Natural Cleaners

Have you ever gone to so many sites, that you just cannot remember where you first saw someone?  Oh..it's just me?  Can't be!
I stumbled upon Jaima Shutt one night while blog-hopping/Facebooking.  I popped over to her Facebook  page and 'liked' her.  Turned out, I was her 100th fan!  Yay me!  She is now well over 4000 likes.  Awesome job!  As a thank you, she sent me a sample of a Shaklee product Basic H cleaner.  It came in a tiny capsule.

I am a born skeptic.  So, my immediate reaction was 'yeah right'.  But, I decided to give it a try.  I emptied my bottles and went to work.

My Windex was gone and I needed something new in it anyway. :) 
I followed the directions to a tee.  For window cleaner, add 2 drops of Basic H to 16 oz of water.  2 Drops?!  That can't be right.  Then, 1/4 tsp of Basic H to 16 oz of water for general cleaner.  And off we went.

I started with the windows.  Between the 5 year old and the dog, they can get quite ugly.  Here is the one in the living room:

It's very hard for me to take pictures of windows or mirrors, but I think you can see all the smudges on there.  I sprayed it with the Basic H window cleaner concoction and wiped.

And again side by side:

I thought I would try my shower next.  We have been renting this house for over a year, and there are places that I'm positive the previous tenants/owners never touched with a cleaning rag.  The shower in our bathroom is one of those places.  I have tried everything.  Fumigated myself right out of the bathroom on several occasions. 

See?  Gross!  I like to pride myself in having a semi-clean house, and this does not make me proud.  I sprayed the door down with the Basic H general cleaner concoction and wiped.

Um, really?  That was all it took to get years of yucky scum off my shower door?  I'm impressed. Again, before and after side-by-side:

The only thing I didn't like about this cleaner was there is no fragrance whatsoever.  But, that may be a small sacrifice for an organic cleaner that actually works! 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a sample/thank you gift from a Shaklee Distributor and the opportunity to review it.   All opinions expressed are solely mine. 

The Perfect Brownie Pan

I love brownies. They are my favorite chocolate snack. I especially love the edges. Yum.. just a little bit of crunchy with a soft inside. Oh I'm drooling.
This weekend, the hubby bought The Perfect Brownie Pan. Well worth the investment. It comes with an 11X7 pan, dividers, insert for perfect serving and stencils.
I used a brownie mix. Duncan Hines to be exact.(I'm more partial to Betty Crocker..you know the one that comes with Hershey's chocolate syrup) But these we good too.
The only thing that is misleading: the ads all say non-stick pan, but you still have to spray the pan and dividers with cooking spray. Not a big deal since you would do this anyway.
The Perfect Brownie Pan..well worth the $19.99.

Lessen the Chemicals?

I really have been trying to be better about the environment. I have my re-usable grocery bags, that my husband rolls his eyes everytime I take them, and I swear, has a silent pep-rally when I forget them. I do like to have a couple of the plastic bags around. They are very useful when cleaning the kitty litter, and they make a cheap alternative to buying trash bags for the bathrooms.

Just recently, we purchased a Shark© Navigator vacuum cleaner. I love it! But, more importantly, it came with a free steam mop.

It has been a God-send. I don't use anything else. No more Swiffer pads to buy, no more Swiffer spray to buy. No more dirty mop water. No more chemicals on my floors. I spritz some room spray on the pad and it combines with the steam, and fills the air with a wonderful scent. Then, when I'm done with the pads, pop them into the washer. Love it!

My mom bought me some dryer balls. They eliminate static clean, soften your fabric and lessen your dry time. How awesome!

They make the dryer a little louder than usual, but have you heard of some of the chemicals they use in Bounce© pads? yuck.

So, there is my little part for the environment