Cleaning with the Natural Stuff

Sometimes you have to take full afternoon or even a full day to just
do some SERIOUS cleaning. We wipe, sweep and dust in general but...
sometimes you really need to use all the vacuum attachments and get everywhere.

I like to use things that are already in the kitchen to help with my cleaning.
Not only do these things make it clean but nothing is better than the SMELL of CLEAN
after scrubbing away for the afternoon especially the scent of lemon or other oils.

Here are a few tips.

All-Purpose Scrub 
(good for kitchen counters, sinks, floors, bathroom sinks, tubs, stove tops, and top of vent)
1/2 a lemon (I cut the lemon in half, sqeeze it and then toss it into the little cleaning bucket)
1/2 cup baking soda
a good drizzle of liquid soap (liquid dish washing soap from your kitchen works perfectly)
Although  this is a scrub... I usually add a little bit of water so I can move it around.

Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate)
is a good deodorizer and is a gentle scrub so it won't harm
certain types of counter tops; it also softens hard water stains,
and polishes shiny surfaces like stainless steel without scratching.

Lemons are a good deodorizer, they help in removing stains and also help clean grease.

Distilled white vinegar works as a deodorizer, disinfectant, breaks up dirt,
grease, mold and soap scum.

Window Cleaner (it's convenient  to put this into a spray bottle)
1/2 teaspoon of dishwashing soap  (preferably plant-based liquid soap if you use it)

3 TBS of distilled white vinegar

2 cups of water

Floor Cleaner 
1/8 cup liquid soap
1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
1 gallon of water
10 drops of plant oil 

Olive oil is great to use to polish wood furniture and fixtures. 
Don't go crazy with it... but you can add a little into a bowl and kind of dip your rag
into the olive oil and gently wipe and polish away!
Aromatic plant oils (sold almost everywhere in the cleaning aisle) such as rosemary, lavender,
eucalyptus, just to name a few are also good to use with the olive oil to get that natural plant oil and usually smells really fresh and natural which is a great bonus!
(some people are allergic to aromatic oils though)

Egg in the Hole

What's great about eggs is that you can eat them any time of the day. Matter of fact,
almost all  breakfast food is good any time of the day or night! I like to take some bread,
(I decided to use cinnamon raisin this time) and cut a hole in the bread.

You can use a small bowl or something that you can just simply push into the bread.

They don't have to be perfect holes. The circle shaped holes that came from
the center of the slices of bread go to a very special place. The special place is
called your mouth! That's also the great thing about cooking food,
having fun creating things but eating it- not just when you are done but
WHILE you are making your creations!

Put your bread on an oven safe pan with a small drizzle of oil.
Carefully crack your egg in the hole of the bread.
I add a sprinkle of salt and then place it in the small toaster oven.
(You can use a regular oven as well of course) 
I usually bake it for about 9-12 minutes or so.
Then, I like to enjoy my "Egg in the hole" !

Gummy Bears getting WILD!

What do you get when you take...

some tooth picks and

some vodka.... AND................ some gummy bears...

 

You get some gummy bears gone wild!

Make it a Taco Night!

The hardest part of making tacos for taco night is...
getting crunchy shells that are not stale.  I've purchased crunchy shells from half a dozen grocery stores, with the date never being expired... but they are still always stale!
I hope you will have better luck getting crunchy shells!

Making the filling for taco night is quite simple. For the meat filling:
I simply dice up some onions and and let them sweat in the pan with a little oil.
I grate in a clove of garlic and once the onions have had it in the sauna...
I add the ground beef and fry the 2 together while adding a little S&P.
(salt and pepper) Lastly, I squeeze some Krafts BBQ sauce. (It has to be Krafts though-
I've tried many different brands- from expensive to homemade etc...
but Krafts always wins the taste test when it comes to taco meat filling sauce.
I like to have separate little bowls for the meat, shredded lettuce,
shredded cheese, sour cream and lastly a simple tomato salsa that consists of
diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, minced onions, a sprinkle of salt and the
juice of half a lime. That's it... fairly simple to make with a rating of
9.3 out of 10!

Packets of WHAT !?!?!?

Raise your hand if you don't like Chinese food.
Did you ever stop to read the ingredients on the soy sauce ...
"soy sauce" packets you get with your take-out food?

You will after reading this post!  It's NOT soy sauce!
So instead of using the packets... I recommend buying a little
bottle of soy sauce and keeping it in your refrigerator.
It's nice that soy sauce lasts a long time. (many  months)

So what is in the soy sauce packets you ask?
Each company is a little different but basically
corn syrup and caramel coloring.
Years ago, I noticed a packet of soy sauce was unusually dark
and thinking that the dumplings were going to be really salty
from the soy sauce... I noticed it wasn't salty at all!
So I read the ingredients and was like....
WHAT!

Cleaning Mushrooms

There is a myth- that you should not wash mushrooms.
You did catch that right... "myth".
You have a couple options of how to clean a mushroom.
A very common way peope say is to take a damp paper towel
and use you fingers to brush off any dirt or soil.
(This way kind of makes me feel like like a snob-
the way you brush/toss it off)

Another way to clean a mushroom is to take a little brush
(similar to a nail brush) and brush the dirt and soil off gently.

A third way is to just wash them with water! 
As long as you rinse or wash the mushrooms
right before you cut them- it's all good! 
Some people say that mushrooms get water logged
when you wash them and that's why they think water
is forbidden when it comes to mushrooms.

The only negative with washing mushrooms is when you wash them
and then store them. They become slimy and spoil quickly
because of the dampness. Otherwise... just give them
a quick wash before you use them. Don't be a snob. haha

End the summer with watermelon pie!

When I think of summer-
of the many things that come to my mind...

watermelon is one of them. So I wanted to officially end the summer
with a watermelon pie.  Now, when I think of pie- I think of
a crust and filling. Not only do I like to use things for 2 purposes (double-duty)
but having fun with food and making it different is always fun as well.
(similar to the jello orange wedges I've made) So to make a watermelon pie
it's pretty simple and for all the non-bakers...  there is no baking required!

Take a watermelon (preferably a smaller one)
and slice it (maybe an inch or 2 or 3) It's really whatever you want- 

Then you want to take a smaller pairing knife and cut the red of the watermelon from the rind.

Then, take the red of the watermelon and cut it in to wedges
(these will be your little pie slices)
If you're not sure of how many slices/wedges...
try 3 cuts to make 6 wedges to start.

Then take a spoon or a cooking brush and take some of your
favorite yogurt and slather it on the top and sides of
the watermelon wedges.  Don't forget to add your topping. I like to take almond slivers. The almond slivers work nice with the yogurt especially
because they just stick together perfectly with no effort.

And then voila!  Here is your simple, different, fun and cultivated way
to end your summer- with a watermelon pie! 
This recipe is pretty low in carbs as well!