Dishwasher Day Part II

Another thing I learned about dishwashers is that it is not enough to clean the front. My appliance repairman visited recently and reported that the bacterial and dish soap buildup around the gasket/door seal of my dishwasher is best removed occasionally.

That vertical black line in the picture is coated with crud.

Fortunately, I have a handy dandy grout brush that looked up to the task!

As you can see, the crud is growing on the edge of the dishwasher door as well as on the seal.

Fortunately, the grout brush combined with some liquid dish soap quickly dissolved the mess and all was wiped away with a damp rag.

We can add this to my list of Things I Never Thought to Clean. My repairman will be so impressed--if ever we need him to return...

Menu Plan Monday October 18th

Fall has finally arrived--with regard to the weather in our area, so I'd like to pull out a few more cold-weather recipes... unfortunately it will be difficult to do that this week because there is a lot going on, including my husband leaving town for a few days.

• Monday: Leftovers for adults, quesadillas and steamed broccoli for the kids
• Tuesday: (parents out) Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs with steamed vegetables
• Wednesday: (book fair) Eating out
• Thursday: Baked Breaded Fish Nuggets, hash browns, steamed vegetable
• Friday: Eating out
• Saturday: Date night; kids at grandparents'
• Sunday: (Book Club) Mom's Chili with homemade cornbread and salad

• Monday: Apple Sausage Risotto (sliding from last week where it was sacrificed for Fast Food :()

Soup of the Week: I didn't get to the Minestrone last week. I'm not sure I will get to it this week, either, but I'll try.

Find other meal plan ideas at orgjunkie.com!

Dishwasher Day Part 1

A few weeks ago, I observed that all of the dishes coming out of the dishwasher were less than clean. I used Angie's List to find a reputable, affordable repairman, and he had bad news: the dishwasher motor needed to be replaced entirely.

We were disappointed to say the least, as we purchased the dishwasher in February 2006 based on the Consumer Reports recommendation at the time. (It's a Kenmore Elite, if you care to know.) We have run the dishwasher once a day on average for less than 4 years, so we were very surprised to learn that it needed such an extensive repair--$350!

My first thought was to replace the dishwasher entirely. It doesn't make sense to me to invest an additional $350 into a machine that cost less than twice that amount in the first place. When I asked the repairman for dishwasher recommendations,the repairman recommended the mid-range dishwashers because many of the low-price dishwashers have a one-piece motor identical or similar to the one in my broken dishwasher. I hopped online to research and determine which dishwasher would be the best replacement.

Many hours of research and deliberation later, I was confused and overwhelmed. The dishwashers rated highest by Consumer Reports (and the dishwasher repairman) were the ones that had the most positive AND negative reviews by individuals on the various store web sites. Most of the time it was difficult to determine whether the reviewer was writing a review for the specific dishwasher I was looking at... or an older/different model.

The entire research process left me as uninformed as when I started, except as to the high cost of a new dishwasher. In addition to the $1,100 dishwasher I was considering, I would need to pay an installation fee, anywhere from $200 to $400. After reading about the mixed experiences people were having with the various dishwashers, I felt like it would be taking a risk to purchase a new dishwasher.
These conclusions led me back to the option of repairing the current dishwasher. Not the glamorous choice by far, especially after seeing the special 3rd rack my potential new dishwasher came with. The deciding factor was the recycling factor. It seems like a crime to dispose of a practically new dishwasher, even if the entire motor doesn't work. If I succumb to temptation and buy the sparkly new dishwasher (with stainless steel interior), I will be reinforcing our culture of discarding appliances at the first sign of a problem to replace them with the latest and greatest (energy-saving drying cycle!).

If the old dishwasher lasts another 4 years with the repair, we will have saved money.

If the replacement motor dies in 12-18 months (as happened to numerous reviewers on the web), we'll kick ourselves and wish we had gone with the new dishwasher. And then buy the new one.

If we're lucky, the new motor will last longer that our wildest dreams and I will never get a chance to enjoy the new-fangled one. I don't know why I care; ask me how often I load the dishwasher in our household? I'm the chef of the house, my husband is The Loader.

Anyway, I have been spending way too much time thinking about dishwashers recently.

Menu Plan Monday: October 11th

It's Abundance Week in our household... a series of lovely gatherings with friends and family over the holiday weekend have left us with a full refrigerator, and I just need to plan out what we are going to eat when!

• Monday: Dinner with friends; made the Apple Crisp from the Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook--very nutritious until you serve it warm over vanilla ice cream :)
• Tuesday: (Parents Out) Chicken Tenders with Salt and Pepper Potatoes and a steamed vegetable
• Wednesday: Make Your Own Pizza (Parents eating leftovers)

• Thursday: Eggplant Stew Over Couscous--with the eggplants from my grandparents' garden over whole wheat couscous (Kids eating leftovers)
• Friday: Frittata with Swiss Chard, Potatoes, and Fontina (to use up the swiss chard)
• Saturday: Apple Sausage Risotto with a steamed vegetable
• Sunday: Soy-Glazed Salmon with Lime Cilantro Soba Noodles
• Monday: Leftovers, if there are any

The great thing is that I have everything I need to make all of the recipes listed above. It is so nice to have a break from grocery shopping.

Soup of the Week: I'm craving the Minestrone alla Milanese that I made a few weeks ago... I want to eat it for lunch with a buttery grilled cheese sandwich. MMMmmm!

Also for lunch I need to make a Super Special Spinach Pie to use up some spinach and sour cream (and eat the leftovers for breakfast), and also make some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for my friend who is ill.

Added to all that, I have 3 leftover cakes, and the leftover Apple Crisp to finish up. I guess I'd better plan on working out every day this week to keep up with the caloric intake!

Find more meal planning ideas at orgjunkie.com!

Yard Sale and Consignment Deja Vu

I'm having somewhat of a deja vu experience this month. Just like this past spring, I am participating in a consignment sale and a yard sale all in the same week!

The consignment sale is a set event that occurs twice a year, and I am exhaustedly pleased to report that I pulled together just under 100 items to take to the sale: kids' clothing, snow bibs/boots, videos/DVDs/toys, and a few other miscellaneous items, including those items pictured above--except for the 18-wheeler truck, which was withdrawn from the sale by my packrat son. (Has he played with this truck in the past 2 years? No! Will he play with it again after today? No! Sigh.)

The Yard Sale is actually something a friend of mine is putting together, and she has kindly invited others to sell items at her sale. I have just a few larger items in mind to add to the sale, but it will save me having to list items on Craigslist and arrange individual pickups, etc.

I'm glad to have these extra motivators to keep me focused on Stuff Elimination, because I've been looking at my calendar and there is a lot going on in the next few months. I want to continue purging through the end of the year to complete my Declutter Challenge, but I have to be realistic about the lack of available time and energy I'm going to have to devote to the project. It is probably realistic to predict that October is going to be my last 'big' selling month of the year.

Birthday Declutter: Daughter's Bedroom

Recently I decided it was time to deal with... The Situation in my Daughter's Room.

Most of my daughter's toys are kept here in her room, and she enjoys pulling everything out, as can be seen. She has plenty of things (including many many puppies), but she isn't interested in helping me declutter. "Don't sell my stuff, MOM!" is what she says every time I gently bring it up.

The space in her room is a little tight because she has a double bed. We gave our kids larger beds because a) we had two double beds already and b) a parent can lie down with either child to help them fall asleep (the kids love it. The parents don't mind except when they fall asleep before the kids do!) My daughter's room is decorated with a bedspread and curtains that used to be mine when I was growing up. I figure we'll update her room if/when she is interested and wants to pick out something on her own.

In the mean time, I wanted to get a better hold on her stuff, and clear out some of the things I didn't think she would miss, and do this before her birthday, when I knew she would acquire additional Stuff on top of the stuff she already had. We took one rainy day and spent it moving furniture and decluttering. I took four boxes of random items to the basement, and completely cleared everything under the bed. (Did I post that before picture yet?)

Anyway. Ever since, my daughter has enjoyed her clean room so much, she asks me to clean her room almost every day. I encourage her to help me, of course.

I can't wait to post the 'After' pictures, which I will do later this week. (Long Story Short: daughter broke camera, ordered new one, it's arrived, just need to remember to take the pictures when the room is all put together nice.)

Stay tuned...

Menu Plan Tuesday October 5th

I have a plan, I just need to write it down here:

• Monday: Spaghetti with whole wheat pasta and turkey meatballs, with steamed broccoli
• Tuesday: Roasted Lamb Rack (special treat from Trader Joe's) with baked potatoes and steamed green beans
• Wednesday: Creamy Enchilada Casserole with steamed asparagus (parents out)
• Thursday: I could be optimistic and plan to cook on Thursday, but I doubt it will happen. I think we'll order Pizza. :)
• Friday: (Friends for Dinner) Marinated Flank Steak on the grill, cranberry brown rice pilaf, salad, maybe something else
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Family Birthday Get-together (need to finalize menu)
• Monday: (Dinner at Friends) Make some sort of apple crisp or pie with the apples my friend brought me today, I haven't decide yet. With vanilla ice cream, of course.

I also need to bake chocolate chip cookies for a teacher luncheon. Fortunately I can do that asleep with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back.

I just used the Recipe Index that I put together last week for the first time. I found my links so quickly!

Find many more meal planning ideas at orgjunkie.com!