Get rid of dishwasher gunk

My dishwasher is about 25 years old.  Astonishingly, it still cleans the dishes, but there is a film on everything, even with the little plastic cage of Jet Dry hanging on the top rack.

I thought maybe it was from candle wax.  I make my own candles with palm wax.  Palm wax very easily cleans up with warm water and soap, but sometimes I get lazy and just toss the empty candle jars in the dishwasher.

Or, it could be from those rectangular pre-formed frozen hash browns, like the ones McDonald’s makes.  My grandson likes them.  I bake them on a glass pie plate.  They’re soooo nasty greasy.  Before I serve them I stick them between paper towels and press down with a spatula to coax the grease out.

But here’s the really interesting part.  The pie plate I bake them in refuses to come clean in the dishwasher.  There’s something odd about that fat. (oops, almost said fart)  It won’t melt in that hot soapy dishwasher.  Not off the glass pie plate, not off the spatula, and not off the plate they were served on.  It’s like solidified coconut oil in suntan oil, but it checked the label and there’s no coconut oil. 

Point being, I think the inside of the dishwasher must be coated with it and that’s what the hazy residue is on my dishes.

Oh, and I stopped feeding him those hashbrowns.  Can you imagine?  If a hot, hot soapy dishwasher can’t get them clean, then neither can a 98.5 degree body.  It’s coating his little 6-year old veins and artieries.

I only recently started making homemade lye soap and thought maybe I could find a recipe for homemade dishwasher soap.  Most everything I’m finding says to mix borax with baking soda, but then one eco-friendly person chimed in and said borax may clean, but it’s not biodegradable.

Another person said to not fill both compartments with dishwasher soap.  He said you don’t need that much soap.  It’s sorta like the oil changing shops telling you to change the oil in your vehicle every 3,000 miles, whereas the manufacturer says 5,000.  Or the latest scam I’m seeing on TV for a razor.  When the colored stripped turns white, it’s time for a new razor.  Yea, right.  I’ve got two long legs and I can use a razor for weeks and weeks.  People, don’t buy into that marketing bullshit.

Anyhoo, the guy that suggested using one compartment of dishwasher soap said to fill the other closed compartment with vinegar and your dishes – glass, plastic, and all – will come out sparkling clean.  I was worried the vinegar would just run out of the compartment, but it didn’t.  The little door on it has a silicone weather stripping-type of seal.  So the last time I did a load I took his advice. 

OMG!  I haven’t seen the dishes that clean in ages.  The film was completely gone.  I’ll start doing it for now on.  Vinegar is cheap.  I can get a whole gallon of it for pennies.  Plus, I’ll spend 50% less on expensive dishwasher soap.

UPDATE:  Don’t use vinegar if washing copper or aluminum.  They will react with the vinegar.  Watch those copper bottom pots, too.

What’s your take on aluminum water bottles?

Those aluminum water bottles have spread like wildfire.  At first they were just on TV, then the high-end stores and now I’m seeing them in Walmart and grocery stores.  Some of the bottles are relatively inexpensive while others are way over-priced.  Shop around. 

Aluminum is aluminum, but not all of them are the same.  Pay attention to how wide the mouth is.  Some of them are very narrow so you won’t be able to stick ice cubes into them.

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle

• They can be made out of recycled aluminum.
• They, themselves, can be recycled.
• They can be reused.

It’s that last one, reused, that gives me the heebee jeebees.  You see…well, actually, that’s the problem…you can see into them and that creates a sanitation problem.

In an ideal world you would wash them after each use, but you know that doesn’t happen.  Just from looking at my own habits of reusing plastic water bottles, when I empty one I just refill it and throw it back into the fridge or put it back on the night stand. 

People do more than put water into them like juices, then just rinse them out and use them again.  After awhile mold begins to form inside.  They need to be washed with hot water, soap, and a bottle brush just like a baby bottle.  Even so, you still can see into them to make sure you got it all. 

I think it’s kind of creepy.  It’s like eating chicken thighs in the dark.  You can’t find and pick out all those snappy veins and that’s just gross.

Just the other day I cleaned out the fridge, something that happens only once every 6 years or so.  Ok, I lied.  I only cleaned off one shelf.  I had a pitcher of herbal tea I had made over a month ago and never finished.  No sugar or anything in it, just water and brewed tea.  When I poured it out it had mold in it.  I could see it and I could wash it out, but you can’t see what’s inside those metal bottles.

You fill up a bottle with water, go do your thing, come home and throw it back into the fridge.  Then say you don’t use it again for several weeks.  Is there mold inside by the time you do use it? 

Aluminum water bottles are a great idea, but you have to use them with some common sense.  Yes, I’m lazy about certain things and I’m not the only one.

I think we’re going to have a new bacteria on our hands and I’ve got dibbs on naming it…A1W1B1.

Have you seen those money cards?  They’re business cards that look like real money.  I get business offers in the mail all the time.  One of them was a windowed envelope with a $100 bill peaking through the window.  Man, that’ll get your heart pounding.  From a direct mail marketing prespective, it’s the perfect way to guarantee your offer will be opened.

You can see the money business cards here.

Green Web Hosting?

With Earth Day in just a few days, I thought this would make a timely topic.  I found Super Green Hosting a couple of weeks ago.  I’m not in the market for web hosting myself at the moment cause I’m pretty much set with what I have, but I wanted to pass this on because it was such a good deal. 

Green web hosting is usually expensive.  I’ve seen green hosting plans as high as $17.95/month, but Super Green is super cheap at only $3.95/month.  WOW!  I figured they’d have wimpy accounts like maybe a few megabytes, but that isn’t the case.  They have full blown unlimited hosting.  Not only that, they have cPanel control panel, the best and easiest to use in the industry.

Any Scent-Sations distributors out there?  I hear that they started a new mineral makeup product line.  Supposed to be reasonably priced.  Can’t wait to try it.  I use Bare Minerals, but that stuff clogs my pores so badly that I only use it on special occasions and then suffer with acne for days.  I’ve had good luck with Avon’s mineral makeup.  I hope the Bella Beauty stuff will be good.  Bare Minerals and Avon is pretty pricey.

I came across a site giving away free WordPress themes for Bella Beauty distributors.  I don’t know how some of those designers can give away such gorgeous themes for free.  They must take hours to make.  Anyhoo, thought I’d pass it on.

This is my own concoction.  Total comfort food.  If it’s in the fridge, I will eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I made this yesterday and had it for lunch and dinner.  Today I had it for breakfast and lunch.  I have one serving left and will eat it for dinner.  It’s mana from heaven.

1 pack Johnsonville Brats
1 16 oz can or jar of sauerkraut
1 medium onion, cut in 1/2, then into 1/4″ slices
5 medium potatoes, cut into stew-sized chunks
1/2 c pearl barley (adds crunchy texture and fiber)
1-1/2 c water or low sodium chicken broth.  This is approximate, you may need more.
1/2 t caraway seed, optional
1-2 whole allspice, optional
non-stick spray cooking oil
1 T olive oil

I make this on the stove in a 12″ stainless steel deep frying pan with glass lid. 

• Spray the pan with the non-stick spray and pour  in the olive oil.
• Brown the brats on one side then turn.
• Add onion slices at this time and continuing browning brats.
• Evenly spread kraut over brats.
• Add 1/2 the water.  I used some broth only because I had a 1/2 can left over, but water is fine.
• Sprinkle in the barley kernels and make sure they are pushed into the pan juices and kraut.
• Add the optional caraway and allspice.  I don’t always use either, but it’s a German thing if you like it.
• Turn down the heat to a slow simmer and cover the pan.
• Keep an eye on the pan juices because the barley will absorb a lot of juice.  Add more broth or water if needed.  You don’t want it to dry out because it will act as “gravy” for the potatoes.
• Simmer for 30-45 minutes.  Keep checking water.
• Then add the potatoes and more broth or water.  Cook until potatoes are tender.

That’s it.  Then spoon onto a plate or large pasta-type bowl.  Smash the potatoes so they soak up all the extra juicy goodness.  Put on lederhosen, German army helmets and chow down just like you would eat beef stew.  Serve with dark rye bread if you have it.

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I love software.  I’m a software whore.  Sure, a huuumon wrote it, but I love how computers can be made to track and sort and rollover…even play dead, but hey, that’s a Window story I’ll save for another day.  I’m an ex-programmer so I can appreciate quality work.

I never knew software existed for tracking nutrition and exercise.  Picture this, it’s a new year and out come the resolutions.  The most popular one on the list is probably to lose weight.  Imagine if you could enter your physical stats into the computer and then tell the program that in x number of months you want a body like Cindy Crawford.  You push the button and out comes a detailed analysis of what it’s going to take to get there.  That’s pretty amazing in itself, but wait, there’s more…

Now image you got together with your girlfriends on a Friday night for some serious beer pounding and pizza.  Hey, it could happen, right?  How is that going to effect your master weight loss plan?  Hmmm, let’s see.  Fire up the magic software and just pretend it’s your priest.  In other words, it’s confession time.  “Bless me Father for I have sinned.  I drank 5 bottles of Bud and ate 4 slices of a combination pizza.”

The priest gives you the damage, “For your penance up your walking schedule by 10 mintues for the next 5 days and eat 100 less calories each day for the next 10 days.”  Ok, I’m just “saying”, but wouldn’t that be cool?  To know what it would take to get back on track?

Or what if you did follow the workout and diet plan the computer gave you, but you plateaued and you’ve stopped losing weight?  What if the computer could tell you how to get your mojo back?  That is, what if it actually told you what you need to adjust and how to do it?  Wow!  That’d be like having your own private nutritionist and trainer.

And what if the computer could also tell you if you’re lifestyle is at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart diesease, cancer and more?

And what if your computer could help you with bodybuilding, cooking and recipes, nutrition and a whole lot more?

And what if you have your eye on some “diet cherry cheesecake”, but have no idea how it’s going to affect your diet plan?  What if you could take the nutritional information on the back of the pie box and enter it into the computer to find out?  WOW!

Like I said, I’m an ex-computer programmer so my jaw was dropping to find out that there really is weight loss and nutrition tracking software.  It’s called Diet Power.  You’ve got to see it.  I’m going to download myself and check it out.

Diet Power says it’s the only diet software that guarantees success by tracking your metabolism.

Soon after Thanksgiving, holiday Christmas parties and decorating starts and nothing fills the air with intoxicating fragrance like scented candles. 

Before you rush Thanksgiving out the door, here’s a quick and easy holiday scented candle project you can make.

Make This Scented Candle Project

Materials:

• 1 long rectangular tray.  (wood, metal, glass, ceramic)
• Assorted color coordinated votives. 
• Snug fitting glass votive holders if you plan on burning the candles.
• Assorted “stuff” for decorating around the tray.  Dried leaves, cinnamon sticks, beads, flat river stones, glass baubles, pine cones, Christmas ornaments, acorns, trinkets, broken jewelry, fancy buttons, fake jewels and crystals, etc. 

Instructions:

Place the candles in votive holders if you plan on lighting them. Line them up on the tray and decorated with your stuff. That’s as McGyver as it gets!

This quick an easy project is very addictive. Soon you’ll be scouting store shelves and thrift stores for fun trays and even plates. Switch out the colored candles and the stuff to make holiday themes. It’s a great little project for the kids, too. Give them a bag or box so each child can collect their own stuff.

Shop for Mia Bella™ Scented Candles to make this easy project.

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