Month of Thankfulness - Day 14

Today was a Pinterest day in action.

My first task was to use this scrub for shaving my legs. It combines sugar, oil and lime or lemon juice. It does a wonderful job of making my legs super smooth. I've used it a couple of times. The only drawback is that it makes a mess of the shower. The oil makes it kinda slimy. (Would it be tacky to take that mixture with me when I am going to stay in a hotel and let someone else clean it up?)

The next task, then, was to clean the shower up. I used this tip for cleaning the shower. Basically you combine vinegar and Dawn dish-washing liquid and spray on the walls. It did a good job. My shower isn't spotless, but then it was quite grungy, I'm embarrassed to say. I'd use that mixture again.

For supper tonight we had tomato soup, sliced apples and grilled cheese sandwiches (yes, I burned one side) on some whole grain bread I bought at Panera. I also doctored up the sandwiches some with some sun-dried tomato pesto. Mmmm! I found that recipe on Pinterest as well. Here's a link to the original post. I only made a half a recipe and that seems to be plenty for the two of us. I put the extra in the freezer.

(See? I told you it was a Pinterest Day in action.)

Whew! I'm tuckered out. I haven't even opened a box of stuff I ordered from Lands' End that Mr. UPS delivered today. And yesterday I got a quilt back from the Missouri Star Quilt Company that needs a binding sewn on it.

Name this kitchen gadget:

No, I didn't find this on Pinterest. :) I just used it tonight when I made the sun-dried tomato pesto. It takes the skin off of garlic cloves. I had seen it in kitchen gadget stores I had always wondered if it really worked. I told Hubby that when we in a kitchen store and he encouraged me to just go ahead and buy it. It really works! I totally love it.

I am thankful for...
...a place to easily find ideas and recipes
...a new kitchen gadget that works well
...a clean shower
...having an evening at home with my Hubby

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do or Do Without

I decided this morning that I am going to use up the things I have in my house. I was inspired also by a conversation with my daughter and after reading this blog-post from our sweet friends in China.

We've only been in this house for 1 1/2 years and we purged quite a bit as we unpacked boxes, but somewhere more stuff crept in.  I've been thinking about this for a while, but after cleaning out my train-case this morning, I decided to make it a goal. Anyone know what a train-case is? My hubby gave this one to me on our wedding day. It matched the luggage that I had at the time. 27 years later I still use this when we travel.

As I cleaned it out today after 6 weekends in a row of being out of town, I found all these things in there I got from all sorts of different hotels we have stayed in.

and then I found this in an overflowing drawer in the bathroom.

All these things are the small sizes you get in a hotel. That's a lot of shampoo, conditioner, lotions and soap! I am on a quest to use them all up. I'll sure be clean and smell good!


Last month I re-organized the freezer and found a bunch of food items that need to get used. There were several meat patties I had bought sometime last summer for on the grill. I really don't have any idea if they were pork or chicken or turkey. One night I broke them up and browned them, added BBQ sauce and put it over some baked potatoes with some grated cheese. Hubby asked what we were having for supper and I answered, "I have no idea. I'll call it.... BBQ Mystery Meat." Despite the mystery, it was quite yummy.

My quest to purge also took me to the medicine cabinet and, sure enough, there were some expired cold medicine and things we never use that ended up in the trash. 


This morning I looked through the pantry and tossed some items that had expiration dates from the year 2009. I don't think I can consume something knowing it's that old. Yuck. I'm going to try to figure out how I can use the things that are in there and then only replace them when I am planning on using them in a recipe

Boy, I guess I am on a roll, huh?

Next stop all the condiments in the refrigerator. Where do they all come from?

I'm also going to try to extend this using it up thing to my sewing room and see if I can make at least one quilt from just the fabrics I have. Believe me, that shouldn't be too hard at all!

Even though I don't set New Year's Resolutions, I think this quest could qualify, don't you?