Mission Organization: Week 47 - Cleaning the Oven Door

We had a great Thanksgiving at our house this year with all the children and grandchildren and some family friends. I did my best to use mise en place in the preparations so that I could get it all together a little easier this year. The usual family favorites were on the menu, as well as one new recipe that I tried. I made a Southern Living Sweet Potato Casserole, and it will now be a regular Thanksgiving dish. Too bad I didn't get pictures of it for a post, but I'll have my camera ready next time. If you have ever been the "designated cook" for a holiday meal, then you already know how much planning has to go into efficiently rotating the various dishes through the oven. It's kind of like a relay event because the casseroles have to be grouped by oven temperature, then various timers set, then the oven temperature adjusted for the next round, and more timers set, and on and on until the last pie is baked. Amazingly, everything turned out great. There were no disasters this year unless you count the oven door.

By Friday this was the look my glass oven door was sporting! It wasn't only the Thanksgiving meal preparation that caused it to look this bad, because it's a rare day that my oven is not used. But man, did it ever need to be cleaned now! I really hate using oven cleaners, so I took the advice at DIY Home Sweet Home and let baking soda do the work for me.

I used to only buy baking soda in small boxes for baking purposes, but I have found it to be it so useful I now also buy the large size for cleaning purposes.

For the oven door project, I used about a half cup of baking soda mixed with enough water to make a paste about the consistency of pancake batter. 

Using one of my kitchen brushes, I spread the paste all over the dirty glass of the oven door.

Once I had it all covered well, I set the timer for 20 minutes, then went to play on Pinterest while the baking soda did the work. If you have more pinning to do, you might want to leave it as long as 30 minutes.

After 20 minutes I used a warm wet cloth to wipe away the paste and the mess! 

Rinse the cloth out several times until everything is wiped away, then use a dry cloth or paper towels to dry the glass.

I now have a nice clean oven door ready for more baking, and baking soda made it such an easy, fuss-free cleaning method!



This post was shared with:
Creative Juice Thursday
The Bulletin Board

We had a great Thanksgiving at our house this year with all the children and grandchildren and some family friends. I did my best to use mise en place in the preparations so that I could get it all together a little easier this year. The usual family favorites were on the menu, as well as one new recipe that I tried. I made a Southern Living Sweet Potato Casserole, and it will now be a regular Thanksgiving dish. Too bad I didn't get pictures of it for a post, but I'll have my camera ready next time. If you have ever been the "designated cook" for a holiday meal, then you already know how much planning has to go into efficiently rotating the various dishes through the oven. It's kind of like a relay event because the casseroles have to be grouped by oven temperature, then various timers set, then the oven temperature adjusted for the next round, and more timers set, and on and on until the last pie is baked. Amazingly, everything turned out great. There were no disasters this year unless you count the oven door.

By Friday this was the look my glass oven door was sporting! It wasn't only the Thanksgiving meal preparation that caused it to look this bad, because it's a rare day that my oven is not used. But man, did it ever need to be cleaned now! I really hate using oven cleaners, so I took the advice at DIY Home Sweet Home and let baking soda do the work for me.

I used to only buy baking soda in small boxes for baking purposes, but I have found it to be it so useful I now also buy the large size for cleaning purposes.

For the oven door project, I used about a half cup of baking soda mixed with enough water to make a paste about the consistency of pancake batter. 

Using one of my kitchen brushes, I spread the paste all over the dirty glass of the oven door.

Once I had it all covered well, I set the timer for 20 minutes, then went to play on Pinterest while the baking soda did the work. If you have more pinning to do, you might want to leave it as long as 30 minutes.

After 20 minutes I used a warm wet cloth to wipe away the paste and the mess! 

Rinse the cloth out several times until everything is wiped away, then use a dry cloth or paper towels to dry the glass.

I now have a nice clean oven door ready for more baking, and baking soda made it such an easy, fuss-free cleaning method!



This post was shared with:
Creative Juice Thursday
The Bulletin Board

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Mission Organization: Week 41 - Cleaning the Silver, FAST!

Silver pieces on display are so beautiful when they are polished and shining, but all too often mine look like these tarnished pieces. I can spend literally hours working to polish my silver pieces, and then it seems I turn around and they are tarnished again. Thanks to my sister, I have found that there is an alternative way to clean silver that is FAST and doesn't require the drudgery of polishing.

Instead of polishing the tarnish away, some simple ingredients added to water can cause a chemical reaction that will make the tarnish disappear from silver. It almost sounds too good to be true, but the directions for this quick and easy way to clean silver can found at About.com Chemistry.

To clean your silver pieces you will need:

Glass bowl or sink
Aluminum foil
Steaming hot water

Baking soda

Salt

Line the bowl or sink with aluminum foil. The water can be heated in the microwave or on the stove, but it needs to be steaming hot. Pour the water into the aluminum foil lined bowl or sink, then add 2 teaspoonfuls each of baking soda and salt.

Place the tarnished silver pieces in the steaming mixture so that they are resting on the foil. Leave the tarnished pieces in the water for 5 minutes, or less time if you see that the tarnish is gone. 

Rinse with water and dry with a soft cloth, no polishing, but look at the shine!

Here's a silver tray that had one end dipped into the mixture, see the difference?

And a bread tray that has one end cleaned, isn't it amazing?

My tarnished silver tongs . . .

. . . came out shiny after their dip!

Where did all that tarnish go? It stayed behind in the bowl on the aluminum foil. The chemical reaction causes a bit of an unpleasant smell while the pieces are being dipped, but the minor odor is well worth the speed of the cleaning, no more hours of polishing silver for me!

Silver pieces on display are so beautiful when they are polished and shining, but all too often mine look like these tarnished pieces. I can spend literally hours working to polish my silver pieces, and then it seems I turn around and they are tarnished again. Thanks to my sister, I have found that there is an alternative way to clean silver that is FAST and doesn't require the drudgery of polishing.

Instead of polishing the tarnish away, some simple ingredients added to water can cause a chemical reaction that will make the tarnish disappear from silver. It almost sounds too good to be true, but the directions for this quick and easy way to clean silver can found at About.com Chemistry.

To clean your silver pieces you will need:

Glass bowl or sink
Aluminum foil
Steaming hot water

Baking soda

Salt

Line the bowl or sink with aluminum foil. The water can be heated in the microwave or on the stove, but it needs to be steaming hot. Pour the water into the aluminum foil lined bowl or sink, then add 2 teaspoonfuls each of baking soda and salt.

Place the tarnished silver pieces in the steaming mixture so that they are resting on the foil. Leave the tarnished pieces in the water for 5 minutes, or less time if you see that the tarnish is gone. 

Rinse with water and dry with a soft cloth, no polishing, but look at the shine!

Here's a silver tray that had one end dipped into the mixture, see the difference?

And a bread tray that has one end cleaned, isn't it amazing?

My tarnished silver tongs . . .

. . . came out shiny after their dip!

Where did all that tarnish go? It stayed behind in the bowl on the aluminum foil. The chemical reaction causes a bit of an unpleasant smell while the pieces are being dipped, but the minor odor is well worth the speed of the cleaning, no more hours of polishing silver for me!

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Mission Organization: Week 37 - Less is More for Cleaning the Floor

I have tried many different products and methods to keep my floors clean. In the past I would lug around a mop bucket filled with hot water mixed with a smelly commercial cleaning product, and I applied this to my floors with a string mop. This did a pretty good job of cleaning, but I detested mopping my floors this way. I then gave up the string mop for one of the lightweight spray mops that is battery operated and used a prepackaged cleaning solution and disposable pads.

These mops are so handy to use, but they have some drawbacks. To keep these mops going you must keep on buying more cleaning solution and disposable pads, and occasionally even new batteries. When I used this mop I also felt that I was giving up some cleaning ability just for the convenience. My floors never quite felt as clean as I wanted them to be, and I was not really satisfied, but I didn't want to go back to a string mop and dragging that big mop bucket all over the house.

After reading a ton of reviews, I ended up buying this Rubbermaid Reveal mop that has washable and reusable microfiber cleaning pads, and the solution bottle can be filled and refilled with whatever cleaner you choose to use. It has a trigger sprayer that doesn't require any batteries for use. I bought mine at a Sam's Club store, and it came with 3 microfiber pads. I love using this mop, but the best thing is being able to clean the floor with my own cleaning solution.

I have tried some different "recipes" for cleaning solutions, but I think the simplest, best all around cleaner of all is just hot water and white vinegar. To make a floor cleaning solution, mix 1 gallon of hot water with 1/2 cup of white vinegar, then just fill up the solution bottle and spray away! This can be used for mopping hardwood, laminate, or tile floors. 

I no longer have to buy those boxes of disposable pads or the bottles of cleaning solution to clean my floors. My only purchase now is white vinegar, and my floor feels CLEAN, so that's why I say, "Less is more for cleaning the floor!"

The opinions stated are entirely my own. I have received no compensation for this post.

This post was shared with:
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Domesblissity Thriving on Thursdays

I have tried many different products and methods to keep my floors clean. In the past I would lug around a mop bucket filled with hot water mixed with a smelly commercial cleaning product, and I applied this to my floors with a string mop. This did a pretty good job of cleaning, but I detested mopping my floors this way. I then gave up the string mop for one of the lightweight spray mops that is battery operated and used a prepackaged cleaning solution and disposable pads.

These mops are so handy to use, but they have some drawbacks. To keep these mops going you must keep on buying more cleaning solution and disposable pads, and occasionally even new batteries. When I used this mop I also felt that I was giving up some cleaning ability just for the convenience. My floors never quite felt as clean as I wanted them to be, and I was not really satisfied, but I didn't want to go back to a string mop and dragging that big mop bucket all over the house.

After reading a ton of reviews, I ended up buying this Rubbermaid Reveal mop that has washable and reusable microfiber cleaning pads, and the solution bottle can be filled and refilled with whatever cleaner you choose to use. It has a trigger sprayer that doesn't require any batteries for use. I bought mine at a Sam's Club store, and it came with 3 microfiber pads. I love using this mop, but the best thing is being able to clean the floor with my own cleaning solution.

I have tried some different "recipes" for cleaning solutions, but I think the simplest, best all around cleaner of all is just hot water and white vinegar. To make a floor cleaning solution, mix 1 gallon of hot water with 1/2 cup of white vinegar, then just fill up the solution bottle and spray away! This can be used for mopping hardwood, laminate, or tile floors. 

I no longer have to buy those boxes of disposable pads or the bottles of cleaning solution to clean my floors. My only purchase now is white vinegar, and my floor feels CLEAN, so that's why I say, "Less is more for cleaning the floor!"

The opinions stated are entirely my own. I have received no compensation for this post.

This post was shared with:
The Bulletin Board
Domesblissity Thriving on Thursdays

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Mission Organization: Week 32 - Those Dusty (Achoo!) Ficus Trees

For Mission Organization this week I tackled one of the most dust catching items in the house - my artificial ficus trees. I like to use the silk trees and other silk greenery, but they can be difficult to clean. I have tried using the aerosol sprays that are made especially for silk plants with some success, but they are not really very efficient on a large scale. I have also tried dusting every individual leaf on my ficus trees by hand, but my-oh-my that takes forever, and I always end up missing some leaves anyway. After much trial and error, I have found that the easiest way for me to clean my ficus trees is to mix up my own cleaning solution and take them outside for a quick spraying.

The cleaning solution I use consists of white vinegar and water. The formula is one part white vinegar to two parts warm water mixed together in a spray bottle.

I like to take the trees outside and give them a good spraying, but I want them to dry quickly, so I don't want to get the pots wet. 

I started by taking one of my smaller trees to my porch. I wanted to be able to lean it against the railing so it would drip dry and so the water wouldn't run into the pot.

I leaned it over the railing and sprayed the vinegar/water solution onto the dusty leaves. 

While the first tree dripped, I brought out the next dusty one and repeated the process.

By the time I brought this third tree out, the first one was already dry and ready to take back inside. They dry very quickly and look so nice and clean after being sprayed with this solution. My ficus trees now look clean and fresh with far less effort than it previously took to clean them. 

For Mission Organization this week I tackled one of the most dust catching items in the house - my artificial ficus trees. I like to use the silk trees and other silk greenery, but they can be difficult to clean. I have tried using the aerosol sprays that are made especially for silk plants with some success, but they are not really very efficient on a large scale. I have also tried dusting every individual leaf on my ficus trees by hand, but my-oh-my that takes forever, and I always end up missing some leaves anyway. After much trial and error, I have found that the easiest way for me to clean my ficus trees is to mix up my own cleaning solution and take them outside for a quick spraying.

The cleaning solution I use consists of white vinegar and water. The formula is one part white vinegar to two parts warm water mixed together in a spray bottle.

I like to take the trees outside and give them a good spraying, but I want them to dry quickly, so I don't want to get the pots wet. 

I started by taking one of my smaller trees to my porch. I wanted to be able to lean it against the railing so it would drip dry and so the water wouldn't run into the pot.

I leaned it over the railing and sprayed the vinegar/water solution onto the dusty leaves. 

While the first tree dripped, I brought out the next dusty one and repeated the process.

By the time I brought this third tree out, the first one was already dry and ready to take back inside. They dry very quickly and look so nice and clean after being sprayed with this solution. My ficus trees now look clean and fresh with far less effort than it previously took to clean them. 

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Mission Organization: Week 31 - My Freezers or "The Frozen Wasteland"

I have two freezers in my kitchen, a large one and a smaller one, and I'm ashamed to say that I have allowed each of them to become a "frozen wasteland."  My mission this week is to get both of them organized and to discard items that I have pushed back and left unused for too long.

This is the larger of my freezers and it is stuffed!

This one is smaller, and it is just as bad. I have a lot of different flours in this freezer for baking, along with various other items, but I decided one way I could organize would be to use this smaller freezer exclusively to store my extra baking supplies.

When I got to sorting things out, I found some duplicates of the same products in both freezers.

After sorting through all the different products, I found that this freezer is just about the right size for all the extra baking supplies I keep on hand.

My larger freezer was a little more difficult to get organized. I had more items to discard that were out of date, and I needed a way to keep the food from getting pushed back, covered up, and forgotten like I had let happen before.

I added some baskets in the shelves to hold some of the items like these that were packaged in plastic bags.

I also added a smaller basket for items like my extra baked goods. I utilized the built in baskets to separate meats in one and vegetables in the other.

I know that some people organize their freezers by doing an inventory sheet and keeping a running list of their frozen food stock, but I am quite certain that I would not successfully keep an inventory sheet updated. I am just happy to have the freezers sorted out by category and organized with some new baskets. I think this kind of sorting and grouping will help me to permanently get rid of my "frozen wasteland."

I have two freezers in my kitchen, a large one and a smaller one, and I'm ashamed to say that I have allowed each of them to become a "frozen wasteland."  My mission this week is to get both of them organized and to discard items that I have pushed back and left unused for too long.

This is the larger of my freezers and it is stuffed!

This one is smaller, and it is just as bad. I have a lot of different flours in this freezer for baking, along with various other items, but I decided one way I could organize would be to use this smaller freezer exclusively to store my extra baking supplies.

When I got to sorting things out, I found some duplicates of the same products in both freezers.

After sorting through all the different products, I found that this freezer is just about the right size for all the extra baking supplies I keep on hand.

My larger freezer was a little more difficult to get organized. I had more items to discard that were out of date, and I needed a way to keep the food from getting pushed back, covered up, and forgotten like I had let happen before.

I added some baskets in the shelves to hold some of the items like these that were packaged in plastic bags.

I also added a smaller basket for items like my extra baked goods. I utilized the built in baskets to separate meats in one and vegetables in the other.

I know that some people organize their freezers by doing an inventory sheet and keeping a running list of their frozen food stock, but I am quite certain that I would not successfully keep an inventory sheet updated. I am just happy to have the freezers sorted out by category and organized with some new baskets. I think this kind of sorting and grouping will help me to permanently get rid of my "frozen wasteland."

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Mission Organization: Week 30 - The Microwave Oven

My microwave oven is one of the handiest appliances that I own. If I decide that I would like to have a baked sweet potato for lunch, I can have one in minutes in my microwave oven. I also use the microwave for its speed when making recipes that require melted butter or chocolate. At my house our microwave also gets a good workout heating leftovers.

Those kinds of microwave cooking jobs can mean splatters and a mess if someone should forget to cover the food.

As you can see, that has happened at my house before! It is very distressing to me to open the microwave door and see splatters all over the walls and ceiling, but I have finally found a solution that makes it so easy to wipe it clean again.

A messy microwave oven like mine can be steam cleaned with a vinegar and water solution.

Just place 1/4 cup vinegar in 1 cup of water in the microwave and zap for 5 minutes at the highest setting.

Be sure to use a bowl or cup that has extra room so that the mixture won't boil over.

Let it set in the oven until it cools down enough to dip a sponge or cloth in the liquid, then wipe away the stains.

All the gunk wipes off so easily!

Even my messy microwave sparkled after the steam cleaning. The only drawback to this method was that my grandson complained that he did not like the smell when I heated the vinegar.

So to make the oven and the kitchen smell better I heated a tablespoon of vanilla in a cup of water for 1 minute in the microwave oven, and that completely changed the scent. The vanilla took care of the complaints about the smell, and microwave is clean and shiny!




This post was shared with:

StoneGable Tutorials Tips and Tidbits
Creative Juice Thursday

My microwave oven is one of the handiest appliances that I own. If I decide that I would like to have a baked sweet potato for lunch, I can have one in minutes in my microwave oven. I also use the microwave for its speed when making recipes that require melted butter or chocolate. At my house our microwave also gets a good workout heating leftovers.

Those kinds of microwave cooking jobs can mean splatters and a mess if someone should forget to cover the food.

As you can see, that has happened at my house before! It is very distressing to me to open the microwave door and see splatters all over the walls and ceiling, but I have finally found a solution that makes it so easy to wipe it clean again.

A messy microwave oven like mine can be steam cleaned with a vinegar and water solution.

Just place 1/4 cup vinegar in 1 cup of water in the microwave and zap for 5 minutes at the highest setting.

Be sure to use a bowl or cup that has extra room so that the mixture won't boil over.

Let it set in the oven until it cools down enough to dip a sponge or cloth in the liquid, then wipe away the stains.

All the gunk wipes off so easily!

Even my messy microwave sparkled after the steam cleaning. The only drawback to this method was that my grandson complained that he did not like the smell when I heated the vinegar.

So to make the oven and the kitchen smell better I heated a tablespoon of vanilla in a cup of water for 1 minute in the microwave oven, and that completely changed the scent. The vanilla took care of the complaints about the smell, and microwave is clean and shiny!




This post was shared with:

StoneGable Tutorials Tips and Tidbits
Creative Juice Thursday

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Mission Organization: Week 27 - My Closet i.e. The Black Hole

Somehow my closet got out of control. It didn't happen all at once, it built up over time. I outgrew some clothes, and pushed them back when I replaced them with a larger size. The shelves became cluttered with stuff, and it became harder to find what I needed. I threw a pair of shoes in the floor and forgot to put them away. . . a few times. Finally, I knew my mission had to be to tackle my closet i.e. the dreaded "black hole".

I didn't tackle it all in one day, I have been working on my closet for several weeks, on and off. In my younger years I would have pulled everything out one day in a massive clean-out and got the job done quickly. But now just the thought of cleaning like that makes all the blood drain from my face. I simply don't have the energy to do it all at once. I'm afraid that if I dragged everything out of the closet at once now it might end up sitting there for a few days while I rested up and got back to the job.

In looking at the "black hole" I saw two big problems. One was there were too many clothes stuffed into the closet. I needed to go through the clothing and purge the ones that I could no longer wear. I had hung onto them long enough. The second problem I saw was that I had too many loose shoes. I had the boxes stacked on the closet shelves, but I rarely returned the pair I had worn to its proper box.

This is how I had all my clothing stuffed into the closet - there's not much room to slip another hanger in.

This lower rod doesn't look quite as crowded as the upper, but about half of these slacks are no longer my size.

The shelves were stacked and messy.

One of the first things that I did on this overhaul was to change my hangers to this non-slip kind. I've heard good reviews from friends about hangers like these. Purging the clothes took longer than any other part of the mission. I tried a lot of them on, I guess as a last hope that they might fit again.

This is a stack that I had after one of my purging days.

I dealt with the shoe problem by getting rid of all the boxes and adding these shoe cubbies. These are from Lowe's. They came unassembled, but they are not difficult to put together. These only require a Phillips screwdriver and a hammer to assemble, and fortunately I had my toolbox, so I didn't have to hunt for any tools. If I can build them, anyone can!

I decided to move the slacks to the upper rod with the jacket and skirts.

I moved my tops to the lower rod, and nothing is crowded!

This unit serves as extra drawer space for pajamas and undies.

Some baskets for organization - one for socks, another for gloves, and a third for flip flops.

I decided to use a basket for the flip flops instead of putting them in the cubbies with the other shoes.

My scarf rack was the only part of the closet that was in order and didn't have to be organized or straightened. 

This mission took quite a while to finish, but I think I got rid of the "black hole"!



I have no business association with Lowe's or the products mentioned in this post; I just love organizing!

Somehow my closet got out of control. It didn't happen all at once, it built up over time. I outgrew some clothes, and pushed them back when I replaced them with a larger size. The shelves became cluttered with stuff, and it became harder to find what I needed. I threw a pair of shoes in the floor and forgot to put them away. . . a few times. Finally, I knew my mission had to be to tackle my closet i.e. the dreaded "black hole".

I didn't tackle it all in one day, I have been working on my closet for several weeks, on and off. In my younger years I would have pulled everything out one day in a massive clean-out and got the job done quickly. But now just the thought of cleaning like that makes all the blood drain from my face. I simply don't have the energy to do it all at once. I'm afraid that if I dragged everything out of the closet at once now it might end up sitting there for a few days while I rested up and got back to the job.

In looking at the "black hole" I saw two big problems. One was there were too many clothes stuffed into the closet. I needed to go through the clothing and purge the ones that I could no longer wear. I had hung onto them long enough. The second problem I saw was that I had too many loose shoes. I had the boxes stacked on the closet shelves, but I rarely returned the pair I had worn to its proper box.

This is how I had all my clothing stuffed into the closet - there's not much room to slip another hanger in.

This lower rod doesn't look quite as crowded as the upper, but about half of these slacks are no longer my size.

The shelves were stacked and messy.

One of the first things that I did on this overhaul was to change my hangers to this non-slip kind. I've heard good reviews from friends about hangers like these. Purging the clothes took longer than any other part of the mission. I tried a lot of them on, I guess as a last hope that they might fit again.

This is a stack that I had after one of my purging days.

I dealt with the shoe problem by getting rid of all the boxes and adding these shoe cubbies. These are from Lowe's. They came unassembled, but they are not difficult to put together. These only require a Phillips screwdriver and a hammer to assemble, and fortunately I had my toolbox, so I didn't have to hunt for any tools. If I can build them, anyone can!

I decided to move the slacks to the upper rod with the jacket and skirts.

I moved my tops to the lower rod, and nothing is crowded!

This unit serves as extra drawer space for pajamas and undies.

Some baskets for organization - one for socks, another for gloves, and a third for flip flops.

I decided to use a basket for the flip flops instead of putting them in the cubbies with the other shoes.

My scarf rack was the only part of the closet that was in order and didn't have to be organized or straightened. 

This mission took quite a while to finish, but I think I got rid of the "black hole"!



I have no business association with Lowe's or the products mentioned in this post; I just love organizing!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad