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.

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!

Short Attention Span? Try Toy Rotation

Does it ever seem like there are days where your kids don't want to play with any of their toys or are constantly getting in to mischief because they're 'bored' and it doesn't seem like you can get anything done? I know mine do. Once my kids have played with the same toy for several days in a row they become bored with it and it no longer holds their attention.

So, I came up with a solution...

We've gotten a lot of hand-me-down toys from one of my brothers, and there are times when it seems like we just have too many toys. When my little Ladybug was still a baby I started rotating her toys. And I've continued the practice (she's now 3).

I divide her toys up into two-three piles, but put out just one pile at a time. Then every 2-4 weeks I rotate the toys. She gets so excited when I bring out the new toys that she hasn't played with for a while--it's like Christmas (without the extra expense). The 'new' toys also hold her attention span a little longer so I'm able to get more things done around the house a little easier.

I've started doing it with my little Moonpie as well and I feel so productive today. The only thing I have to watch out for now is Ladybug taking over all the 'new' toys. ;-)

The Motherhood Epiphany

For a while, the fact that I was a wife and mother seemed so surreal to me. (Is that weird, or what? Am I the only one out there who felt that way?)

It wasn’t until I had been married for a little over three and a half years, had a two year old, was five months pregnant with baby number two (with a miscarriage in between), and moved three times (two of the timed to a different state)--that I happily thought, while changing the sheets on our bed and Ladybug was running around in the other room, “Yeah, this is who I am. I’m a wife and a mother—how cool is that?!”

Don’t get me wrong--I was excited to get married and have a place of my own, but after the fact I felt like I was playing house. And was thrilled to have a baby, but it still seemed like—I don’t know—it didn’t feel like it was really me. I think it all might have had something to do with the fact that I quit working to be a stay-at-home-mom, which I totally love, but there was a bit of an adjustment time to get used to only having a child as company most of the day.

So, when I had my little epiphany I was in heaven. All the pieces clicked and I felt whole. I knew who I was and what I was doing. I’m so thankful for moments like that; they let me know I’m on the right track.

Dinner Prep.

The other day I was making Chicken Stir Fry for dinner and knew I needed to have it ready to eat by the time my husband came home from work since he had somewhere to be later on that evening. While stir fry isn't a particularly difficult meal, it can be hard to cut up veggies and chicken while you have a three year old getting into things and a 7 month old crying for some attention.

So, I had a thought--I could cut up the veggies/chicken and get the rice/water measured out, while Ladybug was enjoying her afternoon snack and Moonpie was napping. (While, I'm sure this isn't a new idea for many of you, and it wasn't totally for me either--I've made treats, crafts, etc. during this time--but I hadn't thought of preparing for dinner.)

It was a success! Although, I had a few more dishes to wash, my hands were chicken free when Moonpie needed attention and while Ladybug wanted help picking up her toys. Then when it time to make dinner all I had to do was turn on some burners and drop the food into the pan and dinner was ready to go. Easy Peasy!

Towels

Here's a domestic hint.

I've been told, "For more absorbent towels do not use fabric softener when washing."