Take That, Nasty Laundry Stains!

I am so excited to share some cheap and easy stain-busting tips with you today!

But first, a question: If you are over the age of 25, do you still own any clothing that you wore in high school? I'd love to hear what you've saved!

I am officially 10 years out of college (ack!), and I have discovered a handful of items that have stuck around through years of thrift store cast-off sessions. I owe this in large part, I believe, to our front-loading washer. I'm amazed at how gently it treats my clothing.

Now I'm finding that other issues arise besides clothing that wears out. I (ahem) have outgrown a few things, others go out of style, and many others develop stains. I am not a graceful athlete and apparently, not a graceful eater, either.

And just why is it that stains never seem to show up until after they've been stored for awhile?

Well, without further ado, here are some stain remedies that have successfully rescued my family's clothing*:

Baby Spit-Up Stains
Soak the afflicted items overnight in a mixture of oxi-clean and water. If there are kids or pets around, be sure you soak in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Wash as usual, then hang in the sun to dry.

Berry Smush Stains
Boil a kettle of water. Turn the article of clothing inside out and pour the hot water over the stain from back to front. Launder as usual. Yes, I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but it does work.

Grease and Food-Based Stains
In this case, the sooner you treat, the better. Don't even bother to pre-treat if you are dealing with kids' clothing. Just take the item to the kitchen sink and hand wash with liquid dish soap. This got ketchup out of my son's ivory shirt sleeve just the other night. Wash as usual. The ingredients in the soap that get rid of grease on your pans also get rid of grease on your clothes. (Which is a good thing when you stand too close frying bacon.)

Sweaty Armpit Stains
Eww, gross, right? How many men's undershirts get tossed because of this? Well, this is actually a problem because of deodorant buildup more than sweat. I just tried this on a white linen shirt that's been in storage (last summer I was wearing maternity clothing). It was not only yellowed but had sparkly grit in the seam.

Lay the shirt on a white towel or countertop that will not stain or bleach. I used my cultured marble bathroom sink. Combine equal parts baking soda, water and hydrogen peroxide. Brush into the stain with a clean toothbrush and let sit for 15 minutes. Consider brushing from the inside and outside of the shirt, and getting into all the creases of the seams. Wash as usual and tumble dry or hang in the sun for additional bleaching.


Well, there you have it. I hope you can save some of your favorite items with these inexpensive and green stain-treaters! And what you can't salvage, maybe you can make into rags.

*These were all attempted on regular wash-and-wear clothing. I make no claims about special fabrics like silk and suede. If you have kids, are you really wearing that anyway?

Decluttering Friendships

Today I have a slightly off-topic post for you.

I'm seeing articles everywhere about people trying to get rid of excess stuff in their house. I agree that too much stuff in your house can be a problem. Junk takes on a life of it's own. But what about clutter in other areas of our lives?

Let's begin with some quotes from people I don't normally seek advice from:

"I just wanna throw my phone away/Find out who is really there for me" - Katy Perry, Part of Me

"The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away." - Barbara Kingsolver

In this day and age we are busy and hyper-connected. Outside of meetings for work, there are meetups, fundraisers, kids' sporting events, church commitments, etc. With social media providing constant updates, people can develop anxiety about missing out on the latest news. (Ever see the episode of The Office where Ryan can't bring himself to turn his phone off and has to leave the trivia contest?)

What really annoys me is when people purposefully schedule a time to be together, and then all they do is sit around and check their phones. Constantly.

Call me old-fashioned, but when I take the time to get dressed (with kids "helping"), go out, possibly find a babysitter, and spend money on coffee or food, I want to have a real, in-depth conversation.

A lot of people ask why I don't have a Facebook account. No, I'm not one of those people who thinks Facebook is the devil. I'm just not sure that having 200 "friends" would really connect me with people in more meaningful ways. At least, not in ways that are worth the time sifting through the unnecessary info. Yes, you know what's on their mind, what their kids just did that's cute, and see pictures of it all, but then what do you talk about when you're together in person? And really, I'm not that interested in what you had for lunch.

Someday I'll be on Facebook, so I can monitor what my kids are doing there and (maybe) catch up with people from the past. But while my boys are in this precious, small stage, I just don't want to take time away from them (or my peace and quiet while they sleep) to add this into my life.

Don't worry, I still have friends. They are the ones who come over for dinner, who I meet at the park, who email, call or text because they want to know how I'm doing.

On a set day each month, I get together with one of my friends. We schedule ahead because our friendship is a priority and we know not planning means time slips away all too quickly. She and I have grown so much closer as a result.

I don't want to stand on a soapbox today, but I do want to encourage you, if you are feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep up with everyone and everything, to consider who is really there for you (of course, you need to be there for them, too). As an only child, my parents lovingly told me "it's about quality, not quantity." Whatever you think about only children, I believe quality is especially important with friendships.

Invest in the friendships that you want to last. Don't just figure you are busy and will do it sometime. Focus your time and energy on the relationships that are fun, rewarding and challenging. Share tough stuff, laugh together, and get together face-to-face.

Recipe Roundup, Reprised (Part 2)

Hooray! About half of my recipe project is complete, and I'm excited to share it with you.

I decided to go with a three-ring binder approach--one for desserts and one for everything else. I started with "everything else." Here's my super-cute binder from Target. Oh, if I had all the money in the world, I would spend most of it there...

One of the things I'll never forget my Mom teaching me was that you could easily identify the "good" recipes in family cookbooks by finding the pages with food splatters and stains on them. The sheet protectors will prevent this (hopefully) but then again, no bad recipes will make it into the book, either.

The binder dividers that I got on Amazon just arrived and I'm so pleased. It took some searching to find attractive ones that also were wide enough to stick out past the sheet protectors, but I found them. Bonus: the dividers also hold loose pages! Now I have a place other than the fridge-clip to put the recipes I want to try. Love this!














Since the photo isn't so hot (I really need to learn some tips from my amateur-turning-pretty-darn-professional photographer hubby), here are the categories I decided on:

• Appetizers, Drinks and Snacks
• Beef and Pork
• Breads and Breakfast
• Chicken and Seafood
• Meatless Meals
• Side Dishes
• Soups and Salads
• Desserts...for binder #2

I typed the recipes using separate Word files for each category, and alphabetized the recipes within the document. Based on the number of sheet protectors that I used, I have about 200 recipes. I can't wait to expand that amount!

I had a lot of fun making the template and rewriting the instructions to be as close as possible to my work style in the kitchen. I also wanted to make them a little more explicit so they make sense when my boys start helping prepare meals in a few years, and add recipes for more obvious stuff like roast beef, sandwiches, etc. I'm excited that someday I can just re-print this information and hand them a cookbook from Mom!

What do you think? I'll let you know how many dessert recipes find their way to the binder. :)

Here is a sample recipe for your enjoyment, from my dear Mom. I will never again pay $7 and up for Creme Brulee at a restaurant now that I know how stinking easy it is (and without the blow torch)!

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 c       heavy cream (one pint)
5          egg yolks
½ c      sugar
1 T       vanilla
            brown sugar

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 275.

2.      Set four ramekins inside a 9x13 baking pan.

3.      Whisk together cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla.

4.      Divide the egg mixture among the ramekins.

5.      Using a liquid measuring cup, carefully fill the pan with hot water so that ramekins are about two-thirds submerged in water.

6.      Bake at 275 for 45-60 minutes or until set.

7.      Refrigerate overnight, or to serve warm, go to next step.

8.      Just prior to serving, preheat the broiler. Spread a thin layer of brown sugar across the top of each ramekin. Smooth with the back of a spoon.

9.      Place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until sugar has caramelized. Keep a close watch on the progress!