My Ducky Life

Household Tricks To Make Life A Little Easier

2013-12-26T14:23:00.000-05:00

I have had a wonderful response to the article about 15 Storage Tricks Anyone Can Do, and I thought of some other helpful tricks for around the house. These are some things I do to make life a little easier. I hope they can help you out, too!

1. Problem: Crock Pot with no case or band.

Some crock pots are sold as just the crock pot with no case or band for easy travel. This is great if you never go anywhere, but if you're like me, and need a crock pot to travel for an event, then this trick with a dish towel may be what you need. This is my 2 quart crock pot. I needed to transport some cocktail weenies for a cookout and had no idea how to do so in my car without risking it tipping over.

My crockpot has loops through the handles, which allowed me to put a dish towel over the top,and tuck it in through the handle holes. It wasn't perfect, but it held the lid in place so nothing spilled or tipped during the transport. This would work best with small and medium size crock pots. I suppose if you have a thin, larger dust cloth or hand towel it could work with bigger sizes.

2. Problem - Kitchen Drawer Chaos

I have a drawer full of random kitchen 'things.' All of these we use at some point, but rooting around in a drawer to find them is tiresome. In our last move, I found a really nice desk organizer for pencil drawers. The tray is about 3 inches deep and in various sizes. On the right, are 4 compartments that are holding our meat thermometer, egg slicer, corn butter-er, and my ricer. In the middle, tw3o compartments hold my ice cream scoop, cookie scoop, corn kernel cutter, garlic press, and tart shaper. The left is the full length of the tray and is holding grease trays, a zester, and my candy thermometer. There was some extra space around the outside where I have a pastry blender, crinkle cutter, and beaters for my hand mixer. This drawer is deep enough that I can put my small cutting boards on top, too. Easy, organized, and no more digging through 'junk' drawers to find what we need!

3. Problem - Your pantry has wire racks / Everything keeps falling over

I love shopping at stores like Aldi where they let you take boxes if you need them. I've used this trick in many places, but my favorite is the pantry organization. We eat a lot of rice and pasta sides in small packets. What we found with wire pantry shelves is that they fall through, or just fall over. It looked like a mess before I got in there! I grabbed a few boxes from my last shopping trip to Aldi, and voila! Managable, organized pantry cabinet. I find that the open top and sides work best for things like packets, cookies, baby snacks, etc.

For my shelf with canned goods (not pictured), I have a box with an open front and high sides. I have my cans stacked 3 high and they are confined within the box walls to help build up and not out. Try this type of box for things that need to stand upright - Spaghetti, paper towels, etc. The open front lets you reach in easily and the sides help prevent things from falling on you or the shelf. Building up has helped me gain so much pantry space!

4. Problem: You have cups / pitchers / vases displayed on top of your cabinets, but hate cleaning out the dust.

No more afternoons spent cleaning out your display items when they get dusty! Use Glad Press 'N Seal Wrap around the top, and then trim the overlapping edges to make a custom sized, snug, fitting top.

The beauty of this style of wrap is that it's frosted (not quite clear), so in most cases you can have it on a clear pitcher/glass/vase and when standing on the floor, nobody will ever see it - Unless maybe if they are looking for it. Anything in a solid color would never be seen from the floor! The wrap across the top keeps out dust and grime that accumulates - especially if you have anything close to the stove. Grease and steam plus dust = Sticky mess! When you notice dust on top of the plastic you can take it down, do a quick wash and put on brand new wrapping. Easy!

5. Problem: Children's socks get lost in the laundry!

This idea I've seen others do, too. Grab a lingerie bag for the washer and get in all the socks for that load of clothes. Keep them in there for the dryer, too and there's no more random, lost kid's socks!

6. Problem: When vacuuming with a bagless model, emptying the dust cup sends a cloud of dirt back into the air.

When I vacuum, I carry two grocery bags with me. I tuck one inside of the other, and when it's time to empty the dust cup, I put the entire cup into the grocery bags before I open it. After emptying, I gently pull the dust cup out and gently tie the bag closed once. I'll vacuum some more, and when it's time to empty again, I do the same thing. I keep going until I'm finished. There's no dust explosion in my trash cans, no puff of 'stuff' going back into the air, and it's so easy to just throw in the outside trash can when I'm finished. Easy!

7. Problem: Your nylon turner is dirty / You only have a metal turner to use on your cookie sheet

If this has ever happened to you, let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes. Grab your plastic kitchen scraper and gently use it to loosen the cookies. With any non-stick cookie sheet you want to prevent scraping from metal utensils so always use nylon. When you remove all of the cookies, use the scraper to chip away the cookie remnants before washing.

The Best Dish Cleaning Tool I have Ever Used: The Simple, Baby Bottle Brush

2013-12-26T13:29:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have those kitchen tools / dishes / utensils / etc that you avoid using simply because they are a pain to clean? I have been in this exact position and decided I'd had enough of small crevices, dish sponges that don't get into tight spaces, getting my hands messy, and breaking finger nails by picking at stuck on food gunk!

In one of my "How am I supposed to get all of this off of this grill pan?" moments, I looked up and saw my son's baby bottle brush. I had a few extra brushes in the cabinet, so I grabbed one and thought that maybe if a nylon brush would get out the little bits of gunk from a baby bottle, it might just work on other surfaces...?

It worked better than I ever expected! I've been able to use a simple, $1 baby bottle brush to do a lot of quick, easy, hassle free cleaning while keeping my sanity and fingernails intact!

Behold - The George Forman Grill Plates:

We made pork chops with a marinade and seasonings. I always clean the grill plates once they have cooled, but even then there are times that there is a sauce/spice/fat 'gunk' that can turn into cement and be nearly impossible to remove without several soaks and washes.

I rinsed off the grill plates and put on some dish soap. Usually, the bottom plate is pretty easy to clean if using a traditional dishes sponge, but then the residue from the food flakes off and gets stuck in it. It's also a very gross feeling on one's hands if not using gloves. The top plate has some "L" shapes which require more attention in the scrubbing and soaking department to get all the little pieces of stuff out. The top plate is definitely my biggest annoyance!

A little bit of water, some light scrubbing and...

...the residues, flakes, and sauce is coming off cleanly with the bottle brush after only a few strokes! The beauty of these nylon bristles is that it's getting into all the little spaces that a larger dish sponge can't. My fingers are CLEAN and no longer caked in the after-cook muck!

After a good rinse, I was finished with both plates in 3-4 minutes. I saved my fingers from being in a mess. I saved several gallons of water with less scrubbing and rinsing cycles. I saved my sanity!

Since using the bottle brush, our grill is now being used several times per week. We are eating waffles, pancakes, steaks, pork chops, etc. and the cleanup is no longer a chore!

I find myself using the bottle brush more often when rinsing dishes before loading them into the dishwasher than my old dish sponge. :-)

Other places I've found a baby bottle brush to be helpful in cleaning:

1. Children's sippy sups

2. Potato mashers

3. Wire whisks

4. Mixer beaters (hand or stand)

5. Tough, stuck on food in plates/pots/pans

6. The soap/bleach/softner tray in my front load washing machine

7. Breast pump parts

8. Charcoal or gas grill grates

9. Grill tools

10. Basters

11. Blender pitchers

12. Pitcher tops

13. Slotted Spoons / Turners

Please add any other uses you can find!

15 Creative Storage Tricks Anybody Can Do

2012-03-11T04:23:00.003-04:00

One area where I've struggled off and on is keeping myself and my family organized. There are many plans, ideas, and products out there that promise to help. As I walked down the aisles of my local mega store I saw shiny new plastic containers for just about everything. Having bought some of these in the past I found that most times they didn't quite meet my needs. I'd need to buy 2 or more, they don't fit into the space I have in mind, the items they are intended for didn't fit properly, or the containers were poor in quality and didn't hold up to long-term normal usage.

I've listed below a few things that have helped me and are very easy to do. Most are re-purposed containers, however the few that I purchased have been well worth the money!

1. Pickle and Candy Containers

For anyone who has ever purchased things like Claussen Pickle halves, assorted candies or after-dinner mints in bulk you know the kind of containers I'm talking about. The nice heavy plastic ones with the screw tops, and contoured hand grip on the back. They are squared and store easily on shelves or in cabinets. Some can even be stacked.

Typically, I find these types of containers at warehouse and bulk stores. I find that they are durable, water tight when screwed closed and very easy to store. They also stand up to a small child who has to rattle everything!

I found that the Party Pack of 15 Play-Doh colors fits perfectly inside and below, they work great for dog treats too!

2. Fashion Jewelry that just won't fit into your Jewelry Box

I have a decent amount of fashion jewelry that I love but always forget I have it. Why? Because I've had to keep it in the boxes! My jewelry box isn't very accommodating for chunky fashion jewelry styles. I would find myself forgetting which pieces that I had or worse - picking my outfit specifically to wear with a set and then leaving the house without it!

At my local Big Lots store I happened across an awesome Jewelry Tree that I HAD to have! The cost was higher than what I would usually spend on something like this ($16), but it's made of plastic coated metal,very stable and sturdy and matches other wall decor in our bedroom. When I got home I displayed all the jewelry that had been hiding in the boxes and positioned the tree on my dresser. There is also space for things like flower clips for my hair, hoop earrings, and many places for several necklaces and bracelets. The best part is - The pegs to hang things on are on both sides for maximum storage. I still have plenty of room to grow!

3. Disposable Cup for Disposable Razors

Personally, I don't enjoy paying such high prices for razor blade refills. I would much rather buy less expensive disposable razors (often at half price or less with coupons). The bad thing? Disposable razors take up space and the packages are not very storage friendly in cabinets.

A quick storage 'How To' - Stand them up in a throw away cup, and put it in the cabinet. No mess, no fuss, and no inconvenient packaging to fight with!

4. & 5. Multi Functional Storage Cubes & Spice Stacks

One of the best investments I've ever made was in some multi functional storage cubes. I have used these in every place I have lived while in college and after. In the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, even my child's room. They work wonderfully for a quick night stand or some easy extra storage and can be stacked up in many different ways with adjustable shelves to accommodate any space or storage need. I have been using the same six cubes for 10 years, and all have held up beautifully!

On the left side I have a tall cube with 2 Spice Stacks in it. These little beauties are unbelievable in and of themselves! Being able to lay down 9 spices of various size in a single tray has been a tremendous space saver! It also prevents my spices from being dusty or splattered with anything while cooking. The down side is that they take up a little bit of counter space. The racks themselves could be stacked on top of each other if they weren't in the cube. I sat the top one on a shelf because I wanted the extra space between them. The spices that are a tad too tall to fit into a tray now fit perfectly between the two. I even have packets of spices like Ranch and Taco Seasoning in one of the shelves, too. Made for smaller and bigger size containers, a maximum of 9 spices per tray. I'm not sure how much these cost - They were a gift. Also, each comes with pre-printed and blank labels so you know what is in each tray. BRILLIANT idea to whomever designed these!

The right side is another tall cube that has my daughter's snack bowls, sippy cups and medications all within easy reach. This cabinet has a door, which I stuck a cabinet towel rack on. The house that we are renting right now only has one upper kitchen cabinet and it is more of an open shelf. There are no doors or back on either side. It's ok for things like our glass dishes and cups, but not so much for baby things with multiple pieces and parts. This has housed all of her necessities easily and conveniently. The adjustable shelves have been a winner!

6. Bathroom Junk

We all have stuff that belongs in the bathroom, but finding storage space for all of it can be tedious. With the razor packaging issue I mentioned earlier, there are other items that are used often but tend to get in the way.

I found some awesome small crate-like plastic containers at a local plastic store and have found that they work wonders in the bathroom! This is my husband's cube. He has his cologne, aftershave, extra shampoo, extra deodorant, shave gel, cups, razor, floss picker things for his teeth, and some Old Spice scented manly body mist. Keeping it all together means fewer things getting knocked over and all of these can easily be moved at once. You could also use this kind of container to hold all of your bathroom cleaning products, gloves and scrub brushes for easy storage and accessibility. Also great for office storage. WIN!

7. Children's Art and Projects

I love my daughter so much and I am glad that she has such an interest in art. We are very fortunate that her daycare has enough to have the funds to do projects. The only down side is that there is always a TON of things to bring home and if she sees me throw them away, we have trouble. Where, oh where to keep it contained and maintain my sanity?!

I found a decorative box at my local Big Lots store for $8. It has a Velcro closure, is very durable, and sits easily out of the way on top of my pantry cabinet. The capacity is huge! I keep some of the big things like for Mother's Day/Father's Day and a few special things, but every so often I clean out all the 'doodle' pages. In the bottom, I've got large manila envelopes for each year and the hi-lights inside.

*For ideas of what to do with the 'doodle pages' of Children's Art and pictures, check out my other post to see what I did with them!

8. & 9. Manicure & Pedicure Madness

Most ladies enjoy a little bit of self pampering, even if you go to a nail salon regularly. It's sometimes nice to just relax at home and have a DIY day. But... All the stuff that goes along with it can be a pain! I have an old large coffee can and an empty wickless candle jar that did the trick!

I keep all my polish, brushes, foot soaks/scrubs, clippers, files, and scrubbers in one place! Tucks easily away in a cabinet, closet or bathroom. On the left side of the can, you see a small metal topped jar - This was once a wick-less candle. When it was mostly evaporated I cleaned out the gel that was left and found it works amazingly well for small nail items.

In this jar, I have finger and toe nail clippers, a small acrylic patch up set, mini-nail polish bottles, nail glue, cuticle oil, and with the pre-cut vents in the top, emory boards fit right down in it. All the little annoying stuff to keep track of - Easily contained and within reach!

10. Dish Brush Holder

At any mega-store you will see the various solutions for dish brushes, like the suction cup dish brush holders. Some are designed to fit inside the sink, others are designed to fit on the wall above the sink, etc. I went through three of these and somewhere around $20 before I concluded that they broke too easily. In theory, a great idea. I just haven't found one that worked long term and didn't fall apart!

Enter the tall Juice Glass! I have a set of 8 of these glasses that we hardly ever use. I was packing them away when I got an idea... It's sturdy on the bottom and would hold the weight of the dish brush... Tried it for a few days, and was hooked! I can throw it right in the dish washer when it starts looking a little gummy, and won't break with normal usage like the suction cup holders can. Also easily mobile if it's in the way!

11. Cookbooks

For anyone who has ever gotten married or anyone who loves being in the kitchen, chances are you have accumulated entirely too many cookbooks. It's also probable that you don't use them as frequently as you would like. Over time, they get dusty, pushed around, and end up in a stack on top of the fridge or in a cabinet. I'd knock over my stack all too often and found them to be annoying. Until...

I had picked up this Rubbermaid Container in college with the intent to use it on my bathroom counter for hair product and makeup storage. It didn't fit everything in quite how I wanted it, so it got set aside until I found another use for it. It fits my cook books perfectly!

The slim design allows it to sit on either against the back of a counter or even on top of the refrigerator. I have never had a problem with it falling over, however I would think weight distribution has something to do with it! My cook books are now contained in a display-like fashion and aren't falling all over the kitchen!

12. Video Game Controllers, Headphones, & Gamer Paraphernalia

My husband is a video games guy. He has a few consoles and also plays PC games when he has the time. With a toddler running around, we discovered that she too likes to think she is 'playing' and was getting tangled in cords from headphones and running off with controllers when we weren't looking. One day, I was at Kohl's and found these awesome ottoman storage cubes. Each was about $20, and I got two of the small brown leather ones to match our living room color scheme.

Best investment ever! The tops fit tightly on top so even when our toddler pushes one around, it doesn't slip out of place. When hubby is finished gaming he can tuck away all the important equipment and keep it out of the way of little fingers. Out of sight, out of mind is truly accurate with toddlers! We also found that a plastic shoe storage box fit down inside it perfectly, so he can store smaller things like batteries, battery packs, and extra remotes or corded pieces in it as well. He also likes to use the ottoman to prop up his feet since we don't have recliners. Multi-purposing at its finest!

13. Play Kitchen "Food," Tea Sets, and Children's Blocks

My daughter loves her play kitchen. She also loves her tea set and her blocks. All have a huge amount of pieces and can look like a tornado went through the room in less than 10 seconds when all of it is out. How to deal with little pieces? Find something that fits it all!

The drawers of this stackable container come completely out so she can take the drawer with her to spread out the blocks and tea set. The food is within easy reach of her kitchen. The drawers are very easy to open and close and its very sturdy overall. This one did not come with wheels, though I have seen some that do. The going price of one of these now is about $25. Well worth the investment!

This is another container that has followed me for the last 10 or more years. It used to be extra storage in my closet for things like belts, scarves and handbags. It's also been in the bathroom to hold extra shampoo, razors, etc. Versatile and can hold just about anything you need it to.

14. Kid's Toys With Numerous Pieces

My daughter is only 2 and a half and doesn't have many toys with small parts yet, but there are a few that have 5 or more pieces that can be hard to keep track of. Another re-purposed item that I LOVE are the kid's meal bags from Subway. They are made of a recyclable, thin but durable plastic, water proof, and come in a variety of colors and styles. With a flap and Velcro tab they don't close quite completely, but enough to keep things inside if it tips over.

For Christmas she received this awesome Elmo toy that talks to her, sings songs, and is helping her learn the alphabet. However, he came with 7 or 8 different blocks and after a few days we'd have to start lifting up the furniture to find them all. The tote is perfect for storing these! She has another bag for her baby doll supplies - Bottle, mini teddy bear, hair brush, etc. Instant Baby Doll Diaper Bag!

15. Shoe Storage Boxes Aren't Just For Shoes

I needed something to keep a set of foam blocks in, but was having trouble finding something that was the right size. The set has numbers, letters, and animals on the blocks and is a total of 30 pieces that are about 2" x 2" x 2" cubes.

I happened to have an extra shoe storage box and thought it looked about like the right size. It worked like a charm! All 30 blocks fit inside perfectly and with the flip handles, it's easy enough for her to open and close by herself, and light enough she can put it up and take it off of the toy-box shelf on her own. Simple, easy, and costs about $2 - $3 at any large mega-store. :-)

Picture Frame Matting with My Child's Art

2012-03-11T00:19:00.001-05:00

If anyone has a small child who attends daycare, I'm sure you understand what I mean when I say that my kitchen has been over ridden with art projects. Everything from scribbles on construction paper, to hand prints, to various things they're studying.

To help combat some of this, I hit up my local Big Lots and was able to find a pretty neat looking storage/hat box that has a pretty good capacity for small papers. However, my daughter's art kept coming in, and I was hopeful I could come up with something neat to do with it instead of throwing all of it away.

While thinking randomly about what I could try, I ran across an old photo collage at my parent's house that I had put together for my high school graduation party. Something clicked. I had layered the photos, leaving only the focus of the pictures showing and secured them together with sticky tack so I didn't have to actually cut them up or glue them. This inspired me to try something different with my daughter's art.

When I got home I pulled out several sheets of her artwork and started looking at it. Obviously, the pieces were too large to layer them in their entirety and there was a lot of space where there were no doodles. I pulled out an old picture frame I had laying around, some scissors and a big bottle of crafting glue, and decided to see where I would end up...

1. Materials:
* Several pieces of your child's art
* Scissors
* Crafting Glue that dries clear (I prefer Aleene's Original Tacky Glue)
* Picture frame
* Photo of your child, at least an inch or two smaller than the frame

2. Start Cutting
Cut whatever shapes you like. I found that various shapes and sizes of triangles work best and are easiest to place. Don't make them too small or you will have a LOT of gluing to do, but don't make them too large either.

You can either go with a multi-rainbow colored theme, or if you have enough pieces in a certain color scheme, you can coordinate it to your room decor.

3. Start Placing
I used the piece of paper that came in the picture frame to glue the pieces directly to. If you want to cut another piece that's ok as well.

I placed a few around the edge to get an idea of the shapes I would need to fill in. I cut a few pieces as I went to fill in some gaps.

4. Start Gluing
Pieces can hang off the edge a bit as you glue them down. This is fine - They can be trimmed off later, before placing into the frame. Overlapping is ok too. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy trying to get pieces that fit exactly together!

Remember that the middle is going to have a photo over top of it, so you don't need to go too far in.

5. Attach the photo
Place the photo however you'd like. I placed mine in the middle, but off to the side would be just fine too - Especially if you have something larger like a hand print or complete small drawing that you would like to include as well.

I put the photo into the frame and fastened it down before the glue was completely dry. This helped the backing to dry flat and not curl.

Here's a larger one that I did, too. I used the handprint on one side, and cut the border of the hand print, then flipped it over on the other side. I thought this turned out so neat! The bigger frames were for the Grandparents. :-)

6. Display
Put the picture wherever you like. If you have more than one child, you could do a collage of their photos in complimentary frames together in a hallway, living room or other room of your choice.

In my case, I did a bunch of these and gave them to family members for Christmas presents. The family got some of her art, and a brand new photo of her as well. Win!

5 Why's in Your Kitchen - Get Cookin'!

2012-02-06T00:47:00.000-05:00

While studying for my Master's Degree a few years ago, I came across a technique called the '5 Whys' used for problem solving. First developed by Toyota (TPS), the 5 Why's were designed to get to the root of problems that were hindering their success. I realize the method is somewhat criticized as not going deep enough in large corporate settings, but hear me out for this one.

Not so long ago I was watching my family eat out all too often. After working a full day, it was so convenient to just drive through a window and have food given to us in exchange for money. The kitchen was in a constant state of disarray, despite hardly ever cooking at home. Dishes always in the sink, on counters, etc. The last thing either of us wanted to do at the end of a work day was deal with it. So... we didn't. Until the weekend or until we needed baby bottles/sippy cups washed - Don't worry, we'd rinse them out before chucking them in the sink so at least nothing was growing in them by the week's end.

I have some really nice kitchen tools and enjoy being in the kitchen. The hang up, we found, was that we could just never get ahead on the dishes that needed to be done and counter tops were never clear for food prep, so we'd do the natural human thing - Avoid it like the plague. This was especially true at our old house - There was no dishwasher installed. We eventually purchased a portable dishwasher that did a pretty good job. For a while, we were doing well with it. But slowly, the dishes that wouldn't fit in for each load started piling up and we were just as behind as before.

Mostly, the items that were cluttering things up were big ones - Crock pots (Rinsed well, but not scrubbed out enough to be put away) cookie sheets, casserole dishes, mixing bows, etc. The stuff that didn't fit into the dishwasher or had to be washed by hand.

After learning of the 5 Why's in my management courses, I decided to apply this to my kitchen and see what I came up with. Sounds silly, right? I thought so too until it unearthed some harsh truths.

Here's how it started:

Example 1:
Q. Why don't I cook at home more often?
A. Because the kitchen is a mess.

Q. Why is the kitchen a mess?
A. Because we only clean what we need, when we need it.

Q. Why do you only clean what you need, when you need it?
A. Because it would take entirely too long to clean the rest of the room.

Q. Why would it take so long to clean up everything?
A. Because we have let things sit around so long it would be ridiculous to clean everything in there.

Q. Why have you let things sit around so long?
A. Because we're lazy.

Example 2:
Q. Why don't you buy more fresh foods?
A. Because the fridge is already full.

Q. Why don't you eat what's in the fridge?
A. Because most of it has gone bad.

Q. Why has most of it gone bad?
A. Because we have been eating out so often, we never cook anything at home.

Q. Why don't you cook at home anymore?
A. Because the kitchen is a mess.

Q. Why is the kitchen a mess?
A. Because we're lazy...

Example 3:
Q. Why are the counter tops so cluttered?
A. Because not all the dishes will fit into the dishwasher, so we would have to do multiple loads.

Q. Why don't you do multiple loads?
A. Because the clean things never seem to make it back into the cabinets.

Q. Why don't the clean items get put away?
A. Because Hubby always forgets to do it.

Q. Why don't you remind him about it?
A. Because then I'd have to do more dishes...

Q. Why don't you want to do more dishes?
A. Because I'm lazy...

No matter where I started, the end result kept coming back to either him, me, or both of us being lazy. I didn't like the way that looked or sounded. 'Lazy.' In everything else that my husband and I do, we are far from 'lazy.' We both have steady careers with good jobs in the fields we went for in college (we are VERY lucky for this one!). We have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into doing well in school, in our marriage, raising our daughter, and overall trying to be good people.

Why was it that for something so simple with so much potential to be beneficial, we were so 'lazy?' We really didn't have a good answer.

Despite identifying the issues at the time, the trend of 'bare minimums' continued for a few more months until finally, I'd had enough. It's hard to explain, but one day I just felt this was way too out of hand. I spent an entire weekend cleaning up things in the kitchen - Doing dishes, organizing the pantry, the cabinets, getting spice racks in place, cleaning the fridge, mopping the floors, clearing off the washer/dryer (they're in my kitchen, too), rearranging the freezers, getting the last of the boxes from when we moved in out of there, cleaning up the mail clutter that seemed to just sit on the counter, etc. etc. etc.

FINALLY - We have a functional kitchen space that we can cook in, do food prep in, and work with! We're still not perfect - I usually have a stoneware sheet that hasn't been washed off yet and there may be a few dishes still in the sink when I go to bed at night, but we've done well with little things like rinsing off the dishes as they go in the sink (I've had to almost flog my husband for this one several times for the surprise cereal/milk bowl stuck under something else in the sink...).

We are now to the point that Hubby enjoys cooking too - So much, in fact, that he makes breakfast for us on the weekends and usually dinner one night a week. He's been my right hand to empty the dishwasher (officially his job, now) to keep the flow of dish washing going. He's even learning what tools we do and don't have, and where they go in the cabinets. Any fear that he had about using the kitchen is long gone!

Sounds like silly, common sense doesn't it? For some, yes. For others, it takes a series of questions to get to the root cause. We also seem happier, as we cook together and even do dishes together. Our daughter even has her own stool to watch us from, and enjoys being in there with us while we cook breakfast.

In our case, it helped a lot to get us back on track and doing more at home. This in turn is helping us with better nutrition and a better awareness of what we're really eating. We're still not perfect - We eat something out usually at least once or twice a week but we're considerably better than how we were 3-6 months ago and have no plans to go back to the 'unusable' kitchen we used to have. :-)

$100 To Healthy

2012-02-05T00:32:00.000-05:00

This is a Challenge Worth Taking!

I know some of you had seen this on my Facebook page. I decided to move it over here, too. :-)

For those who may read it and do not know me, I try to keep us eating healthy as much as possible. It's not 100% (we still do the occasional fast food meal and a pizza), but I've been trying to cook and make more things at home when we can. It's saving us calories, money, and in our small city the variety for restaurants (fast food and otherwise), is slim so eating out all the time would be boring, anyway.

I also work from home for a company that is based out of my state, so I'm able to do some food prep in the morning before I begin and over my lunch break. I realize this isn't possible for everyone, but for us it works. :-) I also try to take some time on Sunday evenings to do food prep for the next few days and ensure that dishes are done so we're ready for the work week. This is what works best for us!

Now, onto the post!

(Actual picture of all items listed below)

At some point in the last few weeks, I was watching a show where people were giving excuses for not eating healthy. A common complaint was that "eating healthy is hard because it's so expensive." (I don't remember which show this was - Probably something on OWN. lol).

There have been times when I have rung out at the cash register and gotten a total that was much higher than I expected. I'd get home and feel like I didn't really buy anything with the money I'd just spent. Over time I've decided to cook more at home and make things myself from scratch instead of always using pre-packaged options. The savings have been tremendous in both calories and dollars.

I decided to turn this into a challenge for myself...

Using only $100 I would see how much healthy food I could buy at the grocery store and make it stretch to the maximum amount of meals possible.

Below is a list of the items that I purchased tonight at the store. My total receipt came to $107.12 with tax, and the $6.47 I spent on toilet paper. Total of food purchases came to $100.26. I used 0 coupons.

Are my choices perfect? No. Realistic for a family of 3 with two adults working full time? Absolutely. I will also note that the items on this list are usually items that I buy at some point during the month. I didn't go out on a limb to get these or pick things that we won't eat.

Here is my list of everything that's on the table:

1 bag 10 lbs. Russett Potatoes - $3.77

1 jug Simply Apple Juice - $3.38

1 gallon 1% Milk - $3.63

1 package thin sliced pork chops - $3.63

1 boneless pork roast - $5.59

1 beef tip roast - $6.50

1 package Tennesse Farm's breakfast sausage links - $2.98

1 package thin sliced bacon - $2.98

4 individual Simply Orange Juice ($1.48 each) - $5.92

1 container Pure Olive Oil for cooking - $4.78

2 jars Pasta Sauce ($1.50 each) - $3

1 container (64oz) V8 low sodium juice - $2.78

1 Ranch Salad Dressing - $1.66

1 Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing - $1.50

1 head Romaine Lettuce - $1.48

2.68 lbs Green Grapes ($1.27/lb) - $3.40

1 container of fresh pre-sliced button mushrooms (8oz) - $1.94

1 package Wide Egg Noodles - $1.34

1 dozen eggs (large) - $1.78

1.76 lbs Anjou Pears - 4 count - ($1.57/lb) - $2.76

1 cluster fresh Italian Parsley - $0.88

1 cluster fresh Cilantro - $0.74

1.51 lbs Granny Smith Apples - 4 count ($1.57/lb) - $2.37

3 Limes ($0.32 each) - $0.96

1 package shredded carrots - $1.68

1 package with 2 celery stalks - $1.38

3 Lemons ($0.44 each) - $1.32

1.86 lbs Bananas ($0.52/lb) - $0.97

3 Cucumbers ($0.48 each) - $1.44

2 Bell Peppers ($0.94 each) - $1.88

5 Kiwi ($0.34 each) - $1.70

1 Large Sweet Onion - $0.85

1 Pineapple - $2.98

1 package whole carrots (1 lb) - $0.88

1 Avocado - $1.88

2 cans Jumbo pitted Olives ($1.17 each) - $2.34

2 cans no salt added diced tomato ($0.68 each) - $1.36

1 container Chicken Bouillion cubes - $2.00

1 package (3 servings) Boboli pizza sauce - $1.97

1 64 oz jar of Claussen pickle halves - $5.98

Total: $100.26

Item Count: 64

Average cost per item: $1.57

At minimum, I estimate the above can make:

9 breakfasts (for one)

6 lunches (for one)

7 dinners (for three)

and at least 15 snacks (for one).

Borrowing a few things that we already have in the pantry and the freezer, I can up that to easily 4-5 more meals in each category to stretch this even further.

So... I find this challenge successful and the whining 'debunked.' It may take a little bit of time to cut up an apple, peel a banana, and chop up some herbs, but being healthy while on a budget is entirely possible.

Any challenge takers? I'd love to see what anyone else can do!

2 Liter Planters For Inside Herb Gardens

2012-02-03T01:05:00.000-05:00

Instructions, Photos and Design by JW.

1/23/2012

Intro:
I began this project with the intent to lessen my grocery bill in small ways. I found myself preferring the taste of fresh herbs instead of pre-dried varieties, so I did some research (my thumbs are anything but green!) and have come up with a design for simple herb planters. I have not branched out yet to see what other herbs will thrive in this type of planter, but I’m actively saving my 2 liter bottles and plan to plant a few more herbs and small house plants.

Please improve on the design as you see fit – I am in no way an expert gardener and used mostly things I had laying around the house. Please send me any suggestions, and I will be happy to put in some revisions!

Find some 2 liter bottles.

a. Generally, you can get a 2 liter of various beverage varieties at the grocery store anywhere between $0.75 and $1.50.

b. Ideas to more quickly gather bottles: Any social function that you attend (ladies groups, book club meetings, church functions, daycare, etc.). Ask to have the bottles held out or collect a few on your way out.

c. I started with 4. You can start with one or ten. It depends where your comfort level is and the amount of space you have.

Materials List:

a. Ruler

b. Permanent Marker

c. Scissors or Kitchen Shears

d. Kitchen knife with a sharp point

e. Hole Punch or Compass (Yes – The old school pokey-thing with a golf pencil from high school math class)

f. Spool of wire or heavy string (I used 18 gauge crafting wire I had laying around)

g. Potting Soil (I used Jiffy Organic Seed Starting Mix. $2 for 4.4 L at WalMart)

h. Jiffy Peat Pots – Size 3 (Pack of 14 under $2 at WalMart)

i. Seeds - $1.39 pack for Ferry Morse brand Parsley, Cilantro (Corriander), Dill and Oregano.

j. Needlenose pliers (if using wire for hanging, this will save your fingers!)

k. Those 2 Liter bottles I mentioned earlier. ;-)

My Total Material Cost: $9.56 pre-tax

Gather those materials, and let’s get started!

Bottle Types:

a. Generally, you will have either Pepsi or Coke brand bottles to work with. For my first planter, I found a Coke bottle was the easiest to use. It has lines close to the middle already pressed into the plastic, which is where I wanted to cut my bottle in half.

Remove the bottle labels carefully - You do not want to puncture the bottles yet.

Get our your ruler and permanent marker. Measure about halfway up the bottle.

You will want the bottom to be a little taller than the top so try not to cut exactly in the middle. Go at least one inch higher than the middle. Usually 6 ½ to 7 inches from the bottom is a good start. This also leaves some extra plastic in case you need to cut down a little to straighten out the edge that will become the top.

a. For Coke bottles, there is already a line pressed into the plastic. Cut on the top side of that line, and your edging is already finished!

*Yes, I'm aware my ruler is backwards in the photo - The bottles were 12 inches exactly and I'm not a leftie, so to get a correct shot, I'd have had to put the ruler backwards. You get the idea.

b. For Pepsi product bottles and generic brands that do not have the nice molded line, you'll have to make one yourself. Mark around the entire bottle using your ruler and marker to make a line to cut by (shown left).

Use the kitchen knife to poke a hole and start a cut in the plastic. Trim the rest of the way around the bottle with scissors to ensure a straight edge.

a. Tip: Put the point of the knife on the line and angle the knife upward when pressing into the bottle. This way, if you cut to fast and accidentally cut a crooked line (like me the first few times…) the blade will cut into the upper part of the bottle and not into the bottom. The top doesn't have to be pretty - The bottom is what's going to show.

After cutting the rest of the way around the bottle, put the top half into the lower half (cap off), and press firmly. If you cut about dead center in the middle of the bottle, it will stick out about an inch higher than the bottom.

a.

Tip: Do not force the top into the bottom – It’s ok to have to trim it down a little for both Coke and Pepsi bottles.

b. As shown above (right), use the permanent marker to make a line around the top of the bottle.

c. Trim off the extra plastic from the top of the bottle, cutting around the line you just made.

Into the top of the bottle, cut lines up about 1 inch and about 1 inch apart. If you put a slice in the seam, you should get 9-10 cuts going the whole way around (this does not have to be exact – Just don’t do too many. You’ll see why shortly!)

a. Place the top into the bottom – It should slide right in and all the way down, sitting with the opening of the top sitting in the middle of the bottom (high point). Like this:

Open your bag of potting soil, and put a little in the bottom to fill up the curve of the top. This is what you will sit your peat pot on top of.

Set peat pot in cup on top of potting soil. Gently, fill in around the cup, keeping it in the middle.

a. I recommend wearing gloves and using another peat pot to fill in the soil, rather than pouring from the bag. Do not fill the container up entirely. At highest, keep it to the brim of the peat pot. Remember – You still have to get seeds and water down in there!

b. Tip: Press down gently on the pot while filling around it, and slowly move the entire bottom back and forth and tap softly on the table to allow soil to settle. Don’t pack it down, but don’t leave it too loose.

c. My reasoning for using Peat pots inside the planter are in case I should ever have to move the plants to another planter or pot. This way, the roots are already contained inside the peat planter, so I can move the plant and not shock it too badly.

My seeds recommended an overnight soaking. I counted out 8 seeds of each type (except Oregano – That would have been ridiculous because they're so small!).

I have no idea if this will be too many – Just kinda winging it. I’ll find out soon enough!

a. To soak, I used the only cups I could write on that I had on hand. Red. Solo. Cups.

Tip: Some seeds look very similar, so it’s a good idea to label the cups you put them in.

At this point, I realized I had not yet figured out how to hang them. If you want to put them on a window sill, then once you put in your seeds, you’re finished.

If you want to come up with a hanging apparatus keep reading...

a. Determine how and where you want to hang the plants. Wire or string will work fine, as I decided to use plant hooks and screw them into the upper, inside of my windows. Pick a place that will get ample sunlight (not too much, but at least for part of the day) and a place that no pets or small children can disturb them.

b. If you’re crafty with string and want to do some sort of awesome weaving basket for it to sit in, go for it! I decided to go with crafting wire, though I’ve considered a string basket of sorts to make it more decorative. Perhaps in another post!

c. I had some crafting wire laying around that worked out perfectly, as the planters are very light:

I decided to use my high school math class compass, since I felt a hole punch would be too large for the wire. Certainly I don’t expect everyone to still have one of these laying around, but if you do – it works great for poking holes through 2 liters!

BONUS: If you ever run into a past math teacher, you can tell them that yes – You have used one of these outside of their classroom. ;-). (Thanks Google Images!)

a. I used 3 holes spaced evenly around the top of the planter, going down about 1/3 inch.

b. Tip: I recommend waiting until you’ve done a few of these to know how far down you will need to put holes. Go down too far, and you may end up with soil going everywhere when you fill up the planter. Take care not to spill as you make the holes – Be gentle.

I made up as I went along for this last part, but I cut the wire into lengths of 1 foot. This allowed about 9-10 inches for the plant to hang, and a few inches that I could gather up and wrap to secure the wires together.

a. First, I bent the wire like a 'J' and put it through the hole.

b. Next, take the 'tail' and wrap it around the longer part. I did the first two or
three twists with my fingers, then needed the pliers for the rest.

c. For the top, I picked the longest wire that was sticking out, and wrapped it
around the other two. This was a little tricky, but it doesn't have to be pretty.

d. Once I had the long strand of 3 coiled together, I used the pliers to curl them
into a circle.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have finished the construction of your 2 Liter Platers!

After your seeds have soaked overnight, gently pour out as much water as you can until only a tiny bit of water remains with the seeds. Part the soil gently, and pour in the seeds. Cover and water enough to dampen the soil all the way through.

The awesome part of this type of construction of planter, is that the bottom of the 2 liter acts as a drip catch, and helps keep moisture in. Typically, I only have to water my plants ever 3 days. You don't want them to be too water logged, but enough so the soil stays damp.

Also, keep an eye out for mold. I have not had any yet. I'm contemplating poking some holes above the water line in the bottom for some additional ventilation. I have not done this yet.

Please in either direct or indirect sunlight - From my experience so far, they are getting mostly afternoon/evening sunlight and after 1 week all but the cilantro have sprouted.

Parsley:

Dill:

Oregano:

Enjoy! Please leave me any helpful tips to make these better. As I said, I'm not a gardener so if there is anything that would help my plants grow better I'm happy to try it!