Kitchen Adventures- The Quest For Clean

Lately I've been in a home improvement mood. It could be because I'm now single and so I can't have a honey-do list anymore OR it could be because I'm realizing all the things I put on hold because I was too busy being gone every weekend. The jury is still out on this.

Whatever the reason, I have until January 2nd off and I decided to do some cleaning. My living room doesn't really have any problems other than needing a good coat of colored paint but I live in an apartment and I'd have to permission. It's just a big mess. Once I get a new TV though, I'll probably re-arrange some things.

The next rooms in my apartment are my kitchen and dining/office area. My kitchen is fairly organized. There are things I would like to change but I do not have the monetary means to do so yet. Have I mentioned I LOVE tax return season? Getting back on track, I decided to tackle my kitchen today.

If you know me well or have listen to me talk about my apartment, you know that I hate my electric stove/oven. The stove part is really okay but it's the oven I hate. This thing burns everything! I have to set the temperature down to 200 degree no matter what I'm cooking and it still get's too hot. Needless to say, I do not do a whole lot of baking. I do cook a lot though. This left my stove top really nasty.

First I unplugged the burners and put the drip pans in hot water is some cleanser.

I let those sit while I cleaned the rest of the stove. I still had to scrub them forever just to get them to look semi clean. I'm going to end up getting some actual over/stove top cleaner when I can so they look like new. Until then, they are at least grime free.

The next part was to clean under the stove top. I had to lift the stove top up and unbelievably, it stays up by itself! I did not know that. This is what it looked like before I scrubbed it.

Before Scrubbing

I used Dawn dish soap to scrub everything. I've found that Dawn actually does cut a lot of the grease on things. Again, I want to use some actual cleaner but that will probably have to be for Spring cleaning. This is what the stove looked like after scrubbing.

 

 

After Scrubbing

I'll spare you the details of cleaning the panel of my stove but all you have to do is take the knobs off, use some spray cleaning and wipe everything down. I then put everything back together. Here is the finished product.

It's not perfect but it looks A LOT better than it did before I started. I still have more to do in my kitchen and I need to move things out so I can sweep and mop the floors really well. Until next time!

-Jessica

All By Myself

It's been an interesting few days. In addition to trying to write a 20 page paper, Ryan and I ended our relationship. Don't worry, I'm fine. Our relationship hadn't been healthy for awhile. We still love each other and will probably be friends but our lives are heading in two different directions. I'm really just going to take this time to focus on finishing school and doing what I need to do to continue to lose this weight. I figure come swimsuit season, I'll be hot and sexy and all the guys will want me. ;)

In other news, I battled a great evil today. Ants. It's not the big ones that actually bite, but the little tiny annoying ones that you just find everywhere. I think I figured out where they came in but it had to be the hardest spot...the ceiling. Now, I'm tall but I'm not a giant. So I have to call a friend for a step ladder so I could actually get the little bastards. On the bright side, my kitchen is spotless. I am however, terrified that they will come back.

If you ever have to deal with ants, my number one suggestion is to spray the hell out of them! Then vacuum those suckers up. I probably should of done that instead of trying to find a step ladder, but my OCD made me want to wash the walls.

My next project is to clean my ceiling fan blades. They be nasty.

So yes, I'm going to be fine. If you would like to however take me out for iced tea, I won't object.