I started the day with pizza cinnamon rolls...big hit and they will come back for breakfast soon.
After packing 4 lunches and dropping 3 boys at 2 schools I was home to start trying some cleaning pins. I also created a new board that includes the things that I have tried. So feel free to check there, again I will someday figure out how to link what I am working on....not today.
I started with the dishwasher, unload add a cupful of vinegar in a Pyrex measuring cup in the top rack....power scrub and walk away. Next I made a mistake (logistically) in starting with the windows in the ovens I made a paste of baking soda and water and put them in the windows, which meant the doors were open (mistake) they had to sit for 15 minutes...onto the microwave another pyrex measuring cup this one with one cup of vinegar and a cup of hot water turn it on for 10 minutes. While the paste is working on the windows and the microwave is steaming I cover the cooktop with baking soda and then wash clothes that have been soaked in hot soapy water....sit for 15 minutes. At this point the windows are almost done and so is the microwave....I scrub the first window and realize that it will take more....so I restart. This was the true mistake, now I can't reach the microwave as well as I should. But trust me the microwave cleaning was amazing!!
I have pictures but my memory card and computer are not cooperating today....I'll post and some are befores!
All I had to do was wipe out the microwave, no elbow grease or anything just an easy wipe....except that I was moving around the oven doors still open (I have a double oven in a free standing model)
Once the microwave was wiped out I moved onto the cook top. I used the wash clothes to scrub the paste off the top and it worked great! All but one small part of one ring that has been burned on for like 5 years came off, and I have one more thing to try before I am going to move to a razor blade. (For the cook top not any part of me!)
Then back to the windows, and full disclosure here I have never cleaned my ovens....I know shocking, but the true truth is I have never lived one place with the same oven for this long so I never cleaned them. So this is kind of a big challenge. I scrubbed the second round of paste and more gunk came off...but not nearly all of it. So tomorrow I have a second paste to try....we'll see. It is really nice to be cleaning things and not worried about the fumes or that Gretchen is right next to me. Though the vinegar did give me a slight head ache when I had it going so many places!
The dishwasher was done so next I took a cup of baking soda and spread it around the bottom and back to power wash (which is my hottest cycle) It was great!! I don't think that it even got this clean when I used the dishwasher cleaner...which is way more expensive anyway!!
So that is what I cleaned today...I will concur the ovens and I know that the washer needs done too. On to the food for the day...
I already told you about breakfast. Dinner we had what is called "hamburger mess" kind of a homemade hamburger helper I guess. It did make enough for 2 9x18 pans so we will be eating it again the beginning of the week. It was hamburger with onion, garlic, s&p, chili powder and a bit of Tabasco with crushed tomatoes and macaroni all mixed up then baked for 45 minutes and then cheese on the top for a few more minutes. Everyone seemed to like it, next time I might add some cheese to the meat as well.
Now for the morning....I need bananas to make the baked oatmeal, and to mix up pancake batter for the individual pancake cupcakes, plus I did not want to deal with the breakfast burritos tonight....so since I jumped into this with both feet and have no plan B other then may be toast there is apple pie oatmeal in the crockpot. We'll see on this one. I seriously doubt the kids will like it, and I am not even sure that it will turn out as once I had it in the crock pot I read that you should stir it every hour.....come on now it is a breakfast food that takes 6-7 hours in a crock pot and you are to stir it every hour!! Come on now...so it may be an epic fail!
And now it is Project Runway night so enjoy reading of my adventures of the day...hopefully pictures are coming. I do have a new camera but this was a computer crabbiness. We'll try again.
This was a good post. I don't know if you know this or not but I work for an appliance company. We sell kitchen appliances. Our main business is from builders and remodelers.
ReplyDeleteWorking here, I have learned alot about appliances and how to clean them. The vinegar thing is what we recommend to our customers. I have also learned to never use your self cleaning on your oven. It cuts the life of your appliance in half evertime you use it. The best way to clean and oven wheather its a wall oven or a range, is to set a pan or caserole dish of vinegar water in the middle of your oven and set it to 200 degrees and let it steam in there for 20 minutes....then let your oven cool and wipe it out. We also recommend the vinegar method for the cooktops and the dishwashers. And if you have any stainless steel appliances, you know how they get so smudged with fingerprints. The best thing to use to give it a nice shine and to actually prevent fingerprints is to wipe it down with lemon oil. It works nicely and u usually only have to do the lemon oil once a month.