clark Street, 506/508 White Street, Healey Street, 408 S. Prairie St., Prairie Place, 510 Elm Street, 211 Springfield Avenue, and Green Street Wednesday, January 5th Stonegate Village Thursday, January 6th Crowwood Pointe, Westwood Village, and Ginger Creek Friday, January 7th Final pick up day for all properties * All donations will be taken to Salt & Light or Habitat for Humanity ReStore If you would like to book a service, visit the R+B@Home website or contact us at [email protected] . .blog a { text-decoration:none; color:#fb6c30; font-size: 14px; } .blog ul { font-size: 14px; } .blog p { font-size: 14px; }

'Tis the Season to Help Our Community

.blog a { text-decoration:none; color:#fb6c30; } .blog { font-size: 14px; } .blog h4 { padding-bottom: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; } Why Our Residents are THE BEST Over the years we have been blown away by the generosity of our residents. Every November you donate a mountain of toys to Toys for Tots , piles of cards for senior citizens living in care facilities, and when we asked you to sew masks for C-U Public Health, Christie Clinic, and Carle Foundation Hospital you delivered ! Since we know our residents are so giving, we want to help provide as many opportunities to support our community as we can. Our Rent Credits Fundraiser is Back Last year we decided to give every resident the opportunity to participate in C-U at Home's annual fundraiser, One Winter Night, by offering $25 to either take as a credit towards rent or donate to C-U at Home and have us match it. We raised $15,650 for C-U at Home and gave $5,850 to residents . It was incredible witnessing the generosity of our residents, so we've decided to do it again! One Winter Night Each February One Winter Night provides an opportunity for our community to learn about homelessness, raise awareness for our friends without an address, and experience a bit of what it might be like to be outside, overnight, in the coldest part of a Central Illinois winter. Participants commit to spending 12 hours outside in a cardboard box in downtown Champaign on the first Friday in February, as well as raising at least $1,000 to help C-U at Home continue doing all they do to help our community throughout the year. How You Can Help If you are a Royse + Brinkmeyer resident, fill out this form to claim your credit and tell us whether you want to take the credit or donate it to C-U at Home. If you donate your credit to C-U at Home, we''ll match it. That's $50 towards supporting the most vulnerable in our community! If every Royse + Brinkmeyer resident donates, we will have helped fund a $75,000 donation to reduce homelessness! If you aren't a R+B resident and want to donate, or just want to donate more than your credit, you can donate directly to C-U at Home here . Our Interview with C-U at Home Our Director of Property Management sits down with Rob Dalhaus III, Director of Development and Community Outreach for C-U at Home, to discuss C-U at Home's mission, impact, and how we're partnering to support the homeless in Champaign-Urbana.

How to Make Moving Out a Breeze

We hate to see our residents move on, but if you must, we want to make sure the move-out process is as stress-free as possible! It may seem surprising, but we want to give you your whole security deposit back. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3: Remove all items, including trash, from the apartment Wipe down all horizontal surfaces, including the fridge, cabinets, and window sills Vacuum/sweep your way out the door Learn more about our expectations and estimated fees by visiting our security deposit page . To make things even easier, we have our moving coach, Lianne! Lianne is here to answer any questions regarding the move-out process. She'll even stop by your apartment and walk you through the basics of getting your full deposit back. Email Lianne any questions you may have. Contact Lianne: [email protected] We also provide cleaning and packing services through R+B@Home. Hiring R+B@Home to help you clean or remove those last few items will save you, and us, time and money. If you need help with packing or cleaning, get in touch with R+B@Home to talk about how we can help make your move-out process quick and easy, and help get your deposit back! Contact R+B@Home: www.RBatHome.com 217-352-1129 [email protected] .blog { padding: 1px; } .blog p { font-size:16px; margin-bottom: 5px; } .blog li { font-size:16px; } .rbathome-parent { display: flex; background-color: #fb6c30; border-radius: 5px; color:white; height:100%; margin:auto; } .rbathome-parent a { color:white; } .rbathome-logo { width:100px; margin:auto; } .rbathome-text { flex:1; margin:auto; } .rbathome-text p { flex:1; margin:auto; padding: 20px; }

Growing Herbs Indoors Part 2: Recipes

Last week our friends at the U of I taught us how to grow herbs indoors. Now they’re back with some tasty recipes to try using those freshly grown herbs! First of all, check out this blog post from the University of Illinois Extension on seasoning food with fresh herbs. They’ll also teach you some handy herb/vegetable pairings, how to convert recipes calling for dry herbs to fresh herbs, and how to tell if your herbs are old. Subbing Fresh Herbs for Dried: According to the U of I Extension, you will typically need 3x the amount of fresh herbs as you do dry. For example, a recipe calling for 1 teaspoon of dried parsley would need 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley. Now that we know a little more about cooking with fresh herbs, let's try out some recipes! All of these were provided by Maggie Furr, of the University of Illinois’ Metropolitan Food and Environmental Systems program who has been helping us plan our super cool Urban Farming project. Here are the recipes she’s pulled together for us: Tomato Basil Soup 2 1/4 lbs Roma tomatoes and 1 1/4 lbs Cherry tomatoes 4 1/2 Tbsp olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole 2 small yellow onions, sliced just under 1/2-inch thick 2 cups (32g) lightly packed fresh basil leaves 4 – 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 3 Tbsp olive oil then season with salt and pepper (place Roma halves cut side upright). Place onion slices and garlic on a rimmed half sheet and toss brush with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil on all sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place baking sheet with tomatoes and half sheet with onions in the oven side by side and roast onions 30 - 35 minutes until edges are golden, and tomatoes 40 - 45 minutes until golden. Peel away any burnt papery layers of onions if there are any. Pull peels from tomatoes. Pour onions and tomatoes into a large pot. Add 4 cups vegetable broth and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. vegetable broth to thin as desired. Blend soup with an immersion blender or in small batches in a blender (only fill blender half full and remove center insert and cover with a kitchen towel). Serve warm topped with grilled cheese croutons if desired. Oregano Lemon Chicken and Potatoes CHICKEN 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 1/2 tbsp olive or avocado oil 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper POTATOES 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil 1 lb white potatoes, halved 1/2 cup chicken stock 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp garlic, minced 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp onion powder 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tbsp fresh oregano Add 1 1/2 tablespoon oil to a large skillet. Heat on medium high. Once the pan is hot, add your chicken. Salt and pepper. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes uncovered, flipping occasionally. Chicken should have some browning but should not be cooked through. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Now add potatoes and saute, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until outside of potatoes are browned. Potatoes shouldn't be cooked through quite yet. Reduce heat to medium. Add chicken back to skillet along with the chicken stock, lemon juice, and minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt, onion powder, dried thyme, and dried parsley. Stir. Cover. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or until potatoes and chicken are cooked through. Taste. Add more salt or lemon juice if desired. Stir in fresh oregano and serve. Cream Cheese, Tomato and Chives Omelette 2 eggs 1 tablespoon milk salt and ground black pepper to taste 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons seeded and diced tomato 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives Whisk eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Heat a 6-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat; pour egg mixture into the hot skillet, tilting so egg mixture covers the entire bottom of the skillet. Slowly cook egg mixture until set, 5 to 10 minutes. Arrange small dollops of cream cheese onto half the omelet; sprinkle tomato and chives over cream cheese. Fold omelet in half over the fillings. Remove skillet from heat and cover until cream cheese has softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Chimichurri Sauce 1 bunch flat leaf parsley (or cilantro parsley mix) - leaves only 2 tbsp oregano fresh leaves 1 lime - juiced ( or 2 tbsp red wine vinegar) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic -grated 1/2 chili pepper - optional 1 pinch red pepper flakes 1 pinch sea salt - to your taste Add the parsley, oregano, olive oil, chili pepper and lime juice or vinegar to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until combined and smooth to your liking. (Alternatively use a sharp knife and chop the herbs on a cutting board) Transfer the sauce to a bowl or a jar and stir in the grated garlic and red pepper flakes. Season to your taste with the sea salt and more lime. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed jar / container for up to 10 ways or freeze for later use.