$.99 Solutions: WD-40

This one blew my mind. I have only used WD-40 for squeaky hinges and such. Oh and I forgot to mention in my last post on Tea that the reason this book is called $.99 Solutions is because you can find everything I mention at the Dollar Store. (Dollar tree is my FAV)

WD-40:

-Clean tough stains on clothes: WD-40 famously doesn't share its recipe, but its easy enough to smell a petroleum product. Normally, that would suggest a potential grease stain if spilled on clothing, but, in fact, WD-40 is great at getting out a wide range of stains. As always, stains come cleaner when treated fresh, but if you can spray spots of tomato, tea, coffee, or blood with WD-40, then wash as usual, you may just get it out--with no grease spot remaining!

-Remove spots from carpets and floors: Black scuffs and heel marks on linoleum, ink or wine on carpets and rugs, all can be difficult to remove to varying degrees. Spray with WD-40 and rub the floor or scrub the carpet, rinsing well with soap and warm water once the spot is gone.

-Take dark stains off countertops: Spilled some blueberry jam? Let coffee or tea dry in? Dark colors can set into your countertops to stay, no matter how you rub with a sponge or scrubbie, they won't budge. Try a spritz of WD-30 and they'll wipe right up. Be sure to wash it off and rinse well.

-Make a blackboard look new (we don't really use these anymore...): Wiping down a chalkboard with a wet sponge will certainly remove all the chalk, but it will leave a dusty residue over the board. Instead clean a chalkboard with WD-40, and the whole thing will gleam like new.

-Make a "dead" pen write again: Is your ballpoint truly out of ink, or is the tiny ball in the tip gunked up with dried ink? Before you toss it in the trash, find out by wiping the tip with a little WD-40 and paper towel. There's a good chance your pen will live to write again.

-Lubricate pins and needles: When you're sewing with a dense, heavy material, such as denim or tweed, it can be difficult to force the pins through the thick fabric. They'll slip through much more easily if you lubricate them first with WD-40. Dampen a cotton ball or crumpled paper towel with WD-40 and then wipe your pins on it.

-Brighten lawn furniture: Faded plastic lawn chairs and tables may seem like a lost cause, but if you spray and buff them with WD-40, they'll not only look smoother and shiny, but the color actually appears to regain its luster.

-Tell rabbits and rodents to bug off: If rabbits and other critters are digging and wriggling under your chain link fence to reach the tasty stuff in your garden, let them know their presence is highly unwelcome by spraying a fence, directly on the metal.

-Un-stick gluey fingers: Accidentally sticking your fingers together with superglue can make anyone panic. Don't hop around in frustration, and don't slap your forehead with your gluey hand. Spray your sticky fingers with WD-40 and let them sit for a few minutes. They'll soon come unstuck. Use a bit more to remove any remaining residue and be careful next time!

-Loosen up a vertical blind: Vertical blinds should swing easily open at the lightest touch of your fingertips on the plastic or wooden stick that attaches to the mechanism. If you find you're having to twist hard, spray WD-40 directly on the mechanism at the top of the stick (or on the roller that holds the chain).

-Help doors run in their tracks: Sliding glass doors look beautiful leading out onto a patio or deck, but any homeowner who's ever dealt with sticking doors knows that it ruins the illusion of a glass wall if you always have to put your back into it and force the door back and forth. Use WD-40 to keep your doors freely moving. Spray it generously all along the tracks, being careful to stay within the metal grooves, and then push the doors vigorously back and forth several times to distribute the lubricant.

-Lubricate locks and deadbolts: You may not realize how much effort it takes when you struggle with a sticky lock. Spritz your key and the inside of the lock with WD-40, then insert the key and jiggle it. Also spray WD-40 on bolts and hinges so that every time, your doors will open and swing smoothly.

-Silence a bed: Does your bed frame squeak, jingle or rattle every time you roll over at night? Get a peaceful night's sleep with WD-40. Reach under the bed frame and spray all metal joints, screws, or hinges, then lie on the bed and roll and bounce until the lubricant works it way through each joint.

-Take marks off car paint: With spray of WD-40, you can remove the paint smear where another car bumped against yours in a parking lot, and you can get ride of dead bugs and road tar, both of which can damage paint if left unattended.

-Repel wasps and hornets: In the spring, mist the undersides of eaves and the corners of your porch roof with WD-40 so that wasps and hornets don't build nests there.


Now, go buy some and see how it works!
-Kelli 

Whole30 Update #3

We are here...alive and kicking still.

This is hard work, but we are making it. We just completed Day 12 of our 30 days. This has even stressed our marriage a bit too. Mostly because I feel like I'm always doing the dishes, but Teddy feels like he is always doing the dishes. Reality is...WE ARE BOTH ALWAYS DOING DISHES. :) It takes some serious team work here.

Like I mentioned in last update (here) we decided to scale back this week on crazy recipes and such. Not only was it exhausting doing that day after day, we felt like we were throwing cold hard cash right out the window. Sure, we are seeing results and feeling better...but DANG it was expensive last week. We wanted to scale back to get a more realistic idea of what this could look like after the 30 days.

At this point I'm excited to switch to the REAL paleo diet once we are done with the Whole30. Because with that we can make this AMAZING looking cake and a bunch of other gluten-free goodness. We can't have honey or any type of flour during the Whole30.... and many yummy recipes call for it (desserts). So after the 30 days I will get to test out other foods. I'm interested in seeing what gluten free would be like too. We'll see what happens.

I was thinking today that the one food that I think I will have a hard time giving up forever are donuts. I know...call me crazy. Through this process I have cut my cravings for most anything out. It's pretty crazy. But we drove past a Jack-n-Jill donuts today and mind went wild thinking about a warm, gooey, donut. Seriously...:)

Even though they told us not to weigh ourselves through this process, we decided we were going too. :) Just once a week to see if we have lost anymore that week or not.

Here are some of the things we've been eating this week...

 Highlight of the week: Meatza. This was yummy! The dough/crust is ground turkey. Sauce is homemade salsa we made. Topped with mushrooms, red onion, red/yellow/orange peppers, cilantro, and avocado. Easy and yummy!

 We were on the hunt for coconut milk. It's official...the kind in a can is GROSS. The kind in a carton is good. Is it fully legal for us to have the kind in a carton, we aren't sure. But the chucky nasty-ness of the can made us just move forward in our decision. :)

 I had fish a lot for lunch this week. Just broil it in the oven for 5 mins and it's done. It was painless. I just mixed up the seasonings to help some.

Teddy's favorite of the week: Fruit Smoothie. We found a recipe that was pretty darn good. And that's coming from a girl who isn't really into smoothies (mostly due to the seeds I'm having to crunch on with every sip). Strawberry, pineapple, blueberry, banana (all were frozen), coconut milk (from the carton of course) and PURE apple juice (no sugars or anything extra in it). Tasting apple juice was a miracle in its self. I've basically only had water for 2 weeks. Apple juice tasted ridicously good. So much so I had a cup this morning for breakfast & currently sipping on it now too. I wasn't ever that big of an apple juice fan...i'm now a LARGE HUGE GIGANTIC fan. What is whole30 doing to me?!?!

We still have to use our eggplant we bought. We have a recipe we will most likely cook tomorrow. And speaking of eggplant, I cannot stand the feel of it...not to mention I think it looks like a giant cockroach. hahah...so the second I touched it for the first time at the grocery store I put it down immediately. I made Teddy put it in the bag and still get disgusted when I think about it. He will be handling the dang eggplant tomorrow. You can pray that I can eat it. I might just have to close my eyes and eat away. haha. The recipe looks good.

Anyways, just thought I would update you guys. We are hanging in there. Definitely a struggle at times because I just want to eat OUT. Not because I'm craving anything in particular...but just tired of cooking and cleaning constantly. This is the longest I have ever gone without eating out...11 days. Tonight (day 12) we finally just went to marketstreet and picked up a rotisserie chicken and made our own salad there. Brought it home and put our salsa on for the dressing. It was freeing to toss our container in the trash and not clean a darn thing. It's the little things people. Old habits DO die hard.

-Kelli 

Whole30 Week One Finished

We made it. We made it SEVEN days so far eating a paleo diet based off this challenged called Whole30. Here are my previous blog post about us doing this here and here. 

I'm at a spot where I'm not really CRAVING bad food often. Teddy is mostly struggling with the want to snack throughout the day, but he has resisted. We have not had any headaches return once we got through day 2. I think we are through the harder days at this point. We even survived our Easter lunch with our staff team today. We brought our own lunch (Squash Chili-see below) and fruit for everyone. I just had to ignore that there were cupcakes, fruit dip, chip/dip to snack on. I can't say it was that difficult. Teddy wanted dessert...but not in a overwhelming since. He has always been more of a dessert person than me.

Oh and we aren't suppose to weigh our self through this process. But we did today...whoops. :) I could tell I have lost something..inches or something so we wanted to see what the scale would say...so we just did it. Results: Teddy has lost 5lbs & I have lost 6lbs. WHATTTTTT?!?! How crazy. This is definitely motivating to keep going & shows us just how much junk we have been eating. 6lbs...really?!? In 7 days. I know on any other diet plan that would be unhealthy, but we are eating plenty. I'm full and feeling good. How amazing!

Since Wednesday we have eaten a lot of left overs & just plain jane meals. It has made the adjustment less stressful. We spent a lot of money this first week. We are scaling back this week to see how it goes by spending less on gourmet meals. We went through 30 eggs this last week, plus 18 for the eggloaf (2 1/2 more servings left)..so 48 in total.


Here are some random pictures of what we ate the past three days. Again, our first post had TONS of different recipe. But we were stressed out. So you will see less as we move forward.

Steak & asparagus--grilled

 This steak is amazing. We are only using pepper, garlic powder, and salt as the rub on it. SO good. We will never buy a steak seasoning. Plus, we grilled the asparagus which helped the flavor out. We need all the help we can get for Teddy to eat all these vegetables. That man does NOT like veggies. :)

Squash Chili

 This is our meal that we took with us to our Easter lunch today. It was good and we are going to make it again this coming week because we have enough ingredients left over to make another batch. I was already asked for the recipe for this...
Time: 15 min prep, approx 2 hr cookngs, serves 2-4 (more like 2...)

Need:
-1 lb ground beef, turkey, or chicken (we used turkey)
-1 T cooking fat of your choice (we use extra virgin olive oil)
-1 C diced acorn squash (these are pretty big, which is why we only used half and have plenty to make another batch laster)
-1/2 C sliced mushrooms
-1/2 C chopped onion (we used sweet)
1 clove chopped garlic
-1 T chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Directions:
In a medium to large pot, brown the meat in the cooking fat. Break the meat up as your stir. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 2hours or more (we covered it too). Continue to stir periodically. You may need to add water occasionally as the chili simmers, but keep in mind that you want it to be somewhat thick. (We added a little each time we stirred, just to make sure it wasn't sticking to the bottom of the pot). This is a great recipe to double or quadruple and have a batch of leftovers on hand.

Eggloaf

 We made this in a 9x13 dish. It was A LOT of food. But we have been eating on it for breakfast since Wednesday. We don't LOVE it, but we are going to finish it. Having salsa made will probably help this dish out. You can find this recipe here. I think it would have worked better for us in smaller quantities. Not to have to eat it EVERY day. But you get lots of protein and vegetables with it.

 Ghee is our butter we can have with this whole30 business. We could only find this at Marketstreet. It taste WONDERFUL. Just like butter, but apparently A LOT healthier for you. That little jar comes with a steep price tag though. But when you are not supposed to have normal butter, this is a lifesaver. I would tell everyone to buy it. We use a tablespoon here and there with it. You don't even refrigerate this. Weird, I know!

A couple new things our on grocery list for tomorrow: eggplant, paprika, & lunch meat (all natural organic stuff that only marketstreet sales). We will be making homemade salsa this coming week to have on our salads, eggs in the morning, and a recipe called Mexican Meatza (instead of pizza). I'm excited to continue making new things and trying things out. I think by the 4th week we will hit our stride and feel like we have a better grip on things. I'm feeling more comfortable in the kitchen each day, especially handling knifes.

Anyone else thinking about joining in with us? It's been a great challenge for us! Again, if you want any of these recipes just say so and I will get them to you.
-Kelli

Whole30 update #1

We just finished our 3rd day doing the whole30 diet. If you have no idea what I'm talking about check out my last blog here.

We are surviving through this. The first 2 days were pretty dang difficult. We had to run errands both days and I'm sooo used to just swinging through Mcdonalds and getting a coke while doing errands. Just doing normal every day things had become attached with some food or drink. (HELLO, I REALLY NEEDED THIS) I'm beginning to realize it doesn't have to be like that. Errands doesn't equal a trusty coke right next to me. Or sitting at starbucks for work doesn't mean I have to get a chi tea latte. Going to a dinner with friends doesn't mean I have to eat (prepping my heart for an Easter lunch coming up).

I had headaches the first two days. Teddy had a headache yesterday. We went to bed at 9:30pm on Monday because we were SO tired. Then went to bed at 10:30 last night. I don't know if its our body adjusting to no sugars and caffeine. I'm definitely feeling better today and obviously up past 10pm. :) I'm already feeling less bloated and have less cravings. I have moments of feeling hunger around 3:00pm each day. But I'm just drinking more water to shake that and waiting until dinner to eat. We aren't suppose to eat snacks on this diet.

Something that made the first 2 days hard is the fact that we were doing new recipes for all meals. That's just a TAD overwhelming. So we are scaling back & getting back to what we use to do. We use to eat chicken/fish with veggies before this diet. Why change everything? There was no need. So we aren't doing something brand new every single meal. This helps. So we are trying new things and new recipes here and there. But not going crazy like we did the first 2 days. Today was much easier and less stressful.

Here is what we have eaten the past 3 days. (Day 2 lunch was fish with basil & carrots Day 3 lunch was left overs)  If you want a recipe just message me and I will get it to you.

Day 1 Breakfast: Broccoli Hash (broccoli & ground chicken plus seasoning)--It was just OK.

  

Day 2 Breakfast: Gross. Spinach, ground turkey, eggs, spices and avacado quiche. It wouldn't finish cooking and we had to leave to get somewhere, so we took it our of the quiche dish and scrambled it on the stove.  We both couldn't finish it. Toooo much spinach for us.

Day 3 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with an apple. --Good! This is getting back to the "basics"

Day 1 Lunch: Gross. Chicken, sweet potato, apple, onion, green pepper, seasonings. I couldn't finish this. Teddy had it for left overs the next day at lunch. Not I. :)

Day 1 Dinner: Chicken fajitas on a bed of spinach leafs, avacado, mango, jicama --GREAT

Day 2 Dinner: Veggie Spaghetti on spinach leafs (our "noodles")--GREAT

Day 3 Dinner: Hamburger, homemade guac on lettuce. Carrots and grapes on side. --GREAT

So all the dinners have been wonderful. Lunches ok and breakfast not so great (except for today). Tomorrow morning we are making an "egg loaf" for breakfast. It's basically a casserole that will last us for multiple days for breakfast, instead of having to wake up and cook each morning. This will save time and frustration. I will let you know how it is.

So, we are learning. It's getting better. We do have a lunch for Easter coming up with some friends. We are already planning on packing our own lunch. :) And saying NO NO NO to all the desserts we will be surrounded by.

.99 Solution: Tea

Ok, so I'm starting a new weekly section of my blog. I received this amazing book from my mom as an anniversary gift called .99 cent solutions ( I don't have the cent sign...so am I suppose to type out cent if I put the period before the 99? no idea here.) It's an amazing book. I decided that I needed to share the wealth of knowledge I'm learning from this book.

Hopefully something can help you. :)

Tea:

• Keep the fridge fresh: An open box of baking soda in the refrigerator is the time-honored way to keep odors down, but did you know that tea bags do an even better job? Put 3-4 tea bags around the fridge and odors will readily absorbed. Change them every few weeks or best results. 

• Use tea in your smoker: Rip open a few tea bags and sprinkle the tea leaves over the soaked wood chips next time you're smoking fish/meat on the grill. The tea leaves impart a distinctive, unique flavor. 

• Help heal pinkeye: Children are more susceptible to pinkeye than adults, and they're also more apt to rub at their sore and tender eye while it's infected, making it likely they will spread the bacteria. Help heal pinkeye faster and give your child relief with a soothing tea bag compress. Wet a tea bag, squeeze out the excess, and have the child lie still for 10 mins with the tea bag on the eyelid. The tannin helps the swelling go right down. 

• Brighten dark hair: Has summer sun and chlorine made your dark hair rough and dry? Soothe your sun-stressed tresses with warm rinse of dark tea. Pour a quart through your hair after a mild shampoo. It will bring our highlights and make your hair feel soft again. 

• Freshen your feet: Sweaty, smelly feet ruining your shoes and your day? Every night, soak your feet in a basin of strong tea for 20 mins. After a week or two, you should notice a real difference in both the sweat output and the odor.

• Clean delicate Oriental rugs: Oriental and Persian rugs must be cleaned carefully to protect their valuable fibers and prevent damage to the patterned weave. Avoid major dirst and dust buildup by periodically cleaning the rug. Empty the contents of six tea bags into a bowl and sprinkle it with 1/2 teaspoon water. Sprinkle these barely damp leaves on the rug, and then brush them off vigorously with a clean broom. The tea leaves will draw out dust and dirt w/o leaving any stain or color on the rug.

• Feed your roses: Rosebushes love the tannins in tea leaves, so if you're a regular tea drinker, keep your tea leaves in a compost bowl by your kitchen sink, and dump them around the rosebush once a week. 

• Speed up compost: You're trying to compost your kitchen waste and not throw it all away, but it's not working as well as it should. If your compost piles seems sluggish, pour a few cuts of strong brewed tea on it. The acidic tea will jump-start the compost, encouraging the acid-loving bacteria that make the whole thing work.

The first thing I will do once we settle into a home is throw some tea bags in the fridge. :)
-Kelli

Time for a life change...

So today is the official start of the Whole30 challenge.

Teddy and I have been in discussion for the last 3-4 months (yes, that long) about needing to change the way we eat. I've had a handful of health issues that we think could be a direct result of eating crap. I CRAVE fast food. Maybe you can resist that craving, but I have a hard time. I would probably use every bit of my allowance (blow $ each month) on food. Or quite easily on Mcdonalds cokes. YUM.

So, yes it's a 30 day challenge. But the goal is to learn more about food, our emotional attachment to it, how eat natural/clean, what to look for at the grocery store, and overall feel better. Many people say that have more energy, sleep better, and lose some weight. It's not a weight loss program at all. As a matter of fact, we aren't supposed to weigh our self the entire 30 days. Just at the beginning and end. We aren't focused on calories. We have basic portions measurements. We eat 3 times a day. Mostly meat, vegetables, and some fruit. This is basically from the Paleo diet that is connected with the Crossfit trend.

We are excited to be challenged like this. Will eating like this happen for the rest of our lives. No. But again, this is a learning process. It will be eye opening to see all the wonderful things we can cook at home that are healthy. If I said we would never eat Mcdonalds or Pizza ever again, that will be a lie. Our work is different from most. We are surrounded by "free" pizza constantly in college ministry. We will be gone 4-7 weeks in the summer, away from our kitchen with others cooking for us. It will be hard. But we want to learn how to make better choices and influence our children too. Shoot, just cutting our salad dressing is one small step that is HARD, but beneficial.

I will try my hardest to keep you up dated on everything.

Our last meal: 6 piece steak finger basket from Dairy Queen (we shared it) with a large coke

 Our first trip to the grocery store for 3 days worth of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

We had like 3 things to put on our shelf in the kitchen. Everything else is fresh and has to be refrigerated. Have you ever seen SO much produce in your life? That thing on the bottom right is a Jicama (some type of root, looks like a potato)...pronounced hic-uh-ma...didn't know such a thing existed. There are many things that I didn't know existed. Again, what a learning process this will be. 

Here's to a healthier life!!!