Posts Tagged: homemaking

Thoughts from Mom — No Comments
26
Oct 08

10 Tiny Cleaning Chores That Make a Huge Difference

There are some things that we do naturally around the house to keep it clean – sweep, mop, vaccuum, dish washing, and laundry.  While these are huge things that make a difference between a well kept home and a messy one, there are many tiny chores that can easily be overlooked, but when done occassionally, they make a huge difference in the overall upkeep of our homes. 

Make sure you eek out some time occassionally for these tiny chores around your own home!  If you are a FlyLady follower, you may also want to add one job per week to your routines.

  1. Wash the Baseboards – Foot traffic, sweeping, and dusting can cause these bottom of the wall areas to become filthy.  Yet we often pass right by them without giving them a second thought!  Soon, that gleaming white trim becomes coated in dust, and leaves an otherwise great looking room in a dull state. 
  2. Wash the Window Casings – While you may remember to Windex the glass windows, do you wash the window trim?  Those too become caked with grim.  Ours is wood, so I occassionally polish them as well, leaving them a great shine.
  3. Sweep the Ceiling – Floors aren’t the only things that need sweeping!  Cobwebs, dust and soot will collect over time not only in corners but on main ceiling areas as well, and leave them in a darkened state.  Running an occassional broom or extended vaccuum hose over them will give the entire room a great boost.
  4. Remove and Wash Light Switch & Outlet Covers – This is another thing we don’t pay much attention too!  Yet with all of the touching they are exposed too, germs and grim can build up really quickly, especially during cold season.  Removing them can be done quickly and easily.  Once removed, give them a quick wash with some Joy or Dawn Detergent, or let them soak overnight for a thorough cleaning.  You’ll be surprised at how great they look afterwards!
  5. Wipe Down the Top of the Refrigerator – Even if you can’t see it, dust from the top can cause a very unhealthy atmosphere.  The thought of it accidentally falling in food should be good enough motivation as well!  Grab a dishrag and step stool, remove the cereal boxes and tupperware, and get to scrubbin’.  It’ll only take 5 minutes tops.
  6. Hose Down the Mini-Blinds – If you have typical suburbian mini-blinds, you may already know that dry dusting them does not always help.  Furthermore, wet washing them isn’t easy either because it’s hard to apply pressure when they’re hanging.  Instead, just remove them from their hooks and hose them down outside (or give them a good soaking in the tub). 
  7. Scrub the Air Vent - Do you have one of those AC intake vents in your home?  Ours is approximately 2′ x 2′, located in our hallway, and houses the filter.  When the air flows into the vent, it traps dust that would otherwise travel through the ducts and exit in other parts of the house.  This metal vent sees far more dust and grim then I would like to admit!  Removing it, giving it a good soaking, and finishing off with a damp rag and elbow greese restores it to a bright, shining white sheen. 
  8. Wash Your Cabinets – Our kitchen cabinets catch all sorts of splatters, grease, and finger prints.  Wiping down your cabinet facing with something that is safe for your woodwork, will help restore a wonderful clean feeling to your kitchen  Be sure to pay special attention to the handles and knobs!
  9. Vaccuum Lamp Shades – Lamp shades collect surprising amounds of dust if left alone.  Washing fabric based shades is usually not feasible since it does little more than smear the dirt in.  Instead, use your vaccuum to such up the dust.  Light will shine brighter once it isn’t obscured by those dusty layers!
  10. Wash the Glass Shades on Ceiling Fans or Lights – Have you paid close attention to the glass shades that house your lighting fixtures?  Those too collect layers of dust that obscure proficient lighting.  Removing them and giving them a quick wash will make them look beautiful again.  If you’re daring, you can also chance putting them in the dish washer like I do.  To date, I have successfully washed ceiling fan glass, ceiling dome housing glass, and even gas light domes in the dishwasher with no mishaps.  The heat dry cycle always leaves them with a crystal clear look that my hand washing alone can’t achieve.
Thoughts from Mom — No Comments
6
Oct 08

What does “Homemade Meals” mean to you??

Ok.  There seems to be a rash of “realness” coming out in many mommy bloggers.  You see, there are a few (and one especially well known) home making blogs where the authors present themselves to be the perfect wife, mom, teacher, homemaker, etc.  In a turning of the tide movement, mommies every where seem to be coming out of the woodworks to show how UNperfect their life really is at certain moments.

And you know what?  It’s a breath of fresh air to see another homemaking blogger let down her pretenses and show what her house is truly like amidst the daily coming and goings of family life.  You see….sometimes, a dedicated stay-at-home mom (or any mom, for that matter!!) can get so caught up in wanting to be a “super-woman” that they feel crushed if they’re are unable to maintain a perfectly clean home and perfectly behaved children.  Reading blogs where other mommies seem to have it ALL together doesn’t help matters any either.  It can make us feel (in worst case scenarios) like jumping in our 3 day old pile of laundry and hiding with our store bought tide.

So with that in mind, I was thinking of something else that I’ve wondered about.  (Brace yourself…I’m gonna “be real”, real quick).

In today’s health concious society, “homemade meals” are all the rage, right?  Cooking at home is purpoted to be the best invention since sliced (homemade) bread.

Now, I’m not sure about you guys, but growing up, “Homemade meals” in my parent’s house meant just that – meals that were made at home.  Whether that meant opening cans, dumping out a quick box of Kraft Mac & Cheese for lunch, or rolling out some pillsbury pie crusts, didn’t matter.  Homemade was anything cooked at home. I never even thought to question this!  Mom would often say “this is cooked from scratch” – and we’d laugh and say “who scratched it??”, to which she’d simply reply “The Jolly Green Giant” or “Campbells”.   And it worked great for us.  The food tasted terrific, it was made with love, and it guided me right on up into a pretty healthy adulthood life.  Therefore, it never occured to me that there was a whole other attitute towards homemade meals….an attitute that scoffed at homemade meals that weren’t completely made from HOME scratch.  I am finding this particular attitude more and more in various books I read or blogs I encounter.  I sometimes even get the impression from many blogs that one should never even buy store bought canned goods!  That was quite a shocker to me when I first started researching on how to fill a home pantry. 

Does anyone out there truly NOT buy canned goods??  Canned goods, to me, are quintessential.  Pork & Beans, french cut string beans, cream corn, canned peaches, cream of mushroom…. most cans cost less than 60 cent per can, so they’re not really that expensive.  And I’m not sure if I’m reading right, but when I look at the ingredients of a can of string beans, all I ever see is “String Beans, Water” (maybe “Salt” on some?).  Nothing funky, right?  I LOVE canned foods, and I’m not sure if I could survive daily cooking without them.  And the occassional can of pineapple is auyummi.

But when I read some homemaking advice books / blogs, I get the impression that I “should” feel inadequate because I’m not growing my own lima beans, preserving my own vine grown tomatoes, shaving the corn off of the cob myself, or chopping my organic farmer’s market mustard greens.  Since when did the cook at home movement become the “cook-only-from-organic-scratch-or-your-family-isn’t-being-well-fed” movement???  

So anyway…what I’m getting at (I can be quite long winded) is this….

Does anyone else besides myself still find “cooking from pure scratch” a novelty that just doesn’t fit into every day life?? What does “Homemade Meals” mean to YOU??

Sometimes I wonder if there are hoards of people out there cooking from scratch and laughing at my Jolly Green Giant loving self, or if these homemaking blogs present only an ideal that really isn’t followed by that many people.  I mean, c’mon people…opening a ready-made can or two for dinner side dish is, to me, a time-saving, awesome modern luxury that is well worth the “less than a buck per can” cost.  I also love me a 33 cent box of Great Value Mac & Cheese with Campbells Tomato Soup on the side once in a while.  (Isn’t that sooo UN-PC??) 

Other things I hear society “telling us” about eating, but I don’t go for, are….

 ~ “Everything tastes better if homemade”.  I don’t agree.  Little Debbie can make a better swiss roll than I can any day, Starbucks just has some major mojo goin’ on in the coffee arena, homemade tortillas tastes exactly the same irregardless of who makes them, Pillsbury chocolate chip cokies are beyond awesome, and Heinz can ketchup my fries any day.  I know many things contain some supposedly bad-for-you preservatives, but I’d bet my dollar bill that a company who cooks up millions of the exact same foods daily – and sells them – has found a winning recipe that you probably haven’t.  Just because something is “company made” doesn’t make it less tasteworthy than it’s homemade counterpart.

~ “Go Organic, or Die!”   Maybe it’s because I dislike fads, but everyone’s fascination with organic this, and organic that just bugs me.  Or perhaps maybe it’s because my wallet dislikes seeing one product for $3, and the same size product in organic for $6.  So I’m supposed to choose between eating “organic” and thus starving because I can’t afford much…or eating non-organic and dying a slow, miserable death from pesticide poisoning??  I dunno.  I’m just not all that convinced that the non-organic milk I’ve been drinking for 25 years now is suddenly killing me. 

…..which brings me to….

~ ”Choices, choices, for one and all!”   Why, oh why do we have so many choices for anything and everything??  Why can’t flour be flour and sugar be sugar and rice be rice?  Just give me a barrel to tote it out in. 

Anyway.  I’m not suggesting in any way that one should eat nothing but storebought items.  I myself do cook from scratch occassionally, and shop our local farmers market frequently (because it’s cheaper).  It’s just that I view eating and meal preparation like the Greeks suggest….”Do all things in moderation”.

So anywho.

That’s my bit of “realness” for today.  Although I do love cooking “homemade meals”, I rarely scratch them myself because I am a can-buying, non-organic, choice-denying, boxed mac&cheese lover. 

(Would you like fries with that?) :)

hrmph.