Crabby Housewife

Mom, How Do I Clean a Moldy Fridge?

March 25, 2016 September 18, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

“Mom? I have a weird question.” So began the phone call from my daughter who is away at college.

Someone left queso in the refrigerator in a community fridge for a program she’s involved in. It not only made the entire room smell,but she was worried the mold was inside the fridge, and right so.

Left unfettered, mold can cause all kinds of health problems. Sure, they make penicillin from this stuff, but it also creates a host of health problems, especially if it is black mold.

Don’t Eat It

You may have heard that it’s okay to just scrape off mold and eat the remaining cheese when it is a hard cheese. Please don’t do this. Mold has threads that can stretch pretty far into the cheese. It is just better to go ahead and toss it. Better? If you have more cheese than you can eat before it molds (and it takes cheese a LONG time to mold), then freeze it and unthaw when you’re ready to use it.

Kill It

I told my daughter to buy bleach and lots of it. Remove everything from the fridge and wipe it down with bleach diluted with water. The instructions are usually on the bottle.

If there was a spot where mold was growing on the fridge to pour straight bleach on but be VERY careful. Bleach will discolor anything it touches and can burn eyes and skin. Also, she would need to clean the seal around the outside with diluted bleach.

Unfortunately, if the issue is too far gone, the fridge may have to be pitched. She can give it a good try though, because it will save a lot of money if it can just be cleaned.

I read over on Thrifty Fun that a gentleman used cinnamon oil to kill the smell. He had done some research into it and I find the process he used interesting. It was fairly simple, so one you might want to try. Go to the article on Thrifty Fun and then scroll down to the comments.

The best way to avoid a moldy fridge is to never leave expired food for extended lengths of time and to prop the door open when the fridge is not turned on. Sometimes the unexpected happens, though.

20 Songs to Clean House To

March 25, 2016 September 17, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Cleaning house is a chore, but the right playlist can help move things along and keep you motivated. Here is a playlist of 10 songs to get you excited and make cleaning fun.

Come Clean by Hilary Duff
Love On Top by Beyonce
I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston
Tik Tok by Ke$ha
No Scrubs by TLC
Toxic by Brittany Spears
Shut Up and Drive by Rhianna
Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus
Confession by Usher
BO$$ by Fifth Harmony
I’m Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas
I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash
I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair by South Pacific (musical)
Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
Car Wash by Rose Royce
Happy Working Song by Amy Adams from Enchanted
Supermodel by RuPaul
Washing Machine by Sonic Youth
Good Clean Fun by The Monkees

Spotify also offers a large amount of playlists you can browse according to genre or mood, and they may be worth checking out next time you’re cleaning house. What are some of your favorite songs to clean to?

Cheap Pork Loin and BBQ

March 25, 2016 September 15, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Dear readers,

Just a very quick note today. Kroger (at least in my area) has pork chops and loin on sale this week. I managed to snag a HUGE pork loin that was normally almost $20 for only $7.50.

There are so many different things you could do with these huge pork loins.

Go ahead and slice into thick wedges and bake as you need.
Split in half and cook half for dinner and half for BBQ.

I meant to split mine in half, since most nights it is just my husband and I. Our oldest daughter is away at college and our youngest is busy with classes and work (she’s staying home and going to school). However, I forgot, so here is my plan:

Night # 1

Slow cook the pork loin in my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker. I will salt and pepper it, but that is about all I’ll do. I want to keep it fairly simple, because I want to utilize the leftovers rather than wasting a huge portion of this big pork loin.

Night # 2

I’ll slice up some of the tenderloin into smaller pieces and serve on a bed of homemade cabbage. I actually have a recipe I plan to create and which I will share if it is as tasty as I think it will be.

We recently visited Jamaica and they created this amazing chicken, rice and beans, and Jamaican cole slaw for us at lunch one day. I plan to recreate this meal, only with pork. I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Night # 3

I’m going to shred any remaining pork and turn it into BBQ. Leftover slaw can be placed on top and the whole thing served with or without buns (for low carbers in our house).

So, this one pork loin is going to give us at least three meals, but I suspect we’ll have a ton of BBQ left that I can freeze and use for meals at other times. Also, I almost always have enough food left for our lunches the next day.

For $7.50, this was a great deal. Go ahead and go pick one up at your local store. You can freeze it and unthaw when you’re ready to use it.

Here are some of the best recipes for pork tenderloin I’ve come across recently:

Sage Apple Stuffed Pork Tenderloin in Bacon from With a Blast
Crockpot Chinese Pork with Noodles from Jo Cooks
Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin Recipe for the Slow Cooker from Knoxville Healthy Food Examiner

Packaged At Home Pizza Experiment

March 25, 2016 September 14, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

So, you might remember a week or two ago that I said I was going to start experimenting with making my own pizza at home. I have not found one pizza place in southern Indiana that I love – well, I did, but they went out of business.

While my ultimate goal is to come up with a recipe for homemade crust, sauce, and cheese mixture, today was Friday and I’ve not had time to gather the ingredients.

I knew I wanted to experiment with making it at home, but would have to buy some packaged crust mix and sauce. I popped into Kroger and picked up a jar of their store brand sauce for $0.89 and their pizza crust mix for $0.59 (with a Kroger Plus Card).

So, I am always trying out things like this and trying to ramp up the flavor by adding to the mixes, etc. Here is what I did:

Pizza Crust

I mixed the crust as directed, and preheated the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. The package said to let rise for 5 minutes, but I let it rise 15, because I like a lighter crust.

The package said to coat with oil, so I took olive oil, garlic powder and oregano and used that to coat the crust.

I then spread the pizza crust out on parchment paper and used my hands to stretch it as thin as possible but left a little bubble of crust on the edges.

Finally, I nuked 1 Tablespoon of butter with 1 crushed clove of garlic and brushed that over the entire surface of the crust for some added flavor. Next time, I think I’m going to use powdered garlic as it has a stronger flavor.

Sauce

I used the sauce as it was after tasting it. For $0.89, I was pretty impressed. It had a good flavor without being overwhelming.

I do think using homemade sauce would take the pizza to the next level, but this night was about homemade pizza in a flash.

Toppings

I used what I had on hand, which was:

Pork sausage
Pepperoni
Onions
Mushrooms (actually borrowed these from my parents)

I browned the sausage and onions together along with three cloves of garlic for flavoring. I crushed them a bit but left them whole so I could pick them back out easily.

I then added the pepperonis and mushrooms to warm them slightly.

I spread all this on top of the sauce and then added some dry Parmesan cheese.

Finally, I placed bits of torn up Provolone all around the pizza and topped the entire thing with shredded Mozzarella.

Back and Bottom Cooking

One trick to getting great crust for an at-home pizza is to put the pizza on the bottom rack and toward the back (rotate once halfway through). I was glad to see the instructions on the Kroger pizza crust mix called for this technique.

I’m going to be experimenting with some different techniques to get the crust just so.

Cost Comparison

So, this made a huge pizza. I’d say close to an XL from Papa John’s as a comparison. So, I went over to the Papa John’s website and I put in the same toppings for an XL, a three-cheese blend and extra cheese. The sample pizza in their little app looks surprisinging like the one I made.

Their cost? $25.49 (plus I’d have to pay tax here in Indiana for purchasing food from a restaurant, but I don’t pay tax for groceries I buy from the store).

Now, I’m going to assume I could find a coupon and get this pizza for around $20.00. I can almost always find a coupon when ordering pizza.

Just to compare, here is what I used for my pizza and the cost of each item:

Kroger pizza crust mix – 2 packages at $0.59 each = $1.18
Kroger pizza sauce – $0.89, but I only used half the jar, so going to count as = $0.45
Pepperoni – I paid $2.99 for the package of pepperoni I had here. I used half of it. = $1.50
Sausage – I paid $2.50 for Kroger brand mild pork sausage. used half. = $1.25
Onion – I had a bag here but don’t remember what I paid. I’m going to guess for the half onion I used. = $0.25
Mushrooms – My dad brought these over because I was out. I’m going to allow the amount for full price on this item, but you can probably get it much cheaper than this if you shop sales and stock up. = $0.75
Parmesan cheese – I had this on hand, too, and only used a very small amount. The entire jar was $2.00 after coupons, so = $0.25
Provolone cheese – I used two slices out of a package of Kroger brand sliced provolone. I paid $1.99 when the cheese was on sale. It has 8 slices total. = $0.50
Mozzarella cheese – I used half the package of shredded Moz, which I paid $1.99 for as well (Kroger brand). = $1.00Total cost = $7.13

So, it is less than half the take out pizza. Plus, we had two huge slices left that I took over to my parents, but we could have used for leftovers if we’d wanted to.

My Verdict

Overall, this pizza turned out really tasty and filling. We enjoyed it and it was definitely better than any place around here where you can buy a pizza.

It was very filling. I was stuffed after one slice, but ate two. I think it was because I added way more toppings than the typical chain does.

The crust didn’t have a ton of flavor, but tweaking it helped. It was still better than the chain restaurant pizzas, though, and very easy to make.

I don’t think it would have heated up very well the next day, which is why I decided to share it instead of keeping it. You can just kind of tell when a pizza will be tasty cold or reheated and when it won’t.

Stay tuned. I’ll be experimenting with making my own crust next time.

You Can Help Your Kids with Homework and Teach Them at the Same Time

March 25, 2016 September 11, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Recently, my youngest daughter came to me upset because she wasn’t doing well in one of her first college courses as a freshman. She misunderstood what the professor wanted and she had one of “those” professors who are very specific in what they want and how they want it. She’d messed up.

She was stressed and in tears. It reminded me of a few times throughout my girls’ school careers when they’ve felt completely overwhelmed because they were struggling with this or that topic. While both of my daughters are smart, everyone struggles from time to time and feels like this.

Whether your child just started kindergarten or is in college like my girls, you will likely be faced with this situation at some point. It’s tough. Sometimes your child is completely overwhelmed and in tears or panic mode. She probably wants you to step in and rescue her, but what does she really learn if you do the work for her? Nothing, that is what she learns. She learns that she doesn’t have to learn because you’ll do the work for her.

Become a Team

Think about the times in your life when you’ve learned the most. It is likely when you’ve worked alongside a kind mentor. Perhaps your grandmother let you help her cook and now you’re a brilliant baker. Helping kids through rough patches at school is exactly like that. If you’ve gone through something similar successfully, then you know the tools needed to do the task. Come alongside your child as a teammate and help her.

Read Over the Requirements

The first thing I knew that my daughter needed to do was to read very carefully over the requirements. However, she was pretty hysterical when I suggested it and kept insisting she’d read the syllabus. For a younger child, this might simply be the directions at the top of a worksheet.

So, I asked her to bring them to me and I sat with her and began reading them. As I read, I pointed out different specifics offered right there in print. She realized she’d missed a few things. My daughter has always been a kinetic learner, so I encouraged her to underline the specific requirements. This made it a hands-on method for her.

Since she is older, I also told her she needs to do this for all her courses.

Encourage Fixes

Once your child understands the assignments, encourage her to fix issues. Even if you aren’t turning the assignment back in, fix it together so she’ll know for the big test or the future. This part of the process requires a lot of praise. Your child is already feeling vulnerable. My daughter came right out and said she must be stupid or having a learning disability. I don’t believe she has a disability. She is definitely not stupid, but is very bright.

So, during the time she pulled up her papers and prepared to submit them the correct way, I told her things like:

See? This is easy. You’ve got this.
Now that you fixed this, you shouldn’t have any more trouble.
You’re smart. You’ll figure this out. The first semester of college is always difficult. It will get easier.
Some professors are pickier about how things are handed in than others. The key is to figure out what each professor wants and do it that way for that class. Most will tell you right in the syllabus.
I’m right here and I’ll sit with you as you make sure each assignment is right and help you understand anything you need.
You’re lucky. This is a topic I’m great in (or your grandpa is great in, etc.). I can help!

Keep Helping

My daughter expressed concern about how turning in her papers the incorrect way was going to impact her grade and if she was on the right track with her paper. I offered to come alongside her and help. While I will not do the work for her (that would not only be cheating, but she wouldn’t learn anything), I did offer her some constructive feedback. For example, I explained how she was making her topic too broad and gave her an example of a different topic and how I’d narrow that. This allows her to see how you narrow a topic without me actually narrowing that topic for her. She still has to do the work, but hopefully understands it better.

So, if you are helping your child with math, explain the overall concept with the problem she is working on and then use different examples to show her how they are worked. Finally, ask her to try to rework that problem and see if she gets the concept. It is far more important that she understands how to add a positive and negative number than that she only knows how to work a problem like 3 + -10.

I assured my daughter that I would take the time to look over her work and offer her suggestions. That she should also listen to her peers as this professor has time built in for peer feedback. If she does these things and fixes any issues she finds, she should get pretty decent grades in this 100 level course.

Share the Big Picture

My daughter wanted a 4.0 her first semester. I thought this might be a little unrealistic when she told me, but I don’t want to discourage her either. It is just tough your first semester sometimes. It’s a big adjustment. One thing she kept saying when she was crying her heart out was that her 4.0 was messed up.

I told her that it was fine. She could still get a good grade and she could always retake the class if she wanted to (over the summer or even next semester) and improve her grade. I also told her that in life she is going to face difficult situations and that the key is to figure out how to make the best you can out of them. However, there is usually an out. For example, drop the class and retake it later, or take it again to replace the grade.

I don’t always handle every situation perfectly. However, I do think I handled this minor bump pretty well today. My daughter feels confident she can turn things around now and she’s learned a valuable lesson about carefully reading instructions and that college professors aren’t going to walk you through every step of the process. I suspect she won’t run into this issue again.

I hope that these tips help you the next time there is a homework meltdown in your home. Do you have any other tips for helping your child in these situations?