Deep Cleaning Bathrooms, Diva Style

Making your bathroom beyond clean is perfectly voguish and rather easy to do.  Use these simple tips and ordinary household items to achieve a pristine Diva-worthy powder room:

Hard Water Deposits on the Bathroom Faucet:  Try soaking a few paper towels in vinegar and wrapping them around your faucet.  Let sit over night.  The next day, remove the towels, and fill the basin with warm water and some dishwashing liquid.  Dip an old toothbrush in the basin and scrub the faucet to erase mineral build up.    When you’ve finished, drain the basin and use a sponge to clean the sink with the left over dishwashing liquid.  Done and done!

Clean the Mirrors after the Sink:  Most people begin with the mirrors and, because of splashing water, inevitably end up spot cleaning them a second time after cleaning the sinks and countertops.  I always clean the mirrors after I’ve cleaned the sink.  You can use a window cleaning product, or to save-save-save - use vinegar (again!) and a soft cloth.  

Ring Around the Toilet:  Turn the water supply to your toilet off and flush once.  After the water goes down the drain, spray with Lime Away (my second favorite bathroom cleaning toy!)  Let it sit for just a few minutes, and using a sponge, scrub the “ring” away.  Flush and repeat if necessary.  Don’t forget to turn the water back on when you are finished!

Filmy Glass Shower Doors:  Spray your shower doors with vinegar  - have I mentioned how versatile vinegar is as a leaning product? - and let it sit for a few minutes.  Then, mix equal parts baking soda and salt together and with a damp sponge, rub this mixture on the shower doors.  Rinse well.  Voila!  Perfection!

Mildew on the Shower Liner:  Throw it in the washing machine on gentle cycle.  Wash with warm water and a 1/2 cup of vinegar (Vinegar!  The wonder cleaner!)

Mildew in Grout:  As I’m sure you’ve guessed, you’re using vinegar once again!  The acid in this power cleaner will kill the mildew.  Spray and let it sit for a few minutes before you scrub with a brush.  This will remove the dead mildew and leave your grout grunge-free.  If you have stains in your grout, try spraying them with a 1:10 bleach solution (1 part bleach, 10 parts water) and letting it soak for a moment before wiping with a clean sponge.  (Diva note:  You can use the same solution between showers as a cheap “Shower to Shower” product to maintain cleanliness in the damp environment.)

Deep Clean the Bathtub:  For maintenance cleaning, I use a powder product like Comet.  But when I get my Diva baths on and use an effervescent bath bomb and there’s a crazy oil residue left on the tub, I use powdered dishwasher detergent instead.  These are formulated to break up oils on your dishes - and a dish isn’t so much different from a porcelain tub.  Works like a charm!

Dinner on a Dime... or a Dollar

Feeding your family on a tight budget can be tough; but thrifty divas enjoy finding yummy, crowd pleasing recipes is greatly rewarding.  Here’s an easy recipe I found at http://family.go.com/ that only costs $1.50 per serving.

Almost Lasagna

Hands On Time:  20 minutes

Ready In:  40 minutes

Yields:  6 servings at $1.50 a pop

Ingredients

1 pound elbow macaroni or small pasta shells

1 pound ground beef, turkey, chicken, or sausage

2 eggs

1 pound ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1 jar spaghetti sauce (24-26 ounces)

2 cups shredded mozarella cheese

2 cups chopped veggies (zucchini, carrots, brocolli, etc)

Directions

-Brown meat, drain if necessary

-While meat is cooking, stir together eggs, ricotta, grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.

-Mix cooked meat, macaroni, sauce and veggies.  Add ricotta mixture and blend well.

-Coat a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and spread 1/2 the macaroni mixture on the bottom, topping with a cup of mozzarella and a healthy sprinkle of grated Parmesan.  Add the remaining macaroni mixture and top with another cup of mozzarella  and another sprinkle of Parmesan.  Cover with foil.

-At this point, the whole thing can go in the fridge to be cooked when you’re ready (diva note:  LOVE THIS! Prepare it in the morning so that all you have to do at dinner time is pop it in the oven.  Time saving skills!  Woo-hoo!)

-Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake the casserole for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 10 - 20 minutes, until cheese on top is lightly browned and bubbly.

Add a bagged salad, serve, enjoy, and bask in the knowledge that you are one penny-wise diva!

Diva Planners

Monthly or daily planners can be anywhere from $20.00 - $40.00 at your local office supply store.  This diva doesn’t have that kind of money!  Do you?  Well, with a little prep work, you can have an even more user friendly yearly planner for as little as $10.00!  Want to know how?

I purchased these and three other notebooks at Target for $4.99 each:

They have three tabs each, and a handy dandy elastic band that I can use to hold my place on the current day.  Each notebook has enough pages for 6 month’s worth of planning space.  With a pen, I marked the pages (1 per day) like so:

Then, I went to www.holidaysmart.com/2011 so that I could add national holidays to my planner.  I also added personal holidays (like my birthday, which is the 11th, by the way!)  After that, I used tabs I already had and labeled each month like this:

Then, I labelled the 3 tabs that are in the notebook like this:

I wanted to make sure if it got lost, I’d get it back.  So on the inside cover I wrote:  (my name and phone number are actually in there but I hid them for web security purposes!!).

Lastly, I wanted to personalize it a little bit more.  So I drew this on the cover:

A few words about the assertion that this planner is actually more user friendly:

• These particular notebooks have folder divider pockets, so I can put important papers (party invites, fliers, etc.) in the folders.  
• You get a whole page for daily planning, rather than a small space.  For me, that means I can fit my whole to-do list on a page, or if I’m going to the grocery store, I can actually write my grocery list right in my planner.
• It’s small enough to fit in my purse.  Yes, I carry a big purse.  Big purses are a MUST for divas!
• I got to draw on the cover.  HUGE plus for me!
• They’re made of recycled materials.  Going green and saving green! 

What, you need more to be convinced?  You only need 2 for the whole year, so you’re going to be spending a grand total of $10, plus or minus a few cents for taxes, so get to Target and make your awesome Diva planner today!