Another closet

The hall closet was next on my list.  I keep some cleaning supplies in there, my hard floor steamer, batteries, and meds, plus some other odds and ends. 

I had all these cute frames in there. The 8x10 will be going, because I don't really care to display pictures that large.  The small ones on the right are dog or cat-themed, and for now I am keeping one dog and one cat one.  Same for the dog ones on the left--one goes and one stays.  The wooden one with flowers I really like and won't have any problem getting a picture in it.  The other four I will give myself a deadline for, and if I don't have them filled with pictures and displayed by then, they are going too.

Recycling I found in the closet. 

Two heavy glass lightswitch plates that were a gift several years ago.  I might put one in my guest room, which is decorated with some antiques.  Again, if it's not done quickly, I'm getting rid of both. 

The random stuff that is leaving my hall closet for good. 

And the finished product.  I don't have a before, so just pretend it's filled with random junk I've held on to way too long.  Ha. 

Behold the purge

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath to see what crap I got rid of out of the master closet.  Ha! 

Random stuff--air purifier, lamp, travel pillow, cat waterer, etc.

My clothes: 

2 shorts
2 dresses
3 skirts
5 pants
5 pair shoes
7 shirts
13 (!) sweaters
a multitude of socks
3 pairs heel supports
new bra

Oh yeah, 3 more shirts I found, plus a photo album.  Underneath the shirts are a couple sheets that I have sewn numerous times, and they're not holding together anymore.  I might try to patch them or I will cut them up for rags.  Either way they are not sitting around in my closet any longer.  

Three purses, two belts, wallet that were mine, and a pair of sandals and shirt that belonged to Mr. GV.

Here is the whole gigantic mess.  Of course right now it's all moved into my spare room, but in a few weeks hopefully it will all be gone!

Closet cleanup

We have a fairly large master bedroom closet.  And because of that, it becomes the catch-all and gets junky.  So I set out to give it a good cleaning. 

Here is my (shameful) before picture.  On the right are Mr. GV's clothes, and mine are on the left, mostly hidden behind the door. Ahead you see sheets, and below that (behind the mess on the floor) are the shoes.  See that red box?  Fragile Christmas decorations that I don't want up in the attic.  Green clothes basket?  Random stuff. 

After:  winter comforters and blankets on the top, blankets, bags, and beach towels on the next two shelves

sheets (two sets flannel, two sets regular, and top sheets to keep schmutz from the dogs' and cat's paws off the comforter. So much easier to change out a sheet than the comforter...)

My hang-up clothes, before

and after.  I'm not into the whole 'put in order by color' thing.  It may not look like much less than the before, but I also hung up several shirts that I had laying in a pile in the bottom of the closet. 

Pants/sweaters before

and after.  I tried on all the pants, and if they were too big, they were out of there.  I've kept the weight off for a few years now, and am still losing more, so I figured it was time to finally get rid of the big pants. All the sweaters are gone too, as I just don't wear them.

Mr. GV's side of the closet (plus my wedding dress obviously) before

and after.  I put the shirts together by type (T, short, and long-sleeved.)  Mr. GV doesn't have the time right now, but very soon he's going to go through and get rid of quite a few. He only wears scrubs to work now, and in his off time sticks to T-shirts.  Maybe once or twice a year he needs a dress shirt. 

Bottom rack, before.  See those cables peeking out behind the clothes?  That's our electronics box.  My goal is to eventually get rid of that entire box of assorted cables and gizmos, but for now at least it has been neatened and the box found a new home.

After.

Today at my house

I had a lot of things to do in the kitchen today, including

making bottled tea for Mr. GV.

Making Three Sisters Stew from Vegan on the Cheap.

Cooking up a pot of pinto beans--some for the stew and the rest in the fridge for making chili.

Taking these (cumin seeds)

putting them in here,

and making this---fresh cumin powder.

Taking a bag of frozen vegetable scraps--stems from greens, onion ends, mushroom stems, and bits of leftover herbs,

adding some bay and peppercorns,

and making vegetable broth.

There were other things done today, but not photographed, including:

*cooking rice

*cooking udon noodles (for leftover peanut sauce and steamed veggies)

*cutting up a browned banana and aging mango, to be put into the freezer for smoothies

*scraping off the 3rd side of stained, white caulk from around the kitchen sink and replacing it with clear silicone caulk

*culling a whole bunch of magazines

*laundry

*vacuuming

Today was a chilly, overcast day, and it was a good day to stay inside and do some homemaking!

Soap, Sweet 'n' Sour, and Szechuan

I've been wanting to try making my own liquid soap for some time now. For several years we've used Method brand, and refilled our glass soap pumps. I found a lot of Method refills on closeout at Big Lots a couple of years ago and we just now finished going through all of those. It's always nice to save money, but my main goal in making my own liquid soap is environmental. The method refills used to come in a bottle that was recyclable; now it's a pouch that is not recyclable. Either way, I'd like to use less plastic when I can.

I looked around different sites on the internet and found the simplest recipe, which was: grate a bar of soap, add water, boil, and you've got liquid soap.

I added a gallon of filtered water.

And then I second guessed myself. The final result was so very thin that I grated a second bar of soap and boiled that solution for a while. I decided to put the pot on the deck for the evening, and see what the chilly night would do.

And this is what I got:

A very thick liquid soap. Thick, but also usable. Next time I will add some patience and only the first bar of soap, and it should be a great consistency.

That evening for supper I made a recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Authentic Chinese Cuisine called Pineapple Sweet and Sour.

I decided to use cast iron this time to stir fry, as my stir fry pan just doesn't do a very good job on my stove for some reason. First you dry stir fry the onion, ginger, and garlic.

After that it's just a matter of adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking for a bit longer.

Serve over some rice (brown is the preferred type in the GV household.) I am not a pineapple lover, but even I enjoy it in this dish.

We had some green beans from our local organic farm, so I thought why not Szechuan?

First I made up the sauce. Which was pretty darn hot.

And then I did something I so very rarely do. I fried. The last time I fried anything was probably.......well, years ago. Maybe some tofu (and now that I've discovered oven frying for tofu, that won't be happening again.) Or maybe when my now-deceased cocker spaniel had to have a special diet that included hamburger meat. At any rate, I fried those green beans for 45 seconds in canola oil. Because Guy Fieri told me to.

After combining the green beans with the sauce, you can top them with some chopped peanuts and fresh parsley. Also please have your water pitcher at the ready, because these suckers really packed some heat.

Can I get a hand?

When I did the garage cleanup I decided to give all our work gloves a good cleaning as well. Looks like we have 5 pairs, including a leather pair, bought in our pre-vegan days of course.

And then there's one little glove hanging out by itself. A cute little blue checked design. I just wonder where the mate is.