15 Great Uses for Baking Soda

By Sinea Pies

Baking soda is an essential and inexpensive household item that is useful in so many ways.

First and foremost, it is used for the obvious: BAKING!

Not to be confused with baking powder, baking soda is 100% sodium bicarbonate.

Baking powder has baking soda in it, along with some cream of tartar.  

Baking soda and baking powder are both used to make baked goods rise by producing carbon dioxide as the batter cooks.

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In addition to an essential ingredient for baking, baking soda is a great deodorizer, polisher, cleanser and even itch-remover!  

Here are 15 GREAT USES for BAKING SODA!

1. Baking: As we said, baking soda is a key ingredient in most baked goods, including one of Martha Stewart's favorite dessert: CUPCAKES (check out these 31 photos of yummy specialty cupcakes)!!!  Click for Martha's Cupcake Cookbook here.

2. Toothpaste: You can buy toothpaste that contains the ingredient or make your own. Just put a little baking soda in a dish with some salt. Wet your brush, dip it in caking it up on the brush, and gently brush your teeth. They'll gleam! 

3. Eliminate Refrigerator Smells: Open a box and put it in the frig. Mark the date on the box first and recycle every 30 days for freshness.

4. Carpet deodorizer: Sprinkle some baking soda on the carpet, leave for 15 minutes and then vacuum.

5. Exfoliate: Make a paste of baking soda and water, gently scrub your face and body for a natural, safe clean. Rinse off with water. 

6.Cleaning Baby Toys: dilute 4 T. baking soda in 1 quart warm water. Use the solution to wash the toys, then rinse and wipe clean.

7. Drain Opener: pour some dry baking soda down a slow running drain. Add vinegar and listen to it fizz! Wait 10 minutes. Follow it with a quart of very hot water. Voila! Free flowing drain.

8. Insect Bites: apply a paste of baking soda and water to stop the itch.

9. Science Projects: remember the famous science fair project, the Erupting Volcano? Baking soda and vinegar are what makes it work!

10. Hair Clarifier: use a lot of gels, mousse and other sticky hair products?  Remove that build-up once a week by adding a tiny pinch of baking soda to your shampoo.  Lather up and rinse.

11. Antacid: remember the old movies where they ordered a bicarb for a sour stomach? They were asking for baking soda.  It still works today! Check the directions on the package before using.

12. Fight Fires: Keep a box of baking soda near the stove in case of a grease fire. Quickly toss some baking soda on the fire and extinguish it instantly.

Mr.Coffee Coffee Maker

13. Clean Your Coffee Maker: Make a solution of 1/4 cup of baking soda and a quart of warm water to clean your coffee maker, coffee mugs and pot.     Your coffee will taste great!

14. Remove Grease Stains from Clothes: make a paste of baking soda and water. Apply it to the stains. Add a little baking soda to the wash load, as well.

15. Freshen Your Sponges:  Sponges smelling a little raunchy? Don't give them up just yet.  Make a strong solution of baking soda and warm water and let them soak.

Arm and Hammer is the brand name that comes to mind when we think of baking soda.  Their website is full of great baking soda ideas as well as a list of their cleaning and deodorizing products.  If you have pets, you've got to try their pet odor eliminator carpet powder.  It removes the smell and helps to get up the pet hair better than ever!

Bonus: How about taking care of Smelly Sneakers? Does a great job. :)

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My Dog Needs a Dog

By Sinea Pies 

Our nest "emptied" a couple of weeks ago when our youngest son moved out on his own. With him went his dog, Troy. Troy and our dog, Lexi, have been constant companions for years and it's way too quiet around here with both boy and dog gone. 
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We don't want to overreact to change but I really do think we need another dog for all of us, especially Lexi. She spends most of her time sleeping, these days, instead of happily barking out the window with Troy. (Troy likes to let everyone know their boundaries!) 

Yellow Lab

But what kind of dog should we get? We've had three wonderful Yellow Labs--Blondie, Lexi and Troy--and another lab named Cooper used to come over to visit often. I'm thinking another lab would be right since we know and love their personalities. But there are so many other kinds to consider.  

A Welsh Corgi?  The Queen has Corgis. (They are so cute -- they are herding dogs and will try to herd anything. Ducky's mom on NCIS also had Corgis, too...lots of them.) 

Welsh Corgi

Queen Elizabeth LOVES Corgis

Bulldogs are also cute but very expensive. A dog expert friend of mine, Amy, says that the one we'll want will go for over $4000.00. I love dogs but no way am I spending that much to get one. 

English Bull Dog

One thing we've realized that we cannot do is have a puppy. We had one visit for a couple of days recently and it was way too much to keep up with him. Murphy is as a button but, sorry, we'll let the kids raise the puppies and stick with grown up dogs! Gotta say, though, lab puppies are the cutest!

What do you think? Should we get Lexi a dog?  What would you recommend?

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Photo credits: freedigitalphotos.net

Final Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Just one more Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and then we're taking some time off from the hop for the summer ... but keep an eye out. 
If you love to check out other blogs or share your favorite links, we will introduce some impromptu link parties over the summer.


This summer? Ducks 'n a Row will be posting great new content every week designed to help us all get our Ducks in a Row!

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread

10 Organizing Tips You Can Do Today!

                                                                  

Photo By Zsuzsanna Kilian

Overwhelmed? Ready to toss some stuff and get control? These TEN SIMPLE TIPS are a good place to start! 


Guestpost by Melanie Berg

Getting organized doesn't have to be an all or nothing endeavor. It's OK to start small! When you find something that works for you, keep doing it. Getting organized takes practice, just as all new habits take some time to form.

Here are ten simple organizing tips that you can start doing today. 
Pick a couple that you might like to try and see how it goes. As you begin to implement one or two ways to be more organized, you will begin to change your habits and notice the benefits. Then, you can add more.

Grandma's Toy Cupboard

By Sinea Pies

Last weekend I had the fun of babysitting for my grand-nephews, Joseph and Eli. We were all at my sister-in-law Sue's house. She's the grandma.  Along with our dear friend, Carol, we had a great time holding little Eli (6 months) and following Joseph around, a very active toddler. 

"Active" is an understatement. Getting places fast, and investigating everything, is his mission in life. You should see the look on his face. He is determined!

Joseph! Isn't he the cutest?

Elijah will have his day! Not quite mobile, yet! Love the hair?

Sue has wisely limited baby-access to a corner cupboard in her kitchen. I call it "The Grandma Cupboard". Stocked with colorful toddler-friendly toys, this is one place he can explore freely without mishap. (Even so, gotta watch for little fingers with cupboard doors.) Doesn't this look inviting?

Grandma's Toy Cupboard

Do you have creative ideas on how to keep toddlers safely busy? 
Playpen? Play yard?

How about toy storage. What do you use?

Toy boxes? Toy shelves? Toy organizers? Baskets?

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Previously on Ducks 'n a Row (and other places)...

• Ice Cream Cakes
• Top 5 Organizing Tips to Get Your Life On Track
• Getting Children Organized
• Organize and Lose Weight

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Blog Hops are not just for bloggers. Really. They're for all of us to have fun discovering new sites about the things we most enjoy. 

• Do you love recipes? Check out some blogs. 
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• Great photos, travel tales, puppies, kids, how-to's, fashion. You name it, the blogs have it!  

Watch the posts as they develop in the links below and visit the ones that strike your fancy. Find a treasure and be sure to LIKE them on Facebook, subscribe, follow ... do what you can to keep in touch. By all mean, leave a nice compliment in the comments.

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Summer Foods: Shish Kabob

By Sinea Pies

As summer arrives, it's time to enjoy some seasonal dishes. Our grills come out of hiding, fresh garden veggies are prevalent and we make one of my favorites: Shish Kabob. A very healthy selection and oh so good. Shish kabob with steak, chicken, bacon, shrimp or just-veggies makes a perfect main dish or even a great side.

Chicken Shish Kabob 

Ingredients

Boneless chicken, cut into 1 inch squares, marinated

Pineapple chunks -- 1/2 - 1 can

Cherry tomatoes

Green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces

Fresh whole mushrooms, washed

White onion, cut into large pieces

Marinade (Italian salad dressing or Teriyaki sauce work well)

Directions

Marinate chicken for 1 hour then preheat your grill. While the grill is heating, alternate ingredients, slipping them onto skewers.  Lay your kabobs on the hot grill, turning occasionally, until chicken is just done.  

Serve on rice with soy sauce or on sub rolls.

Sides: Tossed salad, macaroni salad, couscous, salt potatoes & corn or potato salad

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Previously on Ducks 'n a Row...
Think Like a Caterer

Save Money - Grow It Yourself

Family Photos - What To Do With Them

Home Office - What Does Yours Look Like?

Photo credit: Shish Kabobs by RobDurdle on flickr.com

Top Five Organizing Tips to Get Your Life Back on Track

By Sinea Pies

When is the right time to start again? Anytime!  Simply stop, assess life and correct your course a little bit. We all get so busy that the little things can get away from us. Whether it is time invested in relationships or establishing order in your life, runaway details can be recaptured and tamed. 

Being organized does not have to be a fulltime job.  It is a way of life. It should not dominate your living.  It should facilitate better living: freedom! Doing the simple things every day can be the door to breakthrough on the big stuff.  So, let’s start with five, just five, organizing tips that can be the beginning of an organized life!

1. Shine Your Sink

This one has baffled many the reader but, I assure you, it is true.  A shiny, clean sink can lead to great and wonderful things in the kitchen.  Where, besides the bedroom, do we spend more time? In fact, when we are at home, where do we spending more WAKING time?  The kitchen is the hub of the home. If it is a mess on a daily basis, you’re always cleaning to find space to cook, only to mess it up again with the cooking and eating.  The sink is always full!  It’s time to break the pattern.

Here’s how:

Remove all of the dirty dishes from the sink.  Don’t wash them, just get them out. Wash the sink real good.  If you have a white ceramic sink, use Ajax or Comet to bleach it clean.  For stainless steel, use a soft cloth or sponge and a gentle cleaner. White vinegar works well on grease.

When you are done, spray it with Windex or Glass Plus and wipe it, then dry it,  till it gleams!  Now, I dare anyone to put a dirty dish in that!  Now, what about the dishes?  Rinse them off, load the dishwasher and run it.  Then, spray, shine and dry the sink again. Feel the difference?  Soon as you can, get the clean dishes into the cupboards. Ask the family to start rinsing and inserting newly dirtied dishes into the empty dishwasher, instead of using the sink.

For more thorough sink cleaning instructions, please go to the website of my friend, Marla Cilley, otherwise known as The FlyLady.  She is an amazing woman.  Her tutorial Shiny Sink 101 is classic!  

2. Use a Timer

Perfectionists often get lost in their own desire to get everything done and stay organized. Most of us who struggle with clutter are actually perfectionists, deep down inside. 

See if this sounds familiar:  In the midst of clearing a pile of stuff, we come across something, some old family pictures, for instance.  Realizing that they never were put in the photo album like they should, you get it out to slip them in.  But they have to be in chronological order, right?  Now, you start rearranging them to make it right.  Hours go by.  The stuff you were putting away is still there, it’s almost dinner time and the album isn’t even done. Sound familiar? 

A timer will solve all that.  Set it for the amount of time that you want to invest in a project.  When it rings, you’re done!  If something has to be put away before you can leave the vicinity, reset your timer for 5 more minutes.

Buy a timer for home and one for the office.  Just explain to coworkers what you are trying to do so that they aren’t startled when it goes off.  Your timer is about to become your very best friend!

3. Make a List

We are used to making lists for many things.  Grocery lists, Christmas shopping lists, wish lists. But do you have a daily habit of working with a To Do List?  If not, time to start.  Your list is the compass that will guide you through your day.  Write down the most important things that have to get done. Most urgent first, next in importance second, etc. What doesn’t get done moves to tomorrow’s list.  Keep a list at home and a different To Do List at the office.  Whether it is done on paper or electronically, make sure that it is easily in view.

4. Put Things Away

Remember how your mom or Kindergarten teacher told you to put your things away?  Did you do it?  Many of us did, but not very well. Bad habits can follow us throughout our lives.  Highly scheduled people are often the greatest offenders when it comes to leaving their stuff lying around. “I’ll get it later.”   Sometimes “later” never comes.

Don't leave stuff lying around.

Start a new habit of being on the alert.  When you enter or leave, visually sweep the room. What’s in there that doesn’t belong? If any of it should go to the room where you’re headed, it is a natural to pick it up and take it with you.  If there are several things to put away, use a tray, laundry basket or grocery bag.  Take five minutes to clear things up.  Doing this regularly keep things in order.

5. Look Out, It’s a Trap!  Just say “no”.

This is the big one: over-scheduling. Overtime at the office, community involvement, church activities, home improvement projects.  The list goes on. It’s all good but you can’t be everything to everybody.  

If you are prone to over-involvement, then what is suffering?  Find a healthy balance.  Everyone needs sleep, exercise, relaxation and “down time”.  Schedule it in.  Count family-time as a high priority. At the end of their lives, many influential people have said that, if they could do it again, they’d spend more time with their families.  Wise advice for us all: start saying “no” to some good things to make room for the best things!

Fresh from Sinea's Desk...

• Cart it, Don't Carry It
• Five Minutes to a Clutter Free Home
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When Life Gives You Aphids, Make Candle Holders!

by Michelle Burns of My Life in Podunk

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First, thanks so much to Sinea for letting me guest post today!  I am extremely excited to be here and sharing just a bit of my crazy world with you from mylifeinpodunk.blogspot.com!

This post was originally going to be about my tomatoes.   I am growing container tomatoes for the first time this year, and they are coming along great, but they have recently developed a bad case of aphids.  I decided to research on the internet all of the various natural ways of getting rid of them, and report on what worked and what didn’t work.  I can report to you that NOTHING WORKED!  I don’t think that my failure is exactly blog worthy…funny, but not an entire blog.
 

For anyone who is a gardener (that would not be me) you might be able to get these things to work, but all I accomplished with – drowned them with water (check, didn’t work) spray them with water and soap mixture (check, didn’t work) smush them with your fingers (check, worked, but I have just too many leaves and aphids for this to be practical) sprinkle them liberally with garlic powder (check, didn’t work, but I may have garlic flavored tomatoes) spray them with a mixture of water and garlic infused oil (check, didn’t work) double the amount of oil in the water and oil mixture (check, didn’t work) and finally, spray with a mixture of water, double strength garlic infused oil and soap (check, didn’t work) – all I accomplished was a bumper crop of aphids!  What finally did work with the stuff labeled to kill aphids at Lowes.  I’m such a lousy gardener! 

So, in place of my worthless gardening advice, I give you an adorable candle holder!

DD#1 is getting married in August, and her theme is "shabby chic".  Lots of burlap, lace, newspaper and jars.  She is pinning things she likes on Pinterest, and then I am trying to re-create them in a budget friendly, doesn’t look like a pre-schooler made them sort of way.  Challenging , yet fun.  She made her invitations, which turned out just amazing, but with finishing up this semester in college and a lively 8 month old running around, some of the crafting is up to me.

One thing she pinned was Mason jar candle holders.  They are all over Pinterest and the internet, but I added a twist to them, I hope you will have fun creating them too.  


To start with, I am using baby food jars (8 month old = plenty of baby food jars!).  Remove the label and get the glue/sticky stuff off.  I used fingernail polish remover.  Wash them really well and dry completely.  Then you will need: baby food jar, Armour Etch (I found mine at Hobby Lobby …if you sign up for their weekly email, it comes with a 40% off coupon!) a small paint brush or something to apply etch with and flexible vinyl.  The flexible vinyl can be the stuff they sell for a Cricut or similar machine or can be just vinyl shelf liner, either works just fine.

First, decide what design you want on the candle holder.  I’m putting the couple’s last name and a heart on mine.  Trace the design onto your vinyl and cut out.  You can use regular scissors if you don’t have a Cricut.  I am lucky, and my friend had a Cricut that she lets me use occasionally if I bring brownies!  

Center your design on your glass jar.

Then apply the Armour Etch LIBERALLY over the design (or in the design if you removed the letters and applied the background on your jar). 

 

The Armour Etch directions say to leave it on for 5 minutes.  I generally leave it on for 10 minutes, but while I was doing this little project, my mom called and talked for about 20 minutes… so the etch stayed on this jar for 20 minutes!  No harm done… I have even forgotten about it, so the stuff is pretty forgiving.

After the 10 minutes are up, rinse the etch completely off with water.  I used cold water, you might want to read the etch instructions J

Then peel off the design – depending on how careful you are, you might be able to re-use your design.  I’m not usually that careful!  Then wash the jar with warm soapy water, removing ALL the etch completely. 

Dry off the etched area, and BEHOLD, YOUR MASTERPIECE!  Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but seriously, the first time I did this I was totally amazed it worked, and looked so good. 

Then I added a little decoration to the rim with some jute twine.  You could also use some fabric scraps or ribbon.  Just make the ends short enough it doesn’t somehow come into contact with the flame… voice of experience talking here!  And finally drop in a tea candle and light it up.  

Simple, cheap, and looks great.  Only 99 more left to make!!

Hope you enjoy this crafty idea.  For more craft idea, cooking, and some of the crazy things that happen in Podunk, come visit my blog!

Thanks so much, Michelle. They look so pretty! Friends, do be sure to stop by her blog and even become a follower both of her site as well as on Pinterest!...Sinea

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