More kitchen adventures

If you've read my blog for any length of time now I'm sure you're wondering to yourself "Does she do anything other than talk about and post pictures of her kids and the latest thing she ate?" The answer, my friends, is no. I don't. I blog about what's important to me. My kids and tasty treats happen to be very near the top of the list. :) Now, without further ado, let's review my day shall we?

I started the day by surprising David with his Easter basket from Gramma. I know it isn't Easter yet, but he's 2. The calendar means nothing to him. Today was as good a day as any. Here he is unloading the loot:

He waved these in the air chanting "Sucker. Beans. Sucker. Beans." I didn't have the heart to tell him that those are sixlets not jelly beans. He had to check the bottom to make sure he got it all out...all the way to the bottom.

And then I gave him a piece of chocolate for breakfast just like Gramma would have done. :) From there we moved onto the normal and boring stuff (i.e. play time, run errands, lunch, clean up from lunch, etc.) but then...then it was nap time (a.k.a. Mommy's favorite time of the day). Today, I had my hopes set on relaxation with Friends and a chocolaty treat. Fox 17 foiled my TV plans by being stupid and running a Nascar race instead. I was not about to give up on my chocolate dreams though. This is what I came up with....

Yep, that's Dangerous Chocolate Cake, strawberries, cool whip and warm dark chocolate icing drizzled on top. Utterly tasty.

When I was done drowning in chocolate, I got up and started work on dinner. I had beef stew simmering away in the crock pot all day, but we wanted to feel fancy so I whipped up some bread bowls for us. Yummo.

I topped off the day by going to my last Bible study meeting at church. We just finished a study on Esther so tonight we decided to watch "One Night with the King" (a movie based on the book of Esther). Everyone brought a snack to share and we plopped ourselves in front of the big screen. I wanted something fun and different to share so I made some rice crispie treats with caramel/vanilla swirl marshmallows and drizzled dark chocolate on top. Once again I will say YUM! (no pictures though. sorry to disappoint)

Kitchen Adventures

I hate cooking. There, I said it. I just don't like it one bit. I can bake all the live long day, but please don't ask me to cook a meal! My lack of kitchen enthusiasim often leads to repeating the same few and boring meals over and over and over until I just can't stand to cook it anymore. Before you start to feel bad for my family though, I have to brag about my kitchen adventures this week.

I have made not one, but two - count 'em TWO - new meals this week. First came stromboli on Monday night. Armed with very little stromboli know-how and no recipe, I timidly entered the kitchen hoping that my efforts would just result in something edible. Much to our surprise, it was not only edible, but down right tasty too! I consider this one a victory. My next brave attempt was last night - and this one came with some pressure. There were going to be a few extra critics at the table...we were having company. Again, with no recipe I was feeling a little unsure, but this one I was pretty sure would turn out to be alright either way. You can't go wrong with pasta!! :) I grabbed a bowl and tossed in a little of this and some of that and POOF! We had ricotta, beef, spinach and mushroom stuffed shells in alfredo sauce. Yummo! I have to say I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out too.

I leave you now with my gorgeous golden brown stromboli. Do your best to ignore how gooey and smushed the layers look. This was taken right after it got out of the oven. It was prettier after it cooled a little bit.

To be honest....

...and not get myself in trouble for internet plagiarism I should mention that NONE of the recipes for cleaning products, soaps or detergents listed in this section of my blog are mine. I simply Googled "homemade cleaning products" or the name of the cleaner I was trying to find and these recipes are what I found. I have and do use most of them in my home (some I haven't had a chance to try yet), but I am not the one who came up with the recipe.

Laundry Soap

Please note that this recipe is not my own. It was taken from: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm.

1/3 bar Fels Naptha bar soap (I use 1 bar)
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
You will also need a bucket - about 2 gallon size to mix and store it all in.

Grate the bar soap and put in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and warm over medium heat until the soap melts, stirring often. Add the washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let sit for 24 hours to gel before use. Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.

Toilet bowl cleaner

Mix 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar, pour into basin and let it set for a few minutes. Scrub with brush and rinse. A mixture of borax (2 parts) and lemon juice (one part) will also work.

Removing stickers off walls

I haven't had the "privilege" of sticker artwork on the walls yet, but I've heard several moms claim that this works wonders. It's always worth a shot! I've read online that it doesn't matter how old the sticker is. It may require more time or a second application, but it will still work.

How to do it:
Sponge white vinegar over the sticker several times, and wait 15 minutes, then rub off the stickers. This also works for price tags (stickers) on tools, etc.

All-purpose cleaner

I use the vinegar and water mixture right now, but I've heard great things about the first recipe too. The first is better for actually cleaning grease and grime; the second is a great disinfectant on already clean countertops.

Mix 3 cups hot water and 1/4 cup white vinegar with 2 teaspoons Borax in a spray bottle until borax is dissolved. Add 1/4 teaspoon liquid dish soap and shake gently to avoid excessive bubbles.

~OR~

Mix equal parts vinegar and water in spray bottle and use.

Treating coffee and tea stains

Stains in cups can be removed by applying vinegar to a sponge and wiping. To clean a teakettle or coffee maker, add 2 cups water and 1/4 cup vinegar; bring to a boil or run coffee maker. Let cool, wipe with a clean cloth and rinse thoroughly with water. For a coffee maker, run several pots of just water.

Bathroom mold cleaner

I used this overnight last night and couldn't believe how great it worked! David has a frog shaped plastic cover over the spout in his bathtub. It saves tons of bumps and bruises from him slipping and bonking his face while playing, but it has a lip underneath it that holds water after every bath. Standing water = mold. There is just no getting around it. It was pretty nasty before I realized it didn't have a way to drain so I once again took to Google to find a cheap and "green" way to clean it up. I filled a little bowl and set the frog in to soak. You are supposed to leave this mixture sit for only an hour then wipe it up, but I forgot about it and left it overnight. This morning I took a toothbrush to the bathroom intent on scrubbing poor Froggie til he was clean but this worked so well that all I had to do was wipe it off. The mold peeled away completely and Froggie looks brand spanking new again. Who knew?

Are you ready for the recipe? It's shockingly simple.

Mix one part hydrogen peroxide (3%) with two parts water in a spray bottle and spray on areas with mold. Wait at least one hour before rinsing or using shower.

Dishwasher detergent

We've recently stopped buying cleaning products and such altogether. With the help of Google, I've searched out a list of recipes to make our own cleaners at home. This saves tons of money, is healthier around my family and kids and I always have the ingredients on hand so there is no running out! And best of all....they work!!!!

This dishwasher detergent is one of my most recent finds and I'm loving it. It cleans very well and leaves even the glassware looking sparkly. Yay! At the price that I bought the ingredients, it costs about 6 cents per load of dishes. This is saving me loads of money considering the last soap we had cost 18 cents per load.

Now for the recipe...

1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup baking soda
1 package of lemon-lime kool-aid (for citric acid)

Mix in an old resealable container. I have a peanut butter jar and that works great. Use 2 tablespoons of mixture per load - 1 Tbsp. in the closed detergent container and 1 Tbsp. in the open one.


After thought: After I posted this originally, I got to thinking and realized that I forgot to mention that I also use plain white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment. It's a great sub for Jet-Dry or similar product and leaves things extra sparkly!