Those smelly sponges…don’t throw away

Just like our glasses and dishes, we need to clean the clean mechanism. Do you really want to use a sponge for cleaning the flatware that was used to wipe up a spill on the floor. NO. Remember that its important to maintain the freshness and cleanliness of these items. Couple of suggestions:
1. Place the sponge in the dishwasher and run with a regular load.
2. If you don’t have a dishwasher, try wetting the sponge and placing in the microwave for 45 seconds. *Caution the sponge will be hot*

Time to clean the vegetables

Instead of just using plain water to wash your fruits and vegetables, which does not have the ability to remove all of the chemicals on its own, add baking soda. Take a bowl and add a small amount of baking soda and fill with water. Stir the mixture to dissolve the baking soda. Add your fruits or vegetables. Gently rub and rinse with cold water. Not recommended for items that actually retain water, (i.e. mushrooms).

Pure Lemon Juice

Tired of paying a lot for lemons just to get the small amount of lemon juice needed for that recipe? I discovered Minute Maid Lemon Juice in my freezer section. Now there is nothing like squeezing lemon for that pure lemon juice but this is a great alternative if lemon's are cost prohibitive in your area. You can go to http://www.minutemaid.com/products/Other/LemonJuice.jsp for more info. The product does spoil so you do need to use it within the recommended time frame. Enjoy!

Go Organic...Start at Home

Do you ever hear people stating that they want to be more organic but end up buying the worst chemical contained products? Instead of trying to buy your way into organics why not start at home. A couple of ideas that could be used for going green at home.
1. For general all purpose cleaner check out www.thegreenguide.com and the listing for a general purpose cleaner.
1/2 cup borax
1 gallon hot water
It also includes metal and wood polish. Who thought Olive Oil and White Vinegar could do so much.

2. Gardening. Growing up I remember that nearly all of families in the neighborhood had a garden. It wasn't until about twenty years ago when the trend moved away from home based production to cute packaged foods. Carrots don't even look like carrots in real form now.
If you don't have a space to plant a full fledged garden, how about just some herbs on a window sill. You've seen how expensive herbs cost in the store and you usually only need a few sprigs of rosemary or a couple leaves of Basil.

Free Seeds ? Check out http://wintersown.org/wseo1/Free_Seeds.html

3. Support the local farmer's market. Generally all of the vendors originate within a 200 mile radius. There is some exceptions with the larger city markets but the cost of transportation would outweigh the benefit exceeding the general area. Need to locate a market, check out http://farmersmarket.com/

Go Organic...Start at Home.

Check out GreenSky in Andersonville

Since Everything in the Kitchen doesn't just talk about food and appliances, we wanted to feature a locally owned business featuring eco friendly materials. Shopkeeper Nadeen has brought GreenSky to the neighborhood of Andersonville on the north side of Chicago. The shop brings you back before big box retailers invaded the city. Check out Greensky's website at Greenskycompany.com If you are in Chicago, remember to stop in and check out all of the wonderful products made from sustainable materials.

Monkeysee.com

Check out this site for instructional videos. It's like food TV on the net. Easy to search and the recipe accompanies the video. www.monkeysee.com