Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wow..that really works.

The baby is now 2 weeks and one day old.  He's too sweet.  He's becoming a "hold me" baby, but doesn't need much fuss.  Like a typical newborn he likes to eat and sleep...and poop.   His sleep has reached a four hour max, but I am grateful for that much.
I've been pretty much confined to the couch, so the computer has been my entertainment.
I have discovered a few awesome tips that I thought I would share.


The first tip,
I will admit was not found on the internet, but in the dish detergent isle of the grocery.
I was looking at the different choices for the dishwasher and talking out loud about the recent, more apparent water spots on my glasses.  Down here in Florida we have very hard water and unless you have a softener, there is no way to get around it.  The lady who was stocking the Dawn informs me that she had the same problem and learned that for whatever reason the detergent companies took the phosphorus out of their recipe.  Apparently, this was the main ingredient that kept the water spots away.  Her solution...simply add a bit of lemon juice.


  All natural and it works.   So I head over to the lemon juice and get the huge generic bottle.
I have been putting it in the dishwasher ever since and have been pleasantly surprised.
Thank you lady at the store, I will share the knowledge.


Second fun tip....
So how many times have you been boiling pasta and it foams over the top?   Whether or not it is a recipe that has milk or not, it still seems to always go over.  Same deal with the fresh corn on the cob.  (My husband likes to add milk to the boil to make it creamier)
Well, while perusing the pages of Pinterest the other day I discover that if you place a wooden spoon across the pot...Voila...no more spill over.


I know, I know, I doubted it too, but it really works.  So cool, even the hubs was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that he pulled the.."what, you didn't know about that?"  Good one, Babe.










Third fun tip...
A bit off the subject because it has nothing to do with the kitchen.

Turning the vacuum on while the baby is fussy will quiet them down.

I remember reading about this when my four year old was a baby and I also remember it not working with him.  So I suppose this is a case of 'all babies are different' and what works on one may not work with the other.  But...since it did actually work with the new bundle, I figured I would share this wealth in case any other moms just needed a minute and could actually accomplish a chore as well.
I reminded myself of this trick by accident.  We have a black lab mix, so vacuuming is something that I cannot push off for another day.  I'm trying to get the baby on somewhat of a feeding schedule and I needed another 30 minutes or so before the next feeding.  He was starting to get fussy, so I figured I would just vacuum and get it out of the way.  I cranked that baby on and Boom...he not only stops crying, but he falls asleep.  Sweet.  Except when I turn the vacuum off he wakes and wants his food.  :)   Can't win 'em all.

So there they are...some fun and helpful things I have learned and utilized.  Hope they will work for you too!!


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