Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A tip on Tuesday

My friend Tammy (http://tam-sense.blogspot.com/) says I have lots of awesome ideas and tips on how to make life easier/more efficient. I thought I would share some of them here. I did not come up with any of these, they have been picked up along the way from my family, friends, magazines, blogs, etc.

Keep a sponge under the sink in the bathroom. When your sink starts looking a little gross mid-week, wet the sponge, wipe down the sink and counters and just rinse the sponge. This is also a great way to clean up when dinner guests are arriving in 5 minutes and you realize you never cleaned the bathroom!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

We have a vanity!

And it looks good! It's this vanity with square sinks. It also came with a large framed mirror that we aren't using in the bathroom, so we are trying to find another place for it. 

They had to cut some of the drywall out to get the countertop in, so there we aren't able to paint just yet. Which paint color do you like? They are Symphony Blue on the left and Hague Blue on the right (both are Benjamin Moore).

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A tip on Tuesday

My friend Tammy (http://tam-sense.blogspot.com/) says I have lots of awesome ideas and tips on how to make life easier/more efficient. I thought I would share some of them here. I did not come up with any of these, they have been picked up along the way from my family, friends, magazines, blogs, etc.

Roasting garlic for a recipe? Roast a few extra heads at the same time and squeeze out the cloves into a big pile. Line a mini-muffin tin (ice cube tray works too) with plastic wrap (this step is important unless you want all future muffins to taste like garlic) and spoon the roasted garlic into the muffin tins. Cover the whole business with more plastic wrap, going around the sides to meet at the underside. This prevents the garlic smell from invading your freezer. Stick the whole thing into the freezer. Once it is frozen, pop the garlic pucks out of the tins and transfer to a freezer bag. Each garlic puck is approximately one head of garlic.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A tip on Tuesday

My friend Tammy (http://tam-sense.blogspot.com/) says I have lots of awesome ideas and tips on how to make life easier/more efficient. I thought I would share some of them here. I did not come up with any of these, they have been picked up along the way from my family, friends, magazines, blogs, etc.

You can make your own cleaning wipes! If you have a tall, cylinder-shaped container, wait until you have a partial roll of towels (not larger in width than your container). Pour water and a small amount of all-purpose cleaner in the container, closing the lid and shaking it up. I like the lemon verbena cleaner from Mrs. Meyers. Open the container lid, slide in the paper towel roll, close lid again and shake it up. When the paper towels are completely saturated, pour out any extra liquid and you are ready to go! I have found that the entire roll has to be removed from the container and the towels pulled off, the magic lid insert that is supposed to let you tear one at a time doesn't work with these.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A tip on Tuesday

My friend Tammy (http://tam-sense.blogspot.com/) says I have lots of awesome ideas and tips on how to make life easier/more efficient. I thought I would share some of them here. I did not come up with any of these, they have been picked up along the way from my family, friends, magazines, blogs, etc.

Got a banana that's getting a little brown? Break or chop it into 1" pieces and throw it into the freezer. You can use 1/2 of a frozen banana in a smoothie (then you don't really need ice) or save up until you have 2-3 and make banana bread.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A tip on Tuesday

My friend Tammy (http://tam-sense.blogspot.com/) says I have lots of awesome ideas and tips on how to make life easier/more efficient. I thought I would share some of them here. I did not come up with any of these, they have been picked up along the way from my family, friends, magazines, blogs, etc.

Once per month, to clean it, fill the coffeemaker with a 50%/50% mixture of vinegar and water. Turn the coffee maker on, wait 2-3 minutes for the water to heat up, then turn it off. Let it sit for 30 minutes, turn it back on and let it run through its cycle. Once the vinegar/water cycle is complete, empty the coffee maker and run 2-3 more cycles of plain water to get rid of the vinegar smell. This will cut down on the oily residue in the maker and keep your coffee tasting great!