Cleaning and Upkeep of your Dishwasher

My dishwasher is a Kitchenaid brand dishwasher. WE have had it for 5 years and it hasn't been cleaning well. I tried different soaps and decided the filter needed to be cleaned.  The husband is helpful but not really knowledgeable about mechanical repairs. I decided to watch a YouTube video on how to clean the filter. You can try this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRCCrEwrst8
After watching the tutorial I had a good idea of the steps going forward to clean the filter. In all it took about 30 minutes and my husbands muscle helped in removing a few items. I might suggest a pillow for your knees as well.

Central Vac Clogged vaccume

It's been a while since I have blogged. I have been busy.

Recently while cleaning up my house I found that I had lost suction on my central vac unit. I found a YouTube tutorial that gave me a easy fix, so I could avoid the $150 service charge.

1) you take a Shopvac ( cheaper to buy one than to pay the service charge) I just happened to already have one . The tutorial said that I could attach a shop vac hose to the end of the hose and suck for a moment. Do the same thing to the other side of the hose, alternating until the blockage comes loose. It worked like a charm, and I am back in business.  You can also do this with the " in wall" piping if, your blockage isn't in the hose. Good Luck home fixers.

Johnny Carino's Chicken Scallopini

Johnny Carino's Chicken Scallopini 
Everytime we go to Johnny Carino's I order this. It is sooo mouth wateringly delicious. I am drooling just thinking about it. :0) I found a copycat recipe for it. So now I can make it any time!

Ingredients:
Lemon butter:
1/2 lb butter 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 
2 tablespoons white wine 
1/2 teaspoon garlic , minced
chicken 
4 tablespoons butter , melted
2 chicken breasts 
1/2 cup roma tomatoes 
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup cooked bacon , chopped
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon pepper 
1 teaspoon garlic salt
10 ounces spaghetti 
8 ounces heavy whipping cream 

Directions:
Combine Lemon Butter ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat at a medium speed until a smooth consistency in the batter is formed. Once combined, keep refrigerated until needed.
Put Spaghetti on to boil & prepare as you usually would.
While it is cooking halve each chicken breast (you will have 4 pieces).
In a warm saute pan, combine melted butter & chicken breast pieces. Saute until chicken is browned & just about done. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, and spice mixture. Simmer until tomatoes begin to dissolve & chicken is done. Add heavy cream and allow to boil to the middle of pan. Remove from heat, add one cup lemon butter, and fold together to make sauce.
Serve over spaghetti.

How to Pick a Watermelon

We have a local farm 5 minutes from our house. Last summer I was choosing a watermelon there and they told me that you want to look for bee stings.
See picture below..

like this. The more the better. You see, bee's can tell which ones are the sweetest. So they put their little stingers in the watermelon making the imperfection in the rind. I used to stay away from those watermelons, but you see they are the best ones. Choose a bee stung watermelon for the sweetest taste.

In My Fridge - A useful website

There is a website out there to inspire the uninspired. To help out when you are in need of a visit to the grocery store.

It's called.
http://www.myfridgefood.com/index.php


This website can be fun and helpful when you just need to make something  for dinner , but you don't have every ingredient. It has you check the boxes of the items in your pantry/ fridge. The gives suggestions on a meal plan. Happy Eating.

How to keep Bananas longer

Pull bananas apart from the bunch. They ripen faster together and stay better longer apart.

Today's Laundry Instructions

Care Symbol	Written Care Instructions	What Care Symbol and Instructions Mean
Wash [Home]  [Top]
	Machine Wash, Normal	Garment may be laundered through the use of hottest available water, detergent or soap, agitation, and a machine designed for this purpose.
	Machine Wash, Cold	Initial water temperature should not exceed 30C or 65 to 85F.
	Machine Wash, Warm	Initial water temperature should not exceed 40C or 105F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 50C or 120F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 60C or 140F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 70C or 160F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 95C or 200F.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL WASH PROCEDURES.
	Machine Wash, Permanent Press	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed to preserve Permanent Press with cool down or cold rinse prior to reduced spin.
	Machine Wash, Gentle or Delicate	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed for gentle agitation and/or reduced time for delicate items.
	Hand Wash	Garment may be laundered through the use of water, detergent or soap and gentle hand manipulation.
	Do Not Wash	Garment may not be safely laundered by any process. Normally accompanied by Dry Clean instructions.
Bleach [Home]  [Top]
NOTE: All (98+%) washable textiles are safe in some type of bleach. IF BLEACH IS NOT MENTIONED OR REPRESENTED BY A SYMBOL, ANY BLEACH MAY BE USED.
	Bleach When Needed	Any commercially available bleach product may be used in the laundering process.
	Non-Chlorine Bleach When Needed	Only a non-chlorine, color-safe bleach may be used in the laundering process. Chlorine bleach may not be used.
	Do Not Bleach	No bleach product may be used. The garment is not colorfast or structurally able to withstand any bleach.
Dry [Home]  [Top]
	Tumble Dry, Normal	A machine dryer may be regularly used at the hottest available temperature setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Low Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Low Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Medium Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Medium Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, High Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a High Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, No Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at No Heat or Air Only setting.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL DRY PROCEDURES.
	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Permanent Press setting.
	Tumble Dry, Gentle	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Gentle setting.
	Do Not Tumble Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Do Not Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Line Dry	Hang damp garment from line or bar, in or out doors.
	Drip Dry	Hang dripping wet garment from line or bar, in or out doors, without hand shaping or smoothing.
	Dry Flat	Lay out horizontally for drying.
	Dry In Shade	Usually added to Line or Drip Dry. Dry away from direct sunlight.
Wring [Home]  [Top]
	Do Not Wring	Do Not Wring.
Iron [Home]  [Top]
NOTE: IF IRONING IS NOT A NECESSARY, REGULAR CARE PROCEDURE IT NEED NOT BE MENTIONED.
	Iron, Any Temperature, Steam or Dry	Regular ironing may be needed and may be performed at any available temperature with or without steam is acceptable.
	Iron, Low	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Low setting (110C, 230F) only.
	Iron, Medium	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Medium setting (150C, 300F).
	Iron, High	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at High setting (200C, 290F).
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL IRONING PROCEDURES.
	Do Not Steam	Steam ironing will harm garment, but regular dry ironing at indicated temperature setting is acceptable.
	Do Not Iron	Item may not be smoothed or finished with an iron.
Dryclean [Home]  [Top]
	Dryclean	Dry Clean, any solvent, any cycle any moisture, any heat.
	Dryclean, Any Solvent	Dry Clean, any solvent. Usually used with other restrictions on proper dry cleaning procedure.
	Dryclean, Petroleum Solvent Only	Dry Clean using only petroleum solvent. Usually used with other restrictions.
	Dryclean, Any Solvent Except Trichloroethylene	Any dry cleaning solvent other than trichloroethylene may be safely used.
	Dryclean, Short Cycle	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, Reduced Moisture	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, Low Heat	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, No Steam	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Do Not Dryclean	Garment may not be commercially drycleaned.