Oops! I’m sorry when I first posted this some how the first 2 paragraphs were deleted. Here’s the whole story!

For a long time mom and I have seen this stuff called TIPS on QVC. It’s a nail oil that is supposed to make your nails really strong. The lady is always demonstrating how she can chip wood off with her fingernails and how she can bend them straight down and they don’t break.

It’s always sold out and has great reviews! We have both had problems with our fingernails breaking and we were really curious if it would help.

Well, mom and I wanted to try it so I got some for her for her birthday last week.

We get the stuff and it’s two tiny bottles and a file for $30. There’s maybe 2 teaspoons of oil in there.

The first time I go to use it, I see the ingredients on the back. The first one is soybean oil, the 2nd is fragrance and 3-5 was some weird long names and then it said “other ingredients”. I knew that they have to post the order of the ingredients by the amount that is in there.

I knew what soybean oil and fragrance were so I looked up the long names and they are just preservatives!! Augh! I paid $30 for 4 tsp. of soybean oil which I can get at Aldis for .79 for 64 oz. (aka Vegetable oil)

We figured out that it’s the fact that she just keeps her nails moisturized so they don’t break as much. I will get an old nail polish bottle, clean it out and put some oil in there and do that instead and see if it works.

Oh well live and learn.

Tawra (hanging her head in shame.

Homemade Wipes
from Dining On A Dime and Not Just Beans
http://www.livingonadime.com/ordering.htm

To make cleaning wipes. Follow the Baby Wipe directions to prep the
paper towels then just use either solution below. You can also fold
some paper towels and put them in a baby wipe container. I use the
window cleaner for wiping down my bathroom sometimes too. Tawra

Baby Wipes

1 ½ cups boiling water*
1 Tbsp. baby oil
2 Tbsp. baby bath or shampoo
1 roll paper towels

Mix the water, baby bath and baby oil in an empty round baby wipe
container. Cut the paper towels in ½ using an electric knife.
Remove
core from the center. Place paper towels in wipe container. Let the
paper towels soak up the water solution. Turn every few minutes to
allow the solution to reach the middle of the paper towels. If there
is still a dry spot in the middle, add a little more water and turn
until soaked through. Pull the wipes from the middle of the roll
through the top of the wipe container.

* Keeps bacteria from growing.
* An even cheaper baby wipe is to use wash cloths and wash with your
cloth diapers.

Window Cleaner

½ cup ammonia
water
2 cups rubbing alcohol
1 tsp. dishwashing liquid

In a gallon container, mix together ammonia and rubbing alcohol.
Fill almost to the top with water. Add dishwashing liquid and mix.
Top off with water. Rated to work better (and much cheaper!) than
most commercial window and kitchen sprays by Consumer Reports
magazine. Alcohol is the secret ingredient-it’s what commercial
window washers use.
*Safe on most, but not all, household surfaces. NEVER mix ammonia
and bleach.

All Purpose Cleaner

1 gal. water
½ cup vinegar
1 cup ammonia
½ cup baking soda

Put in a spray bottle to clean showers, toilets, sinks and counters.
Great for most cleaning needs.
*NEVER mix ammonia and bleach.

I hate bending down. I hurt my back a while ago and even though it doesn’t hurt now, I still favor it.

Because I hate bending down, I hate doing things like clean the bathroom because I have to bend down and get the cleaner from under the sink.

I hate to get a fresh washrag for the bathroom because I have to step 6 steps into the hallway to get them! LOL (that’s what happens when you have CFS, 6 steps feels like 6 miles)

I decided to start making things easy. I put a baby wipe container of homemade cleaning wipes on the counter so all I have to do is wipe the bathroom down everyday or so and do a deep cleaning once a week. I will decorate the container later so it won’t look tacky.

I put a basket on the back of the toilet to store my washrags and towels.

The point is, make things so they will work for you. If you need to put the cleaner in the medicine cabinet above the sink to get you to use it then do it! No one will see it there anyway.

Tawra

I had to break down and buy a toothbrush. I have a ton of free ones from rebates, so many that I finally started giving them away. David has decided that he loves toothbrushes and keeps getting a hold of everyone’s and chewing them to death. He just destoyed mine. Well, I ran out so I had to break down and buy one. It seems funny because I haven’t bought a toothbrush in probably 4 years!
It’s the small things.Hehehe

Tawra

Today I went to a garage sale that had a bunch of auto cleaning supplies and rags. They were all brand new.

I got several boxes of extra thick paper towels (they call them disposable rags) that I’m going to make into my own wipes and use as disposable bibs for David.

They also had some brand new white 24′x24″ cotton cloth “rags”. These were just like the flour sack dishclothes I use. I couldn’t remember how much they were new so I only got 30 for $5. I called mom and she said they are normally $1.50 now at Wal-mart. She said she can find them on sale sometimes for $1.

I went back and got the rest 78 all together. We are going to split them. I will have flour sack towels until I’m dead but they sure will come in handy! Mine are getting all full of holes so this couldn’t have come at a better time.

If you a needing some towels check the auto department and see if they are cheaper than in the kitchen dept.

Tawra

I have several ask me to them know when I made a decision and purchased a lightweight vacuum for my kitchen.

I ended up purchasing an Electrolux Pronto. It was more than I was planning on spending, $100, but it comes with an attached hand vacuum that I can use for the stairs and the car. It only weighs about 7 or 8 pounds and is bagless.

I am forever trying to vacuum the stairs with the big vacuum, trying to vacuum with my right hand, keep the vacuum up from falling down the stairs with my head and helping Baby Dave so he doesn’t fall down the stairs with my left hand because I can’t close the baby gate and he insists on following me down! I think the hand vac will come in very handy!

When you can’t get something with the regular part, like a corner, you can take off the hand vac and use that. I know a woman must have designed this because it is the easiest vacuum I have ever used! It’s easy to move around, easy to empty the stuff out and easy to put on the charger!

It is battery powered so I don’t have to bend down, one more time, to plug it in.

It worked really well on the hardwood floor and for hair on the bathroom floor. It also works well on my carpets but it doesn’t work as well on my rug that has a raised pattern. If I go over it twice it gets it all but just not as well.

We have had it 5 days and so far I love it! I saw it featured on HGTV and when I called Lowe’s they said if I hated it I could bring it back in 7 days with a receipt.

Anyway, I found a vacuum, finally!

Tawra

Here’s some leftover ideas from Not Just Beans and Dining On A Dime.

Tawra
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/

Leftovers?

~Spicy Hash- Dice leftover roast beef, roasted potatoes, carrots and onions. Add bread crumbs until the consistency is such that you can shape into cakes. Cook over medium heat in a greased skillet until pancakes are light brown and heated through.

~Fried Meatloaf- Saute 1 large sliced onion in a frying pan. Add one 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, along with leftover meatloaf cut into bite-size pieces, plus a can of peas. Heat through.

~Grind leftover roast beef, stew meat, etc. in your food processor. Add to scrambled eggs along with cubed leftover potatoes for an easy and hearty breakfast.

~Use leftover pork and beans to make an open-faced sandwich. Put the bean mixture on hamburger bun halves or bread, top each with a slice of American cheese and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

~Freeze leftover mashed potatoes in small portions in freezer containers or freezer bags. Use to thicken soups and stews in place of flour.

~Sundae Pie- Crumble leftover cookies, angel food cake, pound cake or brownies in a pie pan. Spoon vanilla ice cream on top. Spread on a thin layer of strawberry jam and cover that with chocolate and butterscotch ice cream topping. Freeze and serve for dessert.

Since we are in the process of loosing weight I thought I would share some subsitutuions from Nt Just Beans and Dining On A Dime.

http://www.LivingOnADime.com/

Healthy Substitutions for Recipes

Instead Of Use
Bacon……………………………………………………Smoke flavoring, ham,
Canadian bacon or bacon bits
Bread crumbs…………………………………………French bread,
dried and crushed
Butter, margarine or
shortening in baking………………………Applesauce
Cream cheese………………………………………….Neufchatel or
low fat cream cheese
Canned Condensed Soup………………………….White sauce made
with skim milk
Cream of Chicken Soup……………………………13 cups white sauce +
1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
Cream of Mushroom Soup………………………..1 cup white sauce +
1 can drained mushrooms
Egg (one)……………………………………………….2 egg whites
Ground beef…………………………………………..Ground turkey
Heavy cream, for whipping………………………Evaporated milk,
freeze 30 mins., add
2 tsp. vanilla, whip
Heavy cream, in sauces and soups……………..Evaporated milk
Ricotta cheese…………………………………………low-fat cottage cheese,
pureed
Sour cream…………………………………………….Yogurt
Whole milk…………………………………………….Skim milk
White flour……………………………………………..2 white and 2 wheat
White flour, for thickening………………………..2 Tbsp. cornstarch
White rice……………………………………………….Brown rice

~Cook chicken breasts with skin and remove skin just before eating. This helps the chicken stay juicy.

~Steam vegetables instead of sauteing.

~Low fat gravy: let meat broth stand in refrigerator overnight or put ice cubes in broth to collect fat. Skim off fat. Use 1 Tbsp. cornstarch to thicken 1 cup.

We got back on Sunday the 19th. ( I needed several days to recover from the vacation.:-) We went to Colorado. We stayed with my grandparents in a Boulder suburb.

The weather was wonderful! I got a bad cold and allergies so I was pretty much out of it the entire time. I am very thankful that I had 4 other people taking care of the kids.

We went to Estes Park 3 days and Mike and I got to go once buy ourselves.

I have decided that the next “vacation” I want to go somewhere with a pool and a playground and just sit all day. I still have yet to see the fun in driving all over creation with kids in the car but that’s me.

It was really hard to come back especially since it’s hot and humid again. We really haven’t been able to go outside since we’ve been home.

When we got home a lot of my plants had died. We had horrible storms while we were gone and it just destroyed them. $30 down the toilet! I think I am just going to get some fake ones and at least put them by the front door and in my window box by the kitchen window. There are days when I wonder why I even try. Being worn out and tired all the time to put work into stuff like that even though I love it and then to have it die is very discouraging!

We would still love to move back to Colorado but the housing is high and I think it’s just not the right time for us.

We spent about $200-$300 total, I think. We haven’t checked the credit card yet. Mostly it was on food and gas. We ate out a lot when we were in Estes and Longmont has a really good Mexican food place that is cheap but we ate there 3 times.

Anyway, I’m home and should be adding more as I can.

Tawra

We are going on vacation on Monday the 13th.

We are going to Colorado. We don’t have the $ for a vacation with renting a hotel, eating out etc. so we are staying with my grandparents. There are times it’s not really a vacation staying with family but I think with kids you don’t ever get a vacation unless you can go by yourself!! I’ve never been able to figure out what the big deal is about “family” vacations. To me it just seems like a lot of work!

Anyway, I won’t be around next week but will post when I get back.

Tawra(who may just stay and not come back!