The Dish Soap Challenge. Week One: The Bathtub

  A couple of weeks ago, I heard about a blog called Squawkfox. Kerry has many tips on saving money & living frugally. One of the things that caught my attention was a list she has of many things you can do that can save you $1,000 per year. One of those things was to stop buying household cleaners. She says she uses a $1 bottle of dish soap to clean everything in her house. This had me seriously intrigued.

~ The Dish Soap Challenge ~

  So, after hearing that, I'm issuing myself a challenge to start doing my cleaning with dish soap wherever I can. Every week for the next while I'll clean something new with dish soap & see how the results stack up to the results using a more expensive, specialty cleaner. I'll use my home as the guinea pig & let you in on the results.

  

This week's dish soap challenge: My dirty bathtub.

Yes, you can see the dirty ring, right?

I started with the bottle of soap, above, & a scrubby sponge that is safe for porcelain tubs & sinks.

The dirty tub

So, after using a bit too much dish soap, here is our tub after being cleaned with dish soap:

Success!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. 

I started out by using too much soap, so there were a lot of bubbles. 

  Verdict: I plan to keep cleaning my tub this way. Dish soap got the tub just as clean as the bathroom cleaner I had been using. I also learned that a little dish soap goes a long way. :)

I hope this little series inspires you to save some money & try doing this too. 

Enjoy your day!

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Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya

Yay, it's almost the long weekend! 

I'll be off for a few days with some good friends to do a bit of shopping in Edmonton. 

It will be a much-enjoyed break from everything that's been going on in our lives.

What are your plans?

~~~~~

One of our family's all-time favourite meals that I cook is Jambalaya. And really, this recipe comes together so quickly & is so tasty, that there is nothing stopping you from making it any night of the week.

Let me introduce you to my Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya.

Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya
makes 6 servings

1 tsp. canola oil
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

8 oz. kielbasa, cut into bite sized pieces
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/3 cups mild salsa
1 1/4 cups uncooked rice (I use brown)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
12 oz. uncooked shrimp, tails removed
1/4 chopped, fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add vegetables. Cook & stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes.

Add kielbasa & cook for 2 more minutes. Add all remaining ingredients, except shrimp & parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom.

Stir in shrimp & parsley. Cook for 5 minutes more or until shrimp turn pink, are cooked through & rice is tender.

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See you again on Wednesday!

Enjoy your weekend!

20 Outdoor Spaces & Garden Ideas

How was your Mother's Day weekend? Did you plant your garden? Do some yard clean up? 

We did some yard clean up, gardening, & got out the patio furniture. 

On with spring!

Here are 20 beautiful garden spaces that are inspiring me...

Let's start with some gorgeous yards & container arrangements:

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Cheery Mother's Day Card

Mother's Day is just around the corner... are you prepared or do you still need to rush to the store? 

I'm a little of both, this year. My cards are done, but the gifts have yet to be purchased. 

(Mom, if you're seeing this, you can just pretend to be surprised on Sunday.) :)

Chevron Wall Art

  Am I the only one who wants to spruce things up in their home in Spring time? Rearranging furniture, bookshelves, pictures on the walls... Spring is a time of CHANGE. Last week, I showed you my family room & a list of small things I wanted to tackle to spruce it up a bit. Here is my first completed project from that list.

  The art in our family room was feeling kind of tired to me {Yawn}. Definitely time for a change. Something fresh & springy.

  I had these 9 canvases that I got at the dollar store several years ago & I covered them with patterned paper to make my own "art". After changing them a couple of times, I was ready for something new again.

BEFORE

  I started thinking chevron... something in chevron. But what colour? How about a few colours? My idea was born: take the existing canvases, take off the paper & paint a chevron print onto them with craft paint. Three rows of canvases, three different colours. Yellow, grey, & aqua.

  I found a chevron template printable here & got all my supplies together.

 After tracing & cutting two stencils out of cardboard, I started painting. Let me tell you from experience that you should first paint your whole canvas your background colour first. It would have made touch ups go much faster. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. :)

Here is the finished product:

  I also moved them to the other side of the room over the couch. Please forgive the poor photos as there is no natural light in this room.

  The total cost of this artwork was very small. I had the canvases already so there was no cost there. The only thing I had to buy was the yellow & aqua paint - a cost of under $5.

  I love being able to cross things off of my to do list!

• New artwork above the couch 
• New artwork for T.V. wall 
• Makeover the little table my map lamp sits on
• Paint the dress-up box (to the right of the couch)

Now on to the other projects!

Enjoy your day!

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