Tag: Keeper of the Home

Put your Meal Planning on Auto-Pilot with the Perpetual Meal Plan for Winter – FREE Printables! (Updated)

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog23 Comments

Yay! I did it… my first big project of the year. I actually finished the Meal Plan that I’ve been working on and I wanted to share it with you. I know it’s not perfect and I’m sure there will be some changes made to it but it’s a place to start and I’m happy with that. These were inspired by The Dinner Calendar written by Fannie Merritt Farmer in 1915 but they have some modern recipes, most of which can be found on the blog. I love that I can pull/print recipes one time and be able to use them again and again over the next few months! The kids are also working on a list of muffins, oatmeal, quick bread, cookie, and dessert recipes as an add-on to this meal plan.

Why plan for the week or month when you could plan for the years to come all at one time? We have been using this for a week or so now and it has helped tremendously! I’ve also been able to simplify my Cozi calendar by using this meal planner… so nice!

Continue reading “Put your Meal Planning on Auto-Pilot with the Perpetual Meal Plan for Winter – FREE Printables! (Updated)” →

DIY: Quick Counter Top Update

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

Check out what I did this weekend! Like and subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already done so!

**This post does contain affiliate links.

I’m absolutely loving this new counter top! It makes the whole kitchen seem different. The kids love it too and best of all it didn’t cost me a fortune to do it!

Here is the link to the VERY BERRY film I used:

http://amzn.to/2FyC2pJ

And here is a link to Grove Collaborative just in case you might want to grab some of their Holiday Collection. Just copy and paste:

https://www.grove.co/referrer/1771585/

I really love the Iowa Pine Scented all purpose cleaner, the Peppermint Hand Soap, and the Orange Clove Dish Soap we’ve been using. They make the whole house smell fresh and clean!

Please like, comment, share, and subscribe for more videos.

How To Properly Set a Table

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

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.

Continue reading “How To Properly Set a Table” →

Baking Soda Drain Cleaner And Freshener

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

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?

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

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!