Archive for the 'Kitchen' Category

July 30, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning tips

Cornmeal. It’s one of my favorite things in the kitchen. Being married to a Moldovan, we eat mamaliga (polenta-esque) pretty frequently (though I have to admit - I just can’t get it right!). And I use it on my pizza pan to keep the crust from sticking as it bakes.

But it has a great cleaning use too! It absorbs grease. If you’ve got a grease stain on upholstered furniture, carpet, or a seat cushion, put a teaspoon or so of cornmeal on it (more for a bigger stain), let it sit for 15-20 minutes, and vacuum up. The cornmeal will absorb the grease and leave your upholstery grease-free.

For clothes I wouldn’t recommend cornmeal though. It’s easier to launder correctly. Apply some liquid laundry detergent (or your favorite multi-purpose stain remover), let it sit for a few minutes, then wash it in the hottest water the fabric will tolerate. Knowing that a few years ago would have saved me oodles of shirts.  But, 20/20 hindsight, right? At least I can rescue your laundry!

July 21, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning products

My poor house. It’s become the staging ground for Broom Huggers, and the testing site for cleaning products. It comes easily to us, what with 2 toddlers. But today, for the sake of science, I smeared fresh cherries all over my white laminate counter tops. And then (start ominous music) let it dry. (As an aside: I’ve always wanted to change out my laminate counters for hard surface… ah, the thought of granite… but the laminate has proven quite useful when it comes to testing products. So much for kitchen upgrades.)

Anyhow, wanna know what my experiment found? Natural cleaning products work just as well as their chemical-laden counterparts! There will be more details to come this week, naming names and what not. But I just have to tell you. I tried 3 different chemical-free cleaners - and all of them wiped up dried cherry juice without any scrubbing. So to the nay-sayers out there who claim that natural cleaners require loads of elbow grease, I say don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it!

Mom, if you’re reading, no countertops were harmed in the performing of this experiment.

June 9, 2007 | Reviews, Broom Hugged, Kitchen, Being Green, Cleaning products

I’ve never been a huge fan of Simple Green, even though it was my first foray into healthier cleaning products. In fact, I learned about it and got my first sample and coupon at a Baby Fair (no, it wasn’t a fair selling babies, silly! It was a product fair for people with babies!). I liked it, it did an okay job for me, and through it I learned about the health hazards to me and my baby from regular household cleaners.

That said, Simple Green always seemed to me like it did everything half way. It was half-way environmentally-friendly, and half-way healthy. It did a decent job cleaning, but nothing I’d write a blog about. Now, before I move on to tell you why I’m a convert, let me elaborate for a moment on the chemical composition of Simple Green. It’s made from a solvent called 2-butoxyethanol, which is a known environmental hazard, and it causes a whole range of health problems. But, according to the MSDS sheet, upon completion of the manufacturing process, Simple Green� does not possess the occupational health risks associated with exposure to undiluted 2-butoxyethanol, it is non-carcinogenic and non-mutagenic. Simple Green’s Clean Building products (lemon scent is not included) have also received the Green Seal, which is pretty trustworthy for making steps toward environmental accountability. The good: it’s safe, concentrated, and healthy. The bad: it has a pretty big footprint in the grand scheme of things.

Now, on to cleaning capabilities. I wasn’t impressed - at first. I found that it cleaned most surfaces just as well as other cleaners, with no difference in effort or time spent cleaning. So if I’m not going to save myself time or effort, I might as well go with something that has less of an environmental footprint. Right? Until I cleaned my stove top and oven with it tonight! Oh. my. goodness. I breezed through my stove top. The stove backsplash didn’t clean as easily - it’s a softer vinly-ish surface so I had to use a scraper (my scraper from Pampered Chef is perfect) to get off some of the grease spots there. But I’ve never cleaned my stove top faster than I did today. And I was so impressed, I decided to give it a real test and try it on my oven then and there! Now, this never happens. I have 2 toddlers. In other words, I only have time for one cleaning task at any given moment. But, I was actually so excited about cleaning that I couldn’t stop myself! I cleaned my oven. And it was easy!

So, as a degreaser (which is basically what you need for stovetop and oven), Simple Green is amazing. I’ve compared it to most of the other oven cleaners out there, and there isn’t an oven cleaner on the market that equals (much less beats) Simple Green when it comes to health and environmental concerns.

June 3, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning tips

I just read that your kitchen sponge - the one you use to wash your dishes - has more bacteria in it that your toilet seat. Eww! The good news? There are 2 simple ways to clean it!

1. Throw it in the dishwasher when you’re ready to run it.
2. When you’re done washing dishes, rinse it, wring it, and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Really! It’s that simple. Use either method and get rid of that bacteria! We also use 2 different sponges in the kitchen - one for dishes and countertops, and one for floor spills. That way we never get the gunk from the floor spread around our counters and dishes.� And make sure you clean your sponge after you’ve used it to clean up raw meat spills or raw eggs. No sense putting your family at risk via sponge!

And consider replacing it now and then - if you’re still using the same sponge you had when Reagan was president, it’s probably past its prime.� We’d recommend replacing your sponge every 2 months actually.

May 31, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning tips

Have you ever noticed how much difference it makes when your sink is clean and shiny? It makes the whole kitchen look cleaner! And even better, you can have that clean, productive, instant gratification in only a couple of minutes! It’s so worth it.

And it’s easy! Use a bit of Bon Ami, Bar Keeper’s friend, or even some baking soda will work if you don’t have those, sprinkle in your sink and use a sponge to shine all sides of the sink and around the edges. For an extra special treat, add some lemon juice to your sponge. It’ll leave a clean, fresh scent and give your sink that extra shine. To get the most bang for your buck (or bang for your minutes), run the garbage disposal when you’re done with your sink - as the Bon Ami or baking soda washes down, with or without the lemon juice, it’ll help your disposal run clean.

April 20, 2007 | Kitchen

… mop today? I just know that as soon as I mop my floors, my kids will find the single messiest thing in my home and smear it everywhere. But company is coming. So I suppose I dare. Surely the Catholics have a Patron Saint for clean floors? Anyone know about that?

Edited: I just found Zita, patron saint of maids. And it turns out, her feast day is just around the corner - April 27! Maybe I should wait until then to mop… (says the procrastinator inside me)

April 5, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning tips

Personally, I hate cleaning my microwave. I usually have my husband do it. You see, I’m awfully short. And my microwave is one of those under-the-counter ones - I love it, but I absolutely can’t reach to clean the whole inside. But now. I. have. a. method. In three easy steps too - couldn’t be easier!

1. Cut a lemon in half. Reserve half of it for some other use. Place other half of it in a microwave-safe bowl, cut side up. Cover with water.
2. Place the bowl in the microwave, and zap it on high for 5 minutes.
3. Remove bowl (careful! It’s hot!) and discard contents. Use a paper towel or cleaning rag to wipe down the inside of the microwave.

Now wasn’t that easy?

March 22, 2007 | Kitchen, Cleaning tips

Two easy ways to clean and freshen your disposal:

• citrus peel: the next time you have an orange or grapefruit (or a lemon or lime), throw the whole peel down your disposal. Run the water and turn on the disposal. The citrus not only cleans it, but freshens the air, dispels odors, and keeps those pesky summer gnats away.
• When citrus isn’t in season, use vinegar: white works best, pour 1/4 cup down the drain, turn on the faucet, and run your disposal. The vinegar cleans, disinfects, and kills odors. The vinegar smell will linger for a few minutes, but it’ll be gone before you know it.

March 1, 2007 | Laundry, Kitchen, Cleaning tips

From the trenches of motherhood… Finger Jell-o may keep a toddler occupied for enormous stretches of time, but there should be a warning on the box. Never leave small children unattended with Jell-o. Or blink. The ensuing mess (it takes no longer than the blink of an eye) is ridiculous. I’ve just cleaned Jell-o from my tile, hardwoods, carpets, walls, light fixtures, and now I’m off to remove it from their clothes. And yes, they were in the their high chairs when it happened. Thank goodness it’s water soluble! So, here are my tips:

1. Clean the mess right away, while the Jell-o is still solid. At that point, you can use a dry paper towel - it acts like duct tape for Jell-O, whereas a wet paper towel just spreads the mess around.
2. If it gets into your carpet, remove as much as possible with a dry paper towel. Spray any remainder with water and blot up. You may have to do this in several stages.
3. In clothes, soak any Jell-O affected clothes in cold water. Hot water may set the color in, depending on your type of fabric and type of Jell-O. Soak in cold water, and check after 30 minutes to an hour. If there’s still some color left from the Jell-O, add some detergent to the water and swish it all around a bit. Give it another 30 minutes, and at that point you can use stain remover if necessary. Then wash as usual.

Don’t underestimate the dry paper towel though - it works wonders. And again, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Don’t even blink when toddlers have finger Jell-O!