Vinegar Craziness

I felt a little guilty that my master bathroom had gotten soooo gross that I finally decided to try and clean it yesterday.  I got out my normal Windex, paper towels and a can of scrubbing bubbles.  After spraying down the shower with scrubbing bubbles, I let it sit and tried to clean my glass shower door.

Even after two sprays and rub downs, my glass door still looked like this:

I guess it's because of the flash but the soap scum goes all the way down to the bottom.  I would also like to point out that we DO have a water softener and I have come to learn that whether you have hard or soft water, you are always going to have issues.

ALSO, please notice the black line on the left side of the picture.  It is forming in the corner of the wall and floor.  I never thought to take a pic of it but was glad to find that you can see it even through the soap scum.

I gave up cleaning the door and went straight to the shower.  That will at least be clean cause, HEY!  The bubbles scrub it for you, Right? 

WRONG!

THEY DID NOT.

Here are some more pics (please note the pics were taken after the scrubbing bubbles were washed off and became dry):

The first picture is of the shower behind the glass door and then the second picture is the knobs for the shower that is right next to it.  Why we have two showers in one stall.  Doesn't make sense buuuut that is how it is.

Okay.  Okay.  You may be thinking 'well, if you would just clean it at least once a week, you wouldn't be having this problem now would you?'  and you are right.  I am making a face at you though.  I should be cleaning it at least once a week but I really want to do OTHER things in my life.  Like...  ANYTHING!  I hate cleaning. 

Anyway, I remembered seeing some vinegar thingy on Pinterest and looked it up.  You can find the website HERE where they tell you to:

1. Microwave 4 oz of vinegar till it's warm 


2. Pour into spray bottle with 4 oz of blue Dawn dish soap


3. Spray onto soap scum, wherever it may be


4. The thicker the soap scum the longer you should let it sit.  Even all night works.

Luckily, I do have both vinegar AND Dawn dish soap, which is really weird because I usually have Palmolive.  Palmolive is cheaper than Dawn, has a nice orange citrusy smell and (IMHO) works just as well BUT I bought the Dawn Pure Essentials because it is hypoallergenic AND has been made with 25% post consumer recycled material (Please click HERE to find out more about why that makes me happy to spend more money).  It isn't that much more money though.  The Dawn PE was $2.18 and the Palmolive is $1.69 (neither one on sale).  I am switching to Dawn.

My first thought was that I was going to fail this because they were pretty specific that I use the BLUE Dawn detergent and the Dawn PE is NOT blue.  It's clear. I figured I would try it anyway because then we would know FOR SURE that you do, in-fact, have to have the blue dawn.

This is how my shower turned out:

I sprayed it on, waited 20 min and used the yellow part of the sponge to wipe everything while using the shower head to spray everything down and drain.  You can see in the second to last pic that there was a spot of soap scum on the end of the knob but honestly that too came right off... I didn't even see it till I took the pic and then forgot to take another one.  *sigh*

Remember that black line from the very first picture?  It use to be in the crack of the last picture.  I wish I had taken more pictures but like I said, I thought I was going to fail this assignment.

OH, BTW...  one cup vinegar (heat up for 1 min) and one cup Dawn mixed was perfect for the size to spray all of my shower.  Even with the fan on, I had a hard time with the smell of it.  Once I washed it all off it took about an hour for the smell to be gone.  Dawn is 24 oz big divide by 4 oz gives you 6 cleanings which for me is a years worth of cleaning.  Gross, I know but hey!  *shrug*

NAILED IT!!   Thank you Bobbin from Food.com!!

Next time I will try it with Palmolive and see if that works just as well (I have a feeling its all about the vinegar)



Glass Brownies

Today my husband and I were watching TV and saw a commercial for brownies that are low calorie.  My husband says 'mmmmmmm... brownies' in a Homer J. Simpson kind of way.  I on the other hand had a baby 10 months ago and am trying to watch everything I eat so that I can loose weight but I want a brownie too.  I remember seeing a post on Pinterest about Dt. Coke and Brownie mix.  I go on line, find that recipe and figure, heck, this should be easy especially since I have brownie mix and Dt. Pepsi!  I prefer Pepsi over Coke anyway.

• I pull out my brownie mix.  Crap.  It has walnuts in it, I hope that doesn't mess it up.  


• I pull out a can of Dt. Pepsi.  I hope there isn't some kind of magic ingredient in Coke that isn't in Pepsi.  


• I read the directions that are given on the website: http://auntpegsrecipebox.blogspot.com/2011/02/diet-coke-brownies.html


• I pull out a glass casserole dish and measure it.  Yup 9x13, SWEEEEET


• I turn on the oven to 350 degrees and start making it.

After I stir it, I realise that all the walnuts are sinking to the bottom.  OK... so I'll have walnuts at the bottom instead of randomly... whatever.

I put it into my casserole dish and happily throw it in the oven.  30 min later I check it.  Not done.

I put it back in for another 10 min.  Not done.  Another 10 min...  Seems kind of done, I will cut it.  ICK!!!  Mushy on the bottom.  NOT DONE.

Hmmm...  My husband points out that its a glass dish and not an actual pan.  Does that make a diff?  So I lower the temp to 340 and put a pan under the casserole dish.  Another 15 min.  NOT DONE.

I give up.

Did I get compliments?  Uhhh... no.

Will I make it again?      Not in a friggin glass casserole dish!!

Was it really because it was glass and not metal?  

This is why I don't bake!

FAILED!!!

Update Sep. 18th

I tried this again but used a regular brownie pan and not a glass dish.  It was a little better but it was still really mushy.  I would not recommend following the Dt. soda and brownie mix for low calorie brownies.  They tasted okay but they ended up being thrown away.

Still a fail.

Colored Eggs R Us

 

OK so, last April I saw, on Pinterest, these beautiful eggs that were multicolored for Easter:

Aren't those beautiful?  You can find the how to's on http://realmomkitchen.com/10823/easter-deviled-eggs/   

So... I figured, what the h-e-double toothpicks?  Why not try it?  Doesn't look too hard.

When you go to the website you can print out the directions.  I pretty much did what it said but instead of using neon colors I used the ordinary colors.   I don't want to have to go out and buy more dye and I don't want to spend money.

The hardest part of this project is that you need some counter space because if you let the eggs touch each other when they come out of the dye, they could stain each other.  The shells are kind of annoying to get off AND spooning out the yolk was a pain.  I don't know if that's because I am an amateur or if it really is normally hard to get yolks out.  This is only the second time I have ever made deviled eggs.  Let me know.

These are the 4 BEST ones:

These are the 4 WORST ones:

Purple didn't work out so well but overall, I feel like I NAILED IT!!!  

Grant it they are not Easter pastel and I tried to be all artsie fartsie with a cake decorating application of the filling but still fun!  I took them to a party and all were gone when it was time to come home.  

Did I get compliments?  YES

Am I going to do it again?  YES  

I will post pics for when I do it again.

For those who have never boiled eggs:

1. Get a large pot to hold however many eggs you have
2. Fill it 3/4 full and let it come to a boil
3. Get a big spoon to set eggs in boiling water gently
4. Let them cook for 17 min
5. Using your big spoon again, scoop them out (after turning off burner) and place each one back into the egg carton to cool off.

So what do you think?  Did I Fail or Nail?