Quick Tips on Cleaners

It's no big big deal, I guess, but I do wish I knew when I was younger......... Now, 'need to give credit to MY Grannie.  From my Grannie, I learned that a plenty fine GLASS CLEANER is white vinegar as the liquid, and yes it's true:  NEWSPAPER as the towel.  Newspaper is almost a novelty now, so I will let you go figure on that one, but I will add that in recent years, I have learned that for cleaning the surface of my counter and painted wooded table, a MIXTURE of white vinegar and water works (instead of the some of the leading surface cleaners, which should be out of the reach of children................).  I probably use the mixture about 50%/50%.  Honestly, I might do it more like 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water.  If it works, it works, and you don't have to worry about dangerous chemicals, and it is ECONOMICAL.

The thing my Grannie did not teach me, which I have learned along the way, is that hydrogen peroxide works super good as a spray cleaner as well !!  In the bathroom, I spray it on the mirror and wipe with a clean washcloth (no wasted paper towel), it makes a fabulous fresh clean eye glass cleaner.

See how clear my glasses are !!

OK, next quick tip is BAKING SODA, is cheap and non-toxic, and makes a GREAT surface cleaner for the tough jobs.  All I used was baking soda, and here is my kitchen sink before, during, and after:

Honestly, bleach or vinegar would get every-bit of the dingy color out, and I do that occasionally, but for common cleaning, baking soda does wonders, and you need to know because it is cheap and non-toxic.  Happy cleaning gals!

By the way, there is no shame in being the "cleaner" of the home.  I get really sick of people making a big awful deal about gender specific roles.  I said "gals" here because I imagine that is the audience that would most often be my reader. Period.  Personally, I am HAPPY to get to do traditionally female roles even though I have contributed fairly in EVERY realm of domestic life (financially as well) and when something fleshly like selfishness, lust, covetousness, or greed, has snuck in to my being and made me resentful or angry when I compare what I do vs what my husband does, or what I contribute vs what my husband contributes, then our relationship got messy and peace was disturbed.

I lean heavily on the Lord and most of the time I am just happy for what is done, accomplished, or contributed my whoever....and more funny stories about that, later.  Be looking for more please, and maybe see more where I am cultivating my  Grandma Mary Martha blog.

Gettin' My Green on............ and other Healthy food to go....

Here is what we have had for lunch lately.  If only I didn't bomb my intake in the evenings.  Mornings and lunch, I do pretty well.  It is in the evenings, after workday, that I make my  monumental menu mistakes (let's not discuss that here now.)

 To the left was my lunch:carrots, celery, green onions, yellow pepper, sunflower seeds, and dressing not pictured.............
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Below, is my daughter's lunch.  She has carrots, apple, sunflower seeds, Ranch dressing, and because "she likes it, and she CAN,"  (I can't), she also gets two slices of cheese.

This is how I enjoyed mine:

Dip veggie in dressing, and then sunflower seeds........... Apples for dessert!

Below, are another day:

Another day, I had roast beef wrap with side of carrots and apple. I enjoyed this very much!  (Like my Grannie S. said, "Waste not. Want not."  I don't peel my carrots, I scrub them instead. Peels are wasted if just trashed.)

You can put whatever meat and veggies that you want in your wrap bread or tortilla.  I did a thin layer of roast beef slices, then green onion and ranch dressing.  It was yummy yummy for ME.  The peanut butter apple slices was for a stashed snack at work.  I haven't eaten it yet. It's a classic ya'll !

Now above was an interesting school lunch:

To the left was my daughter's.  She had apple slices, a wrap with nothing in it but a smearing of cream cheese, and the mystery ingredient is HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS.  My lunch was carrot, green onion, celery and boiled egg.  

The price advantage of these choices should not me missed.  A large reason why we do it:

Eating lunch out (or in our case "at school," or from delivery restaurant) costs from $4 to $10.  The lunches we packed, probably cost around $2 each!!  The savings adds up, and is appreciated here, and the nutrition is wholesome and wise.

A Secret from my Beloved Grannie, and More Great Simple Food

Pure nutrition served here !!  (and maybe a little butter and sugar😄)

Thought this was worth sharing:  Folks, you need to know, something that I learned from my grannie.  You can make your own breakfast sausage and have more control of the content (restrict fats, and meat cuts).  I do this with lean ground turkey, or beef.  Just add olive oil if the cooked meat is too dry because it is low fat......... Add salt and pepper as you usually would, and secret ingredient, SAGE, and walaa you have yummy sausage.  Here is one of my daughter's favorite healthy breakfasts and it is not expensive.  (Convenience foods are expensive.  Cooking from basic whole foods- not processed foods, is affordable and better for you !)

steel cut oats, cooked with butter and sugar added

The way we like it !!  Way better for us than some of the processed or more sugary alternatives!

Another healthy simple, non-processed dish here = economical.  I can still eat it when I have a part-time income !!

 The crockpot is the perfect way to cook squash, and many other foods.  I honestly don't recall anyone in my family cooking hard skinned squash, growing up.  Somewhere along the line, I discovered that the uncooked veggies and their skins that are so so tough........ just cook it/them washed and whole in the crockpot and then they are tender and SUPER EASY.  I actually find that cooking hard veggies this way, reduces need to butter or oil.  Butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes cooked like this, are moist and tender.

 I add just a little butter, drizzle of honey, and often walnuts and in this case cranberries, and it is a Mama and me please-er.  (My mom is a squash and sweet potato fan, like I am.)

No, I don't only eat brown stuff.  I am definitely gettin' some green in this blog soon!  Also, I am gonna go listen more this             savvy mama.

Thanks for stopping by, and I wish YOU some healthy, simple cookin'.