Day to Day Adventure: 4/10/11 - 4/17/11

Monday, April 11, 2011

Spring has Sprung!

I am seeing the evidence that winter has lost it’s hold!  Now I am not ready to go to the pool but I do believe that spring has arrived!  Here is what I’ve seen over the last couple of days.

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1.  I keep thinking about what I can plant in my garden—haven’t tilled it yet though

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2.  Daffodil’s are in full bloom(hmmm need to rake around them)

3.  Boxes of clothes are everywhere because it isn’t warm enough to completely put away the winter stuff—arg!

4.  The grass is SO green.

5.  I hung out my laundry for the first time this year.

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6.  We are reaching the last 1/3 of our books for school!  Oh yeah!

7.  Bible Quizzing Nationals is almost here.

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8.  I have gotten to go on 2 walks in the last week at the park.

9.  On Sunday I was in a skirt instead of pants(I hate being cold)

10.  My sandals have come out from the back of the closet.

All these things are making me super thankful for the warmer temperatures & sunshine.

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Clogging Lessons & Crockpot Mexican Chicken

On Thursdays, the kids have been taking clogging lessons. 

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It is great for developing coordination and is a good work out too!  I haven’t been able to join them because of my hip pain & surgery.  But now that I am recovered it is time to try something new!  The only problem is that when I get home I am SO tired from the lesson that I don’t want to fix supper.

So my answer to this problem is to get out my crockpot!  She works so well to feed my family!  Last week we tried a new recipe & it is a keeper!  So next time you need a simple meal that is filling & ready to go when you walk in the door make this one or check out some of my favorite crockpot recipes!

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Crockpot Mexican Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in to strips

2 T flour

2 T taco seasoning mix, homemade or store packet

1 green & 1 red pepper(or any color you have)

1 cup frozen corn, or 1 can corn, drained

2 cups salsa

Pour 1 cup salsa in the bottom of a medium crockpot.  Mix flour & taco seasoning.  Coat each strip with flour mixture.  Place each chicken strip in crockpot, and add the peppers and corn.  Top with remaining salsa.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Feeds 6-8 people.  We love to have this over brown rice with chips & sour cream.  You could also add beans &/or shredded cheese to stretch it further.

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Banish the Sour Smell in the Washer!

I am so excited about this money saving tip!  Last fall my old washer just quit so we needed a new one and the debate was top loading or front loading.  Either way we were going to be saving some money on a newer more energy efficient model.  We went with a Kenmore front load. 

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It was a good switch.  Our clothes come out so much dryer!  That means that they dry faster which is awesome for the electric bill from the dryer.  I am finding they are done in a flash when I hang them outside!

The one thing that my hubby was really worried about was the smell that can occur in the washer.  It happens when the small amount of water that is left in the washer sours if the door is shut after a cycle. 

It is a super tight seal so the water cannot evaporate.  We have been making sure to leave the washer door open after each cycle and even drying off the plastic around the opening to avoid this.  I haven’t been able to detect any smell but dear hubby has on a couple of occasions.

We bought the recommended cleaning tablets & ran a cleansing cycle but it seemed to come back.  Nothing too bad but bothersome to all involved and we certainly didn’t want it to get worse!

A friend(that is where I get my best tips!) and I were talking about homemade laundry soap and she made the random comment that she used vinegar in her washer.  I of course asked why because that seemed a curious thing to do!  I love vinegar for hard water deposits but laundry?  She said Oh I do that to keep that musty smell away.  Voila!  Problem solved.

Since then I have been testing using the vinegar in my washer and it WORKED!  The smell in the washer is completely gone

Here is what I do.  I fill the soap as normal and then I fill the bleach spot with vinegar.  It isn’t much just a few tablespoons!

I also did some research on vinegar in a front load washer.  Go here if you want to read the whole thing.

Highlights

  • Vinegar in the last rinse(put it in the softener spot) will remove the detergent &  restores absorbability to towels.
  • There is no vinegar smell everything just smells fresh and clean.  No perfume smell
  • Vinegar whitens whites with out the harshness of bleach so your clothes will last longer(oh yeah!)
  • Whites will not turn yellow with vinegar!
  • Softens mineral deposits
  • Softens clothing allowing the detergent to work better so you can use less detergent(less $—AWESOME!)
  • Removes odors from clothes.
  • Harm the environment or fibers in material

I hope this helps someone else avoid stinky laundry!  If you are under piles & piles check out last weeks post on Keeping Up with Mount Washmore!

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