CLEANING OUT YOUR FRIDGE

 If you are like me, you hate to throw away leftovers from your meals. I usually put them in a container with a lid. In a few days, weeks, months (?) you are looking for a quick snack or an extra something to add to your meal. Then, you remember those leftover green beans or fruit salad in your refrigerator. Ah, there they are. Hmmm, how long have they been there? My mantra-"When in doubt, throw it out."

How much good food do you throw out because you have no idea how long it has been in the fridge? My answer: I started dating the container. 

I keep some masking tape in a drawer by the fridge.

When I pack up my leftovers, I put a strip of tape* on it and add the date. 

*Extra tip: Turn the end of the masking tape down to make a tab. Then, you have a tab on the container that is easy to pull off when I use the food. Be sure and turn the tape under after you tear off the strip for your container. 

Happy Eating Leftovers!

Since I purchased my first microfiber cloth five years ago, I can't clean without one in my hand!  I clean the bathroom fixtures, my glass stove top, my golf clubs, my kitchen counters!  If they are not on your radar, they need to be.  Then, you can't clean without one. I even keep them in my car.


The best part: they are inexpensive. You can find them at the Dollar Tree, Walmart, and your grocery store.

I have one now that I use to dry my hair after I was it. My daughter had one and I wanted it. She gave me one for 
Christmas. It was an Aquis super absorbent towel.

Look for them;
try them;
love them.

Fly Lady Fly

A few months ago I was complaining to a friend that I didn't have/make time to do the things I wanted to do, because there was always a chore that got in the way. She recommended I check with 'Fly Lady'. 

This is the Lady!

I did and was so glad. She gave me a daily guide line and time line to get me through my chores so I could play. I admit that it took me a few days to get my rhythm, but I stuck with it. It is now a habit. I check with 'Fly Lady' each morning to see where I am to go and then just do it! Then, I go in my 'room' and work on a quilt, a painting, or a blog entry. Thanks 'Fly Lady'.

My tip: Check her out at this link Flylady.net

             Hope she works for you, too!

TINY TIDBIT FOR TODAY - Pruning Plants

February
Time to cut ornamental grasses to the ground and prune Crape Myrtles (not too severely). 

Always prune roses on the 22nd, George Washington's birthday.

Sponges

There germs lurking everywhere in your kitchen.  Some studies...no, I don't know which ones...show that there are more bacteria in your kitchen than in your bathroom? Some of them are in your sponges.  






I  begin the war against germs in my kitchen with my sponges. I put them in the dishwasher every time I run it...and I put them in a 'rag' box when they start to look grungy.

Tiny Tidbit for Today - Sharpening Garbage Disposal Blades

Sharpen the blades in your disposal
by running ice cubes through it.
Have a great day! Esmee

Plastic Grocery Bags

Make good waste basket liners.
I keep a supply in the bottom of the basket.

Tip: Get a Stool

If you are 'height challenged'-like me-

 get a stool.  

I got mine in a great green color at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $13. 





I have now seen them at Big Lots* and Walmart* in black for $8 to $10. I like my green one and I'm sticking with it.  

*When I went to their web sites, I really didn't see any comparables...but I did see them in the stores near me.

Sponge it!

Every time I run my dishwasher I throw in my dish sponges and brushes.  (Tip within the Tip: Be sure and lodge it it in between dishes really good to keep it from flying around in the dishwasher.) 

Gets and keeps them clean.  




I also keep a supply. When they get "yucky"*, I throw them into the "use on 'yucky' projects" box.  After that, I pitch them.  Sponges are noted for harboring bacteria.  Keep them clean or throw them out.

I discovered this cleaning product when visiting friends in Illinois..."dish scrub".  There are several manufacturers. Your local grocery probably carries one of them on the kitchen supply aisle along with the brooms and mops. It is very inexpensive and has refills.  When that sponge gets "yucky", I just throw it out and put on a new one.


What we do without it?  We use it to clean our dishes before we put them in the dishwasher! I know "they" say the dishwasher needs dirt to help with the cleaning process.  I have not found that to be true.  Maybe I just have an old dishwasher.  Also, there are just two of us so we only run it when it gets full not every day...maybe every other day. 




*"yucky" is a very technical term...meaning it is so gross; it is not described by any other term.

My Approach to "Ironing"...do you still iron? Tip:011701

My thought is:  If you can avoid it, do so.  I adhere to ironing on an "as needed basis".  My ironing sessions used to be for an hour or so every week.  I ironed while I watched TV.  Then, I stopped watching TV so what to do about ironing.  That is when I had my "aha" moment.  I will iron as needed.

Let me suppose that I continued my "ironing sessions".  I would have a closet full of ironed clothes.  And... what if, "my time to go" was tomorrow?  I would have a closet full of ironed clothes.  You see...I wasted two hours. That is my ironing philosophy and I am sticking to it.

Recently a group of us were visiting.  For some reason the subject of ironing came up.  Most of  us agreed with me.  I think there was one hold out.  She used ironing as a therapy.  She could lose herself in the process.  Frankly, I think I would find another process in which to lose myself.  Another of us didn't believe in ironing at all.  She told her two boys that if they insisted on buying cotton shirts that has to be ironed, then they would be the ones ironing.  (It worked. Can you believe it; they learned to iron?)

I have noticed in the last several years that a lot of people subscribe to the "no ironing" philosophy.  They adhere to their belief with so much vigor that the pendulum swings the other way.  I think they actually wad their clothes up so that they looked "unironed"*).  Now you can even buy clothes that come with the "unironed" look.  There was a time when the only thing that looked "unironed" after you had it on for ten minutes was linen.  


Remember when:
Blue jeans used to go to the cleaners to be washed, starched and ironed with a perfect crease.
We sprinkled clothes, put them in a pillow case and in the refrigerator.
Your mother ironed the sheets and pillow cases.

When irons looked like these 










What do you remember about ironing?  Comments welcome!


* Is that a southern word? My spell checker does not like it.