Make your own Disenfectant Spray

Today I am going to show you how easy and inexpensive it is to make your own disenfectant spray.

The primary use of this is for kitchen counters and sinks in my house, but I often grab a j-cloth and wander into the bathrooms at night and spray down the sinks and give the toilets a quick wipe too.

The beauty of this homemade spray is that its just water with bleach and soap.  It is completely food safe.  When washing dishes by hand, the health departments recommends a wash in hot soapy water, a primary rinse in a bleach and water solution and a secondary rinse in plain hot water.
I have also read that bleach when left to air dry basically breaks down into a salt.  This is why this solution is so very safe to use on your kitchen preparation surfaces.

Supplies:

You will need a spray bottle (Dollar Store), water, common household bleach and some liquid dish soap.
**Note: since this solution contains bleach, it can stain your clothes with bleach spots.  Use your disinfectant spray with caution.**
(I apologize some of these pictures turned out blurry.  Due to the quick pace of life in September I did not have time to re-do the photos)

First Add 1-2 Tablespoons of bleach to the bottle.  I like it close to 2 TBS, but if you find that too strong you can just add 1.

Your bottle should be about this full: 

Next add 1 tsp of liquid dish detergent.  Any brand will do.

Now that you have the bleach and soap in there, add water the rest of the way until the bottle is full.

 

Once you have filled the bottle, the soap will have foamed up a bit at the top like this.  It's ok, it will settle down.

Put the spray nozzle back in place and Voila!  You have a nice spray bottle of disinfectant spray you can use to make your counter tops clean as possible for each use.

Remember, you can get a separate cloth and use this same solution as part of your evening routine to wipe down your bathrooms between the regular cleanings.

Happy Cleaning,

Cassie

Canadian Thanksgiving Planning

Good Morning all my friends in the blog world.  I am mostly recovered from this head cold, and now my daughter has the cold.  I fear I am being re-infected because my sinuses are filling again.  Oh no!

My weekend was spent working and also making a messenger bag for my daughter to carry her school books in.  It is now more than half done.  I has been a very big project, and I hope within a week I am going to have a TOTALLY AWESOME blog entry for you all about the creation of this school bag.  For now you'll have to wait.  I know the suspense is just too much.  LOL!

Today my heart and mind is turned towards family plans for Thanksgiving.

 In Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving in October.  It is usually near the second wekend of October.  This year it seems like it falls early in the calendar, and I think it's just the way the days occur on the calendar.  This year Thanksgiving is on Monday October 8th.   That is now 14 days away.  This time will pass quickly.

I have been trying to connect with family for dates to get together over the last week and I am just getting my answers now.  My side of the family is going to Quebec to see my brother (My Mom and sister, not me and hubby and kids), so this year we have Thanksgiving just at my husband's side of the family.  Nice and easy schedule. :-)

If you have not yet started plannning your Thanksgiving menu and coordinating dates with family, and you live in Canada, it's time to get on this.

Organized Thanksgiving:

1. Select dates you will meet with various family and/or friends.  Get those dates onto your calendar asap!.

2. Coordinate who will participate in the food preparation.  Do you all bring some?  Does one person tend to make most of it at their house because they are hosting?

3. Write a menu.  This includes all the classic fixings:
- Turkey
- Stuffing
- Gravy - we insist on homemade and LOTS of it.
- Cranberries
- Potatoes (scalloped, or mashed, or oven roasted)
- Rice - sometimes we include rice too, but not always.
- Butternut Squash (in our house anyways)
- Vegetable or 2 more (yup, lots of veggies, it's a feast!) 
- Salad
- Buns
- Dessert.  Dessert MUST include a homemade pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream and some vanilla ice cream on the side.  An apple pie as well or an apple crumble (a.k.a. apple brown betty) is usually around too.  At Grandma's house there is always Hello Dolly squares, Date Squares, cheese and crackers, etc.

4. Order a turkey if using a butcher. If not using a butcher, these will pop up in the freezer and cooler sections of all grocery stores starting about now.  Shop early and get the size bird you want for the price you want.  If you leave it, you get stuck with an over-sized  bird or an under-sized bird.

Do you see why North American's are renowned for napping after their turkey dinner?  LOL!  One small scoop of everything and you still have a very full plate.  The beauty of this is that you have lots of leftovers that you put into lunches for the next day or two, or you work some of those ingredients back into your family dinner, and this saves your work for the next few days in the kitchen.

The end result is a family and extended family that feels nurtured and cared for and was able to enjoy good family times together and build memories to cherish.  Ours usually includes a walk at the park.  Sometimes we collect fall leaves and decorate the dinner table with them.  Nice and rustic feeling.

Next week we will review the shopping and plan ahead  cooking for the menu.  What can be done ahead, and what needs to wait.

One last thing, as the long weekend approaches, if you have a family, you will want to plan when you can complete your weekly cleaning and shopping routines to keep yourself on track.  You can't very well send the family into the next week without the laundry caught up and lunch supplies in the house, though some of that will come from leftover turkey!  YAY!

 Sometimes it's OK to back off your routines a bit because life was busy, but you still need to plan for the parts you consider to be absolutely essential, and when you plan to squeeze those into the weekend.

Happy Planning and Happy Monday,

Cassie

Link up Thursdays

It's Thursday, and you know that means... A link up party!

Show me what you've been up to.  I think you know I have been off-line most of this week as the cold I caught really wiped me out.

So grab a coffee and a snack and pull up a chair....post a link to your blog and share what you've been up to. 

Check back this week and next as I get back into the swing of things, post cold!

Cassie

Feeling sick

There won't be huge breakthroughs in the world of blogging for me this week.

I seem to have caught a sinus infection.  It came over me Monday night and I was quite concerned that I was getting sick.  By Tuesday morning I woke up with that distinct sore throat the occurs from post nasal drip.  ewww!

I went to work and suffered through, my nose actually filling more as the day wore on, not less.  By last night I was good for only lounging on the sofa and trying to feel better.  My husband even reports that last night in my sleep my nose was making terrible sounds!  LOL!

As a rule, colds are a virus, and they must pass on their own.   There are a few things we can do to help our body fight the virus and make ourselves more comfortable in the process.

1. Liquids

You must be sure to keep your liquids up.  Get clear water or clear tea, a good 5 glasses a day if you can.

2. Cold FX and/or Vitamin C

If you are concerned about a cold take Cold FX or Airborne to fight off the virus before it takes hold of you.  Vitamin C during a cold and year round is great for you.  Vitamin C is also a water soluble vitamin, so it is almost not possible to overdose on this.  You can take elevated amounts during a cold very safely.

3. Nasal Spray / cold Medicines

                                 

Over the counter medicine will ease the symptoms.  It won't really make the cold go away faster, but it can provide a bit of relief.

4. Chicken Soup

The magic of the soup is that it further hydrates you and serves as an anti-inflamatory.  Cream based soups will not serve this purpose as well as a clear broth soup, but whatever form you like it....get your soup on!

5. Add some personal comfort.

Snuggle up in bed or on the sofa with a blanket and your soup and tea, and some tissues.  Respect the time your body needs to re-coup.  Take it easy at home and make sure you get some good night's sleep.  In a little while you'll be back to your old self.

Now, in light of all that.....I am plugged up in the head, and it brings on a certain level of fatigue.  I will check in with all my friends in the blog world this week, but between my job and recovery from a cold, all the other projects will just have to wait.

Thanks for reading,

Cassie