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Tag: Keeper of the Home
How To Properly Set a Table
I have been working on a Home Ec class for my kids. (Its printed and waiting to be bound and/or laminated.) One of the activities is setting the table. When I came across this post on my Facebook feed I felt I should share it as many of us do get confused and some of us really don’t care.
Baking Soda Drain Cleaner And Freshener
In my post about the wonky smell, I mentioned that I cleaned my kitchen drains with a baking soda and vinegar mixture. However, I have come to realize that some people don’t know how to do this. It’s really quite simple and I’ll explain it here. (I’ll try to take pics or maybe a video to post along with this the next time I do it.)
Not only is this easy it’s also a cheap way to clean and maintain your drains and garbage disposal. These ingredients are environmentally friendly as well. I have also used this method to clear drain clogs as well as toilet clogs.
We have also found that this helps a lot when we have gnats and/or fruit flies hanging around the kitchen! Continue reading “Baking Soda Drain Cleaner And Freshener”
What Is That Wonky Smell?
Oh my goodness! My kitchen smelled so funky yesterday…. ughhhh! I couldn’t locate where the smell was coming from as my smeller still isn’t working very well. But every so often I caught a whiff of something… and it was STINKY!Ever had that happen?
I tried to narrow down the area as the house is pretty small and definitely decided it was coming from the kitchen. Maybe it’s the bag of trash DD18 left inside? Out with the trash. Still there.
Maybe it’s the ripened bananas? None of them looked too terribly bad so I got rid of them by making Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (I will link to the recipe soon) and washed out the bowl. Nope, the smell was still there.
I cleaned out the dish drainer and wiped the counters. Still stinky.
Sighhhh…. next came the drain. I poured some baking soda, vinegar, and hot water down it. Still smelled stinky up in here. (Read about how I do this here.)
Then I noticed water in the floor. Uh oh! It was coming from the fridge. (I plan on doing a YouTube video soon on fixing that problem.) I cleaned that up but it wasn’t where the smell was coming from either.
By that time though my nose was definitely not working and I didn’t notice the smell anymore. No one else was saying anything so I thought maybe I had gotten to the source.
Nope. I had to rearrange some things under the kitchen sink this morning and the smell hit me again! It was a bit stronger, or maybe my nose was working better, this time. I checked under the sink for leaks or anything that could be the source with no luck!
Ok, I hate smelly things and this was driving me bonkers. I started in one corner of the kitchen and sniffed until I worked my way around to my ‘workstation’. Aha! The smell was way stronger but what oh what could it be?
That question in itself can be a scary thought with so many youngsters running around here. I tried to stay optimistic about finding it quickly.
After searching the bins behind the chair I found the culprit.
Yep, it was a rotten potato. 🤢 Normally I take them out of the plastic bag when I put them in the bin as that seems to help prevent this kind of smelly situation but no one is perfect and I forgot. Lesson learned…. until the next time.
Well, my kitchen has gotten a good cleaning through the process of elimination and I’ve gotten rid of the problem. Now to fire up the griddle and make some breakfast! 🥞 🥞
Hope you have a less stinky day!
Freezer Board
I think I mentioned here that I was planning to hang a dry erase board to keep track of where I had stored all of our refrigerated/frozen foods as we have 2 freezers and 2 refrigerators that we are currently using.
Well, I did manage to get the board hung up on Saturday but the sticky hooks weren’t strong enough and it soon fell down. Today I went to Walmart and picked up a couple of command hooks:
And a pack of small sawtooth hangers:
The plan was to attach the hangers to the back of the dry erase board and then use the hooks to hang it on the wall. First problem was getting those hangers attached because the nails were so darn tiny!
Then I remembered a trick I had seen somewhere before:
The picture is a little blurry but I used a comb to hold the nail in place so I could hammer it in without smashing my fingers.
Voila! A few minutes later I had them both attached.
Next was to place the hooks on the wall. I just eyeballed this… sometimes my OCD kicks in and I will spend a few hours measuring and checking the level but not this time.
I then used some alcohol to prep the area.
While I was in the bathroom grabbing the alcohol and cotton balls Mr. Coffee Connoisseur decided he would ‘fix’ himself a hot chocolate but luckily he can’t reach the power button. He insisted he was ‘just getting it ready’ so Momma could finish it.
We talked about how the new coffee maker was not a toy and then I told him we would all enjoy a nice hot chocolate after we finished this project.
Then I got the hooks ready:
The hooks came with three sticky pieces. Each side is labeled so it makes it pretty easy. (They also remove very easily, if needed.) Once the hooks were ready I put them on the wall:
Once the second one was attached I hung up the dry erase board:
I attached some sticky back velcro to the board and to my dry erase marker. (I thought about attaching the eraser too but I would probably use my finger anyway.)
And the board was complete. Well almost….
Mr. Coffee, who loves to practice writing his name, had added his own little touches to the board while I was attaching the hooks… never a dull moment here. Then I let my OCD have its way, just a little, when I rewrote the bottom half of the board.
I wrote the items in order as you can find them in the porch freezer. The other freezer is a chest freezer and it is fairly organized as well as the outside fridge.
Now the board is finished… I am still thinking of a catchy name for it other than ‘Freezer Board’ though. I am hoping this will be a handy addition to help with managing our grocery shopping and meal planning. This allows not only me but my oldest daughter to be able see what we have on hand, where to find it, and what we may need to get or add to the grocery list.
Mr. Coffee was happy to see it finished and he asked if he could write his name on it again but I explained to him that this was Momma’s board and reminded him that he has his own. Then we made some hot cocoa, (Momma had some Twinings Earl Grey tea) and had some powdered donuts for a snack. (A special little treat, Just Because.)
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