Cream of Tartar on Stainless Steel

I've tried quite a few different things to try to clean the outside of my dirty old toaster oven and nothing ever seemed to cut it. There were always streaks and finger prints left behind. So I found an idea on Pinterest for using Cream of Tartar to clean stainless steel claiming to make my appliances look brand new so I had to give it a try. 

All you have to do is mix 1 tbsp. of Cream of Tartar with a few drops of water. Rub the mixture onto your appliance with a sponge and wipe clean with a damp paper towel.  Easy as that. 

Here are some before and after shots for you to take a look at:

You can definitely tell a difference. I didn't have the "It looks brand new again!" experience that I was hoping for, but it is a whole heck of a lot better than it was before. Turns out Kim from Tales + Tips (where I got the idea) discovered that Bar Keepers Friend is an easier and cheaper solution than using Cream of Tartar. I have also read recently on The Manly Housekeeper that Mark used Bar Keepers Friend to clean the anti-slip grips on the bottom of his tub with amazing results. Sounds like I'm going to have to give this stuff a try and report back. Stay tuned!

Please disregard how dirty the INSIDE of my toaster oven is. 

That's up there on my list, don't worry.  :0)

All-natural bathtub cleaner

Alright, guys. Here it is. I found my new favorite way to clean my bathtub. You're going to read it and think I've lost my mind, but it's seriously awesome. It's so different that, dare I say it, it makes cleaning my tub fun! Well, for me at least. And it doesn't get more kid friendly than this. I would trust my 2 1/2 year old to use this! I found this recipe amidst many other green cleaning recipes here. I'm definitely going to try a few others, but I couldn't wait to share this with you guys. 

Tub Cleaner

1/2 grapefruit

1/4 cup kosher salt

Cover your grapefruit half with some of the salt and scrub your tub. I continually added more salt as I needed more scrubbing power.

My tub was REALLY bad so I had to use the whole grapefruit, but it worked so well and I'm sure on a tub that gets cleaned regularly, half a grapefruit would work just fine. Completely destroyed the water ring and hard water build-up! And does anyone else hate having to rub your hand along the sides of your dirty tub searching for any foreign texture just to make sure you got it all? This may sound gross, but I liked how it kind of tinted the dirty parts so I didn't miss anything and I didn't have to feel for anything grody. I think my favorite part was that it left my whole bathroom smelling so citrusy clean. 

So there you have it! An awesome, all-natural, super kid-friendly, green cleaning recipe for your tub. Try it out and let me know how it works for you. Or better yet, let your kids do it. :0)

Family, Home, and Me with Chrissy

Chrissy of We're "Gavin'" Fun is up next for our FHandM series. I miss this girl SO much! She moved away a long time ago and I am the epitome of the phrase "out of sight, out of mind." I definitely haven't kept in touch like I should, but she is the sweetest person. One of those drop-anything-at-a-moments-notice-to-help-you-out kind of girls. And she's got 2 children 10 months apart. That's one busy mama! Take it away, Chrissy! 

I met Kensie in Provo, Utah. We were neighbors and part of the same church congregation. My family and I have since moved to Las Vegas, NV. I love crafty stuff, being social, reading books, sewing, singing, and really I just like doing a lot of different things! Kensie asked me to share a few things that help me in my life with my home, my family, and myself! Here goes…

I love to do craft projects with my kids. This was the most recent one I did with my cute little daughter, Savvy. We love how they turned out!

I got both shirts at Walmart (believe it or not : ) ) and bought fabric paint. Make sure you buy the regular fabric paint and not the puffy kind. I made stencils of the images we wanted to use and just mixed a black paint with a white paint. The picture makes them look really black but they are actually a dark grey. We sponge painted over the stencils and let it dry for a few hours and they were ready to wear!

Judah was down for his mid-morning nap and Savvy was out in the living room with Glenn. I went in the bedroom to do some cleaning and just jumped into bed for a minute, not to sleep, but to just lay there. (that is what happens when your kids wake up at around 6 every morning and you go to bed at 12 every night) I was thinking about how I needed to get some cleaning done today and I thought about what to tackle first...I thought back about other ways I have organized my cleaning when a big job is to be done.

There are two things that you can do first to help you get motivated to clean:

The first is to make your bed. If you walk into your room and there is laundry to fold, and toys in your room, make your bed and it seems like half of the work is done and creates a huge difference immediately. 

The second, although not as fast to do, is the dishes! If you have a clean sink and no dishes on the counter all of the sudden you have more motivation to clean the rest. Sometimes cleaning is mental!! The rest of the cleaning will not be so bad because it will appear so much cleaner already.

Those are my thoughts on the psychology of cleaning.

It might be different for you, but it works for me. I think I will go make my bed now! : )

I decided for the section about me that I would share my current workout playlist. I started going jogging every morning at 5:30 AM so I can get a good start before my kids wake up. My workout music changes periodically when I get sick of a song or when I find a new really good one : ) but this is the one I rock out to for right now.

Bleeding Out

ImagineDragons

If I Lose Myself

OneRepublic

Letting Go

Stephanie Smith

Radioactive

Imagine Dragons

It’s Time
Imagine Dragons

Lights

Ellie Goulding

It isn’t a very long playlist right now, but that is because I replay Bleeding Out at least 3 times :)


Thanks so much, Chrissy, for sharing with us. You can see more of Chrissy and her beautiful family on her blog, We're "Gavin'" Fun!

If you are interested in contributing to our Family, Home, and Me series, please email me at gracefullykensie [at] gmail [dot] com.

Family, Home, and Me with Beth

Beth is a really good friend of mine and is sharing her part of the FHandM series today. Beth started her blog, Mes Aventures, while she was studying abroad in France a few years ago and it has grown and changed with her as she's finished school, started teaching, and been married. She might just be the most genuinely kind person I've ever met. I had to say goodbye to her recently for a couple of months while she followed her cute husband to DC for an internship, but school will be starting up again soon which means she'll be heading back here to teach 3rd grade. Yay!

photo courtesy of Gina Edwards

"One of my husband and my favorite recipes is a crock pot recipe, Caribbean Pot Roast.  It comes from Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes, 2012 edition.  I don't have pictures of every step, but here is the finished product."  

photo courtesy of Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes, 2012 edition
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 boneless beef chuck roast (2-1/2 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 3/4 teaspoon baking cocoa
• 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

Directions

• Place potatoes, carrots and celery in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a large skillet, brown meat in oil on all sides. Transfer meat to slow cooker.
• In the same skillet, saute onion in drippings until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, seasonings, orange peel and cocoa. Stir in tomato sauce; add to skillet and heat through. Pour over beef.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. Yield: 10 servings.

Nutritional Facts: 3 ounces cooked beef with 1/2 cup vegetable mixture equals 278 calories, 12 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 74 mg cholesterol, 453 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 25 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat.

"I'm not going to tell about some unknown strategy or cleaning solution that no one has ever heard of before. If that was what you were expecting, sorry.  What I would like to share is about some often forgotten deep cleaning places.  Usually when people deep clean they do a great job of cleaning out the inside of their fridge, scrub the floor really well, wash all of the comforters on the beds, vacuum under the cushions in the couch, and if they're feeling really ambitious, perhaps inside the cupboards in the kitchen.  Some often overlooked places during spring-cleaning (that can make all the difference when it comes time to move suddenly or your contract ends, etc.) are: 

1. Scrubbing the kitchen floor UNDERNEATH your fridge

2. Vacuuming all the dust out of the BACK of your fridge that get sucked in by the fan (who knows what it's there for)

3. Those of you with swamp coolers--vacuuming out the dust or taking the cover off and rinsing the hot air return cover

4. Dusting/cleaning off blinds (especially the vertical blinds)

5. Washing the ceiling in your bathroom

6. If you have kids, washing the door frames at their level

7. Cleaning your microwave (though I try to do this every week so it doesn't ever become scary)

8. Cleaning the drawer underneath your stove that is called the "warming drawer" but that everyone uses for pans

9. Scrubbing the drip pans on the oven

10. Vacuuming your closet and dusting off the shelves

Here are some before and after pictures from my adventures with cleaning the drip pans on my stove. (Note: I have an old oven/stove where I couldn't lift up the top of the stove to clean the inside; that fact alone makes cleaning the drip pans and space underneath a once a year challenge.)"

photos courtesy of Beth

"One of my hidden talents is my ability to alphabetize and my love of doing so.  I love alphabetizing files. I love alphabetizing my students homework, projects, notes from home, permission slips, etc.  I think about my students in terms of alphabetization--when I'm trying to figure out who is missing during the fire drill, or on the field trip bus, or with doing lunch count I use my mental alphabet list. I've found that I've been able to store a lot of information in my mind about my students based on having organized them alphabetically in my mind.  However, my love of alphabetizing doesn't end with my job as an elementary teacher; I alphabetize things for church, and when it used to just be my books, sometimes I would organize my books alphabetically (now it's more by genre or subject type).  Maybe my love of alphabetizing came because my maiden name started with a Y and I had to learn all the rest of the alphabet before we got to my last name letter or the agony of sitting through around 600 other seniors in my high school graduation waiting for it to get to my turn.  Whatever the reason or cause, I am a pro at alphabetizing."


Thanks, Beth, for sharing with us. That recipe sounds incredible! You can follow Beth on her blog, Mes Aventures.

If you are interested in contributing to the Family, Home, and Me series, please email me at gracefullykensie [at] gmail [dot] com.