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Welcome to this week’s Happy Marriage Monday meme! Today we are going to learn about a very important happy marriage skill: How To Listen. Women are able to talk to each other for hours a day about everything, and despite differences of opinion, are able to respect each other, or at least like each other […]
If you are looking for an alternative to traditional household cleaning products and are tired of toxic, potentially hazardous cleaning products (especially if there are curious babies crawling around in your home), there are good, healthy cleaning supplies for non toxic natural cleaning that can be found right in your pantry. The dream team trio […]
Wow, who knew?!?
I’m definitely going to try some of these. I need to bookmark this page for future reference.
White vinegar is the best – just like mom and grandma used to use. Great post!
This is so helpful – I already use vinegar to clean but now I’m going to step it up even more. This is going to be better for the environment and better for my wallet!
Wow what a great list! Love it!
I love using vinegar/water for cleaning – it’s super great for cleaning out the fridge.
Thanks for mentioning what it’s safe for too – because I have unsealed granite countertops in my kitchen (long story…) and so can only use natural soap and water on those, I tried a commercial product on them once and stained a whole area since it’s porous 🙁
LOVE these natural ways to clean my home, thanks girly!!!
Great post I love using all of these, especially lemon in the microwave!
Wow — I knew about vinegar and baking soda for some things . … but didn’t know about everything you listed. Great list and thanks!
This is awesome list of tips, thanks, Penelope!!
I use a lot of vinegar for cleaning – I’ll have to start trying the lemon now.
Thanks for sharing those tips! It makes eco-friendly choices a lot easier when they are actually simple to do!
YAY! This is how I clean my house. All natural products. Thanks for sharing.
We have used all of these products cleaning and it’s so amazing how well they work. The residue baking soda leaves can be annoying, but still very effective.
Great tips!
Wow what a great idea! I’m definitely going to try this.
Fathers Day is June 19, 2011, and let’s face it, when it comes to gifts, moms get the great stuff, and dads get the novelty ties and page a day calendars. Dads are notorious for receiving less than stellar gifts. Bill Cosby said it best: “Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.” […]
My Dad claims to not have children. Cap’n Chaos is not a gift giver… I live in a strange world. LOL
My husband has the fogless mirror and he loves it.
I love these ideas! My grandpa would LOVE the John Wayne collection!
Fogless mirror is a great idea!
My husband already has the fogless mirror, but he could use a new measuring tape, even though being a handyman is not his favorite thing to do around the house. But finding some of his favorite movies/or sports dvds would be very fitting for him. Thanks for the ideas!
For this week’s Happy Marriage Meme I wanted to focus on teaching our children to make their father feel special, especially if you married a good man who is a great dad and deserves it. Men don’t really care about physical gifts. If a man feels his family respects him, appreciates him, and sees how […]
Great post, and i love that Father’s Day gift idea.
This is such a wonderful idea! I think my husband would cry as he flipped through the pages.
Such good ideas!
We have a tradition that we started the year our daughter was born. We have a picture taken each Father’s Day with the two of them on the couch. She’s always sitting on Dad’s lap. The couch has changed 3 times, and she sure has grown, but every Father’s Day my husband looks through those photos, and a smile (and sometimes a tear!) comes to his face.
You are so right about modeling what you want your children to learn. If you respect, admire, appreciate him, they will too!
I love that gift idea, Penelope! Thanks so much for sharing.
My kids’ dad is a deadbeat dad but I sure as hell try my best not to talk about him negatively in front of my girls. I go out of my way to make sure they know who he is and to make sure they talk to him on a regular basis. I believe it is worth it. Although I want to smack the crap out of him through the telephone most days.
Thanks for listening.
That sounds good to me. You don’t have to pretend he’s a great guy (since it’s a lie) but there is nothing to be gained from bad mouthing him. They will see what he is on their own as the grow up, and appreciate that you made the best of it.
As a woman being in my second marriage I see how important it is to treat your spouse with much love & respect. Also to share that with your children. Love the gift idea!
Oh that is such a cute idea!!!!! Love it 🙂
What a great post Penelope! My husband and I have always had a bad habit of joking around with each other by saying “I hate you – SOOO much”. We love to throw jabs at each other but we also know when the other person is being sarcastic and just joking around. We had to put a stop to a lot of it as our children got older because I worried that they wouldn’t realize that when we said “I hate you” it was just another way of us saying ” I love you”. I couldn’t expect our kids to read between the lines. I think that being more careful about how we talk to each other in front of our children has been really important in strengthening our family values.
That’s a great Father’s Day gift idea!
Here are some great tips for cooking and kitchen tricks I picked up over the years that have helped me when cooking and making my household happier. 1. When browning beef or cooking ground meat, ditch the wooden spoon and use a potato masher. It makes it easy to break up pieces and mix everything […]
I’ve heard the Olive Oil trick for cooking noodles, but not to keep smells off your fingers! And I LOVE the potato masher trick. Never tried it before but I sure will now!
Those are some great tips, Penelope! Thanks so much for sharing.
Great tips! I love the potato masher idea!
Great tips! Thanks
Great tips! I will definitely have to do the potato masher thing, so smart that Rachel Ray!
I didn’t know to use the potato masher thats a good idea!
great tips!
great tips!! I need a potato masher!
Great tips. I had heard of some of them, but not others. I love the olive oil trick for not letting the smell stick to your fingers!
totally gonna do the olive oil on my fingers when cutting onions and eggs, and love the cold water on eggs to wash–who knew?! Thanks
that’s a great tip about the garlic! Thanks Penelope!!
I’ve never tried #1 or #2, but I am going to now. I heard about the olive oil in noodles not too long ago and have been using it since. Works great!
So cool! Another trick on the onions is to rub your hands on your facet afterwards. Weird but it works. Thanks for the cool tricks!
Oh I love that potatoe mashed idea. Brilliant.
What great ideas.. I am definately going to use them!
potato masher is a great idea. i did know about the oil wc/pasta…..my husband of all people taught me that one
Great tips!! I never thought to use the oil on my fingers before garlic or onions!
I actually throw a pat of margarine in with my noodles – it does the same thing (and it’s cheaper LOL).
I did not know about the cold water and eggs – we eat eggs a lot and I hate washing the dishes from them, I must try this!
I use Vegetable oil to prevent pasta from sticking. I don’t think I own olive oil, never knew what to use it for 🙁 Love these tips, def things I didn’t know!
Great tips. I have heard of using a masher for ground beef but have never tried it.
I’m excited about the one for cutting onions/garlic. I HATE smelling garlic on my hands.
Thanks for the tips, I didn’t know the one about cleaning the eggs off the bowls. I’ll have to tell the hubs, since he is the one that does the dishes. =)
Hope you are having a great week.
HUGGLES!
Great tips! I wish I had learned these a long time ago too – would have saved so much time!
Great tips! I never would have thought to use a potato masher for my ground beef. I will have to try that.
Great tips!! These are very helpful to know 🙂
Thanks for the tips. I will definitely be using #1! We already put olive oil in with pasta and it definitely works. Now, can you tell me how to get egg and cheese off a sponge? 😉
Great ideas. I’ll try #2 the next time it comes up.
I love that first tip! I also have a hell of a time browning meat. Now I will mash it! Muwahaha. Thanks!!!
I love the potato mashed tip. I tend to end up with clumps in my ground meat.
I love Shell’s advice too.
We’ve always used the potato masher for ground beef when making tacos-a tip I learned from my mother in love!
My husband thinks I’m nuts for adding oil to pasta water. I’m glad to see this on your list!
When you add olive oil to the pasta to stop it sticking it actually also stops the sauces sticking to the pasta which sort of defeats the purpose. The best way to stop pasta sticking is to put into rapidly boiling salted water and seperate occassionally with a fork while gently stiring. You should also make sure you have used a large enough pot to accomodate the pasta and the amount of water required (usually written on the packet of dried or refrigerated pastas) to prevent the mess of boiling over. If you are trying to keep power costs down always use a lid so you can lower the temp but still be boiling pasta rapidly. You will be amazed how much difference this method makes to a finished dish as you get more sauce attaching itself to the pasta, thus more flavour.
Thank you for this great cooking tip! I actually find I do it more this way (salted, rapidly boiling water) and I never made the connection between the oil and the sauces not sticking. Thanks!
It is SO hard to listen without offering advice. I’m so guilty of this in all of my relationships I’m sure – it’s definitely something I need to work on.
You are killing me, Penelope!
I know there are changes I need to make and reading your posts every week have given me so much determination.
Once again – you have challenged me Penelope. I need to work on a number of items on that list – I’ll try very hard to this week 🙂
Thanks for the tips. I often find myself offering advice when it’s not needed but I have grown a lot over the years and have learned that you do learn more about a person when you listen to what they have to say.
I recently had a “revelation” with my husband on this very subject; I thought we talked all the time and I thought I listened to him. Turns out, I was wrong on both accounts. I was doing many of the things you listed — and it definitely hurt him and our marriage.
I have literally bitten my tongue to prevent myself from interrupting when he was speaking. I really had to learn how to listen with him.
Listening during conflict especially can be challenging. But it is also so important.
Great post! I ~love~ your blog.
I love this. What a fabulous idea!!!
Kudoes on the blog. I think guys would love that kind of attention from their ladies. I know I would.