How to clean grout without chemicals! Are you on the edge of your seat yet? 😉

Ever have one of those projects you never tackle? Yeah, I have a lot of those around my house. More than I care to admit.

One weekend my husband was gone, the baby was napping, and I felt that I should tackle one of those jobs. So I put my daughter in front of the TV with some Little Bear on and headed to the bathroom to try a grout cleaning method I read on Tammy’s Recipes.

How to Clean Grout

Supplies Needed:

• Baking Soda
• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Toothbrush
• Rag
• Water

We’ve lived in our house for 3 1/2 years. Not once have I scrubbed the grout on our bathroom floor. An older gentleman owned the house before us and, judging from how the house looked when we moved in, I doubt he did either. The floor was looking just slightly grody. (Yes, I might be under exaggerating a little.)

Step 1: Sprinkle baking soda in the grout on a section of floor.

Step 2: Pour hydrogen peroxide over it.

Step 3: While you let the peroxide and baking soda soak repeat steps 1 and 2 on the next section of tile.

Step 4: The hard part. Scrub the first section with the toothbrush like crazy. Use the rag and hot water to scrub and rinse some more. (You’ll have to rinse well to be sure you get all the baking soda off.)

Step 5: Repeat until the floor is finished.

Warning: Your legs and clothes will turn white from the baking soda.

It was a couple of hours of hard work but my goodness what an improvement. I probably should do it a little more often then every three plus years.

Linking up to Thriving Thursday, From House to Home, Thrifty Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, The Weekend re-Treat, Teach Me Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Tending the Home Tuesdays, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, WFMW, Natural Living Monday, Babies and Beyond, Mommy Brain Mixer, Let’s Get Real

Time change hasn’t been a big deal any other year but, goodness, today we had one cranky child. Thankfully, the baby was still happy. Speaking of the little guy, his first two teeth poked through this week! Maybe there will be a short break in the drooling, hand gnawing, and fussing before it starts all over.

Spent lots of time dealing with the 60 pounds of apples I ordered from Azure Standard. Doesn’t sound like much compared to the 240 pounds someone else received, but it was definitely enough for me to tackle on my own. We will be set on applesauce and dehydrated apples for a while.

Friends over for dinner, banquet for our local crisis pregnancy center, a concert with a comedic pianist and a few days of rainy weather are all coming up week.

Breakfasts:

• Yogurt and Granola
• Pancakes (from freezer)
• Smoothie Popsicles

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Salad
• Oven Baked Pancakes (with apples – surprise, surprise)

Suppers:

• Crockpot Lasagna (Would have been good had we not eaten an hour later than planned. Slightly overcooked.)
• Turkey and Cheese Stuffed Rolls
• Chicken Pot Pie Topped with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, rolls, and apple bars (Some friends are coming over for dinner)
• Salad
• Pregnancy Center Banquet

Snacks:

• Fruit
• Almonds
• Muffins from freezer

Goals:

• Finish planning the Warm Up Your Walls Party
• Make a Thanksgiving tree
• Read 3 times for 30 minutes (with how poorly I did at this last week and how busy it will be this week, I’m trying to keep it simple)
• Run 2 times (only ran once last week but did get in a walk with a friend as well)
• Monthly Budget Meeting

What’s on your menu this week?

Any goals you want to tackle?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

Egg rolls. A lot of times when I think about these crunchy appetizers (or main dish in our house) lots of grease comes to mind. Fried foods can tend to be over loaded in oils and be messy for little fingers to eat. Baked egg rolls eliminate all of these problems.

Get the crunch and yummy flavors without walking away with oily fingers.

After I put this recipe together for the first time, my husband said he wouldn’t change a thing and rated them a 9.5 out of 10.

The best thing about this recipe is it’s easy to change up. Use whatever ground meat you like best, vegetables you have on hand, and change up the seasonings to use what you already have.

You start with prepping your veggies and cooking the veggie and meat mixture in a big skillet:

After the mixture is cooked, lay out your egg roll wrappers and place a small amount of filling in the center:

Roll the egg roll by folding the bottom corner up over the mixture and then the two side corners over. Dip your fingers in water and rub the edges of the top triangle with water and fold down.

Place egg rolls on a baking sheet and brush with oil using a pastry brush.

Bake and enjoy!

Linking up to Pin it Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Babies and Beyond, The Weekend reTreat, Living Proverbs 31, Teach Me Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Tending the Home Tuesdays, Link Party Palooza, Strut Your Stuff, Good Tastes Tuesday, Create it or Bake it, WFMW, Welcome Home Wednesday, Homemaking Link-Up, Foodie Friends Friday

Another month gone. Here’s a handful of links from around the internet that I enjoyed clicking on this month.

Since October 31st is today, Halloween is on my brain. I appreciate purposeful decisions that families make. Let’s not just do something because that’s how you’ve always done it or because it’s what everyone else is doing. Whatever thought out decision you come to, I respect.

These posts are examples of families that prayed over and researched responses to this oftentimes controversial holiday:
My Take on Halloween: My Friend, the Witch – Mama Gab
On Halloween – TroubleFace Mom
What Should Christians Do About Halloween – Our Family for His Glory

Here is an educational and fun link (coffee, rivers, time zones, McDonalds, maternity leave. . .):
40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

For you Moms:
Twelve Things Kids Should See Mom Do – ParentLife Magazine

In case you missed this link in my post on Family and the Church this is a worthwhile read (don’t worry, it’s short):
Don’t Segregate the Youth – The Gospel Coalition

I still have yet to cook a spaghetti squash, but this recipe looks delicious:
Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

 

This weekend was busy but fun. A day trip to the near by city was a highlight. Our 2 1/2 year old loved the zoo – way more than she did even 3 months ago. The cooler weather may have had something to do with that. She ran around looking at animals and climbing on everything.

We finished the day with a trip to Target and letting her do some more climbing and sliding at Chick-Fil-A. She wore herself out enough that the girl that no longer takes any naps fell asleep on the way home.

Saturday Shaun was gone from 11am on for work. It’s so much easier to not go grocery shopping with both kids by myself so my daughter and I went before he left. A perk to small town living is I can go to 3 grocery stores and still be done in less than an hour.

Breakfasts:

• Granola and yogurt (me)
• Pumpkin Pancakes from freezer (daughter)
• Smoothie popsicles (daughter)

Lunches:

• Chicken Fajitas
• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Salad
• Leftovers

Suppers:

• Taco Salad (Still sticking to salad Mon-Thursday. Makes my life so easy, I don’t know if I’ll ever want to quit)
• Chicken Stir Fry (great way to use up veggies in the fridge) Might use an adaptation of this recipe
• Braum’s Burgers when daddy is gone
• Chili cook off with some of Shaun’s coworkers at our house

Snacks:

• Muffins
• Fruit
• Almonds

Goals:

(Everything from last week got accomplished!)

• Vitacost Order (affiliate link)
• Apples, apples, apples – applesauce, dehydrate, freeze
• Make cookie plates and deliver to some people at church
• Run 25 minutes 3 times
• Read 4 days at least 30 minutes

What’s on your menu this week? Any goals you want to accomplish?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday