Stinky Washrags? Smelly Garbage Disposals?

Have you ever notice that your kitchen washrag starts to take on an unpleasant odor?  Well, I have.  I learned a trick from my mom on how to battle that.  Take a spray bottle and create a mixture of bleach and water (either equal parts bleach and water or slightly less bleach than water).  Then every other day or so, spray the washrag, and rinse it out.  Don't for get to use caution while spraying and rinsing or make sure you're wearing clothing that you don't mind if it gets a little bit of bleach on it.  It can happen; It's happened to me.

The other tip I received from some of the ladies in my church ward.  They said if you notice an odor coming from your garbage disposal you can freshen that up by slicing a lemon or lime into quarters and tossing the pieces into the disposal then starting it up.  I've never tried this one, but several said it works like a charm and doesn't hurt your disposal at all.

Codex Alera

Last year I listened to the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher and really enjoyed them.  I thought the reader did a fantastic job--she did all the voices for the characters.  It's a fantasy series consisting of 6 books that follow a young man, Tavi, and other members of his family through various adventures.  If you enjoy fantasy I would highly recommend them.  And if you're a fan of audio books I would suggest listening to them.

The titles of the books in the series are:
1- Furies of Calderon
2- Academ's Fury
3- Cursor's Fury
4- Captain's Fury
5- Princeps' Fury
6- First Lord's Fury

Happy Reading!

                             

Early Christmas Shopping

Happy (belated) Holidays!  This year has been a particularly busy year during the month of December, and I was happy not to have to worry too much about gift buying.  I did almost all of my gift buying on-line before Thanksgiving, then I just let the packages come to me.  This made my December quite a bit less stressful and I was able to enjoy all the fun activities we had planned.  Some people might think buying Christmas presents before Thanksgiving is a bit extreme, but to those I quote from A Christmas Carol's Scrooge, "You keep Christmas in your way and let me keep it in mine."

What are your thoughts?  Are you an early Christmas shopper or does shopping in December make it feel more like Christmas-time (as my husband believes)?

The Hunger Games

Wow!  I honestly expected to be posting more often than this.  Haha.  Oh well.  :-D 

So, I've managed to find some time for reading lately.  One of the book trilogies I've read this year is the popular Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  It was quite the story and one I would recommend.  However, it should be noted that it's pretty intense and makes you think, it's violent and kind of detailed.  It's  not a book for everyone--it can be pretty brutal.    I would definitely rate it PG-13. 

For the Love of Autumn

Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the clean, crispness to the air.  I love the bright reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves and the way the crunch under my feet.  It's during this season I love living near mountains the most.  They look so enchanting dressed in their new colors.  It's almost like magic.  

Plus, it's starting to get cool, not cold, but cool--making it a time to get cozy in long-sleeved shirts, sweaters or hoodies.  I love curling up on the couch and snuggling under a blanket with my little ones or my White Knight to watch a movie or read a good book (it's the perfect time for reading--something about this season just encourages the imagination to soar).  And let's not forget enjoying fragrant soups, homemade bread and hot apple cider--MmmMmm.

Oh! how I love autumn!

Grilled Poultry--From the Freezer?

Are you sad to see the beginning of the end of summer? I am, but then I'm not. I love autumn, but I am sad that summer grilling season is coming to a close. So, I've thought of a way to keep that 'summer grill' flavor to last just a little bit longer (it also helps out when dinner sneaks up on you--belatedly reminding you that there's still chicken to cut up and cook).

I talked my husband in to helping me, it wasn't hard, and had him grill several extra chicken breasts the last time we had grilled chicken. Then I cut up, separated, packaged and froze it. Now I when we're having chicken I can just pull it out of the freezer and viola--dinner is made that much simpler (not to mention the yummy grilled flavor that accompanies the meal).

This would also work for other ways of cooking chicken too--just cook some extra chicken one night and prepare it for the freezer. I will admit there's a bit of prep work, but it sure makes up for it on the nights that you don't have to worry with getting all chicken-y (which is a big help especially if you have little ones that like to get into everything while you're busy).

Happy Cooking!