30 Day Cleaning Challenge Day 8: Vacuum {Cleaner}

April 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

 


I’m joining Money Saving Mom’s 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and today spent a few minutes cleaning out my (gross!) vacuum. Today’s challenge was to vacuum all the rooms in your home, however since we’ve been doing entirely too much partying around here, :) I really just needed to clean out my poor vacuum.

 

 

 

I used a seam ripper to get all the Easter grass/hair/fuzz/gunk out of the bottom of the vacuum, and cleared out all the filters. (They were bad.) I really don’t know what on earth made me wait so long, but surely getting all that cleared out will help my vacuum function a bit better the next time I use it!

 

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge overHERE.

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, A Penny Pinched Home

30 Day Cleaning Challenge Day 5: More Windows

April 5, 2013 By 5 Comments

Best Homemade Window Cleaner

 


I’m joining Money Saving Mom’s 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and today spent a few minutes tackling the few windows that I didn’t have time to clean last week when getting ready for Easter company. I also did a super quick cleanup of the family room and kitchen, as I’m getting ready for my daughter’s birthday Tea Party this weekend and needed to get a bit cleaned up.

The new window cleaner I tried out is the best ever, and although I’ve used this homemade window cleaner for years, I’m pretty sure I’ll never go back. (My windows look amazing!)  Here’s what I used:

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
  • 1 tsp. corn starch (I know, I know ~ it sounds so strange but it works!)
  • Recycled newspaper instead of rags for cleaning
  • Spray Bottle (I just used an old one I already had on hand)

 

Directions

  • Mix together all ingredients and pour into bottle
  • Label bottle and give it a good shake – then be sure to shake it occasionally to keep the corn starch from settling
  • Spray windows like you would using commercial cleaners, and use newspapers to wipe down

I still don’t know why the corn starch works, but I promise it does. he corn starch works, but it really does. Next week we’ll start off with be start off with vacuuming (I’m pretty sure I’ll do that one before the party), so stop back and see how it goes, and I’d love for you to join in too!

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge overHERE.

Looking for more homemade household products? Here are a few of my favorites. . .

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, Uncategorized

30 Day Challenge: The Laundry Room

April 4, 2013 By 2 Comments

 

I’m joining Money Saving Mom’s 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and today spent a few minutes cleaning up the laundry room.  Today’s challenge was to surface clean the laundry room or office, and since my office is in decent shape I knew my laundry room could use a quick tidying!  

 

 

 

Even though I just cleaned the laundry room a few weeks ago, after doing extra sets of sheets for our company this weekend I still had a little work to do. Here’s what I worked on for 30 minutes in the laundry room:

  • Folded clothes in the dryer and started a new load of laundry
  • Wiped down tops and sides of washer and dryer
  • Threw away hangers that don’t fit anything (you know, the ones that come home from the stores for your children’s clothes but are really too small to use? Why do I keep those???)
  • Emptied basket that holds our iron and laundry supplies and washed the liner (apparently some detergent had leaked there and needed to be cleaned up)
  • Put away everything that didn’t belong in the laundry room

 As you can tell, our laundry room is tiny, but stays pretty well kept up after I frugally updated it last January. See the before and after pics HERE (it was a mess but spending just $100 made such a difference!) 

Tomorrow we’ll be working in the kitchen and family room, so stop back tomorrow night to see how it goes, and I’d love for you to join in too!

 

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge over HERE.

 

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, Uncategorized

30 Day Challenge: The Bedrooms

April 3, 2013 By 5 Comments

I’m joining Money Saving Mom’s 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and today spent a few minutes cleaning up the bedrooms.  Thankfully they were mostly picked up after having company over the weekend, but I did do a quick tidying in each room. Here’s a peek at a few of the pictures  . . . 

 

 My son’s room was the worst by far, so I spent the bulk of the time tidying it up and fluffing up his bed. It could still use some work, but this was all I had time for today! (And yes, I left all of his Knex and train set up.  He loves setting up “cities” and I figure those days won’t last forever, but I did get the Nerf Guns and a few other toys put away.)

 

 

Here’s what 30 minutes spent on the bedrooms included:

  • Put away any odds and ends that needed to be picked up
  • Fluffed the pillows and straightened beds in all the rooms
  • Made my son’s bed and put away his clothes (he was at school so I did it for him . . . he owes me!) ;)
  • Took any dirty clothes to the laundry room

 

It looks like tomorrow we’ll be surface cleaning the laundry room and ofrice, so stop back tomorrow night to see how it goes, and I’d love for you to join in too!

 

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge over HERE.

 

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, A Penny Pinched Home, Uncategorized

30 Day Cleaning Challenge Day 2: The Bathrooms + Homemade Soap Scum Remover

April 2, 2013 By 7 Comments

 

I’m joining Money Saving Mom’s 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and today spent more time than I wanted in the bathroom! I didn’t think this one would be much of a chore since I cleaned them before the weekend, however when I opened the shower door in our bathroom, I realized I had a little more work ahead of me than I bargained for. (Do you ever have something filthy in your home but somehow manage not see it? Yup, that’s the way I am about our shower. . . gross!)

 

I shouldn’t have a dab of soap scum in my shower according to Google. Not sure what I mean? Well, go Google “homemade soap scum remover” and see what happens to pop up. Yup, I should know how to do this one.

 

(My husband says it’s shocking to him that the girl who’s currently ranked #1 on google for homemade soap scum remover has quite possibly the yuckiest shower floor in the world. . . oops.)

 

So, here’s what 30 minutes spent on the bathrooms in our house looked like today:

  • Mixed a batch of Homemade Soap Scum Remover and sprayed it all over our shower to soak (Dawn Dish Soap really does work best)
  • Added cleaner to all the toilets and let them soak too
  • Cleaned all the mirrors and sinks in the bathrooms
  • Folded a load of laundry and started a new one so that the toilets and shower could soak an extra few minutes
  • Scrubbed the toilets . . . bleck!
  • Cleaned out the shower, including taking off the drain cover and giving it a good scrub.

 

Here I am when it was all done . . . happy, happy, happy! ;)

It looks like tomorrow we’ll be working on the bedrooms, so stop back tomorrow night to see how it goes, and I’d love for you to join in too!

 

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge over HERE.

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, Uncategorized

30 Day House Cleaning Challenge: Day #1

April 1, 2013 By 7 Comments

 

When I saw Money Saving Mom was starting a new 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, I knew I had to join in! After having company in town for Easter our home had had a pretty thorough surface cleaning last week, but I still have some deep cleaning that needs to be done, and just getting everything back in order now that everyone’s gone home was quite a challenge today! (Do you know how many loads of laundry it takes to handle five extra house guests and eleven extra folks in town for Easter Brunch? Tons!)

 

So, since today’s challenge was to surface clean the living room and kitchen (and my living room was in decent shape . . .), I tackled cleaning out the crockpot from yesterday’s ham (bleck!) putting away all the extra dishes and kitchen appliances that we used over the weekend, and doing a quick fridge cleanout. Here’s a peek at my (gross!) crockpot clean out . . .

Before

 

After (so much better!)

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(I dropped half of a fabric softener sheet in the pot and let it soak to easily clean it out . . . love that trick!)

I also shined my sink (my favorite kitchen chore!) and got lunches made for tomorrow and put away. Whew! It looks like tomorrow we’ll be cleaning the bathrooms, so stop back tomorrow night to see how it goes.

 

Are you working on any Spring Cleaning this month in your home? I’d love to hear if you have any cleaning tips, and you can see more about the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge over HERE. 

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenge, A Penny Pinched Home, Uncategorized

Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes

March 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

Find more penny pinched recipes HERE and also visit the Recipe Gallery for more menu inspiration. So glad you’re here!

 

Here’s a peek at my favorite slow cooker recipes now that the 25 Days of Slow Cooking Series is finished. (Whew!) Hopefully thils will make them easy for you to access if you need one in a hurry.

 

If you’ve made any of these recipes, I’d love to hear which ones you’ve liked! To find the recipe, just click the picture below, and you can click the “25 Days Series” at the top of the page or the logo in the right side bar to access this list. Happy Slow Cooking!

Sweet Stuff

Crockpot Monkey BreadSlow Cooker Brownies

Soups

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chilil

Chicken

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Beef

Crockpot Sloppy JoesCrockpot Meatloaf

Slow Cooker Fajitas

Pork

Easy Slow Cooker Ham

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Simple Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Pasta

Slow Cooker Ravioli BakeSlow Cooker Mac & Cheese

 

 

 

Need a slow cooker to get started? Here are a few decent deals on Amazon:

See more penny pinched recipes at Passionate Penny Pincher.

 

Filed Under: 25 Day Series, 25 Days of Slow Cooking, Uncategorized

Slow Cooker Ranch House Pork Chops

February 28, 2013 By 3 Comments

If you enjoy this recipe, I’d sure love for you to share it with your friends on Pinterest, and come join me there too! 

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I bought pork chops yesterday to re-make this recipe (and take a better picture!), however it turns out I’ve got three kids going three different directions tonight, so we’ll be having leftovers on our way out the door. I’ll update the picture when we actually do have a night home to make this one, but oh-my-goodness I promise this one’s delicious and you’ll love it!

I’ve tried several recipes for pork chops in the crockpot, and not really been all that impressed.  (A crockpot is a wonderful thing, but a bad recipe in the crockpot always seems to turn out just horrible!)  So, I was a little skeptical about this recipe, but it turned out perfectly!  (In fact, my son called it a “five star meal” . . . yayyy!)  I literally found this recipe on Pinterest at noon, popped my pork chops in the microwave for a minute to defrost, threw them in Mrs. Potts with the rest of the ingredients while they were still half frozen (really!), and sure enough they were just delicious five hours later. Woot!

 

Print
Slow Cooker Ranch House Pork Chops and Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 6 pork chops
  • 1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
  • 10 oz. can cream of chicken soup
  • 4 lbs. potatoes
  • 5 tbsp. butter or margarine
  • 6 cloves roasted garlic
  • 1 1/2 cup warm milk (we used skim)
  • 1 tbsp. salt optional, to taste
  • 1 tsp. fresh cracked pepper optional

Instructions

  1. Directions (for the pork chops)
  2. Place pork chops, ranch seasoning & soup in slow cooker and heat on high four hours or low six hours. (Ours cooked on high for four hours, and were even a little frozen when they went in.)
  3. Directions (for the potatoes)
  4. Roast garlic. (To roast the garlic, cover the entire garlic bulb including skin in aluminum foil and bake at 350 for one hour. Then let cool, remove from skins and mix into a paste to add to your potatoes.)
  5. While garlic is cooling, cook peeled potatoes in large pot of water for about 15-18 minutes, until ready to mash.
  6. Mash potatoes, then add garlic, salt, and pepper.
  7. Slowly add in milk until the potatoes are the consistency that you'd like them (mine only needed about 1 cup of the milk.)
  8. Add potatoes to plate, then cover with pork chops from slow cooker and use the sauce for your gravy. . . yummmm!
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Looking for more slow cooker recipes to add to your menu plan this week? Here you go . . .

Filed Under: 25 Day Series, 25 Days of Slow Cooking, Main Dish, Recipes, Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

February 27, 2013 By 6 Comments

If you enjoy this recipe, I’d sure love for you to share it with your friends on Pinterest, and come join me there too! 

I posted this simple recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff  way back in September of 2011, but it’s one of our favorites and I’m adding it to our menu plan next week! If you try it out, I’d love to hear what you think.

I’ve never tried Beef Stroganoff in our slow cooker before, so I was thrilled to find a simple recipe that made cooking a night of cooking a little simpler at our house!  This was so good, but a wee bit on the pricey for us.  However, it made enough for dinner plus tons of leftovers, so we’ll freeze what we don’t eat tomorrow and then just reheat the meal when we need a quick dinner.  (You can freeze it in plastic bags even with the noodles as long as they’re cooked, then just re-heat and serve!)

 

Print
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. beef stew meat
  • 2 cans Golden Mushroom Soup
  • 1 onion
  • 4 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 beef bouillon cube
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 1 cup mushrooms
  • noodles, cooked

Instructions

  1. Heat bouillion cube in water in microwave for 30 seconds. Then place all of the first ten ingredients in slow cooker.
  2. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
  3. About 30 minutes before meat is cooked, saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add to stroganoff and let it cook another fifteen minutes. Whisk any cream cheese that has not melted completely until smooth.
  4. Serve over cooked noodles, enjoy!
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    Looking for more slow cooker recipes to add to your menu plan this week? Here you go . . .

Filed Under: 25 Day Series, 25 Days of Slow Cooking, Main Dish, Recipes, Slow Cooker, Uncategorized

Slow Cooker Honey Chicken

February 26, 2013 By 2 Comments

If you enjoy this recipe, I’d sure love for you to share it with your friends on Pinterest, and come join me there too!

 

When I saw this Slow Cooker Honey Chicken recipe on Table for Two I couldn’t wait to try it out! We had it tonight for dinner along with broccoli and Sesame Noodles. Super easy and very good. . .

Print
Slow Cooker Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • cornstarch
  • sesame seeds (optional ~ we didn't have any so I left them out!)

Instructions

  1. Place chicken in slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Mix next seven ingredients in medium bowl and then pour over chicken.
  3. Cook 3-4 hours on low or 1 1/2 hours on high.
  4. Remove chicken from crock pot and cut into pieces.
  5. Meanwhile, mix 4 teaspoons cornstarch in 6 teaspoons water, then pour into crockpot.
  6. Replace lid and cook sauce an additional ten minutes on high to thicken juices.
  7. Return chicken to pot to let it soak up the juices and warm. Sprinkle sesame seeds if desired.
  8. Serve over noodles or rice.
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Looking for more slow cooker recipes to add to your menu plan this week? Here you go . . .

Originally adapted from Baby Center. 

 

Filed Under: 25 Day Series, 25 Days of Slow Cooking, Recipes, Slow Cooker
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