I was online looking for some activated charcoal odor eaters for my fridge but didn’t find much… so then some Googling lead me to this slightly ridiculous product for $10

  

Yup it’s a bag full of charcoal…
So then I was like hmmm isn’t that what fishy filters use….
yup, it is called “Activated Filter Carbon” for aquarium filters, so I bought a TON of that for $7.99
(Amazon beat Walmart on price for this)
So then in a scrap busting fest I made 5 various sized pouches out of breathable fabric to make little odor eating pouches.

I made a bunch, on the larger ones I divided the areas into sections to give maximum surface area.
I serged mine to make it even easier, just pinning them once full, no serger, just make a simple pillow, or I also used a organza gift bag for one (Top Left Photo).
These are kind of messy to make cause of the black dust, but it’s not too bad, also be sure to craft yourself a funnel for less mess.
Note, these absorb odor, they have no fragrance.
They are definitely helping with the following locations in the house: litter box, fridge, freezer, garage, pantry with trash can, I even sent one to Bestie in case Baby Girl doesn’t poo roses…

Do you ever wait for one of the bloggers “you know” to try the latest “amazing pin”, yeah me too, too many pin failures.

So when fellow Alpha Gamma Delta Blog Network member More Than A Momhad success with it I knew I had to tackle the nearly 60 years of grungy build up in our 1954 bathrooms.

I wasn’t convinced I would have as great results with my super old dirt, but with a lot of elbow grease, a grout brush and a scrub brush it looks sooo much better!

To boot the ammonia softened the paint splatter from the at least 3 different colors this bath has been!

So the recipe,

For a Full Size Spray Bottle (I recommend this, my tiny bathroom still used the whole thing)

3 1/2 cups water (28 oz)
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp ammonia (1.33 oz)
2 Tbsp vinegar (1 oz)

For the small dollar section spray bottles
1 3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp ammonia
1 Tbsp vinegar

Method:

1. Rinse your floor.
2. Spray down let it sit.
3. Scrub, scrub, scrub.
4. Sop up the dirty gross water.
5. Rinse.
6. Repeat.

Tip, it’s not going to look impressive until it dries.

I plan on using the cleaner regularly as preventative maintenance.

Give it a try, Lucy will help you…

Kitty Lovers, Watch my funny Lucy in a giant box video here, she totally thinks she’s Maru

Today’s hint  comes from hitting the decent looking cheap rugs that the cats can destroy without me caring jackpot at Ross and TJ Maxx. The problem, they had been folded forever and wouldn't lay flat, and the housewarming was the next day. (Side note: anyone else find much better than TJ’s housewares deals at Ross? Every once in a while I make out well there).

What I did was fire up the steamer, hooked the rug to a skirt hanger, and went at it on both sides (rubber backed).
I switched between the rugs I was doing, and just kept at it, letting the steam relax the rubber and fibers.




Soo nice and flat, added bonus, since it’s flat the cats don’t bother it.


I had less luck with this super cheap Jute style rug, but it’s at least a little better.
This method worked great on a typical carpet bath rug as well.
This post is partying here.

Here’s a quick tip to revive lettuce, give it a quick ice bath after rinsing, I leave mine for about 10 minutes. This is also helpful in the summer when tap water is soo warm!

Ok this was a total duuuuh moment for me, but if it took me this long to think of then, then maybe I can help someone else…
Use a rotary cutter to cut out the straight parts and gentle curves of print your own patterns, then use scissors on the rest.

You’re welcome.
Note: Be sure not to use your ‘fabric’ one. I have two different style cutters and retire my ‘fabric’ blade to my ‘craft’ one for use on paper and other junk.

Oh and if you’re looking for a good battery vacuum, the Eureka Quick Up 96JZ is the only one my dad likes and he’s the vacuum expert (and has bought millions) since he’s got a Sheltie and a fuzzy wuzzy Bella in his house!
Dad also occasionally runs his filter through the dishwasher on the top rack… I just rinse mine. Make sure it’s fully dry before putting back in the canister.

One of my little goals for 2012 was getting better at using up what we had and throwing less food away, we certainly aren’t horrible at using stuff up, but there is always the stuff we just forgot about.
This little trick has been helpful, I’ll write the date, what it is, and how much of it there is on the container in dry erase marker, I just wipe it off with a napkin or my thumb before microwaving or dishwashing.  This is more helpful when freezing stuff, since when you pull what’s frozen you are way less likely to remember.
I especially like writing how much there is so I don’t have reweigh it to log it into MyFitnessPal.

I’m working on painting a bunch of tiny wood things today, when I do this I always use an old magazine as my work surface. It’s perfect since each time I switch paint colors I just flip the page for a nice fresh work surface.

I also do this when using a glue stick, so I don’t gum up whatever I’m gluing.

From the Movie Night Episode of Hungry Girl’s Show, I knew I had to try these, and I’m so glad I did.

These are FABULOUS and the won-ton wrappers totally fulfill your need for CRUNCH and are only like 20 cals a piece!  Definitely going to be looking for other places to use these. They also freeze and thaw well, I froze my leftovers in stacks of 5 separated by wax paper.

Filling all the wrappers takes a while but other than that this is easy and quick, leftovers were still super yummy after toasting in my toaster oven. Also since they numbers are pretty darn good you can eat more than 4 if you want.

The Crab Rangoonies (Printable on Hungry Girl’s site)

PER SERVING (1/4th of recipe, 4 crab rangoonies): 140 calories, 1.25g fat, 593mg sodium, 20g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g sugars, 8.5g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3*

Ingredients

• 4 oz. flaked imitation crabmeat (or high-quality crabmeat)
  (I’m landlocked, I used the fake stuff, with all the cream cheese it wasn’t an issue).
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese, room temperature
• 1 tsp. reduced-sodium or lite soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
• 16 small square wonton wrappers (stocked with the tofu in the refrigerated section of the market)
• Optional: sweet and sour sauce, Chinese-style hot mustard

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes, flipping once.

First mix everything together, you can nuke your cream cheese a few seconds if you forget to set it out.

Fill your wonton wrappers, I filled an egg stand for easy finger tip wetting. Be sure to spray your foil!!

Fill bake for 6 minutes at 375, flip and bake for 6 more.

I recently discovered this and tried it, it's a little scary at first but OMG think about all the rock solid sugar you'll be avoiding, plus it's cheaper!

Supplies:

• Plain Old White Sugar
• Molasses
• Fork
• Mixer (Optional but recommended)

Start off by finding Molasses in the grocery store, I found mine by the Maple Syrup.

Measure out how much brown sugar you need to make, add 1 to 2 table spoons per cup of sugar.

Start mixing it with your fork, it's going to look clumpy like this, but don't freak out.

Beat with the mixer to continue to combine, slowly add more molasses until you get the desired level of light or dark brown sugar.

Just keep on mixing and you'll get beautiful brown sugar like this.

Next time I'll definitely be using my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it's not hard at all, it just looks a little hopeless at the beginning!

Happy Baking!