How to Choose a Tie and Fold a Pocket Square

Spicy Mayo

 

I like spicy hot. Master doesn't so much. When he goes out of town. I make comfort food and french fries or tator tots with a dipping sauce is always a good comfort food to me.  So I recently made a fish sandwich and didn't want tarter or chili sauce on it and made this to not only dip fries into, but add to my fish sandwich.  It was completely yummy! I now use it as a condiment on many sandwiches and hamburgers too. It is really easy to make.
 

Ingredients: 

3 Tablespoons mayo 

1 Tablespoon Sriracha, Tabasco or any chili hot sauce

Directions: 

* In bowl, combine ingredients and mix until smooth. 

* Use as dip for fries or chips or spread on your favorite sandwich

Cleaning a Coffee Grinder

Add a couple tablespoons to a handful of rice into the grinder. Grind the rice into fine particles and it will soak up the oils left from coffee beans, absorb odor and clean out residual grounds. Discard the rice and wipe clean with a dry cloth or use a clean paint brush to brush any left over particles.

Top row of 3 photos: 1) adding rice, 2) grinding rice, and 3) using a brush to clean up the left over particles
Bottom row of 2 photos:  1) Before starting this process, and 2) Clean grinder after using the rice to clean it.

Ironing Shirts and Press Pants

Cold Solutions: Warm Compress & Steam Shower

Right now I have a summer cold. I hate colds, but summer colds always seem the worst. So I have a ton of pressure in my head and my chest is rattling.   I have 2 quick little tips: Homemade Warm Compress and Steam Shower Tip

Warm Compress
This first one can be done one of 2 ways...
1) I put water in a dish - a inch or 2, sometimes I add a couple drops of peppermint oil if I am needing to open up my nasal passages and clear my chest, add a hand towel and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.  (I microwave it until it is hot enough to handle with my hands as I will need to wring it out.)  Take and wring out and stick in ziplock and stick that in a pillow case.  Or if cool enough to handle then just use straight ziplock on face across nasal passages.

2) Wet a hand towel, add a few drops of peppermint oil if needing to open up nasal passages and clear chest congestion,  place hand towel into ziplock (do not zip it closed), place in microwave for 30 seconds to 1 min.  Again enough so that isn't too hot to handle.  If it is then use tongs, to take out of microwave and place in pillowcase and allow to cool slightly before laying it across your nasal passages.

DO NOT put anything too hot to handle on your body.  DO NOT keep in one position if it seems to be burning.  If just needing relief from pressure, you don't need to add the peppermint oil. Just the warm compress alone will help give some temporary relief.

Steam Shower Tip
Just add a one or two drops of peppermint oil to your shower. I just sprinkle it in one corner of the shower - where the hot water can hit.  I then turn on the water hot enough for me to be a comfortable temp shower.  Breath in.

How to Sew on a Button

Beat It & Whip It Kitchen Towels

 

I think these are so cute! The shop is on vacation, but just passing on the info for future use.  

(photo from The Coin Laundry Etsy shop)

Vinegar Tip: Pet Repellant

I know this might not work for everyone, but I thought I would share what has worked for our cats. Again, I know all pets are different so this might not work with yours.

We have 2 cats and our one cat has been known to get in the trash and drag out bones or just packaging for chicken or other meat.  Such as when I make chicken and throw the packaging away, he will jump up and pull that packaging out of the trash and lick it. GROSSES me out so much! Not only that he is licking the chicken package that had raw chicken in it hours before, but then he might step in it and then track that juice all around the house.  Yep grosses me out and I can't think about it too much or I really go into OCD type cleaning. 

I got to a point of putting any meat packaging or bones into a plastic grocery sack and bringing them out to the trash cans outside after, but well that can be annoying as well as we then had other animals get into trash outside, because it is easier to get to in little grocery bags. The smell seems to be attract them more easily when they are in grocery sacks instead of the big kitchen trash bags.

So I tried a couple of things, like thoroughly washing the packaging before throwing it away. It was in doing that I looked over and saw my vinegar spray bottle sitting on the counter.  I had noticed when I spray that over the counters when I wipe them down before bed - it keeps the cats off the counter while we sleep.  I thought why won't it work for the trash. Now I just throw the packaging into the kitchen trash can and then spray it thoroughly with straight distilled white vinegar right after throwing it away.  If it something our boy cat especially enjoys, I will give it one more spray before bed, but really once the packaging has been coated with the vinegar the first time, he doesn't like to touch it.

I did google to make sure vinegar is safe for pets and then asked a vet tech to make sure and she said it used often with pets in a variety of situations.

French Bread Pizza

I like quick meals for when we are especially busy. This year has been non-stop going. Really I think we have been home about 5 weeks total out since the end of the February. It helps me not feel so guilty when I actually sit and think about it like that, because otherwise I start beating myself up about how I haven't been cooking anything new or really in depth.

One of my favorite quick meals is French Bread Pizza, because it is really versatile and so easy! I will give you the basic recipe and then give you lots of topping ideas as wells as tips to make it even more easy and quick at the end.

Recipe:
1 loaf of French Bread (about 18 to 20 inches long)
Sauce
Cheese
Desired Seasonings
Desired Topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425. 
2. Slice French Bread in half - length-wise. 
3. Spread with sauce. 
4. Top with  desired seasonings, cheese, and desired toppings. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes. 
6. Let cool for a few minutes and then slice into big pieces (4 per half)  or smaller skinny slices for a party food. 

Topping Ideas:
Sauce:  Our favorite sauce isn't really sauce, but just a small can of tomato paste.  A small can willl cover both halves of the French Bread.  Other sauce ideas that I have used before: small can of tomato sauce, store bought pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce, homemade spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes with the liquid drained, a white sauce such as Alfredo or BBQ

Desired Seasonings: If you aren't using a pizza or spaghetti sauce, you might need some seasonings these are my favorite that I add on top of the sauce: A seasoning mix such as Penzeys (which is what I use) or Italian seasoning mix, oregeno, basil, or garlic powder or salt, onion powder or salt, red pepper flakes

Cheese:  Mozzarella, colby/jack mix, Asiago, Parmesan, Romano, feta, provolone

Toppings:
Meat: Pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, ham, ground beef, chorizo, chicken, prosciutto, shrimp
Vegetables:  Mushrooms, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, green peppers, green onions, jalapenos or green chilies, spinach, cherry tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, sweet corn
Other: Pineapple chunks, black beans, fresh basil, garlic,capers

Pizza Ideas:
Our Favorite:  Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Black Olive, Red peppers and Onions with Colby/Jack Cheese and Provolone

2nd Favorite: Chicken, fresh basil, sliced tomatoes and with really any cheese and red or white sauce

Southwest:  Chicken and/or Chirizo, black beans, spinach, corn, jaapenos or green chilies and topped with colby/jack cheese

Sweet and Sour:  Pineapple and ham

BBQ:  BBQ Sauce,  chicken, onions, bacon, and colby/jack cheese.


Tips: 
* Buy French Bread loaves and on day old bread racks at the grocery store.
* Put loaves in freezer and pull out just an hour or 2 before going to make pizza or make up pizzas with toppings and then wrap for freezer. Store in freezer until ready to put in oven and increase cook time by adding 5 or 10 more minutes.  I sometimes take  it out 15 to 30 mins before cooking and that seems to make cook time be closer to the orginial 10 minutes in the basic recipe. 
* It is really good party food - just slice into thin slices to feed a larger group.
* I like serving with a salad as a side, but good just making them and eating straight out of the oven without a side. 

Cleaning Suitcases

I am sure if you are a regular reader of Domestic Servitude that you will have noticed that this year has lacked posts.  Master's job has a lot more traveling to it and I am blessed that I get to go along. But with that comes lots of packing, unpacking and repacking. 

When we come home from a trip, I unpack and get ready to do laundry, but I also have a little cleaning I do to the bags we use on our trips.  If I get to thinking about it too much, I can become a germophobe, but thinking about where our suitcases have been has had countless other people who might not be as clean does sometimes get under my skin.  So when I come home, I take my homemade cleaner of tea tree oil, vinegar, liquid soap and water and spray the inside and outside of all our bags. If I use totes that are washable, I throw them into the washer. But suitcases and other travel bags such as our laundry bag aren't washable. So I spray them with the homemade cleaner as it has disinfecting properties in it. I also take a cloth that I wet with the hottest water I can stand to hold and wipe down the interior as well as exterior of our suitcase including the rolling wheels and handles. Making sure to get into crevices. I let them air dry. Also you might want to test a spot before wiping down with a cloth with hot water on it as it can fade some. 

Why do I go through all this trouble? Well, I want you to just think about this for a moment and maybe it won't bother you - but I know it bothers me. When we come home, we often threw our suitcase up on the bed.  Now if you have been to a hotel that ends up having bed bugs...you now have potentially just passed on to your bed.So another suggestion is not to throw your suitcase on the bed, but to unpack in a bathroom or laundry room. I like to put on top of the washer and dryer and start sorting clothes right away in there. Then I can clean it easily in there also and let it air dry. 

*Photo is taken in our bedroom as the light and space to take a photo in our laundry room is horrible.

Traveling Food

I have mentioned that we have been traveling a lot.  I had been losing some weight, but with all our traveling and eating out, I stalled. I haven't gained any thankfully, but I haven't lost any either.  

Here are some things I am doing to help with food while traveling as eating out every meal costs quite a bit as well as not being very healthy.  When we travel, I always pack a cooler. We almost always stay in a hotel that has a mini-fridge too which always is a great asset when traveling. But even if we don't get one we have the cooler. I have those ice bricks and love them as they keep the food colder longer than ice cubes. I like that I can put those bricks into the mini-fridge - freezer section to have frozen and ready for our return trip.

So this is what I pack when traveling....

I pack small snack size ziplocks with grapes, sliced/cubed cheese or string cheese, pickles, baby carrots, baby peppers, or sliced peppers. I then take those little bags and put in a bigger ziplock, so that I just don't have lots of little bags floating around the ice. I put little containers of ranch dressing or bean dip to dunk veggies.  I bring other fruit with us - bananas and apples with us too.  Make sure you wash all fruits and veggies before you go so you can eat in the car easily.

Other traveling snacks I pack at times are trail mix or crackers that I put in snack size ziplocks for portion control as welly as just easier to have a little bag then a box or bigger bag. For something sweet, I will make cookies or bars so that we aren't picking up candy bar or other sweet treats.  Sometimes of course we indulge as our area doesn't have Dunkin Donuts so when in a town that has one we usually do part take in the puffy pillows of goodness. 

For breakfasts, I add some containers of yogurt to the cooler and bake some muffins. I also try to make at least the first day of travel meals - lunch and dinner - if not a couple of lunches. Such as packing sandwich/wrap makings - bread/tortilla shells and lunch meat, slices of tomato, spinach or lettuce.  If  I am just planning for one lunch/dinner then I will make up sandwiches for us knowing they will be ate that day.  I sometimes make a pasta salad or garden salad with some shredded chicken to top it as alternative.  (Extra little tip - if I bring wrap ingredients a quick easy lunch or snack is also using some bean dip/hummus, sliced peppers, tomatoes and spinach on a tortillas. Yums!)

When packing, I also remember to pack silverware including a knife that will cut apples or bread if needed, paper plates, paper towels, baby wipes for sticky fingers, and condiments. I try to keep it down to one salad dressing we both like and one condiment such as Dijon so that I am not having the cooler overloaded with things we will use so little of on the trip.   (Extra tip: We have a Sprouts here, but I am pretty sure Whole Foods has them too, but they sell the little almond and healthy Nutella spread in little condiment size packages like you get ketchup in when eating fast food - really nice for apples or crackers on the road.)

We always buy a case of bottled water - to keep hydrated during this hot hot summer and to discourage us from stopping from soda as much. When you pack your silverware, you might throw in a corkscrew also. Sometimes picking up a bottle of wine on the road especially an area that has local wineries is always a nice treat while in a hotel room after a long day of being on the road. 

Really, I know that has to be other stuff that could be easily packed and used for trips....please feel free to share your tips!

Extra Plastic Bag Storage Tip

I have a long tube like storage that hangs in the pantry for plastic bags. It is one that you shove the bags in one end and pull them out on the other end.  But sometime that fills up. We re-use  plastic bags for emptying cat litter as well as many other uses so I like having as many around and just like the thought of reusing them.

I have 4 empty tissue boxes that I now keep around and stuff with any extras.  I really like having them around because they are easy to tote.  Places I use them:

• When deep cleaning, I bring a box into the room I am cleaning and start making bags for donate, toss, stuff that needs moved to another room and just general stuff I need to organize better. Those things put in the appropriate bag and then I sit down and organize it better after the room is clean or at an appropriate time such as before I am heading to Goodwill.  But just having a box of these to pull from instead of having several loose bags around the room until I use them makes things just easier and neater.
• When we travel, I love putting a box in the car to use for trash sacks or for overflow if a suitcase or travel bag  is getting over packed/stuffed - then I have extra sacks to use to hold things. 
• When cleaning outside or cleaning the car, I bring them for trash.

Tuesday Tips: Hydrogen Peroxide

When I clean the kitchen after dinner, I wipe the faucet down pretty good. But every few days I take a toothbrush to it and scrub in between all the little grooves. After, I am done scrubbing it,  I will do a spray of straight vinegar or hydrogen peroxide or sometimes both. Sometimes I let it air dry and other times I use a clean cotton towel and wipe dry to a shine. Well, tonight I went to spray the peroxide and not the vinegar and noticed that the peroxide did the foaming bubbles like it will do when you pour it on a cut or infection. After saying gross a few times out loud to the faucet, I realized that I have been oblivious to the fact that I am probably more times then not leaving behind stuff that would make me say ewww.  Here all these years, I never noticed that it bubbles after I spray it on the faucet - why I am not sure as I have been doing that for years. But I am thankful now that I have a little test to see if it is clean. I use hydrogen peroxide often for disinfecting.  Now I will pay closer attention to see if it is working.

So tonight I scrubbed, rinsed and repeated until there weren't any foaming bubbles. The picture below is with the foaming bubbles. I couldn't capture it after it was clean as it just was a reflection of the liquid and fuzzy looking on the photo.

Top 10 Most Viewed Posts

I was searching through the blog as I had a topic I wanted to write about, but was sure I must have covered it before so I was going through old posts where stats are listed right next to the title of the posts on the backend of blogger.  So I found the top 10 most visited posts on Domestic Servitude and thought I would share them with you.

Top 10 Posts
1. How to Wash Pillows
2. Spring Cleaning - Printable Lists
3. Fall Cleaning - Printable Lists and helpful links in cleaning
4. Freezer Breakfast Muffins
5. Dandilion Massage Oil
6.  Rheya's Slow Cooker Roast
7. All About Eggs
8. Slow Cooker Ham and Beans Soup
9. Creme Brulee French Toast
10. Baked Brie with Fruits and Nuts

Chicken and Stuffing Bake

I had this dish at a friends house years and years ago. It was before I was very good at cooking, but this looked like something I could handle.  You can find similar recipes on Kraft, but I am giving it to you how my friend gave it to me.  It is something I make when I need easy as I am just really opening packages up and mixing it up to bake. It does contain box mix, cream of chicken and such, but you can swap those things out for homemade.

1 pkg. Stuffing Mix for Chicken (6 to 8oz pkg)
3 pieces of bread - your choice - toasted and cubed
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 can  (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup  sour cream
1 to 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed, drained

Directions:
Heat oven to 375ºF.

Prepare stuffing as directed on package. Add cubed toast to stuff mix.

Mix remaining ingredients in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with stuffing.

Bake 30 min. or until chicken is done.


NOTES:
* A friend who started me on this recipe said that the one box of stuffing didn't quite cover the whole 9x13 so she added the toast as it mixed easily in with the stuffing mix. You can add a handful of croutons or bread cubes instead of toast - that was just her quick way of making the stuffing stretch.

* I have used low-fat sour cream with this and doesn't change the taste to me at all

* I add 2 cups frozen vegetables, but my friend only added 1 cup.

* I have used homemade stuffing - about 2 1/2 cups.

Tuesday Tips: Dishwasher Tips

I am a little OCD when it comes to loading the dishwasher - okay maybe more than a little. I like it all to be put in a certain way as it maximizes space and creates easier routine for unloading. 

One of my little tips for loading the dishwasher is sorting the dirty silverware as I load it into the silverware rack in the dishwasher before running it. It makes unloading it so much easier. So all the forks go in one compartment, all the spoons in another, and so on and so forth.  

Bonus Dishwasher Tips

*  Vinegar - Run your dishwasher empty, but dump a cup of the distilled white vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher.  Set to a normal cycle and let it run.  It helps clean old smells and particles out of the dishwasher as well as disinfect it.  I do this every 4 to 6 weeks.

*  Hot Water - Turn your faucet on and let it run until it is hot water is flowing. If you turn on your hot water faucet and it takes a moment to get hot, then it is same for your dishwasher. By running faucet and get the hot water flowing, then the pipes are filling with hot water. 

* Dishwasher Soap -  About 2 years ago I tried a homemade dishwasher soap, but it didn't really work well.  So I ended up going back to store-bought detergent.  One thing I did change when going back to store-bought detergent was cutting back on the amount of detergent I use.  I fill the compartment about half way to less than half and now my dishes have less spotty build up and still clean. 

BLT Pasta

I have meltdowns every so often.  It happens when I am overtired, overly busy and stressed.  I am not sure why I choose to make a new recipe when I am already having those kinds of obstacles, but the first time I made this recipe - I made it much more complicated than I should have because I skimmed the recipe and didn't actually read it before making this dish.  I almost always read recipes all the way through, but of course being overwhelmed with life made me skip that step and caused further issues.  I had a total meltdown in the while cooking when I realized I skipped a step/ingredient.  In the end it still turned out tasty, but it caused more headaches then I needed.  Master always loves walking into the kitchen with a hysterical crying slave (that was sarcasm).  Anyway, I am seriously happy I tried this recipe again after the meltdown because I really love the flavor of this dish. It is so pretty to look at as well as eat. We have had it several time and every time we have it, I am amazed by the flavor.

6 strips bacon, diced
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup leeks, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
9 oz dry spaghetti noodles
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

Garlic Croutons  - made mine but store bought would work

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Saute the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook until crisp, then set aside on paper towel.   Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon drippings, and drain off remaining oil.

Caramelize the tomatoes and sugar in the bacon drippings in large and deep skillet or sauce pan, over medium heat.  Cook until tomatoes begin to soften and brown, approximately 3 minutes.  Add the leeks and cook for an additional 3 minutes, or until leeks soften.

Deglaze with wine and allow sauce to simmer until the wine is nearly evaporated and sauce is thick.  Add the broth, vinegar, and pepper flakes.  Simmer until reduced by 1/3, approximately 5 minutes.

Add the spinach, and bacon to the sauce, then add the cooked pasta.  Toss lightly until pasta is well coated with sauce and tomato mixture is incorporated.  Season with salt as needed.  Top each serving with garlic croutons.

Makes 4 servings.

NOTES:
* Although I think deglazing always makes flavor more deep sometimes I skip deglazing steps and really in this case I think the caramelizing adds the depth of flavor to the tomatoes.  So if you don't want to deglaze - you could up the chicken broth just a bit and skip the deglazing step.  Need to up the broth, because if you skip the wine step you still need a little more liquid for sauce in the recipe.

* I am leaving 2 cups of spinach in the recipe, but I will say the last few times I have made this I have upped the spinach to 3 cups and like having more green in it.  Really doesn't change flavor - just getting more green in the diet.

* If you don't have leeks, green onions work in a pinch too.

April's Menu

March 31 - April 6
Sun - Leftovers

Mon - pasta tossed with pesto and steamed veggies - side salad

Tues - chicken and left over pasta with pesto served with side salad

Wed - Fri - out of town

Sat - we got home late afternoon from being out of town so not really up for cooking so made some Egg in a hole for us sprinkled with green onions and cheese. 


April 7 - 13
Sun - creamed chicken over mashed potatoes served with steamed peas 

Mon -  baked pork chops (coated in dijon and then sprinkled with panko), steamed veggies and side salad

Tues -   grilled chicken breasts, risotto, steamed veggies and a side salad

Wed - chili cheese bake* served with green beans and a side salad

Thurs -  left overs

Fri -  late big lunch so didn't have dinner

Sat -  panini with ham, spinach and gouda cheese served with a side salad


April 14 - 20
Sun - Salsbury Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and a side salad 

Mon -  left overs

Tues -  Cashew Chicken, steamed rice with peas and carrots in it and a side salad

Wed - Sat - out of town (though I did make and bring wraps for Wednesday night's dinner - wraps with grilled chicken, bacon, cheese, spinach, tomato and dijon mustard)


April 21 - 27
Sun - I had been struggling with the stomach flu since Thursday so kept it light - Poached eggs and toast 

Mon - chicken and rice casserole - very mild and easy on stomach.  Served with steamed veggies. 

Tues -  chicken pot pie (made extra chicken the night before so I could make something with it) served with a side salad

Wed -  turkey hoisen meatballs and veggie fried rice 

Thurs - Taco pie* served with steamed veggies and a side salad 

Fri - french bread pizza* and salad (pizza topped with sausage, pepperoni, black olives, peppers and mushrooms)

Sat - breakfast for dinner - pancakes and sausage served with a side of fresh pineapple

April 28 - May 4
Sun - Meatloaf (made from ground turkey and lean ground beef), mac-n-cheese, steamed veggies and a side salad 

Mon -  meatloaf panini, homemade french fries, side salad

Tues -  alfredo with chicken and broccoli served with side salad

Wed -  out for dinner

Thurs -  left overs

Fri -    steak fajitas, easy spanish rice and a side salad

Sat -   tuna melts and a side salad


* = recipes coming soon

We try to eat a salad with every meal. It helps fill up and it gets some greens in us. 

Side Salad =  leafy green salad either a spring mix or just baby spinach with assorted topping I have available: tomatoes, mushrooms, green onion, red or yellow bell pepper, croutons, cheese, sometimes some chopped hard boiled egg

Tuesday Tip: Sticky Baking Ingredients

When measuring out sticky substances while baking or cooking, spray the measuring spoon or cup with cooking spray. So next time when you measure out corn syrup, honey, peanut butter or maple syrup, spray the measuring cup or spoon - it will empty into the bowl easier and clean up easier too. 

Philly Steak Stuffed Peppers

2 large bell peppers

8 oz thinly sliced roast beef

8 slices provolone cheese

1 medium sweet onion - sliced

1 cup mushrooms - sliced

Preheat oven to 400◦. Slice peppers in half lengthwise removing ribs and seeds. Sauté until onions and mushrooms are nice and caramelized. Slice roast beef into thin strips and add onion/mushroom mixture. Cook 5-7 mins. Line the inside of each pepper with provolone cheese and fill each with meat mixture until they are overflowing. Top each pepper with another slice of provolone cheese and bake for 15-20 mins until cheese is golden brown.