Organizing Food

Can you believe it is Thursday? This week has flown by. Really the whole summer is scooting on pretty fast. I would love it if summer would just slow down some though, it's my favorite time of year!

 

So here is a little organizational tip from our pantry to yours. You might think I was a little nutty by numbering cereal boxes but one of my pet peeves is people in our house opening two of the same thing before one thing is completely gone. It just bugs me.  

 

For example, someone opens a box of cereal of Rice Krispies. They eat one bowl and next thing you know, a second box is open too. I used to store alternate boxes of items up high so we would know not to do that. With the numbering system, it's just unnecessary! We do this with Milk in the fridge too. I usually buy 3-4 gallons at a time. I buy in bulk but we don't want all of them open at once so numbering has nixed that problem all together. The family has been on board for quite some time with this. 

 

So I number them 1 to 2 or 3 or 4 and we know what order to use something until it's gone, then go to the next. Try it! You might like it!  

 

Hanging Dried Eucalyptus

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It's a time for thankfulness and family.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and get to take time out to spend it with your loved ones!

Here's just a simple tip that has a purpose more than just decorating!

I find it uplifting to bring nature inside the house.

Hang a bunch of Eucalyptus over your shower head for a splash of color and a refreshing scent that will help you breath better!

Enjoy!

Ta-da! Look What I Found!

It's already Wednesday! I'm always stating the OBVIOUS! What have you been up to? Working on any home renovations or crafty delights? Excuse my nerdiness. I am psyched because I have been to the gym three times since Saturday and  feel sore but so GOOD. I'm doing a free 7 day trial but I'm ready to join. I used to go to the gym 4-6 times a week and just haven't found a way to fit it in since having kids. I can't seem to find the motivation on my own to work out so this has got to be a lifestyle change. Anyhow enough personal stuff but I'm excited! 

Does anybody else enjoy making TO DO lists? I get so much satisfaction of making a list and marking items off the list! My dad got me hooked on a Franklin Covey day planner when I was high school and I swear by it!

As much as I'm on a computer between work and home, I found a very simple website that is a quick and easy TO DO list generator. http://123.tadalist.com/  is a great tool and you can log in from any computer. After signing up you create a user name and password and can start making to your own TO DO lists right away! Once you complete a task you simply click the bullet and it gets marked out. You can make several TO DO lists too so you're not limited to one or two.

I made a general TO DO list BELOW for your viewing pleasure! ha ha! I don't know if anyone else enjoys making lists but I couldn't live without them. 

Now, I don't have one of those new-fangled computer phones but I believe this is also an application you can download to an iPhone. I love it!

A Clean Microwave In Five Minutes!

Do you have a certain way of cleaning your microwave??? It may be common sense to most people but I thought I'd share what I do just in case! Everybody does things differently and it's great to learn different ways of doing things. Tonight I noticed the microwave needed to be cleaned after heating up leftover meatloaf, not to mention making bacon for breakfast over the weekend. Caked on ketchup and bacon grease!

I can't believe I am showing you the inside of our microwave. Yuck!!

This is a natural way to do it so that you're not filling your microwave of chemicals with the potential of getting chemicals in any food you might cook.

Fill a coffee cup or bowl with water, preferably a cup or bowl with a handle so you don't scald yourself. Nukiwave it for three minutes. After the timer goes off, use a clean, damp sponge or microfiber cloth and wipe clean. The steam from the hot water helps loosen the caked on food so it makes it very easy to clean! I did take the glass plate out of the microwave and hand wash it although the hot water did a great job of loosening the grime for me. I needed to wash the bottom of the plate too!

For sanitizing purposes, either squeeze a little bit of lemon juice OR put a little baking soda in your water dish before heating it up. It sanitizes and gives the microwave a fresh smell! Just remember to use caution when touching the hot dish b/c the temperature of water heated by the microwave is HOT!

Rambling And Removing Sticky Residue From Glass Or Metal!

It has been one heck of a week and I don't mean that it has been terribly fun! Talk about running ragged! The creepy crud has taken over and I have been battling an awful cold but it has been another week of running ragged. Everyone in the house is sick which = no fun. Can't wait for this nasty illness to be past tense! Hope no one else gets it!

Sometimes I think mommy hood is one of the dirtiest jobs there is and I know there are way many jobs that are mind-boggling disgusting. It ranks up there though! Yesterday morning I was actually excited, err... no, ELATED to have put my Lands' End winter coat, which I LOVE and would not have if it wasn't for a hefty gift card I got a few years ago, through two wash cycles and be successful at removing an entire melted Hershey's chocolate miniature from the inside of my right front zippered pocket. I put it in my pocket to hold it for our four year old and forgot about it. Intelligent I tell you! Well last night brought yet another fun and nasty challenge... My poor little nine month old(bless his heart - he didn't know what was happening to his little body when it was taken over by some mean virus) puked in the car about 12 times all over himself and his infant carrier on the way home from daycare. Hope it doesn't make me start throwing my guts up when I go to clean it out. BLEH!

On that note, it seems like it's a constant cycle of having to clean something or find a way to get grossness off of something. I have been reading other crafty/ home posts and have seen several people mention projects where they have used glass or metal items where there was residue from price tags or sticky labels. In these posts the residue was covered up or worked around but I can help get it off easily. 

Here are pictures of baby food jars and a salsa jar that I washed and pulled the labels off of for an upcoming project. I wanted to get the sticky residue off! I just thought I'd share a simple tip I learned in college, working with oil paints, that will help remove sticky residue off a metal or glass surface, quick and easy. I HATE seeing that stuff on things so I try and get it off when I can. It's one of those little things that gets on my nerves for some reason!


Mineral Spirits OR Denatured Alcohol (just one) from the hardware store will take it right off! Just be sure to use it in a well ventilated area, outside would be best. Rubber gloves are a good idea too so you don't get it on your skin. Just pour some into a cloth and wipe the gunk off the surface. You may have to put some pressure but you shouldn't have to scrub and it will take just a couple of minutes. Just use with caution and wear a mask!


Hope this helps next time you need to get a sticker off of something. It sure beats spending a long time scrubbing with warm water and dish detergent!

All Lit Up!

For Christmas that is! The Christmas tree is up and all decorations are in place and note to self: Remember to use garden gloves when it comes time to take the tree down! My knuckles are all sliced up from hanging ornaments and having my hands in water cooking this weekend. Ouch.

So what kind of lights did you choose for your tree? Did you use the old, warm, white or colored strands of lights or did you say out with the old and in with the new and shoot for the new LED lights? I personally love the warm feel of the older lights period. My favorite are the old school, screw on bulbs, ya know, the ones Snoopy used to decorate his dog house in Charlie Brown's Christmas cartoon.

Having said that, last year I got rid of the old bulb lights b/c I was worried about how hot they got. This year I picked up a few packages of the new LED lights to try out and though I don't care for the bluish glow of them, they are cool to the touch so they do feel safer on the tree. Below is a picture I took of the tree in night time mode on my camera. It cracked me up how the picture turned out because I had all the lights in the room turned off except for the tree. It's so electric looking!


Speaking of the new LED light bulbs, did you know that they can be hazardous to the environment if broken? I didn't realize it but they can be very harmful if broken because they hold small amounts of mercury, which is harmful to humans and animals. The bulbs are great in conserving energy but use caution when disposing of them!

A couple of months ago, I ordered a pack of 16 free LED light bulbs from our power company. The city/county offers free light bulbs to each household, you just have to call and request them. So when I got them I opened the box just to be sure they were all in one piece as not to cause any problems to the household.

Here are a couple links to some helpful information regarding light bulb disposal and recycling.

http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/

http://www.lightbulbrecycling.com/regulations.html#Federal_Regulations