Cleaning Tips

Cleaning Tips

Since we are officially in the beginning of Spring, I thought I’d pass along a couple of useful spring cleaning tips.

Cleaning Tip # 1

The other day, when I was making my St. Patrick’s Day lentil stuffed cabbage rolls, I accidentally boiled all the water out of my steamer. It made a big crusty, nasty black, burnt mess on the bottom of my pan. This is not my pan, but you get the idea:



(Chris said it was like Chernobyl with the smoke and stink- ha ha)

Well, I thought it was going to be a nightmare to clean up…and then I recalled a nifty trick to clean nasty burnt pans.

First, don’t let it soak too long…meaning don’t let it get cold. It will be immeasurably easier to clean while it is still warm. Do go ahead and get some hot water going in the pan with a bit of soap right away to help loosen things up.

Next, after soaking for just a bit, use a nylon scraper (I have tons from Pampered Chef) to scrape as much of the nasty off as you can.

THEN dump out the pan so it is mostly dry and add a couple of generous tablespoonfuls of baking soda. Using a scrubby pad, scrub the baking soda (it should be somewhat paste like) all around the pan. You will be amazed at how quickly and easily it cleans up the nastiest of burnt on crud!

Cleaning Tip # 2

Okay, admit it. Sometimes the inside of your microwave looks like this:




This is not a picture of my microwave. But, I will admit, the inside of my microwave has been known to be icky.

Not anymore! I have found the secret to an easy clean microwave. It is simple.
Take a glass, microwave proof, 2 cup measuring cup and fill it with water. Add either the juice of half a lemon or a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice.

Stick this in the microwave on high for 5-8 minutes, depending on how crusty the inside of your microwave is. The water will start to boil and steam. This is good!
When the timer goes off, *carefully* remove the very hot boiling water from the microwave and put it somewhere where you won’t accidentally knock it over and scald yourself. (I am clumsy; you may not need this advice.)

Next, simply take a hot wash cloth and wipe the gunk out. It will all be loosened up and the majority of it will wipe clean! All that steamy hot lemon water will have loosened up all the bits and the lemon does double duty: it is antibacterial and it also helps clean the nasty odor out. Couldn’t be simpler and only takes a few
minutes!

You never need to have blackened pots or crusty microwave again!

Now, if someone can just tell me an easy way to keep the shower clean….