The messy archives of my life

Gosh those two narrow tall spice bottles on the left, on the rack, look sooo good to me - just the design is appealing to the eye.

I have not started to think about spices. From years of living with me then H and then cooking for ex H even though we did not live together, I got into the habit of using no spices - he likes his food bland. I do want to start experimenting, but do not know where to begin. Maybe when the weather is warm again, I will buy culinary herbs to grow, from Trader Joe's. Then if I do not like the taste, at least they herbs would add nice foliage to the balcony.

Also, I keep hearing of the health benefits of spices - cinnamon, cayenne, and something else. Oh well... one day!

It has been more than a year long project! The timestamp on OP is 2012...

Thank you - encouragement does help one to keep going...

I'm so happy for you Hammy

Oooooo I have some great white beans I need to soak and cornbread to make... Maybe this would be great for the weekend as its going to be a bit cold

Yup! A great comfort food.

Christina, what do you recommend for me to tackle an extremely dirty tile floor in the kitchen? a bleach solution?

I realize that you never see a floor THAT dirty, because you clean regularly, but still...

Is your floor tile? or laminate?

Big old tiles. Here:

That is so cool. I'm so happy for you.

Okay, this will take a bit of work to get it to be a quick easy 5 minute job in the future.

Mix up baking soda and water in a old dishsoap bottle or whatever you can find that you can squirt or sqeeze the mix onto the grout . Think the thickness of "gravy" not too runnny you want it to stay put .. Squeeze a layer of this on all the grout , I say let it sit a few hours or over night..

Because I am a freaking idiot OCD about cleaning as you know

I would take a dish rag and a pan of hot tap water and by hand just wipe the mixture off, yes soundls like a lot but this is a one time deal a year usaully... just keep changing the water out until its gone. Then spray a light amount of a degreasing spray on the entire floor and mop.. again use hot water you want the floor to dry quickly.

Your grout will be clean clean clean and be bright, your floor will sparkle. Then once a week just sweep the floor well and run a hot tap water damp mop over it and its done.. Of course wipe up any daily spills when they happen and your weekly floor cleaning will take just a few minutes.

Baking soda is cheap and a bottle of degreaser I prefer the cheap Walmart brand. Both are cheap , the degreaser will last you a year

Thank you for your baby wipes suggestion. It made a big difference. I got a huge case off Amazon (Pampers) and got a plastic tub to dump an individual package into, without the packaging as the tub comes with a lid, because it is easier this way. Very happy! Little things make a big difference.

I have plenty of baking soda. Off to Walmart for the degreaser. I think I will use the degreaser on the countertops too.

Yes degreaser is always helpful.

So I now I know what the hidden weapon is .

Because I tried Fantastic scrubbing bubbles already, to no avail (on the countertops). Degreaser to the rescue! I am so glad I asked.

Scrubbing bubbles look cute on commercials ..but I found it useless.

This is a pic of the brand. I bought them for about 70% off at Tuesday Morning. Another good place is TJ Maxx. A lot on which spices to buy depends on what meat or vegetarian dishes you like. I think a lot of the dried spices like parsley taste like paper. I grew lemon grass one year. My Mom has bushes of rosemary; they smell heavenly and are perennial.



http://www.realsimple.com/food-recip...pice-checklist

Walmart did not have the degreaser but Target did. Armed with Chlorox brand citrus scent degreaser I will conquer the dirt - tomorrow. Too late now! Thanks Christina!

I keep one spray bottle of straight vinegar, and attached a spray top off an old windex to a hydrogen peroxide bottle. The hydrogen has to stay in a brown or non translucent bottle to remain potent. When I spray a coat of vinegar then top with hydrogen ( or visa versa) it is as strong of a cleanser and germ killer as bleach.

I have not done the floors yet but I have applied a lot of degreaser and a lot of elbow grease to two of my countertops in the kitchenette (out of 4) - here:

Looking good

Good job Hammy, keep it up!

Taking a break for the next three days. Will start another thread.

That's a great job

All of this will hopefully enable me to sublet the small bedroom. I have a guy who just relocated to this area coming to take a look in the evening. He needs a place to sleep for several months until his family sells their house in another state and joins him here.

I will be cleaning today!

I need money very badly and subletting would help me out until I find a job. The guy who would be looking at the place tonight is working in the office nearby, and he says that he is working long hours, so he won't be around a lot.

That will be a huge help for you!

If only we lived in the same town I would come clean it all for you

Sending good thoughts your way

Thank you guys! I cleaned the counters and sprayed the kitchen floor with degreaser, but then got a migraine attack and rescheduled for tomorrow. Still, the kitchen with clean counters looks better and makes me happy, even though I am nauseous from the migraine.