Recently I found a recipe for Key Lime Pie, which both my hubby and me are big fans of. So I printed the recipe and waited for an occasion to bake it.

Running a cleaning service in NYC takes most of my time so I needed a special occasion to make this pie.

And there it was, my Birthday! I am not going to mention how old I am because I don’t want to get depressed.

Anyway I bought the ingredients and did everything or so I thought, to prepare the pie, but it was a disaster. I was going over and over again what I did wrong and I finally figured it out.

Instead of buying condensed milk I got evaporated milk. Why? I don’t know. I didn’t pay attention I just got milk in the can.

My mom saved my birthday by bringing the birthday cake with 3 candles on it (a little hint how old I am). At least we had a dessert. But I am not going to give up on Key Lime Pie and I will give it another try this weekend.

Do you enjoy baking? Please share your favorite baking recipes with me.

By the way, to clean up a messy kitchen hire experts from green cleaning company so you can enjoy baking and not worry about cleaning.

Related posts:

1. How to make your own green soft scrub.

I was asked to do a deep cleaning for a new client on the Upper West Side. The project was big because we had to wash the walls from top to bottom. The apartment was in good shape.

I made my own soft scrub.

It was very easy and quick to do. I mixed 1/8 cup of Castile oil plus 1/2 cup of baking soda plus 8 drops of tea tree or rosemary essential oil. It makes enough for a couple of bathroom cleanings.

It worked great and smelled great and there were no toxins in it.

After 9 hours of cleaning I didn’t have a headache , dry eyes or a nosebleed which regular store bought products have given me in the past.

By the way, thank you Kim for using my green cleaning service for deep cleaning your apartment.

I am wondering how many of you are using your own homemade products. If you know some good recipes please share them with me.

Related posts:

1. How Did I Change My Approach Towards Cleaning?
2. Why we should use green cleaning products?
3. Does your cleaning service in NYC help you to become green?

But my apartment won’t clean itself, so we always clean together. My hubby vacuums the floors and wet mops them and I am responsible for cleaning the kitchen and bathroom.

What I discovered recently is that he likes to put clean dishes back in the cabinets. Up to now I always did that since it was my part of the job. But since the big discovery I have one little thing less to do and he actually enjoys this. A few things now have a new place in the kitchen but who cares;)

By the way my favorite part of cleaning is doing the laundry.
I can sit in the laundry room and watch the washer while it is doing the job. Of course I don’t do that since we share the laundry room and my neighbors would think I am crazy;)

What is your favorite cleaning chore? If you don’t have any favorite chores you know who to call. But remember not to call on Saturdays because I am doing the laundry;)

Related posts:

1. How to keep your bathroom mold free in your NYC apartment?
2. Buying a vacuum cleaner? You have to hear this!
3. How Does Your Cleaning Service Deliver Additional service Which You Certainly Don’t Want In Your House?

What to do to prevent the mold?

While cleaning your bathroom on a regular basis always wash your tiles with green all purpose cleaner. Every other week use white distilled vinegar to treat your grout. Use a small brush or an old toothbrush would work as well, dip the brush in vinegar then scrub the grout. The most important areas are close to the shower head because it always gets wet.
Cleaning your NYC bathroom on a weekly basis is very important to prevent mold. If you don’t have time to clean on a weekly schedule, hire a green cleaning service to do this for you.

What else can you do in your NYC bathroom to prevent mold?

After taking a shower, make sure to keep your shower curtain closed but leave your bathroom door open. Plastic shower curtains are often missed while cleaning the bathroom but mold grows on them as often as on the grout.
Keep the shower curtain close to dry it faster.
If there is a vent in your NYC bathroom make sure to clean it once a month. The dust will clog them very easily and without ventilation the next thing you will see is mold.

Why is it so important to prevent mold in the bathroom?

Mold is toxic and can cause many illnesses.
To summarize, to prevent mold in your bathroom the keep door open after showering, let the air circulate the room, leave the shower curtain closed and keep the vent clean.
And most importantly hire the green cleaning experts if you don’t have time to clean your apartment by yourself.

Related posts:

1. Don’t Forget Cleaning Your Bathroom
2. What is your favorite chore to do when cleaning your NYC apartment?
3. How to make your own green soft scrub.

Let me explain why I chose this charity. My nephew Philip was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2,5 years old. It was at a very early stage when we found out. He didn’t have any serious symptoms. But Martha as a Mom knew something was wrong and asked the doctor to do a detailed blood test.

The results were shocking to all of us. I have tears in my eyes when I think about that day when my mom called me with this terrible news. I couldn’t sleep for many nights. I was laying in bed and crying. I knew that this could be a deadly disease. I was scared to death about my little nephew.

Later that week we found out that Philip has an 80% chance to recover and only 20% that the sickness can come back. The chemotherapy is a very long process and lasts 3,5 years.
Now I know that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are doing research to cure this illness. Thanks to them my nephew has an 80% to live a long and healthy life and have a chance to accomplish many great things.
I want to report that Philip is doing great. He takes his medicine like a candy and he is very brave every time he goes to the hospital.
He is one funny, happy 4,5 year old boy who loves animals and who is starting preschool in September.
I want to thank all the doctors and nurses who helped us on the way. Thank you!
And please help me to raise some money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Let’s “create a world without cancer”. Every dollar counts.

No related posts.

There are a few simple tips for how you can improve your life and change from toxic to green.
First of all ask your cleaning service to switch the cleaning products. There are many companies making green cleaning products, like Seventh Generation which is my favorite.

This simple switch will help you to improve the quality of the air in your house and the green products are much better for the environment.

The studies show that children’s bodies contain many pesticides and compounds. By asking your cleaning service in NYC to use green cleaning products you are preventing your child from being exposed to toxic chemicals.

If your cleaning service will not agree to change the products to green ones you can simply change your cleaning service to one which offers organic products.
There are a few cleaning services in NYC which are green because they realize how harmful the regular products might be.

Related posts:

1. How Does Your Cleaning Service Deliver Additional service Which You Certainly Don’t Want In Your House?
2. Why we should use green cleaning products?
3. How Did I Change My Approach Towards Cleaning?

• Never leave hot coffee in the reach of your children.
• Always use an iron stand after ironing your clothes.  

Related posts:

1. Did you manage to avoid burning your child?

Consumers can now buy paints that emit little or no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) which are carcinogenic carbon-based chemicals that evaporate easily and contribute to indoor air pollution. These paints are more expensive than the traditional paints that have been used in the past, but the cost is not deterring many who want to go ‘green’. After all once painted, it does not have to be done again for quite a number of years.

The newer Eco-paints are more durable, washable and not only that it is found that they are lasting longer than the older products. The lime washes have proven to be very popular and have excellent properties. These paints are water based as opposed to the previous petroleum-based oil solvents.

Here are some links for finding out about low-VOC products and stockists:

• eartheasy
• Greenopia
• Benjamin Moore Paints

Eco paints are labeled so look for them that have little or no formaldehyde, ammonia or acetone as these non-petroleum compounds do adversely affect indoor air quality.

No related posts.

You may find that using soap does not work too well with the water that is in your area. If you do find this is so, you can soften water with baking soda. If you add ¼ cup baking soda to the rinse cycle your clothes will come out nice and soft as though you have used a commercial softener. You can increase the amount of soda you use up to ½ cup until you are happy with the results. The health benefits of being green in your laundry are huge. Just think about it. You have clothes on your back 24 hrs a day and for 24 hrs a day we have chemicals touching our bodies when we don’t use a green laundry system.

If you are going to switch from detergents to green soaps it would pay to give your machine a wash through with just water and vinegar to clean out all the soap scum that has accumulated over time. This way, your clothes will be going into a scum free machine for their next wash.

There are many green brands of home products as well so you won’t have to go without if you would rather use a commercial product. Here are some sites you could look at for a chemical free laundry:

• www.ecover.com
• www.oxyboost.com
• www.sunandearth.com
• www.seventhgeneration.com

I would love to hear your feedback about today’s post. So TalkBack to me… I’m listening!

Related posts:

1. Green Cleaning Recipes for Your Home

Did you know that roughly 25% of all American petroleum is consumed by transportation and production means. The very industrialized farming methods are far more different from methods used 50 years ago. Today most of the work is done by machines in order to cut the expenses involved in hiring people. However, machines are not “fueled” by food and water as people are but by petrol which produces pollution to the air. Not to mention marketing and transportation of food which directly or indirectly consumes tons of petrol.

When we are buying food in our local shops we have to be very responsible for our decisions. We can all decrease our footprints on environment by choosing the right products. In this particular case we should be eating local food which has many benefits not only for ourselves but also on our local community in which we live. To eat locally means simply to support local farmers by buying their products on special markets places. You are certain that the food is fresh and right from the farm because it doesn’t travel thousand of miles from some remote parts of the country. Moreover, farmers don’t waste their effort to packing and preservation of their food.

Eating locally doesn’t always means buying your food from local farmer’s communities. You can always produce your own food at the back of your house. Actually this is the best and safest solution for you because you have complete control what you have eaten even if only part of your food comes from your own resources. However, a little percent of people is able to grown their own food. The reason is simple lack of time, place or strength is enough to prevent majority of us from growing our own vegetables and fruits.

To sum up, eating locally is not some fanatic movement of green peace advocates. It is a movement of reason and logic. By simple listing all advantages and disadvantages of local food you will instantly recognize what is good for you. But as always it needs a little bit time and effort. Being aware of what you put on your plate, you will not only help the environment but also you will be certain that the food you consume serves you well.

I would love to hear your feedback about today’s post. So TalkBack to me… I’m listening!

No related posts.