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YOURS: This week's "YOURS" post was written by Trachelle over at High Heels and a Sippy Cup. (Don't you just love the name?) Although it took her six long years, she has come up with an ingenius way to store jewelry. I love the sepia pictures she took for her post. Here's one of them...
To read Trachelle's entire post on storing jewelry, click HERE. And don't worry, Trachelle, it took me 20 years to find your post and learn how to store jewelry! Thank you!
MINE: Today's post is just a small tip I learned several years ago that has changed my life. Okay, not really my life, just the few minutes each week I spend cleaning my microwave. There are two schools of thought when it comes to using microwaves to cook or warm food. The first, to which my mother-in-law subscribes, is that one must cover the said food with a paper towel to avoid even the tiniest of splatters. If, per chance, there is a splatter, it is cleaned immediately, thus affording a consistently clean microwave. The second school of thought is that one can willy-nilly place any and all food UNCOVERED in the microwave. Spaghetti sauce splattered on the top? Who cares? Someone will deal with it later! Hot chocolate bubbled over all over the glass tray? It's okay, it gets sterilized every time we use the microwave anyway. Plus, again, someone will deal with it later.
In my family, we choose to subscribe to the second school of thought, but in the first paragraph I said that I only spend a few mintues cleaning my microwave once a week. How is this possible, you may ask, after all the spaghetti sauce, hot chocolate and sometimes even caked on cheese? Allow me to impart of my wisdom, Little Ones...
Step 1. Halfway fill a microwave-safe, medium-sized bowl with water and place it in the microwave.Step 2. Heat this water on high for 3 mintues, then let it sit in the microwave for 10 more minutes.
Step 3. Remove the bowl of water from the microwave, but be careful because it could still be extremely hot. You might even want to have a hotpad ready.
Step 4. The steam from the water will have softened all of the debris from your microwave walls and you should be able to simply wipe them down, put your tray in the dishwasher, wipe down the outside and, hopefully, your microwave will look like this...
Happy cleaning!
(Disclaimer: Really, be very careful when you take the water out of the microwave. It could cause a serious burn. When my kids clean the microwave like this, I let them put the water in and start it, but I always have them come get me when it's done so I can remove the bowl myself.)
OURS: Okay, now it's your turn. Let's see what great ideas all of you happy homemakers have for us today. Remember to leave a comment, which makes it easier for me to enter you in the prize drawing, and let the other homemakers you visit know what you thought of their posts with lots of considerate comments. Thanks again and have a Happy Homemaker Monday!
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Great tip. I hate cleaning the microwave so I will have to give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteAwesome tip!
ReplyDeleteI am not even going to comment on cleaning your microwave once per week! Let's just say, I subscribe to your mother-in-laws way! Still, love to you!
ReplyDeleteHey thanks so much for the link love and shout out!
ReplyDeleteAlso I love this idea for cleaning your microwave. I've tried it before minus letting the bowl of water sit and it didn't work very well. I am thrilled to know the full method. :-)
Man! 18 hours too late! I just had my daughter clean the microwave yesterday because it was NASTAYYYYYYYY!!! But she just had to scrub for a long time.
ReplyDeleteOh well, next time will be easier. I like to cover things w a paper towel or at least it wipe it out right after the splatters happen.....the kids, on the other hand, prefer to let things cake up and get gross.
NEAT! Don't you love the jewelery organization corner????? Thank you for your idea! We haven't replaced our microwave yet-but when we do (knowing full well we subscribe to the second method of the art of microwaving:) your tip will help me keep it from being TOO gross! Thanks Jen!
ReplyDeleteWe do the bowl of water trick to clean our microwave, too. It works like a charm!!
ReplyDeleteIf you add a little baking soda to your wet cloth or sponge as you wipe it up it helps freshen it up and gives it a little scrubbing action.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new reader to your blog and love it. Usually I take the preventative measures to keep the microwave clean, but somebody put something in there awhile back that exploded, and I've been meaning to clean it up, but just hadn't gotten to it. When I read your tip, I marched right over and gave it a try. You are right- it works like a charm, and now my microwave is sparkling clean.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tip! Thanks for sharing it with us!
ReplyDeleteI recently discovered this ingenous method of cleaning also and will never look back :)
ReplyDeleteI have my kids pretty well trained to cover their food that splatters. I wipe it down every other night and wash the glass tray once a week. I hadn't tried to bowl of water trick..good idea! I also like the baking soda idea from Bobbi. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for this fun carnival! I look forward to Monday's and everyone's links!!
ReplyDeleteGood tip. I need to use it! My mom does something similar except she just gets the rag wet and puts it in the microwave for a few minutes. Works just as well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've always been a second-school-of-thought kinda gal. I'm going to try that bowl of water thing tomorrow (I'd try it tonight but it's late and I need to get to bed; and I'm a notorious procrastinator with stuff like that).
ReplyDeleteOops! I added another link to my blog that goes to the correct post. Sorry there are two of me on there!
ReplyDeleteHey! I am so glad I read this post. My microwave needs a good cleaning. This is so much easier than how I normally clean it! THANKS!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I use for my necklaces except I got mine at Michaels and painted them black.
ReplyDeleteThis trick is the reason that I subscribe to the second school of thought on microwaving!!
ReplyDeleteI have done this before! It really works! I have also put a dab of dish soap in the water and stirred it around a bit and then microwaved it for a few minutes. I have been catching up on blogs- power has been out almost a week- still is. I am at my sisters house doing laundry/checking email- more on this when power comes back! :)
ReplyDeletebeware of the water in the bowl idea, when water is super heated like this, there is a build up of energy beneath the surface of the water, which when broken will cause a gesey-like expolsion of scalding water!
ReplyDelete