Little Cleaning Tips

Life's busy - as obvious from my lack in posts - so I need all the help cleaning I can get. Especially since I didn't come with a manual with housecleaning tips. I did clean houses for other people a couple times, but as it turns out, I'm allergic to nearly everything involved in cleaning houses. This first cleaning tip is from one of those houses that I sneeze-cleaned my way through.

Cleaning Hardwood Floors with Vinegar 

Apparently, vinegar is one of the best things to use on hardwood floors. This cleaning solution left my floors clean and shiny. The vinegar smell didn't seem to hang around after I finished mopping either.

Here is the mixture:
1/2 cup vinegar
1 gallon of warm water

Just be careful about floor grates - if you get the vinegar and water on them, they could rust.
Also, don't leave water just sitting around on the floor. If you're doing this with rags, you probably want to dry the wood as you go. If you're concerend about the vinegar smell, just add some dish soap to the mix to make it smell mmmm-clean.

Okay, Next Tip! 

Vinegar Window Cleaner

Another use for vinegar is cleaning windows! No streaks and less chemicals than a normal window cleaner. 

Mix-it-up:

1 cup vinegar

1/2 gallon of water

Haven't tried this but you could probably do your windows first and then your floor. Kill two household chores with one mix? Sounds good to me! 

Easy Shower Curtain Wash

I hate cleaning my shower curtains but my sister taught me this tip so I don't mind it as much. Just take down your plastic shower liner and put it in your tub. Fill the tup with warm-hot water until most of the curtain is filled. Pour bleach into the tub (approx. 2 cups) and let the curtain sit for 10 minutes - or longer, depending on the soil level. After it soaks for a little while, just use a rag to wipe off any remaining grime. Easy peasy and it cleans your tub too.

Laundry soap cup

This last one is just a little baby tip. To keep your laundry soup cup clean, just throw it in the washing machine along with your clothes. Comes out nice and shiny. 

I hope these tips help you, and I'll be looking for more to post. If you have any good cleaning tips, feel free to post them in the comments space!

Homemade Wonton Wrappers

On Christmas Eve, we were having my family over and I was in charge of the appetizers. Well, I decided to make wontons because the recipe didn't call for too many ingredients and it sounded easy to do. (Two of my top requirements in a recipe!) We had been away on a trip and I hadn't had the chance to go grocery shopping yet so I sent my husband out to get four things: Milk, wonton wrappers, spinach, and cream cheese. I figured he'd be gone for about thirty minutes, and then I'd start cooking....not so.

An hour and a half later, my poor husband tramps back in with his spoils. Milk, spinach, cream cheese...no wonton wrappers. He went to three different stores and couldn't find them. He did find spring roll wrappers at the Chinese store and almost bought those, but the store only took cash for purchases under $10. So, the man simply counted his losses and came home.

Well. You can't make wontons without wonton wrappers. This is one thing that lettuce just can't wrap. But then, I found this great recipe for homemade wonton wrappers on kitchensimplicity.com and I don't think I will ever buy wonton wrappers again. First of all, the recipe only requires three to four ingredients - all of which most people have in their pantries. Second, this recipe is so cheap to do! Normal wonton wrappers are pretty expensive, while these only cost a dollar or two in ingredients. And last, you don't have to send your husband on a fruitless mission to find them.


The Wontons:
(makes approximately 30-35 wrappers)

Ingredients:
4 cups of flour
2 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
3/4 to 1 cup of water

Instructions:

Mix the flour, eggs, and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the water a little bit at the time, until the dough forms a ball but isn't sticky. Let the dough rest for about 30-45 minutes.

After the dough has rested, split it into fourths or halves and roll out as thin as possible. This dough should roll out really thin. Use either a sheet of parchment paper or some cornstarch to keep it from sticking - cornstarch works really well because it doesn't absorb into the dough.

Cut out 3 to 4 inch squares. (To get the 30-35 wonton wrappers, you will need to cut them in 3 inch squares)

**Tip**
If you aren't a jigsaw genius and have some extra dough leftover, add a little water to help the dough knead back together.

I hope you find this recipe as easy as I did! Definitely will not be searching all over town for these again!

Coming Up: Non-Chemical Hardwood Floor Cleaner
from things you probably already have

Spinach and Cream Cheese Wontons

Happy New Years! For our party this year, I made these wontons from a recipe adapted from budgetsavvydiva.com. I use my own homemade wonton wrappers though (recipe to follow) which are actually super easy to make, a lot cheaper, and you don't have to wander around stores looking for them. I'll post that recipe next.

Here's what you need:

1. Cream Cheese  (8 oz.)
2. Frozen Chopped Spinach (8-12 oz.) 
3. Wonton Wrappers (30-35)
4. Olive Oil 
5. 1/2 Tsp. of Garlic Powder
6. 1/2 Tsp. of Salt
7. Dash of Cayenne Pepper
8. Dash of Pepper 

Instructions:

Thaw and drain the spinach.

In a large bowl,  mix together the spinach, cream cheese, garlic powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. The mixture should be creamy when finished.
 
Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper.

Using your finger, rub either olive oil or water along the edges of the wonton wrapper. This helps the wrapper stick when you fold it.
  
Fold the wonton from corner to corner, creating a triangle. Then, take one corner and fold to the peak of the triangle, as shown in the picture.

Next, fold the other corner to the middle and seal with water. Your wonton wrapper should look something like the second picture. If this is a little too complicated, you can also just fold the wonton wrappers in half (from corner to corner) and leave it at that.

This recipe should make about 25-35 wontons, depending on how  much filling you use in each wonton.

To Bake:
Preheat oven to 375
Place wontons on a greased or parchment lined baking tray.
Brush olive oil over the tops and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

To Fry:
Heat oil in a medium size pan or kettle (enough to cover the wontons).
Let fry, turning occasionally, until the wontons are a nice golden color.

I must say that although baking is definitely the more healthy alternative, a wonton just doesn't taste right to me unless it's fried! I've made this recipe both ways, and the fried version was a lot crunchier and faster. You could also try adding chicken or bacon into these. I put some left-over chicken in the first time I made these, and they turned out pretty good!

Coming up: Homemade Wonton Wrappers