Another Great Campagain from Bzz Agent

One of the best things about being a Bzz Agent is getting the free products to try . The smart food campaign is one that I was glad to get. The popcorn is probably a product I would not have picked up on my own . Since I have such bad migraines popcorn is something I do not and can not eat often or too much of . Too much of a good thing is not a good thing  ! I have had a couple handfuls of the Buffalo Cheddar popcorn and its very good and safe for my head  ! Love it so far !
<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/smartfood.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9602242601&Campaign=9090448031&Uid=391743&token=b2bbfa8e93b251185246fb13a793b5a1" alt=""/>

Glade Expressions Collection

I am not a huge fan or store bought air freshners. Up until recently I did not even use them in my house because they gave me migraines. I have found  however I can tolerate certain scents, citrus being one of them.
I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Bzz Campaign when it came out . I thought It would give me a chance to try the Glade Expressions and see if i liked it with out spending any money on the items. this is one of the awesome perks of being a Bzz Agent .. trying new products. This campaign was great I was able to get free products to try and see if i liked them !

I am very glad I did ! I really enjoy the pineapple mangosteen scent .  Its a very "natural" and real scent so I am able to tolerate it well. The scent fills my house but it not over powering, I really like it !!
<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/gladeExpressions.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9365102339&Campaign=5855213675&Uid=391743&token=73a236c69aa58038164601f555a852dd" alt=""/>

Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

Today is Childhood Cancer Awareness day , September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month  
PLEASE add your name to the list of people to who think our children , ALL Children deserve the right to live a long healthy life . DO SOMETHING !

 PEDIATRIC CANCER IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH BY DISEASE IN U.S. CHILDREN, on average
- Each year 13,500 children are diagnosed with cancer
- One in every 330 children develops cancer before the age of 20
- 36 children are diagnosed with cancer everyday
- One in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer.

20% OF CHILDREN ARE DECLARED TERMINAL UPON DIAGNOSIS
- Many pediatric cancers are declared terminal upon diagnosis
- No new protocols have been developed in the past 30 years
- 1 in 5 of children diagnosed with cancer will die within 5 years

60% OF PED CANCER SURVIVORS SUFFER LONG TERM IMPACTS
- 1 in 3 children diagnosed will suffer long term life effects
- 74% of cancer survivors have chronic illnesses
- Treatments affect growth, fertility and endocrine systems
- Radiation can significantly damage congnitive functions
- Physical/neurocognitive disabilities may result from treatments
- In the past 20 years the FDA has approved only 2 new drugs

FUNDING DISPARITIES
- Childhood cancer research is consistently underfunded
- 50% of chemotherapies for children’s cancer are 25 years old
- R&D for new drugs is almost ZERO for childhood cancers
- The National Cancer Institute spends only 4% of its total budget on pediatric cancers.

(source Journey 4 A cure )

In loving memory of Cheyenne Bauer, Madeline Frady
In honor of Tucker Smith and Ashley Pinson and all other survivors and fighters ! 

Glade Expressions Bzz Campagain !

Another great bzz campaign I just joined in on was the Glad Expressions . I recently used one of the free coupons to get the oil diffusers in Pineapple mangosteeen . Now I am very sensitive to scents, specifically  air fresheners, they give me migraines if the scent is too strong. So I was even leary about signing up for this bzz campaign . I was pleasantly surprised with the scent of the pineapple mangosteen. I pick up mainly fresh cut pineapple a tad bit of coconut . Definite island , tropical scents. its not too strong its just right ! I really love it !  

A Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Home Organization Challenge !

One of the biggest inspirations for this part of my blog was A Bowl Full of Lemons. I have really fallen off the wagon lately so I NEED This ! This week starts the beginning of her 14 week home Organization challenge !
I for one will be joining in ! Between being sick with migraines, spraining my ankle , my son coming home and leaving again for college and school starting my house is a NIGHTMARE ! I MAY even post before pics this time If I get up the nerve ! So here goes tomorrow the kitchen ! ! Will you join me ?

A small project

We are still working on our retro vintage cabinet for my kitchen , We have had lots going on here.
But I picked this up on an online yard sale group for a couple bucks. Pretty the way it is .. But I am so tired of not having color in my house , I really wanted to jazz it up .

 So $1.97 can of spray paint later ...

No too shabby . It just fits on my wall !

Free Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway

Visit Mod Parent to  enter !!

Pioneer Woman's Corn Chowder with Chili's

I recently purchased Pioneer Woman's Cook Book " Food from my Frontier " . I have been looking for recipes and ideas that my husband and youngest son will actually eat. My husband is such a meat and potatoes guy he doesn't like anything " foo foo" as he says . The Corn Chowder was the first recipe i made out of the cook book . My "famous" cinnamon rolls , also Pioneer Women's with a different icing LOL !

Also on tonights menu was Big Steak Salad . So this verdict ? I loved the soup , it was very good ! Also loved the steak salad. Hubs didnt love the soup as much , he is just not a big soup person . But he really loved the salad as well ! Tomorrow night we will have something else from the cook book ! I will report back !

Think Twice before making all those cute items with Pallets

Since being on pinterest I have seen all these cute ideas using pallets for home interiors. One of the cutest ones I saw was how to turn a pallet into a garden .. similar to this . I work in the retail industry and see the " behind the scenes warehouses in a large retail chain ( I wont say which ) and in my day to day I started noticing how nasty the pallets looked . Some had mold on them, some smelled really badly .. Some came out of the freezer with spoiled milk on them to only go sit out in the hot Texas sun . Its enough to make ya go " humm". So I decided I should look into the safety of pallets before I made anything from them. That is where my concerns were confirmed ! I found a couple really good articles . I would like to say this .. make up your own mind, however it does not take a lot of common sense that you dont need to put something that is chemically treated in your home for your family to breathe or make something out of it to grow food in .
The following links are the articles/blogs I found that were very helpful..

When Trends Attack
Why you should NOT be using Pallets in your home interiors
The Truth about Pallet Blog

Take a look and happy reading . Be safe !

Laundry " Dresser"

 You can see how small my laundry room is from this picture. That's it basically ! LOL

My handy Laundry sorter my husband made me and my dad painted !
 My laundry room is very small I cant even get the whole laundry sorter in the picture ! LOL It holds 3 laundry baskets and the bottom houses our kitty litter box.
It turned out pretty well .Its such a great space saver. You can see the inspiration here.
The sorter in the picture is for larger baskets , however I did not have enough room so i used the small square baskets .

Howdy

I have been super busy lately ! I have had no time to do anything let alone clean my own house.
I was given a side job of getting a friends house ready to put on the market, This weekend I am going to stage it for sale. That will be fun ! Its not a full stage but its something that I have enjoyed doing.
I Have 2 projects in the making I am hoping to finish this weekend also ! I'll post pics when I am done !

Dust More ? Vacuum More ?? YES for an asthmatic kid .

It is no secret I am not the best housekeeper/ cleaner in the world. Dont let this blog fool you !
I hate cleaning house and I have never been good at it .
But I have been trying to get better. My 11 yr old son has asthma , living in Texas during certain months it can be pretty brutal on him. Our insurance company will send out a home nurse and educator to see if there is more you can do in the house to help . Just by talking to her on the phone I know I need to do more . She suggested I dust DAILY , Vacuum DAILY !! DAILY ! Really ? UGH those are probably the 2 things i hate to do more than anything ! SO this weekend I am going to see what I can clear out of this house that can collect dust , less nick knacks , less crap on shelves etc. You know less to dust ! Luckily only our bedrooms have carpet, but still.
A couple other things she suggested was hypoallergenic pillow covers and bed covers. So i'll be busy finding those this weekend.

Cinammony Goodness !

My youngest son loves cinnamon rolls. He loves eating them for breakfast , lunch and dinner !
A few weeks ago we went to my uncles house and he had made home made cinnamon rolls with his bread maker . My son went crazy for them ! I thought what the heck I will try to make them.
NOW I am not a big baker, really i usually suck pretty bad when i try to bake something, I even mess up cookies ! I tried to find a recipe that was not too complicated and that looks good.
I came across this one from Pioneer Woman's Blog if you have not checked out her site you should. She has some amazing recipes ! I wanted something that was easy , i could make a lot of and I could freeze so my son could pop them in the microwave in the morning. This recipe seemed easy enough . I have to say it wasnt bad. Its a little time consuming but not too bad.
The rolls turned out AMAZING ! I did modify them a little bit, I sprinkled a little bit of brown sugar in the filling and I made a sour cream frosting instead of the one listed ! Let me tell ya what ... UMMMM UMMMM GOOD !

Next Pinterest Project

Source: Uploaded by user via Raychel on Pinterest

I have been wanting a new computer desk for a long time. My computer has to be in my living room. I have a cheap IKEA Desk in there now. Nothing fancy to look at , very boxy , just plain Jane. I was actually considering painting this one to be cheap about it ! THEN I came across the above desk on pinterest. It just so happens my mom has a table in her garage exactly like this she asked me this weekend if i wanted. Since we have a table and chairs this is perfect for a desk.
My only problem ? I am not sure what color to paint it. My living room ( see pic below ) is currently beige, rust and brown. I would like to paint it something a little brighter ? Maybe Red ? Anyone have any thoughts ?

Mail Sorting Station

I have not decided if A Bowl Full of Lemons is going to be the death of me or save me from myself yet ? LOL I just found a mail sorting station on her blog . I have a huge issue with mail when it comes in . Although it is better than it has been in the past. But it is an issue. Papers get piled on my desk to file, throw away , do something with etc .
I do think this maybe a bit of a duplicate projeect from when I did the file box system she recommend. ( This is my file box )

I will see how this works out if its too much duplicate work or just not needed. I am keeping up with items fairly well with this system . So lets see which one works better ?

Clean House Pics !

My house is nothing major, or special , we are in the process of buying it so I am slowly being able to put my touches into it . What you see now is what our landlord has allowed us to do which is more than most do . So once we buy the house there is so much more I want to do to it to make it "my own" or my "style" .
A couple people asked " what's the big deal you spring cleaned " well for ME its a BIG deal my house is this clean . Its NEVER been this clean or this organized in my life ! I am really proud that I was able to get it to this point. SO Lets hope it stays that way once my kid comes back from spring break ! HAHA !
PS Some of the rooms are small so i cant get the whole room in a pic . Also I didnt include my kids rooms because they still need a little work , they are clean though !

Spring Cleaning; IM DONE !!

I am finished with my spring cleaning . Today I washed my rugs, swept the floors, mopped the floors, vacuumed the couches, and did more laundry . I have a couple loads of blankets left that I am washing to put up for the winter, but that's it ! This is the first time i have ever done any kind of spring cleaning ( i'll post pics tomorrow )
Someone on my facebook made a comment like " Gee thanks for telling us you cleaned why do we care " ? Well You might not care. However for ME , someone who is not a good house keeper, who has never "kept" a good house .. This is a BIG accomplishment for me. To get my house this organized and clean has NEVER happened. I have been a stay at home mom for 11 yrs now and I have never been able to do this . So Its SOMETHING TO ME !!

Spring Cleaning Day 3

Pictures: Clean Kitchen on right ... Bakers rack that is my " beverage " station !
Today for Spring Cleaning Day 3 I did the following :

• Cleaned the kitchen
  
• Cleared counter tops and sanitize
• Wipe off the top of Fridge
  
• Clean out fridge and freezer ( Already did this last week )
  
• Clean out Oven ( did this last week )
  
• Clean Microwave ( did this last week )
  
• Sanitize the sink and garbage disposal
  
• Wipe down all appliances
  
• Change the air filters
  
• Clean toilets, sinks , medicine cabinets and showers
  

I am going to try to sweep and mop the floors before the end of the day !

Spring Cleaning Contiuned ... Day 2

Day 2 of Spring Cleaning was an easy day . I had to work in the morning and came home and busted out the following:

• Washed all the curtains ( easy only 1 room in our house has curtains so far )
  
• Washed both the shower curtains
  
• Sprayed down the shower curtain liner in master bath room
  
• Flipped the one mattress in the house that could be flipped ( ya know most mattress' you cant even flip anymore ! )
• Emptied all trash cans and sanitized them .
  

Tomorrow will be busy I am going to try to combine day 3 and 4 Possibly 5 which is :

• Clean the kitchen
  
• Clear off counter top and sanitize
  
• Wipe off the top of fridge
  
• Dust fridge coils
  
• Clean out fridge and Freezer
  
• Clean out microwave ( I have already done this )
  
• Sanitize the sink and garbage disposal
  
• Wipe down appliances
  
• Wipe out and organize all cabinets. Throw out old food and dishes you no longer use . ( I did this a week or so ago )
• Change Filters ( recently done )
  
• Polish furniture in the house ( Living room already done )
  
• Clean toilets, sinks, medicine cabinets and showers
  

IF i have time I will

• Vacuum out couches
  
• Wash couch cushions
  
• Wash Rugs
  

Which will leave me to just sweep and mop floors on Friday

Dryer Balls ( DIY )

Along w/ the pinterest obsession I am cheap! Although i have not done it in a few months I am a coupon freak . NO I dont extreme coupon , however I coupon in order to save my house money .
For instance even though I have not couponed since December, I have not bought toilet paper, laundry detergent, paper towels, shampoo , soap and other toiletries since December because of my stock pile.
So that being said I came across a post for hand made dryer balls. These were made of wool , had to be felted and well were a lot of work . Granted they could have been done. What is the point of dryer balls ? They save money in dryer sheets for one, they make your clothes fluffy and save on the amount of time you have to dry your clothes. So I cam across this link for DIY Dryer balls . Dryer balls made out of stray socks ! I mean come on . Who does not have thousands of stray socks laying around. With 2 boys and a husband I know I sure do . I followed the directions and in a matter of 5 minutes made 5 of them !
However,I like my laundry to smell good too. I am a Lush Cosmetics Freak . So I got to thinking , I could crush up a bath bomb that I love the smell of put it in the middle of the sock and see if it will scent the laundry . The load I am currently doing has the bath bomb in it . So far its at least scenting my house nicely . I assume its doing the same for my laundry ! I will post the out come when its done !!

Day 2 Not so productive

Thanks to a migraine I was not able to do any cleaning today :( Ugh just when i get into the groove.
Tomorrow is a new day I will hit it hard tomorrow !

Shrimp Masala

(photo credit spiceindia.com)

I have suddenly become very domestic . Or so it seems to me !
My friend and I had THE MOST amazing Shrimp Masala at Mimi's Cafe here in Austin a few weeks ago and I have yet to get it out of my head since then . Last week I decided to tackle this recipe. However I googled shrimp MARSALA .. Yep there is a difference . HAHA !
Although my husband and even my 11 yr old son loved the shrimp marsala it was not what i was wanting. It was not the creamy, tomatoe goodness that came from Mimi's Cafe !
This recipe does not seem very difficult .
So I will see how this goes in the next day or so .
http://www.marthastewart.com/317190/shrimp-tikka-masala

EDIT : My friend just found the dang recipe for the shrimp Marseille Toast we ate at Mimi's !! So im defiantly going ot be trying this one !
http://www.great-taste.net/recipes/appetizer-hors-doeuvres-recipes/shrimp-marseille-toast-mimis-cafe/

Day 1 of Spring Cleaning Complete !

Day 1 of Spring Cleaning is done ! I have to say Im pretty impressed with myself.

I dont know that I have ever done actual "Spring Cleaning " !!
Baseboards are all cleaned, Kitchen walls are wiped down, all electronics are wiped down dusting is done , All Glass surfaces are wiped down , window sills cleaned, and Mirrors are cleaned !
Tomorrow's Check list :

• Wash all Curtains
  
• wash all bedding
  
• Flip mattresses ( I only have to do one of our mattress we all have sleep number beds except my youngest son )
  
• Empty all trash cans and clean and sanitize them

If i have time I want ( need) to add mop all floors !

Spring Cleaning Day 1

Today's Schedule for Spring Cleaning

• Cleaning all baseboards, walls, windows & Mirrors
  
• Clean all glass surfaces
• Wipe down Electronics

Since our house was just painted a few months ago , all except for the kitchen I just wiped down the kitchen walls ( which needed it badly ) I am done w/ the baseboards already .

Im ready to go .. Tomorrow starts the Spring Cleaning !

I have my spring cleaning kit ready to go ! It includes ..
Pledge, Febreeze, Clorox bleach spray , carpet spot remover, and in the yellow and green spray bottles I have a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice and dish soap . I will use the yellow and green spray bottles to do most of my cleaning , I try to use as little chemicals in my home as possible.
I'll use the bleach spray in the toilets . I have 2 boys ( one that still lives at home and a husband ) so lets face it I have yet to find anything that works like bleach for those boys in the bathroom !
I am actually excited to start spring cleaning !

I am going to DO IT !! Spring Cleaning here I come ..

Starting Monday that is . LOL Once again A Bowl Full of Lemon's has inspired me !
I am going to adjust the schedule a little bit to try and give me a couple more days of "Free" time since my boys will be gone.
Here is A Bowl Full Of Lemon's Cleaning tips and schedule for spring cleaning.
Here is what I will attempt to do :

Day 1:

• Clean all baseboards, banisters, walls, windows & mirrors (spraying everything with Basic H eliminates the need for a bucket of water & cleaner)
• Clean all glass surfaces
• Wipe down electronics

• Wash all curtains (including shower curtains)
• Wash all bedding (including quilts & pillows)
• Flip mattresses
• Empty all trash cans, clean and sanitize them.

Day 2:

• Clean the kitchen:
• Clear the entire counter top and sanitize
• Wipe out & organize all cabinets. Throw out old food and dishes you no longer use.
• Wipe off the top of fridge
• Dust fridge coils
• Clean out fridge and freezer
• Clean out oven (including vents)
• Clean microwave
• Sanitize the sink and garbage disposer
• Wipe down all appliances.

Day 3:

• Change all filters (furnace, water filtration)
• Add salt to water softener
• Polish all furniture in house (and wax if needed)
• Clean toilets, sinks, medicine cabinets and showers

Vacuum out couches & chairs

• Wash couch cushions
• Vacuum and mop all floors
• Wash rugs

Day 4:

• Shampoo all carpets
• Replace all smoke detector batteries
• Replace burnt out lightbulbs

I will attempt to do all of this in 4 days .. I do have a part time job that I work . So hopefully i can finish the Spring Cleaning on the days that I work and Be "off " on the last 3 or 4 days of spring break and have some down time and a very clean house.
I have realized this blog has been very helpful to me. Mainly it helps to hold me accountable !
So Monday I start ! here goes !!

Spring Break+ No Kids = Spring Cleaning ???

Both of my kids will be gone for spring break . Not having any kids home is a rarity for me.
SO ... Do i want to spend spring break spring cleaning ???
A Bowl Full of Lemons has some great spring cleaning tips on her blog . A great schedule and a great way to break it all up . Some of it I may even be able to smash out in one day instead of two ? Oh choices , choices ??
What would you do ?

Brussel Sprouts Salad and BLT Wonton Cups

I thought I hated Brussels sprouts up until a few months ago . A friend of mine and I were at a diner and she ordered them . I told her how nasty they were and the waiter said " OH you have to try ours I hate Brussels sprouts and love ours " So i tried them and
he was right , I loved them .
So I took to pinterest to try to find a comparable recipe. What I came up with was possibly even better . Couscous and Brussels sprouts salad ! Its AMAZING ! The recipe is from Eat Live Run and can be found here . I Have made it a couple times. Since I have a lap band I cant eat a lot of pasta, rice or bread, so i thought the couscous would work for me . WRONG ! So today i tried it with Quiena and it worked out just fine for my stomach ! This is probably not the best picture of it but here is what it looks like .

Also on the menu tonight , another pinterest inspiration . BLT Wonton Cups . Very simple and really good. My meat and potatoes husband even liked them .I found these while menu planning for the week on Hungry Girls website. She has some really great recipes that are healthy ! The recipe can be found here ! The picture of this did not turn out well. I really need to take better pictures of my food !

Wonton Thai Chicken Salad

I made these tonight for dinner. They are really good .. I got the inspiration from Amy Tobin's Blog.
I had to make a couple changes however. The recipes calls for Dole Veggie Medley . Well I had no idea what that was nor could I find it.
So I got the Mann's broccoli cole slaw mix , which I get all the time and love. It actually worked out better for this recipe in my opinion .
The recipe was good but had a little too much acid in it , I added more peanut butter too to try to even it out . But it was still too much . Next time I think i'll add less red wine vinegar . Over all they were very good and I would make them again .

Master Bedroom Closet Redo .

Before

After

This has been a few days in the making . Ugh . My closet is small but endless it seems like !
I still need to move out a few boxes, but first need to find some place to put them .
One of them being the big blue box on top , which is my wedding dress ! Its nothing miraculous but its miraculous for ME ! LOL

Once again I got the idea for putting photo albums and memorabilia in office boxes from A Bowl Full of Lemons .
My closet is not as great as hers but like i said this is pretty major for me !
Up next for me ... Hopefully my son's room !

Best Oven Cleaner Ever and its Cheap and Non Toxic

( This is the picture After I cleaned it . You can see there are still some spots left .. had I let the mixture sit over night It would have probably gotten it all squeaky clean )
Granted this was not my idea .. however it is brilliant.
My oven has nearly set my house on fire the last few times I have tried to use it because of all the gunk built up on it . I have been meaning to clean it but keep forgetting or dont have oven cleaner.
So I googled " Non Toxic Oven Cleaner " .... and came up with this site " how to make a non toxic cleaning kit "
I modified the plan a bit because I did not have time to leave the mixture over night .
The recipe calls for
1 cup or more baking soda
Water
A squirt or two of liquid detergent

So what i did was sprinkle the oven with Baking Soda then sprayed it with water to let it start soaking. I let it sit for about 2 hours. Then I sprayed it with a bottle of water, liquid dish soap and lemon juice that I already had made up ( Used from this site ) to clean with and sprayed it down to make a paste .
To me SHOCK this works like a charm ! Fastest easiest oven clean up ever ! It actually would have worked 100% better had I left it over night.

TIP : After I finished this process up i used the stove. Be sure and Rinse the baking soda REALLY REALLY WELL or it turns brown in the oven !! ( Not that I know from experience or anything LOL )

Disney Potato Soup Recipe

I am ADDICTED to potato soup . Problem ? I suck at making it . I mean I am really bad at making it. I have yet to find a recipe that i can either follow and is good or that is just edible. I had about given up . Until PINTEREST !!!! I found this recipe on there.

Source: disneyparks.disney.go.com via Mindy on Pinterest

It is really easy , simple and OH SO YUMMY ..

TIP : I did not add 4 cups of heavy whipping cream , which I suspect makes it so amazing.
I added 1 cup and the rest chicken stock , it was still amazing !

Its a bin , its a tote, no its an organization parade !!!

OH What can be more fun than this ... A Bowl Full of Lemons Spring into cleaning Parade. I dont know about y'all but I love looking at how other people live , even more fun how other people organize . Hence this blog and my organizational OCD projects I just started !!!

Have I fallen off the wagon yet ? No I have been sick with some migraines ( story of my life ) but tomorrow i plan to tackle the belly of the beast AKA my 19 yr old son's room !!!

Kitcher Drawers

I dont have much motivation today . However, I know myself and know I need to keep this motivation and organization going ... So I wanted to finish up the drawers I had left to do in my kitchen . I still need to organize a little better under the sink too . But its pretty good for now .
So here it goes......

Now to get the motivation to tackle my 19 yr old boys room .. he left it a NIGHTMARE when he came back this semester from college !

My To Do List

Here is my current to do list ! ( which btw is in my home management binder !)
I figured if I posted it here It would help me remember ! LOL

Cleaning/Organize To Do List

1. Junk Drawer (DONE)
   
2. Finish kitchen cabinets
3. Under Sink ( DONE)
   
4. Second half of Hall Closet
   
5. Dresser drawers in Master Bedroom
   
6. Freezer
   
7. Master Closet (Keep sakes on top of the closet ) ( DONE )
   

Misc To Do List

1. Get donation box ready for Emmas Auction
   
2. Donation Basket ready for C's School Auction (DONE )
   

11 yr olds War Zone

I really wish I had taken before pictures of my 11 yr olds room . BUT it was actually a little embarrassing . It was a mess. I think he's part beaver , there were little pieces of junk all over the place. I guess he gets bored and just tears things into little pieces ?
So here is the after I know its nothing spectacular but its MUCH MUCH better than before.


His gaming area . As you can see the mess has started .. Or he tried until I got after him.

He has a dresser in his room but i emptied it so my mom can have it back. So now all his clothes are in his closet.