Along with the kitchen, the bathroom is probably the other area of the home that needs to be kept clean more than any other. There are so many surfaces in the bathroom that get ridiculously dirty, and it might seem like chemical-laden cleaners are the best way to get your bathroom clean. Fortunately, you can get a clean bathroom without dealing with fumes.

Bath, Sink and Tile Cleaner
-2/3 cup baking soda
-1/2 cup castile soap
-2tbsp vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-a few drops of tea tree oil
Combine and store in a squirt bottle (like an old dishwashing detergent bottle)

To clean your drain:
-Put in 1 cup baking soda followed by a cup of vinegar. After 5 minutes add a gallon of boiling water.

Glass Cleaner
-1 cup water
-1 cup vinegar
-1/2 teaspoon castile soap

Toilet Bowl Cleaner
-liquid castile soap
-baking soda or borax

Fixture Scrub
-1/2 cup baking soda
-castile soap (enough to make a frosting-like consistency)
Apply and rinse with warm water.

Mildew/Germ Killer #1
-1 cup hydrogen peroxide
-2 cups water
Spray. Rinse after 1 hour.

Mildew/Germ Killer #2
-2 cups water
-25 drops tea tree oil
-25 drops lavender oil
Does not need to be wiped off

How to clean your bathtub
-Wipe down with vinegar and scour with baking soda
OR
-Sprinkle 1/4 cup of kosher salt on a wet tub. Cover half a grapefruit with kosher salt and scrub the tub with the grapefruit, picking up new salt every few seconds. Clean AND good-smelling!

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms to keep clean, but it's also one of the easiest to get dirty. There are a LOT of things to clean. Luckily, I have healthier, eco-friendly cleaner recipes for you to help keep that kitchen sparkling :)

Grease Cutter
-2 cups water
-1/4 cup castile soap
-10 drops lavender oil

All Purpose Kitchen Cleaner
-2 cups water
-1/2 cup vinegar
-1 teaspoon castile soap
-3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
-20 drops tea tree oil
-20 drops lavender essential oil

Dishwasher Detergent
-2 cups borax
-2 cups baking soda
-4 packages unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid

To clean a microwave:
-1/2 cup vinegar
-2 cups water
Combine in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat 3-4 minutes on high, then wipe down the microwave.

To clean an oven:
Spray the oven with water and sprinkle on baking soda. Scrub after 20 minutes.

To clean a refrigerator:
Dissolve 2tbsp baking soda in 1 quart warm water and wipe down the fridge. Rinse with a wet cloth.

Produce Wash
-1 cup water
-1tbsp lemon juice
-1 tbsp baking soda
Spray on produce. Rinse after five minutes.

So you know how they tell you to take off your makeup before you go to bed?

Yeah.

I'm really bad about that.

I mostly just use eye makeup, and I'm too cheap to buy remover (seriously, I've only ever had one tube of eye makeup remover in the past thirteen years).

That is, until now.

I discovered that I can make my own eye makeup remover for practically nothing. I love knowing what I'm putting on my face.

Eye Makeup Remover
-1 cup water
-1 1/2 tbsp tear-free baby shampoo
-1/8 tbsp baby oil

Combine all the ingredients and stir. Pour into a bottle or baby food jars.

Cheap, fast and easy :)

I've been thinking a lot about ways to reduce the amount of chemicals in our home. With a curious little puppy on the loose (and babies on the brain), I'd feel a lot better if the cleaners I use didn't have anything harmful in them. I've found a lot of different recipes for green cleaners online and in books recently, and I'm working on phasing out all the chemical-laden cleaners we have. These cleaners are made with things that are inexpensive and things you have in your house, so you'll save money, because these cost only pennies to make. I thought I'd share some of the all purpose cleaners I've come across.


Surface Spray
-2tsp Borax (in the laundry aisle at the grocery store)
-1/4tsp liquid castile soap (Dr. Bronner's is recommended...you can buy it at Target)
-hot water

All Purpose Cleaner #1
-1 gallon hot water
-1tbsp baking soda
-2tbsp liquid castile soap

All Purpose Cleaner #2
-3tbsp vinegar
-1/2tsp washing soda (found by the Borax in the laundry aisle)
-1/2tsp liquid castile soap
-2c hot water

Antibacterial Spray
-1c water
-20 drops lavender essential oil (lavender contains the naturally antibacterial linalool)

Happy (fume and chemical-free!) cleaning!

I hate bar soap.

I think this goes back to my childhood, when a Dial Gold bar always sat on the edge of the bathroom sink. Over time, it would start to dry out and crack, and it really grossed me out. So when Tom and I got our own place, I opted for liquid soap.

The problem with liquid soap though is that it's more expensive than bar soap. You don't get as much bang for your buck. In this economy, stretching your dollar is important. So you can imagine how excited I was when I came across Savvy Housekeeping's post on turning bar soap into liquid soap. It's so simple, and it'll really help save money! Plus, you'll help the environment by extending the bar soap's life and reusing soap dispensers!

What you'll need-1 cup soap flakes
-10 cups water
-1tbsp glycerin (available at the drug store)

Grate a bar of soap. A regular-sized bar makes about 1 1/2cups, so you can save the excess for later :)

Combine the grated soap, the water and the glycerin together in a pot. Heat on medium-low and stir until the soap is dissolved. It should only take a minute or so.

Two things are pretty obvious.

My whole 'post every weekday' plan didn't pan out, and there has been some major blog overhaul. The blog has a new name and a new look. Hopefully these changes are all for the better :)

Yesterday, I tried a recipe for crock pot macaroni and cheese that I found on Pinterest. It ended up being a hot mess, mostly because the noodles ended up mushy. I'm pretty sure I cooked them too much before throwing them in the pot (the recipe said to cook them a few minutes first). The cheese sauce tasted good, but Tom deemed it inedible, so I threw it out.

Today I decided to tackle a couple of more recipes I found on Pinterest, and I ended up with MUCH better results.

These cheesy garlic sticks looked delicious, and like they'd be easy to throw together. They were hot and tasty. Tom loved them, I loved them and we're definitely having them in the future.

Photo from Jamhands.net

Ingredients

Photo from My Yellow Umbrella

So today, I'm sharing a recipe that we'll be trying this week (probably on Wednesday): crab rangoons! I've never liked Chinese food, but I've always loved crab rangoon. I came across a recipe for them on Pinterest, and I'm eager to try them. This version is baked instead of fried, so they're healthier for you. The recipe came from my baking addiction.

photo from My Baking Addiction

Baked Crab Rangoon
Makes 12

Ingredients
1 can (6 oz.) white crabmeat, drained and chopped
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons light mayonaise
½ teaspoon Sriracha
2 teaspoons finely slice chives, plus more for garnish
fresh ground pepper to taste
12 won ton wrappers (I got Nasoya Wonton Wraps from Meijer. They were in the produce section, above the tofu)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine crab meat, cream cheese, mayonaise, Sriracha, chives, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
3. Place 1 won ton wrapper in each 12 mini muffin cups. The edges of the won ton wrappers will extend beyond the mini muffin tin cups and may need to be folded slightly. Fill the center of each won ton cup with crab mixture.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges of cups are golden brown and filling is heated through. Garnish with reserved chives.

I'm really excited about making these, because it's been awhile since I've had one, and I want to see if Tom likes them. If you try this recipe, let me know! I'd like to hear how it goes for you :)

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I've updated.  Some things have changed since then.

Tom got a new job.  It's a lot more physically challenging than his previous jobs (causing him to ask "Do my legs look thinner?" every three days or so), but he works with one of his best friends, so he enjoys it.

I started a new job, so I've been at work a lot more and have been too exhausted to think about blogging when I get home.  I've also been getting less sleep, because...

Our family got a little bigger!  Tom and I adopted a puppy :)  His name is Archie, and he's a cattle dog/dachshund mix.  He's very cute and very sweet, but he wakes me up a lot and doesn't like it if I sleep in.  He, however, sleeps most of the day, so he's not nearly as exhausted as I am.


I've been planning some changes to the blog, in terms of weekly features and how often I post.  Suffice it to say, I'll be posting a lot more.

More on these changes tomorrow :)