OCleanD Tips

My neighbor friends have really been clamoring for some more cleaning tips from yours truly and one of the last things I would want to do is disappoint them.  I think they want to know what I am examining and judging when I am at their place…Psst, guys!  I’m examining and judging the delicious food and our witty repartee.

1.) I like to Windex the hangy-downy polls for twisting blinds.  Mine are transparent.  I don’t know what their proper name is, but I do know that mine are really clean.

2.) Lightbulbs and their sockets deserve to be dusted.

3.) It just is not possible to get a floor completely clean if there is anything on it.  This might be the reason my roommate and I have different opinions regarding the presence of furniture and rugs…I can only move and stack so much.  I also prefer couches with enough clearance under then to clean.

Update: Series Commas

My hooligan friend, referred to here, has seen the light and produced written bits (to me) using – gratuitously – the series comma.  I feel relieved, optimistic, and encouraged.

I feel like I saved a soul.  I am a Jehovah’s Witness for grammar, except not really.

Baconalia! Review: Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Duvel

Bacon-wrapped dates are delicious.  I was skeptical about them, and to be honest, I’m not sure I would have tried them if I had been sans liquid courage. Happily, I was “happy” and these made me sigh in a good way.  In fact, they were so amazing that I received an email last week asking for the recipe… Since I typed it up and am le tired, I’m totally going to recycle most of that email here.  Recycling is fantastic!   I might not be able to tell you exactly how to make these wunderbites, but I will tell you that you should eat them – and that’s coming from someone who generally is not a fan of dates.* 

Cooking With Kids: A Figure-Maintaining Tip

Cooking with kids is a great way to kill both a morning and a diet/hourglass figure.  However, I have come up with a foolproof way to cook with Boo WITHOUT gaining an ounce.  If I screw it up, I’ll lose weight!  It’s like magic.  Also, for my purposes here, I’m going to use “cook” to cover both “cook” and “bake” – it’s easier for us all, although I do know the difference.  We happen to do both at la Casa de Boo.

Boo loves to cook.  On the days when one (or both) of us are a bit (or a lot) grumpy or the weather is horrid, cooking has prevented one (or both) of us from being defenestrated.  When I ask Boo if he wants to cook, he always lights up and is immediately agreeable.  It’s the only way I know to guarantee a “yes” out of this toddler, whose tracking occasionally gets stuck on the word “no.”

We probably cook once or twice per week.  It’s also a sure-fire way that Boo will eat something; the kid takes pride and interest in what he helps create.  Anyway, while we rarely bake sweets, I’m the type who likes to taste pretty much every viable ingredient, along with the work in progress. Something I learned about myself when I was asked for recipes that Boo and I make is that I change a LOT of stuff.  Some of my changes are due to what is on hand, others are health-based, and yet others are based on what I think will taste best.  Part of my tasting is to adapt recipes.  This is a bit of problem when people ask me for recipes as I rarely write down what I change and my measurements are generally amounts like ‘some’, a ‘bit’, and a ‘smidge’.

Five Good Things, the Fifteenth Incarnation

I’m pretty sure this is the fifteenth incarnation of this game.  Regardless of my count accuracy, it’s another Monday, so here’s another round of five good things.  As an aside, this week was a little trickier than most as I spent a good chunk of the weekend with a nasty headache, hiding in my bed, in the dark, and trying not to vomit.  I suppose it’s technically a good thing that said headache finally cleared up, particularly as headaches and toddlers are about as much fun as I imagine the rack with headache to have been.

1.) The wait is almost over: Betty White hosts SNL this coming Saturday!

2.) I am going to plant this week; I bought dirt (yes, apparently the stuff in my yard is full of lead so I bought a 40lb bag of dirt) and some starter herbs.  Yum.

3.) I got to catsit last weekend.  I’m particularly pleased about this as different friends totally snubbed me as a dogsitter option a couple of weeks ago.  Please, there’s a whole byline in my resume detailing my experience and expertise with wrassling and removing Objects That Ought Not Be Ingested.  Plus, puppy = toddler.  We covered this last week.

4.) I went on a brewery tour over the weekend and got to bring home a “free” gift!  By “free” I mean that they charged us for the tour, but they didn’t advertise the gift – we thought the charge was for the experience and beer at the end.

5.)  I have a new bacon recipe to try; Baconalia II is almost complete.  (I revamped the title, as I think the Roman numerals add a bit of class.)

Chia Pet Ice Cream

Yesterday I ate – and enjoyed – some lime and chia seed sorbet.  I live down the street from this fantastic little ice cream joint, which I visit rather often.  It’s important to support local businesses.  I love going there and not just because I’m an aspiring fatty.  See, pretty much everything they make is totally delicious, the place is bright and clean, the employees are a less annoying version of Ned-Flanders friendly, and they have a great variety of constantly rotating sweet and savory flavors. The friendly staff is more than generous with the samples; some of them are almost like sample pushers – do I really want to order something I didn’t sample?  I really appreciate this as while I’m curious to taste the olive oil and black pepper ice cream, I probably don’t want a whole dish of it.  (That was my suspicion and then confirmed as truth.)

Occupational Hazard

I find a lot of interesting “treats” in my pockets when I do laundry.   One of my “tricks” with the kid when he finds something small that he can’t possibly risk losing is to offer to put it in my pocket and he can “remind me” when he wants it back.  (Sometimes I just take it out if it is an annoying shape/size/gross.)  I just threw in a load of laundry with half a dozen pairs of pants.  Treasures from my pockets included: environmentally-friendly chapstick (mine), fifty-seven cents, two miniature Uno cards (blue 8 and green reverse), a hotel key card, three tissues (at least two unused), two raisins, and a sticker of a bus.  I kept the money and the chapstick; the rest went to the trash.

A Penny Saved…Wait, Can I Even Get a Gumball With That?

Another blog I read recently featured a post about saving money. The blogger, who seems pretty awesome, asked readers to share their tips for saving money. I started to reply in the comments, but um, I was going on a little long, so opted instead to just head over here and post myself.

WAYS I AM SAVING MONEY:

1.) I rock the crock (pot). Crock pots are great for saving time and money. Momtrolfreak says she doesn’t cook, but some CP recipes are pretty hard to mess up. One of my favorite CP recipes is also one of the cheapest to make; it’s almost always made out of produce I already bought, but wouldn’t get a chance to finish before they spoil. You can find the recipe at the bottom of this post. As a bonus, it freezes really well for things like packed lunches down the road. Six quarts of something cheap is still six quarts. Crock pots are remarkably energy efficient little buggers, so you won’t lose your savings to energy costs.

2.) I clip coupons. I get my coupons from the Sunday paper, store circulars, the mail, and the internet – one of my grocery stores also allows me to “clip” coupons on their website and add them to my store loyalty card. I also look through the ads for sales on products I buy most. I don’t have the space to stockpile for Armageddon and I abhor clutter, but I do have some storage/closet space and I try to use it wisely. I also know what a “good” price is for the products that I use most and try to combine the best prices with coupons.

3.) Weather, time, and geography permitting; I walk, bike, or take public transit. Parking and gas are both expensive. Since I do not buy a monthly pass, public transit is not always cheaper than driving for me.  I hold an expectation that it ought to be and I want it to be, but sometimes I have to stop to think. “Stopping to think” is often a great way to save money.

School Composting

This post about school composting fascinated and amazed me.

I’ve been reading Mrs. Q’s blog for awhile, and it’s pretty much solidified that school lunch options will be a consideration for me when I explore school options for my eventual kids.  I generally turned my cute little nose up at hot lunch when I was in elementary school, and that was back in the day when lunches were cooked on site in kitchens and fresh fruit was at every meal. While this blog normally horrifies me, today it inspired me.

Happy Earth Day!

Baconalia! Review: Petite BLT Sandwiches with Two Brothers Bitter End Pale Ale

On the Right: Petite BLT Sandwiches with Two Brothers Bitter End Pale Ale

Despite the fact that I billed Baconalia! as a tasting and my guest list was void of irresponsible drinkers (well, relevant varieties of irresponsible) I still wanted to provide a couple of items with some substance.  I ended up making two types of sandwiches, the first of which is the subject of this week’s review.  I kept it pretty classic, except that I didn’t put any mayo on the bread.  First of all, I wasn’t sure how quickly they would be eaten and salmonella is kind of a tacky party favor.  I mean, while it’s true that nothing says class like a glue-ridden coozy, takeaway salmonella just is not acceptable.  The second reason was that one of my guests has some pretty significant food allergies and mayo is a no-go for her; it was important to me that everything on the table be safe for her.  I did have mayo in the fridge had anyone wanted any, but honestly: when you provide bacon and beer, people tend to be pretty well set.

Because I was making a lot of things in a short time, I decided to make these AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.  I could (and did) make these slightly ahead as the bacon doesn’t really need to be warm, but tomatoes can only cozy up next to bread for so long before things get soggy and gross.  In addition to wanting these to be easy to assemble, I also wanted them to look neat and tidy and not be a disaster to eat.  Again for ease, all Baconalia! foods were finger foods.  If there’s anything that compliments the class of a gluey coozy, it’s a group of people eating with their hands.