Wax Removal

Aaaaaaaaand I'm back from a nearly three-week hiatus! I haven't been home enough lately to be Downright Domestic, because I'm pretty sure my manager at work is trying to kill me. Lol. According to my little Sitemeter, however, nobody's been by here anyway, so everything's good. ;-)

One homey thing I did do the other day was remove wax from a doily. Apparently, my husband is so fascinated by watching wax melt that he will let it flow freely over any doilies in its path. *smacks forehead* After picking at it, freezing it, and searching the internet in vain for solutions (for some reason, removing wax from doilies is not a hot topic!), I threw the doily in a pot of boiling water, changing the water from time to time. Eventually, the wax melted off! Hooray! All in a day's work!

On a side note, does anybody know how to remove wax from a pan? :-D

My Favorite Things: Crocs

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, and I've decided to finally take the plunge. Every Thursday, I will write a post dedicated to a product that I find to be fabulous, inexpensive, cute, or a help to the Downright Domestic way. Since my name is Maria, and everybody is always singing the Sound of Music at me, why not title this little series, "My Favorite Things"?

So for my first installment, I will bypass the talk about raindrops on roses and whiskers on

 kittens and tell you about one product my feet just love:

Wait wait wait! Don't close the browser on me yet!

Crocs have evolved way beyond those first ugly ones with holes in the top that look like garden shoes. Now, they have products like this:

And this:

But it's not the looks that make me love Crocs. It is their wonderful comfort. These shoes are so light, it feels like you're not wearing anything at all. The shoes are sized slightly bigger on purpose, so that your feet have room to expand-- no pinched toes here! They have little massage nubs on the soles that feel great when you first put them on, but don't irritate you after ten minutes (like some athletic sandals I've tried).

When I first got my waitressing job, it took me about three weeks of achy feet to break down and buy a pair of Crocs specially designed for restaurant work. It was a good investment! Not only do my feet feel better at the end of a long shift, but I'm not slip-sliding over greasy, wet floors, either, like my tennis shoes do.

They last a long time, too! I wore my first pair nearly every day for a year before they gave out on me (I wore a hole clear through the sole! LOL). And when it's time for them to go to Shoe Heaven, you can just drop them off at designated retailers, and the Crocs company will recycle them and give them to impoverished people around the world!

So, are you convinced to go buy yourself a pair sometime? Well, you're in luck, because you actually have an opportunity to get them for free! Simplemom.net is hosting a $50 Crocs giveaway here. The giveaway ends Friday the 10th at midnight, so make sure to get over there soon!

Works For Me Wednesday: Microwave Mug Brownies

Some days, my sweet tooth slaps me in the face and demands to be fed right now. If you're like me, though, you really don't want to make a whole batch of cookies or an entire pan of brownies. Because... well... this happens.

  

Gotta keep that girlish figure, right? ;-)

Allow me to introduce you to a dessert that will revolutionize those sweet cravings! Reader, meet Microwave Mug Brownies. Microwave Mug Brownies, meet Reader. All right, now that we've got introductions out of the way, you're ready for the recipe!

1/4 cup flour

2 Tbsp. sugar*

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. canola oil

2 Tbsp. water (or more, if it's too dry)

Mix all ingredients together in a microwave-safe mug. Try not to eat all the batter before it makes it to the microwave! Nuke for 1-3 minutes (depending on how fudgy you want your brownie). 

*The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar, but even I can't voluntary eat that much in one sitting. It seems to be fine with half the sugar.

You can also add chocolate chips for extra chocolatey goodness.

Last time, in a half-hearted effort to redeem this nutritionless dessert, I used half whole wheat flour. My husband actually liked it better that way! Feel free to experiment with the recipe.

Eating a rich dessert with controlled portions Works for Me! Check out all the other great tips at We Are THAT Family!

Works For Me Wednesday: Reusing Plastic Bags

Welcome to my blog! Today is Works for Me Wednesday: Backwards Edition (hosted by We Are THAT Family), so I will ask you all for solutions to a quandary of mine. MWUAHAHAHA...

I have a confession to make: I have about a million plastic grocery bags stashed in a closet. The past month or so, I have been taking my own reusable bags to the store, so I've slowed down the rate at which those things are reproducing, but I still have a good amount of them!

I hate to throw them away since they can be reused; I'd like to know the clever ways you all have used plastic bags. 

So far, this is what I use them for:

• Trash can liners
• Packing material (instead of foam peanuts or newspaper)
• Wet swimsuit/dirty laundry bag when away from home

What else can I do to use up my army of plastic bags??

Recital Time!

Tonight is my big Senior Recital--- the one thing standing between me and graduation! I am super excited to put on a frilly dress, do my hair, and sing in front of a crowd! I'll let you know how it goes!

Cleaning with FlyLady

One thing that has been so helpful to me lately is FlyLady's website. You would think that a 700-square foot apartment wouldn't even have room to get messy, right? Then you've never lived with me or my hubby, both of whom are Messy People! 

I had been living under the false notion that it was pretty much impossible to work nearly-full-time and be a housekeeper, as well. And I'm not going to lie, even with FlyLady, it's still difficult! If you have any spare maids, send them my way! ;-) However, what I love about FlyLady is that it makes housework manageable and seeks to make my house cleaner through little changes in habits! Now that's what I'm talking about!

Some of her advice I don't follow. I just... can't... wear shoes... in the house! Some of her advice made me think, "Are you for real???" but when I followed it, it made things so much better! One thing I'm thinking about in particular is shining the kitchen sink. It sounds kind of harebrained, but I've noticed that I really can't shine the sink without also washing the dishes and clearing the counters. This all takes me 5-10 minutes every night. Voila, instant clean kitchen!

The thing I like the best about this method is that it's extremely low-pressure. FlyLady says (to loosely quote her), "The house did not get messy overnight, so don't try to get it clean overnight!" How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! How do you clean the house? One little task at a time!

I'm very interested in hearing from anybody else who uses the FlyLady approach to housekeeping. I've only been doing this for a couple weeks, and have had success so far, but I'd like to know what people a few months into "FlyLady"-ing have to say.

Works For Me Wednesday: One Old Banana

It has happened to everybody: you come home from the store with a beautiful, slightly green bunch of bananas. One by one, they are eaten, until you have forgotten all about that bunch you brought home. A couple weeks later, you find one pitiful banana languishing in the bottom of the fruit basket, sporting an unpleasant brown-and-black coat.

(Now THAT is one bad banana!)

"Aha!" You say. "This looks like the perfect opportunity to make banana bread!" Unfortunately, every recipe seems to call for at least two bananas. If only your unfortunate fruit had a friend!

Here is where you take that one banana... and put it in a batch of pancakes! Maybe add some chopped walnuts, or some chocolate chips, if you really want a balanced breakfast :-D (wait-- what? Chocolate isn't a food group??). This instantly jazzes up your breakfast and becomes something that you'd pay six bucks to eat at IHOP. Works for me!

Check out all the other great ideas at We Are THAT Family!