Day Off

Even though it’s a gorgeous day for a run, and Zumba Fitness can be pulled up on a moment’s notice, rest is just as important as exercise in a healthy lifestyle.  So, with my muscles aching, I decided to take a pre-planned day off from working out today.

There isn’t much that changes when I don’t work out. It’s not like I work out five hours a day. It’s generally between an hour and an hour and a half that now fits in around most other activities, like, say WORK and FAMILY plans.

So one might ask, when one doesn’t work out ON PURPOSE (pre-planned that is), what does one DO with that, say, hour or hour and a half? I give you…..

….RUMPLEDOODLES!

My Dear Child has a “minor” thing for Pooh. And the minor thing has turned into a major thing for Pooh’s entire cast of characters, especially Lumpy (the heffalump) from Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. Our evening plans presently look like PHM for 30 minutes before Dear Child goes to sleep. And “to mix things up,” we now have The Heffalump Halloween Movie to alternate viewing pleasure.

Cover of Pooh's Heffalump MovieWhich brings me to rumpledoodles. As anyone who has watched PHM more than once knows, Lumpy loves rumpledoodles. I’m sure every parent is asked what they are, where can we get them and when can we have them. Hopefully Dear Child will have them as a surprise snack later this afternoon.

They’re actually a made up thing. A new recipe, if you will. The DVD has the recipe in its additional features section. They include baking must haves like salt, flour, coconut and sugar, among many other scrumptious ingredients. Upon making a batch, one finds that the basic recipe is a wee bit runny and tastes a bit odd. The addition of vanilla, chilling the dough before the great bake and allowing them to sit for a couple of minutes before taking them off the baking sheet correct for any inadequacies.

So what do they taste like? Upon biting into a hopped up version (see below), one is reminded of English toffee, but somewhat different and, is it possible, better? And with the inclusion of raisins, they seem somewhat healthy if one is fantasizing in the hazy sort of way.

Hopefully they hold up for the post-afternoon nap and don’t seize up and become too hard. But then, that might be a great reason to dunk them in an ice cold glass of milk.

Lumpy’s mummy would be proud.

***

Hopped Up Rumpledoodle Recipe

1/2 cup rolled oats (ie oatmeal)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 heaping tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

½ tsp vanilla

1 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cookie sheets. I fit about a dozen cookies on a regular sized sheet. This recipe makes about two dozen cookies.

Mix the oats, sugar, flour, coconut, raisins, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Combine butter, molasses, vanilla and water separately. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well-mixed.

You can chill the dough for 10-30 minutes before using if you’d like, but it’s not necessary.

Drop teaspoon-sized amounts of dough onto the cookie sheets. I use a teaspoon sized measuring spoon to portion out the cookies. Use it like a melon baller, but level the scoop before putting onto the cookie sheet. I find that larger amounts of dough make for much too large cookies, as these cookies spread; they do not rise.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a plate.

Enjoy! 

Bits & Pieces

In response to requests for more household cleaning and natural suggestions that I've used and know that work, I'm posting a few that don't take up an entire blog post. They're appropriately called "Bits & Pieces." In today's entry, we're looking at underarm stick stains, wart removal and veg sandwiches for toddlers. Enjoy!

Removing Underarm Stick Stains: A few friends have mentioned this particular stain remover recently. It’s not because I walk around with splotches on my tops. I checked; no splotches on me. But this is a really good trick that works. If you find that your underarm stick rubs onto your clothing as you’re getting dressed, or if your toddler decides to use the stick as a neat crayon, the easiest way to get the smudge stain off immediately is a fabric softener sheet, such as Bounce. You simply wipe the sheet over the affected area and the smudge is gone. No need to throw an entire outfit in the laundry before its truly worn.

Wart Be Gone: If you have a wart, any sort really (even a plantar wart on your foot), the most effective way to remove it is with apple cider vinegar (ACV). I’m not sure if other vinegars work, but ACV definitely does. I’ve only ever used Bragg brand, as it has the good mother in it. I strongly suggest using Bragg brand in this remedy, as I don’t know if other ACVs work (as effectively). It’ll take about a week from start to finish. Basically you soak a cotton ball or other cotton batting (depending on wart size) in ACV and then tape it the affected area with duct tape. The entire wart and a ring of unaffected skin around the wart must be covered by both the cotton batting and the duct tape. Keep it covered. Within the next day or two, when you replace the “bandage,” you’ll notice that the wart had basically exploded. It’s the virus that causes the wart gasping for air or some such. You’ll notice a wee little black dot in the middle of the wart. That’s the dying virus. You need to keep the affected area covered by your “bandages” around the clock for a week. At some point during the week, you’ll notice that the underlying skin is basically taking back over. At the end of the week, you can cut or pumice the dead skin away and your new skin will be as though no wart had been there, albeit a wee bit red from the pumicing etc.

Sandwiches: Evidently toddlers love sandwiches. At least my toddler and local toddler friends seem to love sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. We’re looking for healthy ideas to offer them. Some suggest pureed veg spreads, hummus, dips for them to dip the sandwiches in, pickles with anything, cucumber, and mozzarella and tomato. What has worked for your kids when you’re trying to get them to eat more veg?

Wonderful Wine Wash

Image via Wikipedia I've been meaning to post this solution for a long time, and the beginning of the summer season seems as good a time as any!

One doesn't need to be a parent to be beset by red wine and grape juice stains, regardless of whether they're located on clothing, furniture, table linens or carpeting. Sometimes the dry cleaner is able to get them out, but many times not. A quick Google search for a tried and true solution brings up over 3.4 million suggestions, but I've found most of those are really blind stabs into the darkness that do not work. Some suggest keeping the stain wet; some others suggest drying the stain out. Some say scrub, others say no scrubbing. It’s as though grape juice and red wine stains bring even the most contentious to their knees every time.

Well, there is a solution that works Every Single Time. It’s like magic. Seriously.  The first time I tried it, my mouth literally hung open in stupefied amazement.

White wine.

Yes, really. It works as well with champagne, top shelf and bottem of the barrel stuff. I've tried it all. Yes, I really have. lol

First, test it out. I'll prove it to ya. Take a rag and dab, drip or pour some red wine on one end and some grape juice on the other end. You don’t need much, a wee bit will do for our purposes. Now whip out your bottle of even-really-cheap-bought-just-for-this-purpose-swill-white-wine and either dab or pour it on each stain. The stain instantly disappears. It’s like the opposite of using secret ink or something.

Amazing right??? Are you as excited reading about this as I am just thinking about it???

I love this stain remover. It's awesome. My favorite way of using it is putting a wee drab in a wee finger bowl and dunking the stain into it. It reactivated dried stains (that may or may not have been there for years) and it works on wet items as well.

After the dunk, dab or what have you, you can simply rinse the item out or throw it in the wash. A quick rinse with dish liquid and water works as well to simply get the wine smell out.

For carpeting, I’ve used the trick by taking a corner of a towel or paper towel, dunking it in the white wine, ringing it out and then dabbing the affected carpet. I’ve then rinsed the smell out with soapy water and sponge.

Let me know how it works for you.

I’m happy to answer other cleaning questions. If you have them, feel  free to email me at jenn (at) jbmercurio (dot) come.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Related articles

• Anti-Stain Treatment - Berries and Cherries (carpet-cleaning-southend-on-sea.co.uk)
• Wine Stains On Carpet: 10 Tips to Remove (doorfly.com)
• Anti-Stain Treatment - red wine (carpet-cleaning-southend-on-sea.co.uk)