Odor Removal

My car smells a little musty. I think it is because I put things from a basement into it and left them there overnight. I hate that odor and want to remove it. These tips also work for cigarette smoke removal*.

Several options:
~Put an open container of baking soda in the car.
~Put used coffee grounds in the car.
Both are odor absorbers.

Also, if you are going to store clothing in a basement or attic, I recommend making a sachet of baking soda to prevent odor absorption. We have lots of socks without mates at our house; find one (without a hole) at your house, fill the toe with baking soda and tie it off.

Many commercial odor absorbers and scented candles just mask the smell. Febreeze does this as well and also adds chemicals to the fabric and the air. Avoid these expensive chemical creations and just try baking soda and/or coffee grounds for a few days.

The other night, I cooked fish. It smelled awful at our house! I should have tried this tip to remove the odor:
~ Boil a teaspoon of white vinegar in 1 cup of water to remove unpleasant cooking odors.

*We found that these tactics wouldn't remove the cigarette smoke smell from wood. We had to strip and refinish in this case. Try them for fabrics, though.

Cutting Hair @ Home

I cut my husband's hair all by myself! I am quite proud of this fact. He hasn't seen a barber for over three years.

We purchased a set of $30 clippers at Target (love that store...)

His hair grows quickly, but unevenly, so he needs it clipped every 4-5 weeks. At $10/cut and 12 barber visits per year, we've probably saved $360 over the past three years just by cutting his hair on the back porch or in the basement. We spread out a big sheet to make cleaning up easier.

To us, it is totally worth the savings.

Who Likes Free Samples?

I sometimes run across free samples on some 'frugal' or 'coupon' websites I read. I found this on a website! This guy wrote to 100 different companies to see if they would send him free samples! Sure, it cost him $39 in postage (when stamps were 'only' $0.39!)

Is it worth the time? Probably not, but the wording of his request letters sure is funny!

Chicken Fajita Pizza

This is so easy and yummy. I make a crust with Bisquick (I know, not real healthy, but it's fast!) and then I use frozen bell peppers. This time, I used chicken that had already been cooked and frozen, but usually I do cook it in the skillet, the way the recipe cites.
Chicken Fajita Pizza

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Bisquick
1/3 cup very hot water
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix the Bisquick and hot water together, about 20 strokes. Press onto pizza stone sprayed with cooking spray and then sprinkled with cornmeal. *the cornmeal makes the crust crispier*

Topping:
1 T oil
1 package of frozen bell peppers
1/2 cup salsa
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips (or some cut-up cooked chicken...)
2 T taco seasoning
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
In a skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 6-7 minutes, until no longer pink. Then add the frozen bell peppers and stir them around for about 5 minutes. Add the salsa and taco seasoning and stir for a few more minutes until heated through. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over the uncooked pizza crust. Cover with the topping from the skillet. Top with the other 1/2 cup of cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Learn From Mistakes...

I made a big mistake today. I was cleaning the floors and wanted to clean my kitchen throw rugs. My little boy was napping, so I thought instead of vacuuming, I could put them into the dryer on "air fluff" and the lint trap would catch the dirt.

The dirt ended up all over the inside of the dryer. I had clean(er) rugs, but had to wipe out the inside of the dryer. Yuck. Not a time saver. I was annoyed.