Quick Tip: Freezing Meat with Marinade

When I made these delish pork chops, I was in the midst of doing much of my weekly cooking prep on the weekends. I wanted to make sure my chops had enough time to marinate and that I would NOT forget to get everything going the night before.

Here is my quick tip: Get your marinade ready to go, put the meat in a freezer bag and add the marinade. Pop right in to the freezer. Take out the night before and put in the fridge and the meat marinates while defrosting!

Quick Tip: Sink Cleaning

Every week, I give my sink a good scrub down and polish, along with the daily wipe-down it receives. So, here is what I use:

I have no idea why the picture is crooked...weird.

Anyway, first I scrub out the sink with Bar Keeper's Friend. To anyone with stainless steel pots and pans or sink, this should become your best friend. When I scorch a pan (hey, it happens to the best of us) or make something that is seemingly impossible to clean, this product does the trick!

The second step is to dump a handful of baking soda down your drains. Follow this up with approximately a cup of vinegar. Carefully pour the vinegar down the drain and then cover it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. After the vinegar has a chance to work its magic with the baking soda, pour hot water carefully down the drain.

You can use the same to clean your garbage disposal. Running ice cubes through your disposal will help to keep the blades sharp, and don't forget to toss your lemon rinds in there as well, to make your sink area smell fresh and clean! I also use biodegradable garbage disposal cleaners every few months as well, just in case I have missed some gunk.

Last step: Use Windex to make your sink shine! Now, doesn't your sink look fantastic??

PS: I have to give credit for these tips to the no-longer-in-existence Hyper Homemaker blog. Katie was my idol, and I still use her tips and tricks! A very much belated thank you for inspiring us to make our homes beautiful!

Quick Tip: Storing Sheets

Here is how we in the Control Freak household store our extra sets of sheets.

After laundering and folding, I stack everything except a pillowcase.

Then, put the fitted and flat sheets and additional pillowcases inside the other pillowcase!
This allows me to keep all parts of the sheet set together, and makes them easier to stack in a shelf or store in a bin!