Stove Cleaning at Its Finest!!!

Cleaning my stove is always a chore. I usually don't do it when my kids are home, because nothing removes all the gunk on the stove & stove unless it has harmful fumes... And my kids... are ALWAYS home!!

So then I had an idea. A while back I used the 1 part vinegar & 1 part dawn solution in my shower and it pretty much worked a freakin' miracle in there! I did post about it, but for some reason lost all my pictures.

So here is my stove with the solution on it. (I know. I know it's old & dirty!!)

All I did was fill a squirt bottle half with dawn (regular) and half of it with white vinegar. I placed it in a pot on the stove that had warm water in it (I had just cleaned out a candle jar) and let the solution sit for a minute or two to warm up and then shook the bottle. (the original recipe said to place in the microwave. I was NOT dirtying another dish, because my bottle would've melted.)

I let it sit for about 30-40 mins..............

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And then scrubbed with warm water. I sprayed the trouble spots again, put a small amount of hot water on them and let them soak for another 15 minutes. (while I cleaned the rest of the stove)

Then I got out my trusty-rusty +MagicEraser and sprayed the spots and scrubbed some more.

And THIS is my finished product. I must say my stove sparkles now!

The whole time I was cleaning the stove.. I was also cleaning the grates! That will be my next post.. For now.. Hi-Ho. Hi-Ho . It's off to work I go!

Day 1 of My 3 Day Diet.

So I started my 3 day diet today. (as seen in my post here ) I have my base weight (which I will not be reporting to you! Just #'s dropped! (if any))

3 Day Diet

DAY 1:
Breakfast--1/2 Grapefruit, 1 Slice of Toast, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, and Coffee or Tea
Lunch--1/2 Cup of Tuna, 1 Slice of Toast, and Coffee or Tea (any brew, as long as it's caffeinated)
Dinner--3 ounces of any type of meat, 1 Cup of Green Beans, 1/2 Banana, 1 Small Apple, and 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream (YUM)!!!
Tips to Try:

• Warm the apple and/or banana and eat them over the ice cream. Delicious!
• Cook the green beans with the meat or simmer them in the broth. Mmmm :)

This morning.. I was confused. I wasn't sure if toasting the bread changes it? So i just toasted it anyway. I just had regular white bread. I got to work and had my coffee (black), half of a grapefruit. I put one table spoon of peanut butter on the toast and then just ate the other off the spoon. I ate slowly and also drank a glass of water with it. The black coffee is hard to do. So when i would eat the grapefruit I'd chug the coffee. The sugar in the grapefruit kind of stunned my tongue.. so the coffee tasted sweetened. (I absolutely will not use artificial sweetners)

I was actually very full, all morning. I was even capable of going to Wendy's and getting everyone's lunch and not buying a thing! I ate my lunch at 12noon. b/c the tea HAD to be caffeinated and if i drink any caffeine after that I'll be up all night.

So it's 2:241pm! And I haven't eaten anything I'm not supposed to! I'm on my second piece of gum though. I think I'm more hungry... out of habit then actually being hungry. So I'm keeping my water glass full! in case i 'feel hungry.'

And I'm kind of excited for my steak, fresh green beans, and all natural vanilla ice cream for dinner!!

Throwback Pinterest Fail.

I decided to make these for my Daughter's 2nd birthday party:

Original Pin.

And this is how they turned out. They were an absolute PAIN IN THE ASS!

I ended up covered in melted chocolate!

30 Day Challenge!

I pretty much use Pinterest for everything now. I go there when searching for pictures. My hubby even told me he wanted wishing well plans... I put my big red cape with a P on and typed in 'Wishing well plans" as fast as I could!

 So, I figured.. If I'm using Pinterest, for crafts, dinners, cleaning... why not use it for health?

 I got on Pin yesterday and searched for 30 day challenge. Frankly, most of them would put me in the hospital by day 2. So i searched 30 day BEGINNER fitness challenge. These are the two I picked to do ...

 

So a little about me. First, I am EXTREMELY out of shape. I have 2 kids, who are 14 months apart. So I was pregnant for 16 months out of about 2 1/2 years. I gained alot of weight with my first child and had to have an emergency C-section. By the time my stomach had healed and I was allowed to exercise, I was pregnant again. 

I chose to do these two, because the seem simple. Frankly, it's not like I'm going to be doing P90x. I hate exercising and don't have the energy to do so. I figured I'd start in June. 

But when I woke up at 7am and everyone in my house was asleep....(which never happens) I figured today was the day. I know if I waited until June... I'd forget June 1st.. and then. 'oops.. I'll just have to wait until July...' and so on. 

So I started today. Let me tell you. While it looks simple on paper, when you don't exercise.... it's not that easy. I got through the squats with almost no peroblem. Besides hearing the cartlidge in my knee (I recently injured it) crunching, it went pretty well. 

I figured the push ups next where my best bet. 10 push-ups.. Really how hard can they be? Let me tell you when your holding on to an extra 78lbs above what I should be weighing... THEY"RE NOT FRICKIN' easy! I had to do girl push-ups and was out of breath by the last one. 

The crunches where next and I had to those modified too. None of these would compare to the absolute horror of Planking for 20 seconds. I thought my midsection was going to break along with my elbows and feet! 

I must say I felt so good AFTER doing those 4 little exercises I went for an 8 minute walk (.32mi).

Over the past couple years, spending most of them being pregnant, I've seriously altered my diet. I'm a label reader, and organic activist, and try to stay away from processed and fast foods. I've maintained the same weight I've been since I got pregnant with my daughter. So clearly they only way for me to actually LOSE weight is to get active. 

I'm hoping this 30 day challenge will help light a fire under my ass. With two small children, I'm not only hurting myself but them as well. 

I'll be periodically posting updates.. If I lose weight or inches, because I'm tracking all of that as well.

So wish me luck!