Quick and Easy Cloth Face Mask Organizer

This post has been sponsored by Hoo-rag. All opinions are my own.

I learned when I went to Japan it is polite to wear a face mask when you are sick and out in public so you don’t accidentally pass it on to anyone else around you. That is something I wished we did in American culture (how many times has someone given you their cold because they weren’t wearing a simple cloth face mask?)  but I really hate that we have to experience a deadly global pandemic to adopt it.

My husband and I have been trying several different types and styles of cloth face masks to find one that is just right (kinda like Goldilocks but without the breaking and entering) and we have quite the little collection going on. This should be a good thing because when I have to pop a face mask in the dirty clothes hamper there is another clean face mask available  - if only I could find them! Both my husband and I have our various masks stuck here, there, and everywhere in the house. 

I needed a quick and easy way to organize and store our clean cloth face masks in one place. I was inspired the key hooks my sister in law uses for her masks (she’s a nurse) and realized I already had a cloth face mask organization tool hanging by my front door – the coat rack we use for Lacey’s dog leash.

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How to Grill Romaine Lettuce

When I have romaine lettuce hearts on hand and want to do something a little different with them I grill them.

Wait.

What?

Can you grill lettuce?

Yes! 

You can grill lettuce!

 

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Easy Grilled Lettuce Recipe

10 Unexpected Ways to Save Money When Stuck at Home

I’m trying to find a little sliver of good in our current bad situation when it comes to quarantine and staying at home which frankly is an excellent way to save money. While we’re stuck at home some on going expenses are automatically reduced for us: we’re getting 3 months to the gallon on a tank of gas, my husband’s gym membership payments are suspended because it is closed, and our little adventures like taking Lacey for a walk in our favorite park and grabbing a meal or drink on a dog friendly patio afterward are off the table for now. Other money saving tips like cooking  from scratch and eating meals at home are business as usual for us but might be new to you. 

Even so, there are still several ways we are rolling with it while also finding a few more money saving tips we can do now that we have a little more time and most importantly looking for more things to do.

 

 

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1. I bought a box of produce from a local wholesaler who put an extra ten dollars worth of vegetables in every box they sold which was a nice surprise (they put a note inside the box) since we were more about shopping a local business that like so many of us had to pivot when their university and restaurant customers closed for quarantine. Also it is a guarantee of fresh veg when grocery stores are hit and miss right now. It is also providing us with a little Quarantine Project because we’re attempting to to sprout and grow the lettuce, celery, and cabbage from the ends instead of normally putting them in the compost bin. Hopefully Pinterest will have steered us in the right direction where we can plant them in our container garden and solve the problem of not deciding what to plant in our container garden this year. If you have any tips on this please let me know in the comments below!

Best Pico de Gallo Recipe for a Cookout, Party, Tailgate, or Just Because

Pico de Gallo is one of my favorite types of salsa because it is chunky and not as soupy as traditional salsa (which nine times out of ten means you can always tell I ate some salsa because I’m wearing it.) Not to mention, Pico de Gallo is a quick and easy recipe that uses up a summer garden bursting with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and peppers.

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Pico de Gallo is also an easy mix and match recipe to make for a party that allows your guest to tailor it to their own tastes:

10 Ways to Reuse Plastic Takeout Containers

One of the ways my husband and I save money and reduce household waste is to try to get an extra reuse out of everything within reason before it goes into the trash or recycling bin. 

Lately, we've been doing Quarantine Takeout Date Night as a replacement for our regular weekly date night and to help keep our local restaurants in business especially those that are now doing takeout to survive. Some of the food containers we can compost in our compost bin. Others are the hard plastic type we cannot compost or put in our city recycling bin because they are made from number 5 plastic.

Lucky for us, plastic takeout food containers are extremely easy to repurpose which makes them very, very useful.

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If you’re looking for ways to recycle those food takeout containers into something useful, we have you covered!

10 New and Easy Ways to Repurpose Empty Plastic Containers

How to Make Instant Pot Yogurt with Powdered Milk

I keep a small box of powdered milk in our pantry for bread machine recipes and for my husband to use in his coffee on those rare, pre pandemic occasions when we are out of milk.

Which is coming in handy now that we are out of milk.

I planned ahead when I placed our latest Instacart grocery order (you can learn about Instacart here) but Ohio’s latest quarantine order limits the number of people allowed inside a store at one time. I’m pretty sure that is going to  make our hard working grocery delivery hero’s job harder and we’ll have to wait a little bit longer for the delivery. It’s understandable. I’ll pivot. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

Can You Make Yogurt From Dry Powdered Milk?

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5 Easy Bread Machine Recipes You Have to Try Right Now!

I absolutely love the taste of home baked bread. Unfortunately I also have some horrible affliction where I cannot correctly proof bread dough to save my life. Fortunately there is a remedy for that - a bread machine.

I got my first bread machine as a wedding present and love that I can make all sorts of fancy pants bread recipes for a fraction of the cost of a loaf in the bakery or grocery store. I used my bread maker so much I wore it out. Bread maker Number Two is happily chugging along and providing us with yummy bread. Which to be honest, we’ve been eating more of paired with soups and stews to stretch out the time that we have to order groceries using Instacart (learn more about it here). (affiliate link for your convenience.)

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But mostly, like everyone else who has gone on a bread baking kick during quarantine, we just like the comforting smell of warm bread baking in the kitchen. In fact I have a load of bread started in my bread maker right now as I type that is destined to accompany a big batch of my husband’s  chili for dinner tonight – yay!

The Best Bread Maker Recipes for Beginners