The Amazing Way I Cleaned Grout!

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Moving into my apartment I did what I thought was enough to clean the tiled kitchen and bathroom. I used a mop and some floor cleaner thinking it was enough. I figured my floors were clean and there wasn't much for deep ground in dirt, BUT I WAS WRONG!

I decided to try something I read online to clean the grout in the kitchen. After a painting craft I got some paint stuck on the grout that I hoped to loosen with a good cleaner. I used Lysol toilet cleaner just along the grout lines between each tile. I let it sit for a small while and the results were shocking!

This WAS my tiled kitchen and what I thought was dark grout.

I was shocked that just wiping away the cleaner revealed this....

OMG! What a difference!


My first impression was "Wow! the grout looks great!" then I went "Oh, how gross! That's been sitting on my grout all this time! Ewww!" Next thought was, "Better do the bathroom!"

This was the bathroom...

Want to clean your grout like I did, check out my video...




Needless to say, I completely recommend this! However, make sure you do a little bit at a time. Its messy to wipe up and the smell can get overwhelming. My kitchen and bathroom is very small so I was able to do it all at once. Also, there is research that says that these types of cleaning solutions are very harmful so be extremely careful to keep children far away and make sure the area is well ventilated. I also recommend using gloves. I used gloves except during the video because my gloves were blue and it seemed odd. But it is important to remember safety first!

Make Your Own Moonsand!

We had a great time last night making and playing with our own homemade Moonsand. Best part was it was made with 2 ingredients I had just lying around. Its super simple and fun. Its a bit messy but nothing a broom and a dustpan can't fix, oh and a bath, they will definitely need a bath!

All you need is

8 cups of flour
1 cup of baby oil

and a container to put it in.

Take off your rings and mash it all together. Make sure to really work the oil into the flour. It only takes a moment and things start forming together

That's it, now let the kids take over and have fun. I throw in some plastic cups last night but you can add so many things that can scoop, poke shapes, add dolls.

When the kiddos are done, you can bag it up in a large ziplock bag and save it for another day of play.

This sand is a great sensory craft to do with toddlers, Even my 8 year old loved playing in it.

Simple Teacher's Gift

It's the end of the year and everyone is scrambling to come up with a teacher's gift. Before you run to Dunkin Donuts for a gift card, here is a simple gift that will make a great impression without costing you much.

Morrigan gave her teacher a straw cup filled with individually wrapped mints. I attached a card that says

"Thank You
For all your hard work this year
It "mint" a lot
We think you are a
"SIP" er star teacher!"

It was incredibly easy and so cute!

Custom Mug Craft

This Father's day we were tight on money so I decided to make my husband a gift.  I have this inexpensive gift idea that I made this year for my husband. It's very simple and the supplies are items most crafters will already own.

What is needed....
Plain white mug
Sharpie permanent markers (in as many colors as you would like.)
Dry eraser marker
Something to erase the dry eraser marker.
Mod Podge
Paint brush

First,  I started with a plain white mug. I got mine at the Dollar Tree for $1.00. Then I took some Sharpie permanent markers anddraw a design and wrote a few things on the mug.

I drew a mustache on one side and I wrote "World's Best DAD." I did the DAD the way it's shown in the picture by making many lines going one direction and then more going the either.  Then I took a dry eraser marker and wrote "DAD" on top then I quickly erased over the top which removed both the dry erase marker and the permanent marker. Quick tip, I messed up on writing the words and I was able to get the marker off with a baby wipe and then I dried the spot with a paper towel.

Then I added the Mod Podge on top. I used the gloss finish. Once I covered the entire outer surface of the mug I put it on a cookie sheet in the oven. I turned on the oven and let it heat up to 350. Make sure that you put the mug in the oven before you turn it on,  it has to heat up gradually or it will crack.

Once the oven is at 350 then set a timer for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes shut the oven off but do not remove the mug. Let the mug gradually cool down in the oven.

There you have it, quick and easy. There are so many possibilities for this craft. Have fun and be creative.

Personal Lesson

My lesson for the day: If a recipe sounds too good to be true, it probably tastes like crap!

I learnt this lesson the hard way this afternoon. I was hungry, so hungry I could eat anything, well...almost everything. With my husband working 2 jobs right now we have been low on groceries since we only own one car. I can walk to the corner store if need be, I can walk to the big grocery store if I really feel like walking. But both the baby and I have been sick. Its the kind of sick that makes your whole body feel like your pulling weights behind you. We are both very congested and my asthmatic butt is not walking anywhere far from my nebulizer. So I had to come up with a solution to my rumbling tummy without leaving the house.

My idea came to me on Pinterest. Pinterest has never failed me. However, I have had many Pinterest-fails. This one however, was not my fault. This was a case of having a bad recipe. See, things that are "quick" most of the time aren't tasty. That is why when I find something relatively quick and it actually taste great I put it here. There is a reason why there will be no recipe attached to this post. The recipe I found was for simple sesame noddles. Essentially it is Ramon noodles without all the crazy preservatives. It was great, everything needed I had. The ingredients were noodles/spaghetti, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, rice vinegar, pure sesame oil, hot chili oil, canola oil, and green onions. It said it would only take 10 mins which I only had 15 until my eight year old got off the bus. I made this easily and was so happy I found something so easy that doesn't require me to buy extra ingredients I don't usually keep on hand. I made up a bowl of these noodles, I took one bite and spit if back into the bowl. Yuck! It tasted worse then Ramon noodles!

I learnt an important lesson from this experience. Quick food often doesn't taste very well. Put the effort into cooking, it will reflex the quality in the taste.

Chow Mein

The Chow Mein....

Ingredients
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 (5.6 oz) packages refrigerated Yaki Soba noodles (found in the produce section of the grocery store)
2/3 c. chopped celery
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and black pepper. Set aside.
Remove Yaki Soba from packages and discard included flavoring packets. Rinse noodles well, drain, and set aside.
Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add celery and onion and saute for about 1-2 minutes or until onions start to become soft and transparent.
Toss Yaki Soba noodles and soy sauce mixture with the vegetables over medium-high heat for an additional 2-3 minutes or until noodles are heated through.

I love this recipe, its super easy and it has most of the same fresh ingredient as the Orange Chicken. Its easy to prepare the sauces for both the orange chicken and the chow mein to cook later. I will prepare it while the baby is napping at like noon, I'll cover it and put it in the fridge and then cook it at dinner time.I used to put in cabbage but my husband and I have found it better without it. If you choose to just add the cabbage after you saute the celery and onion.

The Second Child

I recently read a blog that gave 5 reasons why your second child has it easier. I read it and couldn't disagree more. I realized that my two children, even though my parenting is very much the same, are growing up completely different. Just having the other sibling has an effect on the other one's life so greatly that it makes everything different.

Here are my reasons why my second child has it harder than my first.

Less Mommy time.
This is the biggest give in. The truth is, no matter how much you try to manage your time there will be less mommy time for both children once there is another child in the mix. This is natural, you are only one person after all. But my first child had 100% of my attention which means she never had to cry for anything. I got to her needs before she even knew she needed something. Diaper changes where usually in the middle of her actually doing her business which means I was changing a diaper after I already changed a diaper. I feed her at the first sign of hunger. I watched her sleep in her crib and she spent many hours of her first year sleep on my chest on the couch. Nothing would interrupt me cuddling with my first daughter. Now, I'm lucky I can get through nursing without having to get up for something. There is no quiet day dreaming while a baby cuddles up to me. Its a lot of cleaning up toys, spills in the kitchen from my oldest trying to pour her own drinks, and a rush of the morning routine.

Routine rules now
The daily routine that revolves around my oldest makes my youngest the second priority. There were no routines when my youngest was a baby. She always woke up naturally. I made doctor appointments around her usually nap times and feeding schedules. Life revolved around my oldest daughter's routine. Life still revolves around my oldest's routines and my youngest has to follow this schedule. I have to wake up the baby in order to get my oldest to the bus stop on time. Sometimes I'm also waking her from her nap to get her sister from the bus in the afternoon. I put off nap time for dance class on Saturdays. Doctor appointments are made whenever I can make it work between school bus pick up, drop off, driving distance now that we live in a town with the better school district when we used to live right by the doctor's office. Life is just busy with another child.

Less room.
With more children, you accumulate more stuff. I have my living room jam packed with baby stuff. There is a swing, an exersaucer, a bouncy seat, changing pad, a package of wipes, a small stack of diapers, blankets on every piece of furniture, and a pack'n play in the corner I can unfold if I need it. I had all these things for my oldest, in fact, most of them are my oldest child's. But when it comes to toys my oldest doesn't want to part with many of her stuff animals and even a few baby toys because she is very attached to them. Her glow worm for instance, was one of her lovelies growing up. She wants to save it for her children and doesn't want her sister chewing it anymore than it already is. I get that, I'm the oldest in my family as well. Though I parted with things, there are some things that are just "sacred". But this means more stuff of my oldest daughter's in my second bedroom, the one that eventually both girls will share, an little room for my youngest daughter to have. My youngest is spread out between three rooms. She has one toy box in the second bedroom, one toy bin in the living room, and a few toys in a basket in my room along with her crib, and a few other items. Her clothes are in a dresser in the second bedroom but her sheets and blankets are in my bedroom and her bibs are in the kitchen. My youngest daughter really has no place of her own.

Hand me downs
Even with the large gap between my two children, the majority of my youngest daughter's things are hand-me-downs. Everything from clothes, to nursery items, to toys are passed down from big sis. Few things have been bought for my youngest which brings me to my last point.

Lack of quality
Hand-me-downs are only a part of my youngest daughter's wardrobe. The rest is bought at stores like Walmart and Target at the lowest price. My oldest daughter got beautiful clothes. I went through this phase of buying nothing but classic Winnie the Pooh items, then it was Disney Princesses. Everything was pink and pretty. With my youngest, its whatever was the least expensive. Her baby bathtub is ugly and doesn't have the sprayer attachment like her sister's had. Her infant car seat doesn't match the stroller (which also matches the swing and highchair. Yup, its all from big sis). Her bowls and bibs are cheap solid colored nothing special when big sis got everything Princess from the Disney store. Children are expensive and with each one added to the list, the less money you have.

It can be tough being the second child, though it can be true for the oldest as well. It can tough being the pet when a new baby comes along. I think the phrase "the grass is always greener." applies here. I would love to revist this topic when both kids are older. Time might just change how things are done around here.

Orange Chicken

One of my favorite things to make is orange chicken. Its a great recipe and paired with chow mein (for the recipe click here) it has many of the ingredients which cuts down on your grocery shopping for this dinner.

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon ginger root, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red chili pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Orange Sauce for Stir Fry:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 orange, zest of

Directions:

It is easier to prepare the orange sauce first. Put soy sauce, water, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest in a bowl. Whisk it up and set aside. In a large bowl stir together egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of the oil and mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Mix flour mixture and egg mixture. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat. Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees. Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp. (Do not overcook chicken). Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant; about 10 seconds. Add and stir-fry crushed chiles and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth and add to chicken. Heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in sesame oil last minute. Take off heat and serve over rice.

Fun Cake to Make With Kids

This really would have been a better post for around Easter but really, it can be done anytime. I'm always trying to come up with fun things to do in the kitchen with Morrigan. I want her to feel comfortable measuring out ingredients and using kitchen items while having fun. Here is a great idea Morrigan just loved and its tasty!

Its actually a lot easier than you think. A multicolored cake seems like a big mess. Its a bit more than your average easy box mix because of the extra bowls and dying the batter. But its so worth it.

Just make a white cake mix as directed on the box. Then separate the batter into equal amounts in how ever many bowls as you have colors. I did three, pink, yellow and green. Then put one color into a greased and floured cake pan. My advice is to get the colors as level as you can. Lay the bottom color down and level it as much as you can. Then add the next color and then the next. I suggest putting the second layer down in spoon fulls all around instead of pouring it into the middle so you can spread the color out so there is minimal mixing of the two colors. Do the same for each layer you have.

You could tie-dye the colors by taking a tooth pick and swirling the colors or you can drop the colors in randomly and get a camo look. I will try each of these looks another time. Subscribe to my blog so you can get the update on how each of these fun multicolored cakes come out.

So have fun with it, do crazy color combos. The kids will love it. Think of holidays like red white and blue for the 4th of July.

Saucy Asian Meatballs

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1 lb of ground beef

1 tsp. sesame oil

½ cup of Panko breadcrumbs

¼ tsp. of ground ginger

1 egg

3 tsp. of minced garlic

½ of thinly sliced green onions

For the sauce:

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

1/8 cup rice vinegar

1 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat your oven to 400°F (by the way, I just learned how to make the symbol for Fahrenheit, click here to learn how.)

 In a large bowl, mix together all the meatball ingredients. I used my clean hands and really dug in to mix it well. Shape the mixture into tiny meat-a-balls. I made mine a little big since it was only me and Chris eating them. If you make them 1 and a ½ inches this recipe will yield roughly 15 meatballs. I just like my meatballs bigger. I then placed them on a greased cookie sheet and baked them for 12-14 minutes (10 mins if smaller)

While the meatballs are in the oven, whip together the sauce. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Then, when the meatballs are done toss the meatballs and sauce together.

You can add some green onions on top, maybe sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for good measure. I served the meatballs with white rice.

Pampered Chef Easy Pasta Carbonara

1/2  of a 12-oz (350-g) pkg uncooked turkey bacon (see Cook’s Tip)
1  medium onion
4  garlic cloves
1/2  tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1  pkg (14.5 oz or 411 g) uncooked multigrain bow-tie pasta (5 cups/1.25 L)

1  carton (32 oz/1 L) unsalted chicken stock
1  can (12 oz or 370 mL) fat-free evaporated milk
1  oz (30 g) fresh Parmesan cheese
4  oz (125 g) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
1 1/2  cups (375 mL) frozen peas, thawed
Directions:
1. Stack bacon and cut in half lengthwise. Cut crosswise using Santoku Knife.
2. Cook bacon in 11- or 12-in. (28- or 30-cm) Skillet over medium heat 4–5 minutes or until browned. Meanwhile, finely chop onion using Food Chopper.
3. Add onion, garlic pressed with Garlic Press and pepper flakes to Skillet. Cook another 3–4 minutes or until onion is tender.
4. Add pasta, stock and evaporated milk. Cover and bring to a simmer. (Do not boil.) Simmer 12–14 minutes or until pasta is still a little firm, stirring occasionally.
5. Grate Parmesan using Rotary Grater. Remove Skillet from heat. Stir in cream cheese, peas and Parmesan.
6. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes or until sauce is thick and creamy.

This is the recipe available on the Pampered Chef website. I don't use the fat free or light ingredients. I also don't care for Turkey bacon, so I usually do a maple bacon. The Pampered Chef consultant that did the party I attended made this recipe with frozen asparagus instead of the peas. This is now I prefer to make it.

Tortellini, basil, and fire roasted tomatoes soup

Sorry I've been MIA for so long. Life got busy, tablet broke, and my daughter started school full time.
Anyway, I have a new easy dinner recipe for you.
Tortellini, basil, and fire roasted tomatoes soup.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 clove garlic
1-quart chicken broth
6 oz. fresh or frozen tortellini
14 oz. canned diced fire roasted tomatoes with their liquid
10 oz. spinach, washed and stemmed; coarsely chopped
8 – 10 leaves of basil, coarsely chopped
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add broth and bring to a boil.
Add the tortellini and cook halfway, about 5 minutes for frozen tortellini, and just a minute or two if using fresh.
Add the tomatoes and their liquid, reduce the heat to simmer and cook just until the pasta is tender.
Stir in the spinach and basil and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
Serve immediately, sprinkled with the grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup for Lunch

I fell in love with Panera Bread's Broccoli Cheddar Soup when I was pregnant with my now 6 year old daughter. There was a Panera Bread across the parking lot from my work. I would get the Broccoli Cheddar Soup almost every other day. My mom had come across a copycat recipe and we together tried it out. The first time we over pureed it so be careful. I used a hand mixer right in the pot and just chopped up the large chunks of broccoli. I also bought the carrots already julienned and the sharp cheddar in the bag shredded. Also, the first time we had made it we used white cheese but the orange cheddar is needed. You can taste the difference! Here is the recipe.....

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Directions

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (this is called making a roux). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes.

Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.
I hope this comes out as good as the second attempt. It taste spot on with the orange cheddar.