Monthly Archives: May 2015

Keeping your oven clean

I love to cook roasts in the oven at 200 degrees for at least 6 hours to ensure I have a tender piece of meat.  I add the potatoes, onions and carrots after about 2 hours.  I put about an inch of water in the glass pan and cover with aluminum foil.

So, what kept happening was the condensation rose and ran down the outside of the pan and then dripped onto the bottom of the oven.

To solve that problem, I made a well by running my fingers along the inside of the entire pan edge.  That way, the aluminum was down about a quarter inch or so and made the condensation drip back into the pan.

My smoke detector is very close to my oven and the least bit of smoke would set it off.  The drippings dirtied my oven and set off my alarm.

Saving money on dish detergent

I have a dishwasher, much to my dismay.  I hate dishwashers, but that is another subject.

I previously had a 99 cent (12 ounce) bottle of Dawn that seems to be diluted down.  I decided to buy the (24 ounce) Ultra Dawn for $2.50 on sale.

My mom, who is 91, thinks more is better and likes to squirt about a tablespoon of detergent on a coffee cup to clean it and then use about a gallon of water to rinse it.  lol

So, I decided to use the diluted Dawn which was less expensive.  Once it was empty, I put about 6 ounces of the Ultra Dawn in the 12 ounce bottle and filled the rest with water.  I now can make 4 bottles of the 99 cent size for $2.50 instead of the $3.96 it would have cost buying each 12 ounce bottle individually.