Dad blasted cheap window treatments! (and a recipe too)

3.6.13  A celebratory day!

One thing I absolutely adore is the Sunday morning ritual of waking up, feeding the baby, drinking some coffee, and reading the paper or my most recent Southern Living - all from the comfort of my little beddy-by.  This past weekend I made the run down the road to get a Sunday paper to read. 

I love the Sunday paper.

A few years ago I would go every Sunday morning to grab my paper from the rack.

The internet in all of the glory is shines will never match up to the pages of the Sunday paper.  Being able to touch, smell, and read all those pages and advertisements and little treasures that only your local printer can churn out - can never be matched by a screen attached (or not) to a keyboard working off a signal floating through the air.  (And as I type this I realize computer is old school now it is just Smart Phones and Tablets)...

You may bash me in this school of thought.  That paper is killing trees!  I recycle so mine isn't.  That paper is old news the internet is way faster!  I'm not a news junkie so many times it is new news to me.  Also, there's a lot of stuff in those print pages that you'll never see on the internet.

Perhaps the added bonus of the retro news source is the coupon section.  Turns out you can actually make back the $2 you spend on Sunday just by using a few coupons on items you regularly purchase or have been wanting to try. 

Just a thought but maybe the mad dash to coupon yourself into oblivion is the secret ingredient to keeping the antique idea of newspapers around.

I decided to do my part to help save the antiquated style of news information.  I have started a subscription to the Winston-Salem Journal.  It will save me the run to the fire station to see if I have already been beat out in grabbing this week's edition. 

No, I'm not an old fogey but there are some things that deserve to hang around for a while longer. 

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What are we cleaning today?

I have decided to tackle one thing I simply detest cleaning.  Some people never pay them any attention after they install them.  When I say never pay attention to them I mean never!  The dang things break, start missing pieces, yellow with sunlight and age....no I'm not talking about your Aunt Mildred (even though it is kind of funny how she broke her hip, lost a few teeth, and her skin is covered in liver spots.....hey maybe we all are related!).

No friends I'm talking about......mini blinds.

I have a love hate relationship with them.  They are a cheap and effective way at blocking the view inside your home, toning down that bright sun when it is blinding you (do not go towards the light....let me close the blinds).  They are also a pretty blah option when it comes to window treatments.  I really yearn from some Roman Shades for my home but I haven't budgeted for them at this point.  You can also opt for a heavy duty wood based blind but after having to treat for termites I request no more wooden anything in my home.

Fifteen - that's how many mini blinds hang in my home.  That is a lot of blinding isn't it?  Eeeek so now I have to clean them.

Why do we clean mini blinds?  Because....well....ok go look at yours.  We pay them so little attention but they need our attention - not every week but at least once a month ok once a quarter! 

Mini blinds are magnets for allergens.  Dust, pet hair, pollen, lent, human hair - all of that sticks to mini blinds like white on rice.  If you are prone to allergies then you better get to crackin' on the mini blind cleaning.

Supplies you'll need for today include:

Vacuum cleaner with brush attachment
Dryer sheet (2 per room)

Optional supplies include:
A pick up truck
Local drive through car wash

Stick that brush attachment on your vaccum and close your blinds - if you have a power select you will want to choose gentle mode to clean these babies.  If you have a vacuum that goes only on full power you may need to borrow a vacuum that has a power select setting.  While we're mentioning vacuums I must tell you I only use Electrolux.  They aren't priced so high you need an insurance policy on them and they last the test of time.  I kid you not - when we moved into this house I was using a 1955 model and it worked wonders.  In 2009 my husband purchased me a new model and it been a charm!

Ok so you have your brush on your vacuum and you have your vacuum on gentle mode and you have your mini blinds closed - start vacuuming.  Don't you love seeing all that dust and junk disappear?  After you have finished you need to close them the opposite way and start all over.

After you vacuum them clean then its time to take a dryer sheet and run it over each blind.  This kills that magnetic force field of catching dust/lent/hair. 

If you notice that your blinds have grease and grime on them you have a couple options.

1.  You can place them (full length) in the truck bed
2.  Drive to your local drive through car wash
3.  Air dry on a line

Or

1.  Go to Walmart, Target, Kmart, Big Lots, Lowes, Home Depot, where ever and buy some more.

I absolutely hate washing blinds because it is not easy to give a squealing pig a bath - you won't get them as clean and pretty as you want and you'll end up cleaner than the dad blasted blinds.

While you are cleaning your blinds you may as well take the curtains down and wash them.  They are holding a multitude of allergens as well.

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Tonight I'm making my old fashioned (as in I started making it prior to 2007) Baked Meat Lover's Sketti.  I have probably given you one of my recipes before but this one is da bomb diggity.

This is also a celebratory meal to losing 3.5 pounds over the past 7 days and running four miles this morning.  I had about 700 extra calories (thanks to My Fitness Pal for helping me keep track and stay on goal) today and wanted to use them in a yummy dish.

For this recipe you need:
Traditional Meatballs (I bought Armour)
One or two jars of Bertoli Italian Sausage flavored pasta sauce (yeah its loaded with sugar but gah its good - and it is on sale at Food Lion 2/$4 and if you clipped a 1.50 coupon then its 2/$2.50 - just saying)
1/2 box of whole wheat spaghetti (weird but I'm not a noodle fan so I may use even less than 1/2 a box, noodles are just....sugar)
12oz of mushrooms - you choose if you want them canned, jarred, etc - just drain them (stems, pieces are good enough)
1 pack of pepperoni
An Italian blend cheese of your choice

Cook the noodles accordingly
Cook the meatballs accordingly
Heat your sauce as you normally would

In a 9x13 dish:
Pasta goes in first
Next go the meatballs
Next the mushrooms
Next the sauce
Next the pepperonies
Last the cheese

Bake it at 350 for about twenty minutes (or until the cheese is very melted)

I like to add in green pepper, onions, and black olives as well.  You can basically throw whatever you want in this bad boy.

If you want to make it super healthy you can:
Choose a pasta such as Dreamfield Farm's (the diabetic choice for pasta) or don't use any.
You can make your own sauce (one day I will do this)
To sub the meatballs you can make or purchase tofu style "meat" balls or make veggie balls (oh the jokes I could go into here.....)

If you're going to stick to the recipe then just remember your serving size for this would be

2oz of pasta
1/4c sauce
2 meatballs
1/4c cheese
4 pepperoni

That would make a slice of the dish about the size of your palm and that is about 500 calories.
Saddle it up with some lettuce a low cal dressing.....oh baby!

I'll get a pic up tomorrow.

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Today has been a challenge with a fussy baby this morning and a fussy little girl this afternoon.  With that said I may use enjoy an adult beverage before bed!

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Until we meet again -


Brownie

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