Tip for the Day!

Another one from Real Simple!! To get those cobwebs on the ceiling or to dust crown molding, rubberband a rag on the head of a broom. (They suggest a microfiber one.) I've already got one of those loopy duster things, but when I've got the pad off to be washed, not a bad stand by when Dan squishes a spider with said broom and leaves guts all over. Us short people need all the reaching help we can get!

Tip for the Day!

Again, from the Real Simple emails I get. (These can have neat tips in them.)

To polish chrome, use baby oil! I don't know about all you moms out there, but invariably you get at least 1 bottle of baby oil from your baby shower. I don't know about you, but they've always sat in the back of my linen closet. Now, I've got a use for them!

Guacamole

Until recently, I have never had guacamole. It's green and smooshy and veggies and green. (Yes, I'm a big baby about eating veggies. My children ask for spinach and cauliflower. I dread putting peas in soup!) I just never wanted to eat guacamole. Then, we had those loaded nacho things that Taco Bell had for awhile. My god, those were awesome! Dan made me try the guacamole, and I was hooked. (He always makes me try things, damn him. I have always hated pickles and Swiss cheese. Guess what I have to have on my hamburgers now and what my fav kind of grilled cheese is?) Anyway, I bought some at the store the other day for the taco salad we had last night. Yummy. That was lunch today. Chips and guacamole. (Hey, I already said I'm a bad example for eating! That was a chaser for my breakfast of the last slice of that chocolate cake!)

Green things, yicky. Broccoli, peas, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, spinach...yuck! I can eat spinach in quiche. I can eat broccoli and peas in stuff like pasta primavera or chicken pot pie, or broccoli and cheese soup. Mmmmm...broccoli and cheese soup. Must put that on the menu for next week! BTW, if you want to get your grocery bill down, start making a weekly menu before you go shopping! Better yet, use your sales circulars and / or coupons to base your menu from. I can usually get a week's worth of groceries for us for $70-80.

A Tip For Valentine's Day!!

Here is a tip I got today in my Gooseberry Patch email:

Dip the rim of a dessert glass in melted chocolate and immediately coat the chocolate with chopped nuts; refrigerate until firm. When it's time to serve dessert, add a big scoop of ice cream.

I'm going to try this on Valentine's Day!! After we get the kiddos in bed, I'm going to make filet mignon (bacon wrapped for Dan), red potatoes, some sort of veggie (haven't decided yet), probably a salad, and a Chocolate Raspberry cake I got the recipe for in the Feb/Mar issue of "Taste of Home." I'll be serving the cake with some Raspberry Rumble ice cream from Schwan's. And of course, we will have wine with our meal. I think this neat little idea will make the dessert very special!

Tip for the Day!

I got my Real Simple email today, and I thought I'd share this little tip for any of you who might not get their emails!

To clean your dishwasher, put 1 packet of Lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works) in your dry detergent dispenser and run the dishwasher empty. It will remove stains and hard water deposit build ups. I'm going to try this! I had bought some of the special dishwasher cleaner from Jet-Dry, and it was probably close to $4, and I didn't think it worked all that well. Even if this doesn't work the greatest, it's only a few cents instead of dollars!

And for an update on the yarnin': I finished my first Hedgerow sock Monday night! I'm ready to start working the heel flap on Ari's second sock, too. (I worked on that yesterday because I feel bad I abandoned her socks to do mine!)