FALL Cleaning Tasks

 

Ahh! The crisp cool smell of fall is in the air.

While the days are still warm and sunny it is snugly weather at night- which I LOVE!!!

The trees are still green, but some are starting to turn their brilliant autumn shades.

When you look around you will notice all the little critters start to prepare for winter-

so let's take a cue from them and start our Fall Cleaning Tasks.

 

Here's what I do each FALL

• Make appointment to have oil burner cleaned and inspected  before the Winter (I call in September for an appointment in October)
• Make an appointment to have Sprinkler System winterized and turned off (I call in September for an appointment in October)
• Close the swimming Pool (September)
• Steam Clean all the rugs in my house
• Remove Air Conditioners in windows
• Close up and winterize wall Air Conditioner
• Wash and either rehang or swap out curtains in all the rooms
• Wash all Window Screens
• Check all Windows and Doors- re-caulk if necessary
• Flip all mattresses
• Wash all Bedding and pillows
• Give each room a good deep cleaning, by moving big pieces of furniture and dusting/vacuuming behind/under them.
• Change out every one's clothes for Fall and Winter (when weather warrants it)
• Clean out Fridge
• Clean out Freezer
• Clean out Pantry
• Clean Over and Toaster Oven
• Clean Microwave
• Wash outside of kitchen cabinets
• Clean inside of kitchen cabinets
• Turn OFF outdoor water hoses and store hoses (once temps at night start to teeter around the freezing mark)
• Clean and store all patio furniture
• Test Smoke alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors- change batteries if necessary
• Rake and clean yard
• Check and clean out gutters
• Go through toys for donations- I usually do this in November to make room for the massive influx coming at Christmas!
• Try on all winter coats and gloves and purchase new if necessary
• Clean out the inside of all vehicles
• Wash outside of all vehicles
• Start buying salt every other week or so to stock up for winter to put down to melt the ice
• Winterize lawn- cut it and put down and fertilizer needed
• Bring shovels towards front of garage and start the snow blower to test it before we need it

Happy Fall Cleaning! What else do you do in the fall to get ready for winter?

 

 

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THE REAL DIRT ON CLEAN

 

ARE YOU LIVING IN A HEALTHY HOME?

You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you’ve just cleaned house? Sorry to spoil it, but you may have just made your home dirtier.
Think of it this way. You wouldn’t let your kids play with toxic chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl over a floor that’s just been wiped with them? That’s much more dangerous than the orange juice that was just there. How dangerous? Just take a look at these statistics.

• Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.
• Common bleach is the #1 household chemical involved
  in poisoning.
• Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and
  even air fresheners, are 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out.
• A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
• Common cleaners give off fumes that have been linked to
  increasing the risk of your kids developing asthma, the most common serious chronic childhood disease.
• 1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160%from 1980 – 1994.
• Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air.
• If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste).

 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE GET CLEAN LINE OF NONTOXIC CLEANERS.

CHEDDAR POTATO SOUP

Fall is in the air and I thought I'd share our family's favorite fall soup-

CHEDDAR POTATO SOUP

• 3-4 large baking potatoes
• 3 cans cheddar cheese soup
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Start by cleaning the potatoes and drying them. Poke several hole in each with a fork and microwave on high for about 7 minutes or until tender to the touch. Then let cool for about 10 minutes. Once cooled take a knife and peel most of the skins off (it is ok if you leave some- it's a rustic soup). and cut into bite-size chunks.

In a large pot pour in the cheddar soups, chicken broth and milk. Add in the garlic, salt and pepper and heat on med/high strirring with a whisk until the cheddar soup dissolves into the other liquids. Bring to a boil. Then add in the potato chunks and turn down to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes to reheat the potatoes. Then remove from heat and either mash the potatoes with a masher or use an immersion blender to break up the potatoes until you get the desired consistancy. BYOC (be your own chef) if you like it thicker- mash/blend less, if you like it creamier- mash/blend more. Taste the soup and add more salt, pepper, garlic as needed to taste.

Top with your favorite baked potato toppings; sour cream, bacon, fried onions, scallions, cheddar cheese, croutons, crackers, etc.

Back to School Lunch Gear

I used to love the fall, until I had kids that were old enough to go to school. Now back to school dampens my favorite time of the year :( 

 

Whether you love or hate back to school, you still need to do the back-to-school shopping for supplies thing. So  I am sharing my favorite back to school lunch essentials.

 

 

1. You need a lunch box. Pictured above is the LapTop Lunch System by Bento-Ware. They are a great little company that makes SAFE lunch containers and carriers. Click Here for my post about them.

 

 

 

2. You need Baggies. Ditch the not safe, and not earth-friendly plastic baggies and go for the reusable, washable kind. My favorite is lunchskins2 they are free from toxins, come in fun colorful patterns and are available at Target. You get a large and a small coordinating 2-pack that can easily be washed in the dishwasher or washing machine. These will soooo pay for themselves very quickly!

 

 

 

3. You need drink ware. My favorite are the FUNtainers by Thermos. They are double-wall insulated providing up to 12 hours of coolness, have a hygienic push-top lid with a silicone straw, and are made from unbreakable stainless steal. And all parts are dishwasher safe and are BPA free.

 



4. If you need utensils try not to do the disposable plastic thing. But if your kids keep tossing your good utensils then you may have to do the plastic-thing, or buy cheap plastic reusable ones. I like to use the old toddler spoons for this as they clean up well in the dishwasher, come in fun colors and I don't mind if they don't make it home because they are easy to replace.

 

5. Now that you have all your supplies the big question is what to make? For lunch ideas try Momables a great website and blog that plans the lunch menus by week, gives you shopping lists and recipes for a small subscription fee.

 

 

Happy Back to School! :) /  :(