Pinned It, Made It: Can I Clean My Bathrooms In 15 Minutes?

Can I clean my bathrooms in 15 minutes?

Always looking for ways to streamline my cleaning tasks, I pinned this article that tells how to clean two bathrooms quickly--in 15 minutes!

The question was: Would it work for me?

Well, let's find out!

Before starting the timer, I gathered all rags and supplies, including mop water.

I then set the timer for 20 minutes since I was planning to sweep and mop as well. (In the blog post, she did floors another day.) Floors already take me a while to complete--we have a good amount of hardwoods--so I'd rather just do the bathroom floors at the same time as the bathrooms!

She suggests starting with mirrors them cleaning toilet in Bathroom #1. I squirted toilet cleaner in both rooms first. Then back to #1.

Bathroom #1: Clean mirror, spray sink, counters and toilet with cleaner. (We don't use the shower/tub in this room so no need to clean weekly!) Run to Bathroom #2.

And yes, I'm cracking myself up with my references to the bathrooms as #1 and #2. LOL!!!

Bathroom #2: Clean mirrors. Spray sink, counters, toilet, tub/shower. Run back to #1.

Quickly scrub toilet and wipe down what was sprayed before. Repeat in #2.

Look at timer--exactly 15 minutes!

Back in #1, sweep floor and mop. Run to #2 and do the same thing.

Finish up just as timer beeps--20 minutes from start to finish!

The verdict:
It worked! But I moved fast--no dilly dallying!


My notes:
This was enough time to quickly do the basics but no extras such as dusting or wiping down cabinet doors. I'll do these things as needed on another day when I do dusting and cleaning surfaces.

This worked well for my size of bathrooms--small-average size.  Large rooms may take longer to clean.

I'm a timer motivated cleaner so this method is working really well for me-- I'm not as apt to put it off when I know it will be done in 15-20 minutes!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It Monday at Country Girl At Home.

Winner!

The winner of the pumpkin giveaway is...

Wendi!

She commented that what she loves most about fall:

"The thing I love most about fall is the changing leaves. It is like a new picture outside my window each day."


Congratulations!


For the rest of you, I'm offering a coupon code good for 15% off anything in my shop through October 31, 2012. Use  coupon code FALL2012 at checkout!

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

I've wanted to make pumpkin pie play dough for fall for a long time! And finally got around to it this fall...

It helps that the littles are really getting into play dough now. And our last batch of Smurf-blue  dough was needing to be replaced.

I looked at a few recipes on the internet and came to the conclusion that by adding pumpkin pie spice and red and yellow food coloring (to make orange) to my basic play dough recipe, we would have pumpkin pie play dough.

I am super practical and prefer the simple route for many things,can you tell? I mean, why reinvent the wheel play dough when you can just add to it to get what you want?

I didn't have pumpkin pie spice and I saw no reason to buy any so I just added a couple shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves that I had in the cabinet. If you really want pumpkin pie spice, here is a recipe to make your own! I didn't measure the amount I put in but I knew it was ready when it smelled so good I wanted to eat it.

I'm really happy with how it turned out--nice and orange and smelling just like pumpkin pie!

One of my favorite smells of fall!

In The Shop: Kitchen Towels

A brand new batch of kitchen towels are in my shop!

Cheeseburger Mac (Homemade Hamburger Helper)

I've been making Homemade Hamburger Helper type meals for  five years, since I first saw this post.

I didn't grow up eating Hamburger Helper and have only had the boxed kind a couple of times in my life. I do like easy skillet meals, though, which prompted me to try this in the first place! The homemade kind doesn't have all the chemicals that the boxed kind has so it's much better for us!

Our favorite kind is Cheeseburger Mac which I've adapted from the original post.

I know some of you are thinking, "I didn't think she ate pasta!" Which we really don't very often since eliminating wheat. But after a year of no pasta, I discovered that I could make this with rice pasta instead and it is super good!

The Tinkyada brand of brown rice pasta is very good. I bought a bag at a dent and bent type of store for $1 last year. We liked it. But regular price is around $3-4 a bag. That's high for pasta, especially if you aren't allergic. Since then, we've tried Trader Joe's brown rice pasta for $1.99 a bag(16 oz.). It's just as good! Since this recipe only takes 8 oz. of pasta, I can make two pots of this, each which serves us for two meals. Not bad, frugally speaking!

Cheeseburger Mac 

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup water or broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Ketchup and yellow mustard, a few squirts of each
1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
8 ounces pasta-- rice pasta, regular pasta, whole wheat, gluten free,whatever...
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:
1. Brown a half pound of meat and chopped onions in a skillet. Drain grease. I reduced the amount of meat from a whole pound to a half pound; we don't think it's made much of a difference in taste! This is one way I'm able to stretch the more expensive grass-fed beef and afford to eat it.

2. Pour one cup of water or broth in a measuring cup; add a teaspoon of cornstarch and mix well. Pour it into skillet and bring to boil.

3. Add several squirts of ketchup and mustard to pot. We really like the cheeseburger taste this gives but you can skip if  you want!

4. Stir in diced tomatoes.

5. Add noodles and stir them in. If needed, add more water so the noodles can be mixed in without clumping too bad. The water shouldn't cover the noodles! As they cook, keep an eye on the noodles and stire often, adding a bit more water if needed.

6. Cover and simmer, stirring often until noodles are soft, about 10- 15 minutes.

7. When noodles are done, turn heat to low and add a handful of cheese, stirring it in until it melts. Turn stove off, sprinkle more cheese on top and serve to your hungry family!

Enjoy!

A Bushel Of Pumpkins And A Giveaway!

Remember these pumpkins I made last year?

I recently whipped up a big batch of them and they are in my shop. 

But for fun, I'm also offering up a set of 3 pumpkins as a giveaway here on the blog!

The giveaway will be open all week and I'll draw a winner on Saturday, October 20.

To enter: Simply leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! Make sure you leave a name and a way to get in touch with you if you win--an email address, link back to your profile or blog that includes an email, etc. I can't give the prize to Anonymous or to someone that I have no way of getting in touch with!:-)

For additional entries:

(Leave a separate comment for each one.)

• Leave a comment stating what you love the most about fall!
• Leave a comment stating your favorite cool weather or fall food to cook or eat. 
• Leave a comment sharing your favorite fall activity! 

Happy Fall! 

Pinned It, Made It: Pajama Pants

For today's Pinned It, Made It Monday, I'm sharing some pj pants I made a few weeks ago.

I'd pinned the instructions for making pj pants by using an old pair of pants for the pattern.

Back in the spring, I'd thrifted a delicious ruffled vintage sheet that was just dying to be made into something sweet! Pajamas seemed to be just the thing.

My husband said as soon as he saw me pull that sheet out, he knew it was going home with us! Smart man!

So anyways, I needed some new pj's and I thought, "Why don't I try making some?" So I did!

The instructions for the pants were very clear and detailed, making them easy to follow. The pants sewed up with very little trouble. I used the ruffled edge of the sheet for the hem of the pants eliminating the need for hemming.

I will say that the fit of these pants is a bit wonky on me. If I were to make these again, I'd need to do some tweaking. I'm not sure sure if the fit issue is the pants I used or the tutorial!

But at any rate, they are still wearable! And I really like them! I think they're super cute and feminine. 

I made a matching top from a Burda Young Fashion pattern. I can't locate the pattern at the moment for the exact pattern number. I've made several things from this pattern--a loan from my sister. I promise I will give the pattern back! Hahaha.

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It! Monday over at Country Girl At Home. **

Picnic On The Deck

Now that fall is here and the days are cooler, we're enjoying much time spent outdoors! The littles enjoy playing outside so much that one day I decided to set up a picnic on the deck for lunch.

Toddler Girl (age 2 1/2) especially got into the idea. When she saw me moving their chairs outside, she ran to help!

We'd gathered a basket of sticks that morning for another project so I set those on the table for our centerpiece.

 I enjoyed the change of pace and the bright sunshine while we ate! The littles enjoyed it too, for the most part. We could hear construction going on behind our neighborhood, acorns falling and planes in the sky!

But for a dose of reality--- the lunch time/before nap time slot with toddlers is not usually all sunshine and roses! The littles were tired, irritable and one person did not like their lunch and made it known loudly. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed our charming little picnic too! :-)

In spite of all this, a picnic on the deck is something we'll be doing more often!

It's a simple fun way to enjoy our lovely fall!

Organized Art Cabinet

Even though we have a play room now, we keep most of our arts and crafts supplies in the kitchen. We typically do these sorts of things at the kitchen table and it's nice to have everything easily accessible and out of reach of the toddlers.

I must admit, I feel spoiled to have so many cabinets in my kitchen that I'm able to devote one to non-kitchen items!

The art cabinet hadn't been properly organized yet; most things were stuffed in every which way and the organizing containers I did have in there were too big for the space making it a pain to pull anything out!

I rarely purchase organizing containers for a project but eventually I figured a few bucks would be worth having this area nice and neat! I just wasn't coming up with enough recycled containers on my own that were really what was needed.

I found these clear plastic bins with snap-on lids on clearance at Target for $2 each. I took a chance and bought four hoping they would be the right size for the space and the items being stored.

They worked great!  Labels were created from scrapbook paper scraps and packing tape. A plastic salad container was pulled from the recycling bag for stickers and I used one of the bigger bins from before to house all the random craft supplies that are not needed as often (pom poms, foam sheets, pipe cleaners, etc.) on the top shelf.

Next to our art cabinet, there is a skinny cabinet with 3 shelves where I've stashed some extra stuff like crayons, markers and colored pencils for older kids, some large bottles of paint, and some small toddler activities.

I love how these shelves are organized and how easy it is to pull out supplies and activities for the little ones!

Snippets of Life

1) Toddler Girl is at a very possessive stage of life. Real life example:

Toddler Girl holding toys.
Baby Boy stands and looks at what she has.
T.G freaks out: "Noooo! ______ (Baby Boy's name), mine!"
Me: " It's ok. ______ (Baby Boy) can look."
T.G. regains composure and holds toys out importantly towards B.B. "Ok, look!"

2) Abby and Dolly are two dogs in our neighborhood. They are known to roam occasionally especially around their own property. So we often see then when we are out and about. Unfortunately, Abby and Rock don't seem to get  along the best and usually bark and growl at one another.

One day recently, we were out for our walk, me pushing the double stroller with Rock on the leash by our side. Everything was fine and dandy until we approached Abby's house. I saw Abby and Dolly coming out carrying on and sensed Rock stiffening up. About that time, T.G. yelled, " Oh lordy! There's Abby and Dolly!"

She sounded so funny, I could hardly stop laughing.

Ahem... I do use the phrase Oh lordy on occasion.

3)  Baby Boy was enjoying emptying a bag of scrap fabrics the other day while I picked out a few pieces for a project. Rock, everyone's favorite, was nearby. I noticed Baby Boy laughing and laughing out loud and glanced over just in time to see him put a piece of cloth on Rock's head. He then stood back and laughed then repeated the whole procedure. Rock was such a good sport about his "hat"! And clearly, Baby Boy was amused!

4) Baby Boy loves tractors and notices them (riding mowers) when we're out. T.G. likes anything that B.B. likes so she likes tractors too! We like to sing a song about tractors and T.G. requests it often. So we sing. But for some reason, talking and singing about tractors makes her think about crackers. Haha.

5) We usually purchase natural peanut butter that needs to be stirred. I hate stirring peanut butter! It's so messy. Lately I've noticed that I'll wait and let Andy open the new jar of peanut butter. That way he'll stir it up. Which he doesn't mind doing. Plus he's just really nice like that!

6) A couple frugal blogs I've been enjoying lately are Living On Less Money and The Non-Consumer Advocate.

7) A verse I've been pondering: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Daniel 12:3.

What's going on in your life?

Crockpot Sausage and Sweet Potato Stew

This is a wonderful cool weather stew! It's easy to put in the crockpot on busy days.

Plus with sweet potatoes and vegetables, it's really quite nutritious as well! Any sausage can be used-- turkey, pork, beef. I've used both keilbasa/smoked type sausage cut into slices and bulk roll sausage that I cooked and crumbled. Both are tasty.

I like to serve this stew with a green salad topped with fresh apple slices and walnuts or pecans!

Sausage and Sweet Potato Stew

Makes approximately 8 servings; freezes well.

1 pound cooked sausage, any kind, even homemade.
4 small sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces; about 2 pounds or 5 cups.
1 cup chopped bell peppers
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups broth, chicken or beef

Combine all ingredients in greased 5 -6 qt. crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Make Your Own Sausage

When I was getting my recent beef, pork and chicken order together for a local farmer, I noticed that they were sold out of their sausage, which we like very very much!

Instead of sausage, I ordered some of their ground pork instead. And I've been adding a few seasonings and making my own sausage!

I adapted a recipe from the Not Just Beans cookbook using spices I had on hand. Really, seasoning your own sausage is quite simple. Spices can be adjusted according to your tastes.

This is more of an Italian-style sausage. I use it wherever we would use sausage-- for breakfast meat or in recipes. 

1 pound ground pork or you can do a 50/50 combination of beef and pork
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. minced garlic or 1 clove fresh (finely minced)
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

A teaspoon of fennel seeds can also be added for a more authentic taste but I didn't have any so left it out!

Sprinkle seasoning over ground meat. Knead until thoroughly blended. The Mix 'n Chop from Pampered Chef works wonderfully for this job! Make into patties or form into roll and refrigerate for 2-3 days to allow flavors to blend. I usually use it right away although the flavors are not as developed.

When ready to use, cook as you would cook regular sausage.

**Tomorrow I'll be sharing a yummy recipe that includes this sausage--perfect for fall!

Another Year

Today marks 8 years of marriage for us!

I looked at Andy the other day and asked if we were the same kids who got married 8 years ago. He said he didn't think so.  A lot of change and growth has occurred in the past 8 years. Good change and growth, I might add! But at the same time, so much about us has not changed.

We're still us.  And I like that.

Facebook

This week I pulled both my personal profile and blog page from Facebook. Some of you may have seen my status updates informing of this decision and some may not have.

I won't go into specifics concerning this decision but you can be assured that I didn't have any negative experience that prompted this action.

In the meantime, I do still plan to keep my blog up and running. If you'd like to subscribe so you don't miss an update, you can subscribe by email or become a follower. Both of these options are on the right sidebar of my blog. Or you can subscribe via a reader. Google Reader  is my favorite and keeps all the blogs I read in one place!

As always, thank you so much for continuing to read and comment here at Mary Ann's House. I appreciate it and it means a lot to me!

Have a wonderful weekend!

More Coupon Savings

As I mentioned in this post, I'm making a bit more of an effort to use some coupons again to help me rebuild my pantry without buying everything at regular retail prices.

I had gotten more store coupons from my last trip to Bi-Lo so made a quick trip to see what I could find!

This time I had Baby Boy-who is-not-really-a-baby-anymore (18 months!) with me, so it was important to make the trip quick!

I'm not a fast grocery shopper but taking the littles certainly speeds me up which is a good thing! I like getting it done and going back home!

We picked up a few needed produce items and then these things:

• Disposable cups-- FREE with $1 store coupon. These are often needed for our Fellowship gatherings.
• Jug of water--FREE with $1 store coupon. This will be put with our emergency supplies. 
• Sandwich bags-- 39 cents with $1 store coupon.
• Shout-- $1.15 with $1 store coupon and 55 cent doubled manu. coupon. This would have been better had I waited for a sale but still a super price for something we use regularly. And now I have an extra for later!

While I really don't have a desire to be a super Coupon Queen, especially right now--there are so many other things I'd rather spend my time on-- using some coupons for needed items really is helpful to the budget!

Do you coupon regularly? What have you gotten for a good price recently?

Trash

Our new home is county instead of city so we aren't included in city trash pickup. Instead of paying for a private company to get our trash, we've opted to take our trash and recycling to the dump ourselves.

We live only about 5 minutes from the dump so this has worked out quite well so far. Admittedly, it does take a bit more effort to gather all the trash together to take somewhere than setting the can at the curb. 

A few ways we've reduced the trash and made things a bit easier:

• Composting food scraps. I'd gotten out of the habit of consistently adding to our compost bin. Since moving, we've started this back up. I keep a bowl on the counter and then empty every day. Super easy. I'm also adding some to our garden plot to amend the soil. We have a septic system so no garbage disposal, so if not composting, these things would go right into the trash, not only creating more garbage but a lot more stink!
• Recycling. The trash and recycling center provides a blue recycling bag. Almost all recyclables can go in this bag eliminating the need for sorting. They accept almost everything except for styrofoam. Recyclables in the trash can tend to fill it up very quickly so this keeps the actual garbage amount down.
• Outside trash can. I keep a can outside for diapers and other smelly stuff. We normally only have one bag of household trash per week. I'd have to empty it more often if diapers were included so they get their own can plus it gets them out of the house! At the end of the day, I tie up the grocery bag of diapers we've accumulated and cart it outside.
• Passing stuff on. Egg cartons go to the guy we've been buying eggs from. Another lady at the farmers market uses the plastic clamshell containers to package up her produce. I add those items to our market bag through the week and take it with us to disperse among the appropriate vendors. 
• Reusing and repurposing. Individual applesauce containers make good little paint cups. There are oodles of uses for toilet paper rolls and cardboard. Glass jars can be reused. So I keep some. Not all. If I kept everything hoping to find a use for it one day, we'd be buried in a sea of recyclables. And we don't want that. I keep a few things if I have a specific use in mind and send the rest to recycling. Super simple.
• Reducing the use of disposable items. Using plastic or glass containers instead of so many plastic bags, lidded bowls and pans instead of always having to cover with plastic wrap or foil, cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels and napkins are some of the ways we reduce our trash. We don't do this perfectly by any means but the little things we are able to do add up to savings and less trash! 

By implementing these tips, we typically only have to make a trip to the dump every couple of weeks! 
 

Recent Frugal Stuff

I always enjoy reading when others post about ways they are being frugal and saving money on a daily basis. So I thought I'd share my own list of ways we've been able to save money recently or use what we already have creatively!

I know most of us are interested in making the most of our dollars and stretching them as far as we can these days. So maybe this will help!

• A friend gave us some garden veggies: already sliced cucumbers and a couple small tomatoes. I made a Creamy Cucumber Salad with these and served it with lunch 2 days.
• When folding clean sheets, I noticed the hems on the pillowcases had come loose. A few minutes at the sewing machine and they were mended and should last for a long while. 
• Made some new snacks using ingredients I usually have on hand. Frozen banana bites and Grapesicles!
• A roll of brown paper was left here when we moved in. On a  rainy day, I taped a large piece of it to the kitchen floor and let the kiddos color all over it.
• We received a "Welcome to the neighborhood" coupon pack. Most were not things we would use, but we kept out a coupon for a free haircut which Andy used this week!

• I've been sewing lots of aprons to sell locally and in my Etsy shop. I've challenged myself to come up with fun fabric combinations using what I have in my stash rather than running to the store to buy more. I've had to get more creative than usual but have come up with some really cute ones, I think! I've done quite a bit and could still sew happily from my stash for quite some time!
• Used store coupons to get a few needed items for free or nearly free!
• Marinated some beef in leftover garlic dill pickle juice for a stir fry. Very yummy. I've also been putting cucumber slices in leftover pickle juice to brine for a few days and making my own pickles! Not quite the same as "real" pickles but tasty! This is old-school frugality at its finest; I hate to throw pickle juice away.
• I've been composting all of our food scraps minus meat and dairy. Since we started our fall garden, I've been digging holes and putting some right into the garden--free fertilizer!

• Made this cute fall pumpkin with stuff I had on hand then realized that I didn't have a cinnamon stick for the stem. My first thought was when to run to the store to buy some but then my eyes fell to some sticks in the backyard--so I used a stick for the stem instead. Totally free!
• Our house has a hard time staying cool. But with the little bit cooler weather, we've been able to turn off the ceiling fans! A small savings.Still using the A/C of course but soon we'll be able to turn that off too!
• I've said no to quite a few purchases resisting the urge to upgrade when I have something at home that works just as well! More money saved plus less clutter! 

What frugal stuff are you up to these days? 

**This post is part of Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom! 

Pinned It, Made It: Band-Aid Get Well Cards

I pinned this get well card idea a long time ago because they were so cute and hysterical! Recently, I needed a get well card and thought of this which was perfect for the recipient!

Ok, so these could technically be a kid's craft but so funny and I know many adults who would get a kick out of these! So when I got out the supplies to make a card, I made several to add to my card box.

Super fun and simple!

I added some of my own touches such as little stick figure arms and legs and even tried to come up with my own band-aid jokes and puns.

I may not have done so well with the latter. But it was fun!

**This post is part of Pinned It, Made It Monday at Country Girl at Home. 

**My intention was to post this Monday but as you can see that didn't happen! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Time To Fill Your Shoeboxes!

It's that time again.

Time to start thinking about what you want to pack in your shoe boxes.

Collection week is about 2 months away: November 12-19, 2012!

I've been squirreling a few things away all year but just today pulled out the boxes and sorted the items into each one. Now I know what I need to fill them in!

And as usual, our girl box is already much fuller than the boy box! Always seems to happen that way--maybe because I love buying girly stuff?!!

 **If you'd like, you can see this video I did last year about filling our shoeboxes. 

Coupons

I'm trying to make a bit more of an effort to use some coupons again for things I know we will use. Using just a few coupons can help to give our grocery budget a little more wiggle room. Plus after not using coupons or shopping the drugstore deals for a while, our grocery and personal care stash is starting to dwindle a bit!

We don't need 20 tubes of toothpaste since we only use 2-3 a year but buying an extra 1 or 2 of needed items as back-up is nice. And when bought on sale, saves us a good deal of cash!

I got a pile of store coupons from the grocery store last weekend so I used some of those on this trip. Most were very general coupons like $1 off any laundry purchase or any oral care purchase. I like coupons like that!

Here's what I got: 

Bi-Lo: 
Mustard- 39 cents with doubled 30 cent manu. coupon.
Canned vegetable- 49 cents with 20 cent e-coupon loaded onto store loyalty card.
Cereal- FREE with $1 store coupon. This will be a good snack for the little ones.
Toothbrush- FREE with $1 store coupon and doubled 75 cent manu. coupon.
Body Wash-FREE with $1 store coupon.


We also had gotten a $3 off any purchase coupon from CVS for my husband's birthday so he kindly gave that to me to use! Upon entering the store, I scanned his Extra Care card and received a $2 off any CVS brand body wash, so I was able to combine the two coupons for a good deal.

CVS:
Body Wash
2 pk. bar soaps
Sale- Buy 1, get 2nd 50% off.
Used $5 in store coupons.
Paid 30 cents for both!


Do you use coupons? What good deals have you gotten recently?