Cozy hot drinks have been a staple at our house since the colder weather hit. There’s nothing better than snuggling up to a giant mug of festive goodness.
We’ve found a bunch of different pumpkin spice hot white chocolate recipes. We tried a few and just couldn’t land on anything that had the pumpkin spice flavor with a mix of rich chocolate. Even if you use expensive chocolate, it tasted bland.
Then I got to creating my own version. It’s quick, cheap and easy. None of the frilly crap and tons of time. Whip it up, drink it and be happy. After all, it’s the holidays.
We are pinning all of our pumpkin recipes on our Pinterest board “We Love Pumpkin”. Follow us HERE
Summer has come to a close, meaning the problem of mosquitos lingering around will (hopefully) not be as big a problem with fall approaching. But what isn’t seasonal? Fruit flies. Everyone hates those pesky little flies that you’re swatting for days upon days. Knowing the preventative measures to take before bringing your produce home, may keep you from having to fan your face while trying to watch T.V. No worries, I will share preventative measures you can take to avoid fruit flies, and what you should do if you already have a fruit fly problem.
Preventing fruit flies: Don’t invite them in.
- Don’t buy produce from the store that already has a fruit fly party on it.
If you see fruit flies on the produce you buy, there will most likely be fruit fly eggs on your produce when you bring it home.
- As soon as you get home, wash your produce with warm water and mild soap.
As soon as you unpack your groceries, WASH YOUR PRODUCE. You can bring fruit flies into your home unknowingly by the flies’ eggs on your fresh fruit and veggies. This is also a wonderful reason you should wash produce before you eat it. No one wants to eat fruit fly eggs or fecal matter.
- Keep your kitchen tidy regularly.
We all get a little tired in the evenings after a long day and decide to just leave the dishes, pans, or wine glass in the sink to wash the next day. This will actually attract fruit flies from outside your home, and encourage them to come inside your home. If you can bear to stay awake for just a few extra minutes, do your dishes and clean up dinner before going to bed at the end of the night.
I already have fruit flies, so now what?
- Clean vigorously. The more you can clean your kitchen area after the fruit flies have made unwelcome company in your home the better. Clean all surfaces, dishes, rags, dispose of old fruit, and wash all good fruit again. The reason fruit flies become a huge and overpowering annoyance, is because their lifecycle is very short. You need to eliminate all chances of fruit fly eggs from hatching and reproducing again.
- Set a trap. You can trap the living fruit flies by either making a cone cylinder and placing it into a jar, or covering a jar with plastic wrap and poking a few tiny holes with a toothpick or knife. Fill the jar with vinegar, rotting fruit, jam, or wine. Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of fermenting, so you can use anything that is rotting or sweet smelling if you don’t have any vinegar. The trap works because the fruit flies will be attracted to the smell and will find a way to get in, but they won’t be clever enough to get themselves out, and will eventually drown.
- Clean again. Cleaning is really important after you’ve caught all the fruit flies, because you want to make sure there are no eggs in your kitchen waiting to hatch. Keep and maintain a clean kitchen for the next few days, and leave out the trap to make sure you catch the stragglers.
I hope these tips and tricks will help you steer clear of fruit flies who try to make an unwelcome entrance into your home.
Author Bio:
Maya Rodgers prides herself as a wife, the mother of two children, a pet owner, and pest control consultant for Terminix. She enjoys sharing her expertise in pest control by sharing useful tips and tricks with bloggers. She also loves writing and living as green as possible.
You can check out Maya’s blog at Pets and Pests for additional tips and tricks for eliminating fruit flies and other pesky pets.
It’s extremely frustrating when you find the time to clean and organize only to have it all back to what it was within 24 hours.
Organized spaces seem to be a magnet for family members. It’s as if it’s screaming, “Look at how clean and tidy I am! Please use this time to place everything you’ve been carrying around right here.”
Life can get away from us so by just creating these 9 habits, you’ll free up a lot of time for yourself and feel a bit more sane. Plus, you won’t have to set aside time to organize because it will look like that most of the time.
Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? It will take some time to get used to but you can definitely do it.
- Keep an updated calendar.
When you hear of someone’s birthday, you plan a lunch date or your kids have a school function, IMMEDIATELY put it in a calendar. Whether you are using your phone, your email program or a paper calendar, write it down. This way, you won’t be caught off guard or, worse, forget about it.
- Create a schedule and stick to it.
Creating a schedule rids your brain of the chaos because you know you’ll complete your tasks and you also know when they will be completed. Sticking to this schedule is crucial. Productivity is key…not procrastination.
- Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.
Everything in your life has a “home”. These “homes” have to make sense. This means the most used items are more accessible than the rarely used items which can be stored away. As if it would get lonely away from home, return it to where you found it once you’re finished with your item.
- Create a purging schedule.
No matter how organized you are, things just seem to collect. It’s as if the clutter monster sneaks into your house when you aren’t looking and shoves things away. Schedule regular times to go through papers and items that are piling up. Focus on the high traffic areas. Chances are, you’ll find a lot of stuff you don’t need.
- Don’t over-commit yourself.
With all that is on your plate, it may seem like you can do it all but you can’t. In a life of choosing priorities, keep in mind that signing up for anything and everything just takes away from your personal time, family time and even sanity. Be involved, sure, but don’t create situations where it’s completely up to you to make things happen all the time. There is enough pressure at home and work for that sort of thing. Delegate like crazy.
- Designate social media times.
When you are working, it will take you more than three times longer to complete a task if you’re checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, etc. Figure out your task, complete it and then move on to social media. If you can close your email at this time, that’s one less distraction.
- Maintain clutter-free zones.
Stairways, counter tops, desks and tables tend to attract clutter because it’s very easy to set things down that you will “get to later”. Once you set something down, you have created an attractive area for clutter. If it’s more than just you living in your home, you’ve unknowingly given the “okay” to set things down in the same place.
- Avoid the word “miscellaneous”.
When creating file labels, avoid labeling “miscellaneous”. You’ll shove the papers you don’t know what to do with in this section, forget they are there and then spend far too much time looking for them when you do need them. Just create another folder for this paper…even if there’s just one piece.
- Stay on top of it.
When you are in a room, take a look around and see if everything is picked up and in it’s place. Don’t get all OCD but do it enough to where you aren’t having to dedicate serious cleaning time later. See a toy on the ground? Is there a paper randomly placed? Did something tip over? Fix it quickly. Another good idea is to clean while you cook. It’s less overwhelming to have a few dishes to wash after your meal than the entire collection you just dirtied and let sit.
Do you have anything else to add that is working for you? Comment below.
We have done this on more than one occasion. Usually, if you look at your friend’s pinboard about a week before their birthday or a holiday, you can rush order it on Amazon and have it arrive just before the celebration. Not that we’ve ever cut it that close. Oh wait…
Coming from someone who typically has just about 30 minutes to nap…or would prefer 30 minutes over a couple of hours, this tip was really helpful. Have you ever woken up from a good long nap and felt completely out of it? I mean, sure a cozy blanket and a good nap is what dreams are made of but it screws you all up.
