Works for Me Wednesday--Activity Bag

Last winter as preparations were made for the arrival of The Little Man, I was naturally concerned about Princess Pigtails. One of my main concerns was how to entertain a 2 1/2 year old during the sweet times that I would be feeding the baby. My friend Sheri, suggested that I put together an activity bag for her. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that??
The activity bag consisted of several new books, Magic Pen coloring books, a couple of easy puzzles from the dollar bins, a magnet board, etc. The one rule was that the bag and items contained there in, could only be out when I was feeding the baby. Once done, the bag had to be put away until the next time. She loved it. It kept her occupied and entertained without the television involved. It was fabulous. And it Work(ed) for Me.

For more great tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday-Stain Removal

It's another Works For Me Wednesday. To be perfectly honest, I almost posted a "Works For Me Friday" last week because I was so excited to share my new tip for stain removal. I know I am a sad and pitiful woman!
This summer, we had the pleasure of being the recipients of some very delicious and very, very cute "baby" peaches from my grandfather's farm. "Baby" because they were quite possibly the tiniest peaches I have ever seen--think Clementine size. Anywhoo, I am getting off track. So, Princess Pigtails thought they were the best ever--one because Grandpa Great had grown them and two because they were "just her size". She ate nearly every one of them herself. Enter the problem. Peach juice on more shirts and jammy shirt than I care to admit. Not a little juice, mind you. Lots of juice, which equals lots of stains. I tried everything, pre-treating, bleach water, soaking in OxiClean. No luck.
Last week, my mom told me to try soaking the shirts in dissolved dishwasher crystals. No kidding. About a tablespoon or so of the dishwasher soap in some warm water and soak the shirts at least overnight--I left them about 36 hours. The stains are gone in their entirety. Which is amazing, because the one pajama shirt, for sure, had been treated, washed and dried probably half a dozen or more times since the initial staining! Lame thing to get excited about, but I just could not believe it! I'm excited to tackle a few of those baby food stained bibs and shirt!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips head on over and see Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. If you need me, I'll be in the laundry room...

Works for Me Wednesday--Kitchen Organization

It's a themed Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer. This week, the theme is Kitchen Organization. Yikes. If only you could see my kitchen, you would wonder why on earth I was even bothering blogging on such a topic when I am clearly not an expert in this area. But I will press on and pass along a few tips that help me maintain a small amount of sanity in my kitchen.
Here's what I've got for you:
1. When freezing items, label them (simply what is it and when was it prepared or the date you are tossing it in the freezer). I just keep a roll of masking tape in the drawer right beside my fridge. Makes it easy to slap a label on the container...
2. Meal planning. I wrote about it here. Seriously, people. This has been key for me to keep things organized. I don't know why I drug my feet (and kicked and screamed) about this for so long. I only plan the evening meals--lunches are nearly always sandwiches of some sort or leftovers. I could go on and on about planning the meals but here's the bottom line for us: less chaos in the kitchen, less stress for me and less waste and spoilage of food.

So, that's what Works For Me. For more inspiring and brilliant tips to kitchen organization, head over and see Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesdsay--Quick Breakfast

Among the millions of things that I learned from my mom, are the easy things you can do to provide a great breakfast for your family and a quick alternative to toast or cereal (again).
I know lots of people buy either frozen pancakes or frozen waffles. This can get expensive and here is where my tip comes in...Anytime that I make waffles or pancakes (breakfast or breakfast for dinner), I freeze what is leftover. Right now there is a bag of pancakes and a bag of waffles in my freezer. Reheating the pancakes is super quick, pop them in the microwave for 30 second-1 minute. It could be just as easy to reheat the waffles, but I like to microwave them for 30 seconds or so and then drop them in my toaster to crisp them up. (Which is still quicker and with less mess than whipping them up fresh!)
For more great ideas and tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

Works For Me Wednesday--Cheap, Improvised Dust Ruffle

One of my DH's hobbies is wood working. It's a lot like my scrapbooking, he doesn't get much time to work on it. But when he finds time, he turns out beautiful items, like our bed frame and night stands, the crib and changing table, Princess Pigtail's bed...
I love the bed he built us, it has side rails that stretch between the head board and foot board. There are support boards that run under the box springs and rest on the side rail. When you put a dust ruffle on the box springs it gets all hung up on the support boards. I don't like how it looks with out the dust ruffle. So, I came up with a solution--use a fitted sheet. Perfect. It's really a great compromise. It hides and protects the box spring, looks nice and I was able to just use one of the sheets I had in the drawer. Which really? Can you beat free? That definitely works for me. For more ideas that work, head back over to Rocks In My Dryer!

Works For Me Wednesday--Bananas

It's another Works for Me Wednesday and while Shannon is on the final day of her bloggy break, I am still going to post a tip. Next Wednesday, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for an all new Works for Me!

I've mentioned before that I really despise throwing away food. I am always looking for ways to make it stretch--without sacrificing quality or taste. One of the ways that I do that is by freezing bananas. I know it sounds odd--but really, it works. If your household is anything like mine, bananas are bought, a couple eaten within the first day or so of buying them and then the rest sit there. By the end of the week I am faced with tossing them or making banana bread, cake, muffins, etc. I don't always have the time to make it right away, but I peel the bananas and put them in a freezer safe container. Label and date it and then when I am ready, pull it out and defrost real quick to toss in your batter. It works like a charm and is an old trick that I learned from my mom. I will say that it does look a little odd and DH was mildly grossed out the first time he saw me do it. But you seriously can not tell in the end product! I swear. Here's my stand by recipe--you can make it now and freeze the loaf for later too! And that works for me. Enjoy!

Banana Bread
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup bananas (approximately 2-3 bananas, mushed)

Cream together shortening and sugar; add eggs and beat well. Sift together dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture. Add banana. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Preventing Post Vacation Laundry Pile Up

It's another Works for me Wednesday and I'm having a little trouble switching from post vacation/laundry mode to real life mode. Which brings me to my tip--that I should've followed while on this last trip! I once read that while on vacation, you should take time to do a load or two of laundry (if possible). I know, I know. It's the last thing I want to do while on vacation as well! But I can tell you from experience, coming home from a trip with suitcases mostly full of clean clothes, ready to put away is such a refreshing change! To make this easier, there are now two load laundry soap containers in the travel/sample size baskets at Target. And if you use dryer sheets, just pull a couple out and put in your suitcase when packing for your trip. Your clothes will smell fresh during your vacation despite any funky smells they might be exposed to and the dryer sheets will be available when you are ready to do your load of laundry. So, that's my tip. Find a washer and dryer while you are gone, do a load or two of laundry and ease the return from vacation! For more great ideas that work head over to Rocks In My Dryer!

Don't Toss! Reheat and Eat!

I cringe every time I toss left over meat or an entire steak that didn't get eaten (after it has sat in the fridge for a week). But what do you do with it--outside of mixing the ground beef in spaghetti sauce or with Manwich? Anyone else dislike that "micro-waved" taste of reheated ground beef or left over steak? Well, I've got two simple little tips for you that I recently picked up. Can't take credit for either of them, but they are too easy to not pass on!

Tip #1--This one that I picked up from my Grandma--When reheating ground beef or left over hamburger patties in the microwave, place a damp paper towel over the meat for the duration of the reheating process. Remarkably, it does help tremendously!

Secondly, my mom discovered that the Green Giant teriyaki stir fry kit (the just add meat kind) is great way to use the left over steak. Just slice the steak, reheat in the skillet and then dump the stir fry kit and sauce in. It's super easy and very tasty. Nearly impossible to detect that "reheated" taste!

For more tips, hints and other things that just work--head on over to Rocks In My Dryer!