Cleaning your self-cleaning oven by hand (without chemicals)

So. Who has a self-cleaning oven? Who actually uses the self-cleaner? ... I mean, it is such a hassle right? The smell alone drives me bat shit and I usually end up leaving the house praying it doesn't catch fire, the heat it puts off is unbearable (unless you're in the dead of winter), and then of course you have to vacuum out the ashes, right? It isn't exactly a fool proof method to say the least. My oven was disgusting and I looked at it daily and put it off for quite a long time. I really didn't want to take the self-cleaning route for obvious reasons and I know with a self-cleaning oven that once you use a chemical cleaner on it you can kiss the self-cleaning option goodbye. Well, in the future I may want to utilize that but for now I needed a way to clean the damn thing without chemicals. So, I did my research and found that more often than not baking soda did the trick! 

No chemicals! I played around and found what worked for me and now I want to share it with you!

Here is how you do this!

**I warn, it does take a little muscle but it was a good work out and better than smelling the burning of the self-clean and your oven won't look, by any means, "new" but it will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was when you started. For me, that was all I needed it to do!**

What you need:

Baking Soda

( at least 1 box, 2 for good measure especially if you put your oven cleaning off for a while)

Dawn 

White Vinegar

Sponge with a scrubbing side

Paper Towels or Older dish cloths

Water 

Mop Bucket

Dish washing Gloves

Basically you make a paste.

I emptied the contents of one box of baking soda into a bowl.

I added a little bit of water at a time until I had a paste consistency.

Lastly, I mixed in about 1/2 tsp of Dawn for some grease busting power. Ha!

See how gross!

(Secretly, the oven was pretty bad when we bought our house a little over a year ago, I tried the self clean method and couldn't handle it and gave it up. Now, here we are!)

Wearing those handy, dandy, gloves smear the pasty mixture on the surfaces of your oven.

I had to use both boxes of baking soda to get full coverage of all sides and the oven door.

Once you have the paste covering all surfaces, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes. 

This is where it gets gross and messy and you have to put some muscle in to it.

I did it, though and if I did it, I know you can do it too!

Fill your mop bucket with water, as warm as you can stand, throw in the sponge and get to work. Using the abrasive side scrub your oven's innards. Once you feel you have gotten most of the stuck on grime to loosen up you want to scoop up the paste with your hands first and toss it in the bowl you used to mix it in. Then with the sponge and dish cloth wipe out the excess paste.

Once it is all cleaned up, I use a vinegar/water mixture out of an old spray bottle to shine it up. Spray it on and let it sit for just a few minutes and with a clean, dry dish cloth wipe down your oven.

I promise it won't be easy but it definitely makes a difference!

Now like I said, It will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was. As you can see there are some dark spots around the edges and a few spots on the bottom of the oven from an unfortunate pie filling spillage, but I am happy with the results and next time, I can still use my self-clean option if I'd like!!

Happy Cleaning!!

Banana Bread made with Coconut Oil!

I buy bananas and rarely do I run out. In other words I usually buy bananas just to watch them ripen, and rot. I really need to start forcing my family to eat their fruit! Until then, my overly ripe bananas get put to good use making this amazing recipe and this time I used a little twist and substituted oil and butter with coconut oil!!!

Banana Bread

with coconut oil 

Preheat your oven to 325*

Makes 2 large loaves

Dry Ingredients

3 cups flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon (I use a little extra)

1/2 tsp ground ginger powder

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together and set aside!

Mash 3 to 4 ripe or previously frozen bananas. 

I prefer ripe bananas to frozen, brown, slimy ones. ;)

For a little more moisture since I am using just ripe bananas I like to add some form of 100% juice to my mashed bananas. In this case the pink tint to the bananas comes from Tropicana Farmstand Strawberry Banana juice. You can use this or skip it. It is a personal preference.

If you chose to use it, 1/4 cup is all you need!

Set the bananas aside and start working on your wet mixture.

Wet Ingredients

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter 

(Substitute Coconut Oil at 1:1 ratio, in other words use the same amount)

3 eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

(Substitute Coconut Oil at 1:1 ratio, in other words use the same amount)

First mix together your sugars and the 1/4 cup of coconut oil until it is well mixed

add 1 egg at a time

once all of your eggs are incorporated into the sugar mixture you can add your pure vanilla and the 1/2 cup of coconut oil.

Mix all together and you're ready for the next step!

**(you can either melt your coconut oil or leave it as a soft solid, I don't recommend using really firm coconut oil, it mixes better if it is soft or in a liquid state)**

add your bananas to the wet mixture and stir or use your electric mixer on slow speed

once you have mixed the wet ingredients together you can add the dry mixture

stir together with a spoon until it is well mixed. 

generously oil your pans with coconut oil or you can use cooking spray

I prefer to stick with coconut oil for this recipe

evenly distribute your batter into your oiled pans

bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 325*

insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf to check if it is done, if the toothpick comes out clean then the bread is done!

There you have it! Two perfectly delicious loaves of banana bread!

Enjoy!

-N

Nifty Baby Products 101

Last October, for the most part, I felt like I had became a new mom when I had my daughter. 

My parents helped raise my son who is now 9 and even though I have been in my youngest step-daughters life since she was 5 months old, I still felt like I was in a whole new world of parenting. 

Surprisingly enough, there are sooo many nifty things for babies on the market now that I don't remember finding before. I wanted to share all these nifty things I have came across and my experiences with them, what made life easier, harder and what to get and what not to waste your money on. Here we go....

I bottle fed my son formula. At 16, breastfeeding just seemed... weird. He is a happy, healthy 9 year old today and I fully support mothers who choose to formula feed as well as breastfeed. However, after some consideration and conversations regarding breastfeeding (as well as our limited finances) my husband and I agreed that we would first try breastfeeding before introducing our daughter to formula. It was new to both of us, as this would be the first breastfed baby either of us had.

Sore, so sore! First on my list if must haves, Lansinoh HPA Lanolin cream. Lifesaver, hands down. 

I was horribly sore and her latch wasn't the greatest so a nurse suggested a nipple shield, at first, WOW! What a life saver, 6 months into it, not so much...If you use one of these, attempt to wean as soon as you can. Fortunately for me, my daughter just decided one day to eat with out it and started nursing normally, perfect latch and all! 

Now that we have covered my two most useful items for breastfeeding, I need to list some things that wasted my money. Bottles. I do pump so I needed something to feed her out of. So of course trying to find a bottle that had a similar nipple so she wouldn't get nipple confusion lead me to buying like 5 different types of bottles. NOW, I have a cupboard full of useless bottles and I maybe use like 2 of them. Research bottles before you buy them to ensure you are going to get the right bottle the first go round OR find someone like me who has tried every kind and ask to borrow a few to experiment with. I find that the MAM bottles and NUK orthodontic bottles work the best for me. :)

I love these now that she is older, simple for her to hold, simple for me to wash! She seems to be OK with the orthodontic nipple on these even though she doesn't like the pacifiers with the orthodontic nipple... who knows!

Anti-Colic bottles by MAM, they are a 5 part assembly but they do work well if you have a baby that has colic.

I have used both of these bottles and they are great!

Binkis, as I like to call them or for some pacifiers. At first I thought I had wasted money in buying them because my daughter didn't have much interest in them, until of course my mom gave her one around 5 months, now we take one everywhere. I personally love the MAM brand when it comes to pacifiers. I tried the Gumdrop brand as well as some orthodontic type pacifiers and she seemed to take really well to the flat, rounded nipple that MAM offers. Win!

The MAM Original and MAM Air are two of my favorites. Super cute designs as well!! 

Also, these are the best thing ever, pacifier clips always save you the hassle of lost or dirty binkis!

Introducing solids. I wanted, first of all, organic. I wanted to be that mom. So I used my rewards from my credit card and obtained a nifty 3.5 cup KitchenAid mini food processor. It is wonderful!! If you were to buy it, you're looking at spending around $50, which isn't horrible if you enjoy cooking. Purchasing a mini food processor has a lot more uses when your child is older vs. trying to figure out what to do with your Baby Bullet later on down the road.

I started out buying organic veggies and fruits and taught myself the ins and outs of making your own baby food. I introduced her to Avocados, Apples, Bananas, Squash, Carrots, Green Beans and Mango, all organic. It got old quick though, and I figured now that she has been introduced to a good number of solids that I could venture off into the world of store bought baby food. Still organic.

I did my homework and decided to go with organic pouches. They are the greatest for traveling. They take up a lot less room too!

So far I have tried three different brands and I have no complaints and neither does my little one!

You can feed them directly out of the pouch or put it in a bowl and spoon feed. So nifty!!

Earth's Best has great flavors!

Love these, they offer some unique combinations and my little one eats them up like crazy!

Think about trying these after you have introduced basics though.

Lastly, these are great tasting too. And cute! 

**I always taste before hand just to ensure they aren't spoiled**

A few more items I have tried...

These spoons are great, the bright colors always get my lil one's attention. 

Also, Munchkin brand, these are great for teethers. I love to put ice in them and let my daughter go to town.

Lastly, this was a super awesome idea, but a waste of money for me. It has a small opening so only super smooth purees will work with it and it is a pain to clean. Also, with using food pouches it is really unnecessary. 

Bath Time!

I can't lie, when I saw the Blooming Bath for the first time, I wanted one so bad. SO, I got one. They are super cute, amazingly soft and as a four day old, my daughter took a bath in one like a champ. However, they are a pain to ring out and without proper care I assume they would start to smell sour and musty in no time. I do love it, but I wouldn't spend $40 on another one.

These however, are pretty awesome and easy to maintain.

They aren't outrageously priced either!

I could go on forever, over every little product I have bought and tried but I will end it with three products I swear by...

This got rid of diaper rash extremely fast for me. Unscented and doesn't make a mess. It is a clear ointment so it won't leave a big white mess on your babies bum!

This stuff is amazing (aside from using breast milk) to clear out a stuffy nose!

Lastly, the bubblegum flavor is the best, but the most appealing quality is the mess free bottle. You insert the syringe into the top of the medicine bottle, tip it and pull out the amount you desire! Best thing ever!!

I am sure over the next 5 months I will stumble across a few more nifty and not so nifty items for little ones, until then I hope what I have shared with you now saves you some time and money when it comes to baby products! 

Until then,

-N