Friday, February 26, 2010
Tractor Supply buckets
I have heard that the logo Tractor Supply buckets are food safe. I called them to verify with my own little ears that they were. They informed me they are food safe. I got some oxygen packets and will fill said buckets with flour, semolina, sugar, and some packaged foods so they won't go bad! Wah hoo!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
UPDATE: One funny commercial
Phoebe & I died when we saw this tonight. So funny! He does it all so smoothly and without a hiccup. We love the bit about tickets to see that thing you wanted to see and diamonds! Phoebe has a great sense of humor and after a good bit of time, she looked at me and said, "I'm on a horse." It put me in stitches!
UPDATE: The makers did an interview about the commercial shooting.
UPDATE: The makers did an interview about the commercial shooting.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Spin Dryer and loads of savings! (Get it...laundry...loads...)
Today, our clothes spin dryer came in. I have been wanting one for quite a time now and we finally ordered it!
It came from Laundry Alternative. This is the same company that sells the WonderWash, of which I am still enamored. I am so happy with this purchase!
It fits in our laundry room and the cord is long enough to reach the outlet. I cannot believe how much water came out of the clothes with the use of the spin dryer! You won't either. Included in this entry is a video of the final water amount from the towels I did tonight.
Towels are my horrible load. I hate them! I can't air dry them at all because they don't dry enough and end up reeking of mildew. I have tried half drying them by air and finishing them off in the dryer, the other way around, and totally air drying them. They still stink. They now get the full drying treatment. That said, it would take almost 1-1/2 hours for them to dry without stink. Tonight, the spin dryer extracted 9-1/2 cups of water out of the load! That is over 1/2 a gallon of water! They only took 35 minutes to dry completely. I swear they were even fluffier!
I did some conservative calculations to see our savings. Some websites list electric clothes dryers as 3.5 kWh while others go up to 5.0 kWh. My conservative calculations are based on the 3.5kWh.
Previous loads to dry would use 5.25kWh to dry and would cost $.41596. Doing 1 load a day, the year's totals are 1916.25 kWh and cost $151.83. This does not include those loads that are air dried and neither do the following figures.
With the spin dryer, use will be 2.03 kWh to dry and will cost $.16084. The electricity use and cost for the spin dryer's use is .015kWh and cost $.00119. The total cost is $.16203. Doing 1 load a day, the year's totals will be 740.95 kWh a cost of $59.14.
This is a year's savings of 1175.3 kWh and $92.96.
The clothes go from the washing machine, into the spin dryer for water extraction, and then into the dryer. It is an added step, but the total savings are so worth it! Plus, the extracted water has residue from oils, dirt, detergent, and hard water. All in all, that should also save wear and tear on our clothing.
The spin dryer was $163.50 all total. I know with the air drying I do, we will make the cost back by the end of the year. I especially know that because when summer hits, I won't have to cool down more of the dryer's heat output with the air conditioner on those loads I run.
So, big post with lots of info. It's so interesting and I am so pleased that I couldn't help myself.
It came from Laundry Alternative. This is the same company that sells the WonderWash, of which I am still enamored. I am so happy with this purchase!
It fits in our laundry room and the cord is long enough to reach the outlet. I cannot believe how much water came out of the clothes with the use of the spin dryer! You won't either. Included in this entry is a video of the final water amount from the towels I did tonight.
Towels are my horrible load. I hate them! I can't air dry them at all because they don't dry enough and end up reeking of mildew. I have tried half drying them by air and finishing them off in the dryer, the other way around, and totally air drying them. They still stink. They now get the full drying treatment. That said, it would take almost 1-1/2 hours for them to dry without stink. Tonight, the spin dryer extracted 9-1/2 cups of water out of the load! That is over 1/2 a gallon of water! They only took 35 minutes to dry completely. I swear they were even fluffier!
I did some conservative calculations to see our savings. Some websites list electric clothes dryers as 3.5 kWh while others go up to 5.0 kWh. My conservative calculations are based on the 3.5kWh.
Previous loads to dry would use 5.25kWh to dry and would cost $.41596. Doing 1 load a day, the year's totals are 1916.25 kWh and cost $151.83. This does not include those loads that are air dried and neither do the following figures.
With the spin dryer, use will be 2.03 kWh to dry and will cost $.16084. The electricity use and cost for the spin dryer's use is .015kWh and cost $.00119. The total cost is $.16203. Doing 1 load a day, the year's totals will be 740.95 kWh a cost of $59.14.
This is a year's savings of 1175.3 kWh and $92.96.
The clothes go from the washing machine, into the spin dryer for water extraction, and then into the dryer. It is an added step, but the total savings are so worth it! Plus, the extracted water has residue from oils, dirt, detergent, and hard water. All in all, that should also save wear and tear on our clothing.
The spin dryer was $163.50 all total. I know with the air drying I do, we will make the cost back by the end of the year. I especially know that because when summer hits, I won't have to cool down more of the dryer's heat output with the air conditioner on those loads I run.
So, big post with lots of info. It's so interesting and I am so pleased that I couldn't help myself.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Freezer safe Ball mason jars! Heaven!!!
While on the Ball mason jar site this evening I found that they sell freezer safe jars! I never knew! Game on, baby!
Gotta get some of these!
Check out these really cool toppers to turn mason jars into shakers and pourers (not a word, but you know what I mean).
http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=52774&PartnerID=FR
http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=52774&PartnerID=FR
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Homemade yogurt
I learned about making yogurt through Duo Fiberworks cozy tutorial.
Let me tell you, this was the easiest way to make yogurt! I have made some yogurt in the past and it was too much at one shot, too much cleanup, too much energy! This is so danged simple it was fun! Since Renée is currently Lactose intolerant, it states that the 24-hour batch might something she can eat since the cultures have longer to eat away at the lactose. We shall see.
I used Greek plain yogurt since it has 5 cultures in it. That also was a big plus over my previous batches. It made a really thick, sweeter product. Granted, it is still tart plain yogurt.
I bought a case of wide mouth mason jars for this purpose, but have found they work fantastic for leftovers and breaking down my gallon cans of fruit. I want more wide mouth jars now! Getting rid of plastic and moving onto glass.
Let me tell you, this was the easiest way to make yogurt! I have made some yogurt in the past and it was too much at one shot, too much cleanup, too much energy! This is so danged simple it was fun! Since Renée is currently Lactose intolerant, it states that the 24-hour batch might something she can eat since the cultures have longer to eat away at the lactose. We shall see.
I used Greek plain yogurt since it has 5 cultures in it. That also was a big plus over my previous batches. It made a really thick, sweeter product. Granted, it is still tart plain yogurt.
I bought a case of wide mouth mason jars for this purpose, but have found they work fantastic for leftovers and breaking down my gallon cans of fruit. I want more wide mouth jars now! Getting rid of plastic and moving onto glass.
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