Baking Soda As A Kitchen Cleaner

Hello again everyone!

Last week I talked about using baking soda to deter ants from entering the house. Today I want to show some of the cleaning powers of baking soda. Like I said last week, I try to use more natural cleaners. I use them more because I don't want to endanger Jianna and the boy I babysit than any other reason. I feel like if I use cleaners that can be found in a kitchen cabinet, if the kids happen to ingest a little bit it won't harm them as much as some of the chemicals we used before we became parents.

So baking soda as a cleaner... hmm. does it work? I will only share the things that I know work from experience. I will also share how effective I believe it to be. I love to use baking soda in the kitchen, bathrooms and even on carpeted areas. Today, I'll share my favorite kitchen uses.

In the Kitchen

• Bake-ware/pots and pans: I make a baking soda paste with a little bit of water and a dot of dish detergent and spread it on burned/baked on food. Let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes, although an hour or even a day works well, too. :-) It may not work if the pot is completely scorched (like if you forget about the rice you're cooking - not once, but several different days - and the bottom becomes a completely black surface more than once. Yes, that really did happen to me.) :-) , but it works pretty well on things that would be rather difficult to get off without using a lot of elbow grease. I grade this one as 85% effective.
• Stove/Oven: For an oven that just needs a little bit of a touch up or on the stove top it works well. On an oven that has seen better days, it doesn't work so well. I think it still works, but it isn't as effective as a store-bought oven cleaner. Make a paste and rub it over the eye,  stove or oven surface. For the oven, I scrub the baking soda mix into the grimiest parts of the oven. Then, I pour just a bit of vinegar onto the baking soda mix to amp up the cleaning power. The chemical reaction between the vinegar and baking soda makes it bubble and fizz. Then, I let it sit for a while (normally on the oven 1 1/2-2 hours). At this point I scrub the oven some more and see how clean it is by using a sponge to sop up the extra. If it isn't clean enough for my tastes, I rinse and repeat until it is nice and clean. It leaves a streak-free shine! I would rate this as 90% effective on a lightly soiled oven and on just about any stove top. 
• Clean That Sink!: Again making a paste of water and soda, I use a sponge or wash cloth to scrub the sink. I add a bit of vinegar, and it is disinfected. I wipe down the faucet and fixtures and then I rinse it all. Shine up the faucet with a dry cloth, towel or paper towel and no water spots! This one comes out at 95% effective. An added benefit of this is that any baking soda that "happens" to fall down the drain will also help unclog your drain when the vinegar is poured down it! :) Double duty!

Well, that's how I use baking soda in the kitchen. Do you have any other uses for baking soda that you have tried? What is your favorite kitchen cleaner?

Running Part II... a continuation of the story

After the first 3 or so months of running, Jason and I began to interact with a local running group that ran on Saturday mornings. We would join up with them and run whatever distance we wanted to at a pace we were comfortable with. It really encouraged me to keep on running, run farther, run longer and even learn how to pace myself.

Then we went back to Romania. We went to a new city and I didn't know the safe routes. So I stayed home and used cardio exercise videos. Several months later I found out I was pregnant, so I tried to keep up the exercising after my doctor okayed it. Once winter set in, we got a gym membership at a small local gym and I would walk and lift light weights. I tried running a few times, but as I grew, it became uncomfortable, so I power walked.

We decided to return to the States and I continued power walking several days a week, with the approval of my doctor. Towards the end of my seventh month of pregnancy, I walked a local 5k (3.1 miles) race. It was the first race Jianna did, even though she won't remember it. :-) It was also a week before she would decide to make her surprise appearance.

After Jianna was born, finding time to run became more difficult. For the first 3 or 4 weeks, I didn't exercise at all. Then, we were able to time our schedule to fit a walk in. She loved the stroller, so we went again the next week... and the next... and the next. Working around her schedule became easier over time. As her feedings became more spaced out, it became even easier.

Once I was able to walk a slightly longer distance (2 miles) and my doctor cleared me, I started running short distances again. I remember getting so excited that I was able to get a full 2 miles in before she started fussing! Then, the distances I was able to accomplish began to get longer and longer. I was able to get 4 miles in running and walking before winter set in. Even with mild winters, we decided not to get Jianna out too much in it. We did bundle her up a couple times when it was 40-45 degrees and ran anyway. It was so refreshing!! Once spring came, we were set and ran through the summer as much as we could. Last winter was hard, since it was again cold. But now, we are running again 3 times a week and enjoying every minute of it.

What is your story? How did having children change your schedule? Are there other things in life that have had an impact on your schedule?

Favorite Breakfast... Whole Grain Pancakes!!

Hello all!

I am going to try to share my favorite recipes on Fridays.This will provide others with an idea of how we eat, but it may also help others who struggle with hypoglycemia to find options that work for them. This pancake recipe is not mine. I found it in a Reader's Digest cook book called Magic Foods For Better Blood Sugar and have adapted it for our family's tastes and needs. I like to make 1-2 batches at a time and put the extras in the freezer to pull out for a quick, easy breakfast. Jianna really enjoys these, also. So, without further comment, here is the recipe for our favorite breakfast.

Prep. Time: 20 minutes           Cook Time: 15-20 minutes         Makes: 8 servings of 2 pancakes each

Ingredients:
2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (When I make this for Jason, we omit the cinnamon. It drops bloodsugar levels.)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I prefer to use Sucanat 1:1 ratio, if at all possible. It is crystalized sugar cane juice. It doesn't interact with Jason's bloodsugar. Another option is to half the amount and use that much honey. Here, it would be 2 Tablespoons.)
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Mix buttermilk and oats in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside 15 minutes to soften the oats.
2. Whisk the whole wheat flour, wheat germ, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl. Add the buttermilk mix and stir to incorporate. Add a little bit at a time to the flour mixture and whisk so that no lumps form. Add the rest of the liquids and mix the batter together well.
4. Heat up a lightly greased skillet or waffle iron over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto heated surface. Cook until it looks dry around the edges (it will look wet in the center still, but dull around the edges) and bubbles have burst on the surface of the pancake. Turn over and cook until lightly browned on other side. Remove from heat and either serve imediately or cool to freeze.

Served with pancake syrup, fruit and maybe yogurt or sausage, this is an amazing breakfast!

Nutritional information:
292 calories
8 g. protein
60 g. carbohydrates
3 g. fiber
3 g. total fat
     1 g. saturated fat
56 mg. cholesterol
331 mg. sodium

Like they say in Romania, "Pofta buna!" (translation: Enjoy your meal!)

Homemade Ant Deterrent

Hey Everyone!

On Wednesdays, I am going to try to share some of the things that work for us. I won't be linking up to Works For Me Wednesdays right now, but you can check them out and see some of the cool stuff that everyone else comes up with.

Because two little ones hang out in our house most days of the week, I wanted to find more natural ways to handle most household cleaning. One of those jobs is getting rid of ants. I don't like the ants marching one-by-one, or two-by-two, or any other way in my kitchen! (Do you know this childhood song?)

Ants tend to make a dash inside in the spring and then again in the fall here The ants I have seen are the tiny little ones that are more anoying than dangerous. I try to keep a pretty clean kitchen, but I have found two things that work together to keep the ants outside and to kill the ones I see inside. And they are both baby-safe! I use a barrier about 1/4-1/2 inch wide of baking soda (the normal, everyday baking soda, found in the baking section at the store) spread all the way across the window ledges and door ledges that the ants tend to use the most. If I find any in the house, like if I forgot to put down the baking soda and the ants found their way inside (oh, yes, it has happened!), I spray a bit of lemon juice (not dilluted at all, just straight 100% juice) on them and they die soon after.

I found this idea on a blog, unfortunately I don't remember which one. But I do know that it works!!

How do you get rid of pests at your house?

Running. Running? Running!!

Running is one of those things I never thought I would do. I was an awkward teen with legs too long and a wierd gate when I ran... Me?? Run?!? Not on your life! Then came that year... The one that I was 40 pounds over my target weight and I was walking to beat the band, but it just wasn't raising my heart-rate enough. Now what do I do? (*Note* I know that 40 pounds may not be a lot for some people, or it may be a huge amount for other people. This is just where I was.)

So I figured, well, I'll run from where I am to that sign. I did it! That felt great! Let's try from the next sign to that stand of trees. And that felt even better! I finished exercising that day in the same way and thought, "Well, now what? I guess you're a runner, after all." I thought I knew what I could do, but I didn't realize that I could do more than I dreamed.

I have continued to try to run. As I have worked on it, I have gotten to where I'm able to run a 10-12 minute per mile with a stroller instead of a 16 minute per mile walk/run without a stroller. It is my favorite form of exercise. I am able to get out and not think about what my house looks like, what I need to do for the rest of the day or anything else that might bother me. Running is my reset button... my "pause, pray, think, try again" button.

Is there something that you never thought you would be able to do that you were able to accomplish? Is there something you would like to try to accomplish that in the past you thought you couldn't do? What is your reset button for life?