WFMW: Cleaning Stainless Steel Pots

It has been a while since I did a Works-for-me Wednesday post. I am glad to get back into it.

A few months ago, we got rid of all of our non-stick cookware and bought a set of beautiful, Martha Stewart stainless steel pots and pans from Macy's.

Cooking with stainless steel is much different from cooking with non-stick, which is what I have always used, but now that I am used to it, I love it. LOVE it.

The think I didn't love was the clean up, until I learned this trick.

When you finish cooking something that is stuck to the bottom, add some hot water to the pot (or pan) and put it back on the warm burner, or of your burner has long since cooled down, put it on low-medium, just to warm it up a bit.

Scrape the bottom with a spoon - not hard - and the stuff should peel right off. (If not, heat a bit longer.)

Now that my stainless steel is so easy to clean, I will never go back to non-stick.

This is not professional advice, but it works for me!

For more Works-for-Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Quick, What's for Dinner?

This week's Works-for-me Wednesday was all about quick fixes for dinner.

We've all had days like this (if you haven't, then really, I don't want to hear about it): The day has been crazy, kids have too much homework, you have a sinus headache, laundry is piled high, you've been too busy to get to the store, 5:15 rolls around, and your in-home cook hasn't shown up yet.

That's when you remember that you don't have an in-home cook, and feeding that rag-tag bunch is somehow your responsibility.

[...]

What are the catch-all, quick-and-easy-dinners-that-still-manage-to-taste-decent that you keep on hand?

Now, I did not participate this week because I couldn't think of a recipe to share.

I am usually pretty good at sticking to my menu plan.

I am also pretty good at avoiding hectic days. When I know we have a lot going on, I try to pre-plan a crock pot meal or sandwiches.

Occasionally, I do find that I am not feeling well, or the kids are extra wild, the house is extra messy, and I am extra overwhelmed.

When that happens to me, I just throw in the chicken nuggets and frozen fries that I keep on hand. For Bob and I, I put the chicken nuggets on salads.

Which reminds me, for a quick Honey-Mustard Dressing in a pinch, or just because it is easy and yummy, just mix equal-ish parts of spicy brown mustard (deli mustard, or whatever you have), mayonnaise, and honey.

Finally, a good use for those Costco-sized jugs of honey I buy.

At any rate, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer, where you will find all of the links to the recipes that will save that hectic day from dinner-time disaster.

WFMW - Blogger in Draft

I just discovered a fun new way to play with Blogger - Blogger in Draft.

Blogger in draft is a special version of Blogger where we try out new features before we release them to everyone. Come in and see what we're up to!

Go check it out at draft.blogger.com. You log into your dashboard there and you can access the new features, such as a search box like the one on the sidebar of my blog.

You can find out more at the Blogger in Draft blog.

For more Works-for-me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer!

Works-for-Me Wednesday:Whose Pillow?

I don't know if you have this problem, but my husband and I often get our pillows mixed up. The kids come in our room to watch Reading Rainbow in the afternoon, and for some reason they switch our pillows.

The differences between the two pillows are so subtle that we often can't tell whose is whose, but they are significant enough that if I sleep on his pillow, I have a back ache the next day and if he sleeps on mine, he has a sore neck.

This was starting to become a problem. Fortunately, around the same time, I decided to pick up embroidery. So, I decided to embroider a "C" on the edge of my pillow case. Now we always know whose is whose.

And that works for me.

(I apologize for the blurry picture. I know it is tough on the eyes, but I really wanted a picture and my batteries died before I could get a clear shot. You understand.)

Check out other Works-for-Me Wednesday tips over at Rocks in My Dryer.

Time to Blog

I wanted to start getting at least a post a day up on this blog, but I have not been getting up early enough in the morning to post. Like a diligent little blogger, I stayed up for a few minutes last night to get my Works-for-me Wednesday post done, so I could just publish it this morning.

Much to my shock and dismay, it's Backwards Day! How did I miss that? That's where people ask a question instead of giving a tip. On the bright side, I have my WFMW post for next week all done. On the down side, I have no post for today.

Or do I?

Hey, blogging mamas (and papas, and other blogger, too), how do you make time to blog?

While you're at it, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer and help out some other bloggers at Works-for-me Wednesday Backwards Day.

WFMW: Trick-or-Treating Alternative

Hey there blog fans, it's time for another Works-for-Me Wednesday.

Today, as you know, is Halloween. This year we decided to not do Halloween, but since the kids have in the past, they were not too pleased about it.

What worked for me was to instead let them pick out a family movie for us to watch in lieu of Trick-or-Treating. I also bought a bunch of candy and made them individual candy sacks (brown paper lunch bags - decorated if you feel up to it) to enjoy during the movie.

As an added bonus, tomorrow morning, we will go raid the costume left-overs at the stores to see if we can find anything good to add to our costume bin. (It's like a dress-up bin, but boys don't use that word!)

So, if you don't want to do Halloween some year, try this and your kids might not mind at all.

For more super, awesome Works-for-Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer!

WFMW: Backwards Day

Today is Backwards Day at Works-for-me Wednesday, where people ask for tips instead of offering them.

Well, I have a question.

(Read full post)

I was thinking about this the other day in the bathroom. I don't mean to give too much information, it's just that the bathroom is where I do all of my thinking because, well, it's the only quiet place in the whole house.

Anyway, I was thinking that this was a great idea, the Backwards Day, but I couldn't think of anything that I haven't otherwise been able to find solutions for on the all-knowing internets.

Then it hit me. I mean really hit me. That smell that I cannot seem to keep out of my bathroom for more than 5 minutes. Pee. More specifically, little boy pee.

I don't have a problem with how to clean it up and get the smell out. The problem is that the next time I come in, someone before me came in and peed again. It never ends!

Funny side story...The other day we bought pet mice and when I asked the pet store guy if there was a difference between the males and females, as far as having them for pets, he said, "Get the females. The boys pee all over everything."

All I could do was laugh and say, "Yeah, tell me about it."

So I ask, dear readers and fellow WFMWers, how on earth do you stop little boys from dribbling - and sometimes even full streaming - their pee all over the toilet?

I really need to know.

Then, of course, head on over to Shannon's and help out some other desperate moms in need of advice.

Don't Forget WFMW

I didn't have time to do a Works-For-Me Wednesday post this week, but I wanted to link to it anyway. As of this posting there are 162 bloggers sharing tips over at Rocks In My Dryer. Stop over and take a look.

WFMW: Cleaning the Toilet, Naturally

I often talk about using natural products. One thing that I always have a tough time cleaning naturally is the toilet. It is such a nasty, germy place and it never seems clean enough. (And when it is, one of my little boys comes along and makes sure that it doesn't stay that way for long. How hard can it possibly be to aim it in the bowl?)

Unfortunately for me, or perhaps fortunately, I cannot go back to my strong chemical cleaners because they will trigger a migraine. I am stuck using natural methods.

Recently, I started using baking soda and vinegar. The problem is that the toilet never seems clean enough.

Then I figured out a trick.

When I go to clean the toilet, I turn off the incoming water and flush. This way the bowl is pretty much empty. Then, I sprinkle about a half cup of baking soda all around inside. Next, I pour over the baking soda some white vinegar (1/4 -1/2 cup). (The kids love to watch this part because it gets all fizzy.) I scrub it all over with my toilet brush, turn the water back on, and flush (after the tank fills).

I have found that without the water in there to dilute the baking soda and vinegar mixture, the bowl comes out sparkling clean!

Bonus tip: I buy a 12 lb. bag of baking soda at Costco and keep it under the bathroom sink for all of my cleaning needs. Straight up baking soda works great for cleaning the tub.

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Shannon's place - Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Google Reader

Do you use a feed reader for blogs? I never did, but then I started cutting down on internet time and I needed to streamline my blog-reading process. There are a handful of blogs that I love to keep on top of because they always keep me in the know.

I tried a couple of different feed readers, but I love - LOVE - Google Reader.

I find the layout really easy on the eyes. Plus, I can organize my feeds into folders because I follow political blogs, frugality/finance blogs, and homeschool blogs, and I am not always in the mood to read all of them at the same time.

In Google Reader, the title of the post is a clickable link to that post on the blog itself. And the title of the blog is a clickable link to the blog's main page, if you need to go there.

There is also a great feature, which I just discovered. You can "share" the feeds you liked and then create a blog post from your shared links.

I just did one as an example with some posts from my blog. Let's see how it looks:




You can customize the color, title, and a couple other things, too.

Blog reading made better!

For more Works-for-me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW: The Brand Name Edition

This week, Works-for-Me Wednesday is a theme edition. What brand names are worth the extra money?

I almost always buy the generic brand or whatever is on sale. I have very little brand loyalty. However, there are some exceptions. Isn't there always?

The first is milk. I have always been an rBST-free kind of gal, even before it was the new big thing. I have always bought Hood Milk because it was always the least expensive of the rBST-free milks.

Plus, come on, it has a light-block bottle for better taste! (Seriously, I have no idea if that does anything at all.)

Just yesterday, I went to the store - the store that usually has the cheapest milk - and Hood is over 4-bucks a gallon! I was not happy. It just so happens that the same store - Hannaford - now has rBST-free store brand milk for .20/gal less than Hood.

I now seriously question that brand loyalty.

One brand I do not question my loyalty to is Cabot Cheese. It's made in Vermont. Enough said. Oh yeah, and it tastes so good! It's creamy, not crumbly. It's award winning. I have tried other brands and there is no comparison. It is also pretty affordable. (But maybe that is just here because it doesn't have to go far.)

King Arthur Flour. Again, made here. (See a theme?) It is also non-bleached and never bromated. It's good flour. I buy a 25 lb. bag every month at Costco.

They have so many varieties. They have a white whole wheat, for people like me who need to be acclimated to whole wheat.

And their recipe for classic white sandwich bread is to die for. A staple in our home. It's also good made with half wheat flour.

Ritz Crackers. We all hate the store brand. Ritz rules! Plus, I can get them at Costco, so they are not really any more than the store brand. Peanut butter and crackers is a must-have staple in this house.

Oh yeah, peanut butter. We hate the store brand. Even the kids can taste the difference. I really have no preference between Jif and Skippy, but I buy Skippy because they sell it at - you guessed it - Costco.

It's funny that I came up with so many products because all I could think of when Shannon first announced this theme was the natural products we use.

When we first went natural on cleaners and soaps, I tried every natural dishwasher soap I could find and they all were terrible. Then I payed the extra few cents for Seventh Generation and I love it. It works so well! The dishes come out clean and, best of all, no migraines! Oh, and no phosphorous goes into the lake. If you're into that sort of thing.

I also use Seventh Generation laundry soap and household cleaner spray. The spray is great for mirrors and windows. There is no smell at all! (Unlike Windex, which gives me an awful migraine if I just walk into a room where it was used.)

And did I mention they are local? Not just in VT, like Cabot and King Arthur, but actually within walking distance from my home.

I can't leave without mentioning my buddy Burt's Bees. I started buying the lip shimmer because my husband would not kiss me with lip gloss on because of the taste. Since he wore Burt's Bees lip balm, I thought, what the heck? I'll try it.

I love it!

In fact, the store was out once, so I tried another brand of natural, minty lip gloss - eeew! Not as good as Burt's.

I also buy their face powder and face cream.

Last, but not least, for my hair, I buy Nature's Gate. The shampoo and conditioner (jojoba) and the hair gel, it works great for keeping my curl from turning to frizz, without the crunchy-stickiness!

For more brand-loyalty WFMW posts, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer!

WFMW: Kitchen Shears

I love my kitchen shears! I mean love them. I use them all of the time. In fact, I don't know if I could live - or at least cook - without them.

I thought everyone felt the same way, but then my sister-in-law heard me raving about the many uses of kitchen shears and asked, "What are kitchen shears?" (Gasp!!)

When I explained that they are the scissors that usually come in a knife set, she replied, "Oh, I thought those were just scissors."

Just scissors!

As I was cutting up boneless chicken breast with my kitchen shears, I decided to abandon my previously scheduled WFMW post in order to extol the virtues of kitchen shears, just in case there are others who, like my sister-in-law, are missing out on this handy kitchen tool.

Kitchen shears make food preparation a snap. They can be used for cutting up meat, such as chicken or sausage. I hate cutting meat, but the shears make it so quick and easy.

Kitchen shears are also great for cutting up vegetables and herbs. I love to use them to snip chives or scallions.

They are also great for cutting up dough for rolls.

There is really no end to what you can use them for, once you get going.

The shears are also great for those impossible-to-open plastic plastic packages that toys and electronics come in. They cut through anything!

As you can tell, I really do love my kitchen shears. I hope that once you start using them, you will too!

Be sure to head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-me Wednesday tips!

WFMW: Sixty-Minute Rolls

Have you ever planned on making homemade rolls to go with dinner, but you get home late, or some other calamity keeps you from getting the dough made in time?

That happens to me all of the time.

And when we are at the end of our grocery budget, sometimes the rolls are the only good thing about dinner. Or at least, they make a ho-hum dinner into something wonderful.

Well, I found a solution for that problem: Sixty-minute Rolls. From mix to eat these homemade yeast rolls take only 60 minutes, instead of the usual 2-3 hours.

This recipe is written for a KitchenAid stand mixer, but if you make your dough by hand, you just mix and knead as you usually would.

Sixty-Minute Rolls

1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a small sauce pan and heat until butter just begins to melt. Stir to melt butter and dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in warmed mixer bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Add the milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups of flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer and mix on Speed 2 for 1 minute.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, continuing on Speed 2, and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl.

Knead on Speed 2 for 2 more minutes. Dough will be smooth and elastic, and slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl and allow to rise, covered, in warm, draft-free place for 15 minutes.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape as desired into 24 rolls. (Suggestion: roll into balls and place in greased muffin cups. Optionally: Cut the tops in half, then quarters, to make a criss-cross pattern on the top.)

Cover and let rise for 15 minutes in a slightly warmed oven. (Tip: Set the oven to 400-degrees and set a timer for 1 minute. Shut off oven when timer goes off and it will be the perfect temp for rising dough.)

Bake at 425-degrees for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Be sure to head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips.

Parenting Advice

I didn't do a "Works-for-Me Wednesday" post this week because I forgot that it was a parenting advice theme, so I wasn't prepared.

Okay, actually, it's because I am a lousy parent and I have no advice. You caught me.

Be sure to head over to Rocks in My Dryer and check out the WFMW: Parenting advice Edition to read what others had to say.

Works For Me: E-Mail Folders

My tip, for my first Works For Me Wednesday ever, is about managing e-mail. I always have a bunch of junk in my inbox and it can get pretty overwhelming.

The first thing I do is use the filters available in my e-mail program. Incoming mail that comes from a source I know (such as Blogger comments) or on a certain topic (such as education) goes into designated folders on arrival, one for each. This makes it easier for me to find things that are important.

Another thing that I find really helpful is to have a "Read Me" folder. When I go through my inbox, I mark all of the messages I want to read and move them into the "Read Me" folder. This makes it easier to delete everything else in the inbox, and the things I want to read are in an easy to find place when I have the time to read them.

For more Works-For-Me Wednesday tips, check out the links over at Rocks In My Dryer.