In todays maddening selection of cleaning supplies, you can easily drive yourself crazy trying to decide which scented soap, bleach, or detergent is best for you and your family.  If you’re also conscious about the various types of chemicals that are packed into many of today’s popular brands, it can pose an extra challenge and leave you scratching your head.  I usually believe that when it comes to cleaning products, less is more.  By the off chance that I were to spill on myself, my clothes, I know that It wouldn’t cause serious damage.

Luckily, there are a few simple cleaning supplies that won’t break the bank, and are a simple solution to the sea of supplies in most grocery stores.

Here are a few of our favorites:

1. White Vinegar: Use one cup vinegar and one cup water.  It’s great for cleaning hardwood floors.  While the smell might be a little tough to stomach, it’s inexpensive and definitely does the trick.
2. Olive Oil (or Jojoba Oil) and Lemon Juice:  Use 1 cup Olive oil and ½ cup lemon juice as a great furniture polish.  Mix it in a spray bottle, shake well, and spray onto a cloth.  Swipe evenly onto wood products and dry with a dry rag.
3. Vodka: The less expensive the better. Two parts Vodka, one part water.  Mix and pour into a spray bottle.  Use it on anything from cleaning counter tops to disinfecting surfaces, freshen a smell from clothes, to remove mold and mildew, and even grass stains from soccer jerseys!
4. Old T-Shirts:  Have a lot of t-shirts that the kids have outgrown?  Too stained for even the most superwoman mommy to tackle?  Reuse old and outgrown T-shirts instead of paper towels! Cut or simply keep old t shirts around for major dinner spills, to clean floors, dust furniture, shine windows, or anything in between.  A lot of the times paper towels can get expensive so why not reuse them?  When they get dirty again you can simply throw them in the washer/dryer.  Keep them stowed away in a cute basket next to your new cleaning supplies.
5. Baking Soda: Use it to get grime and grease off of pans, and bathtubs!  Simply sprinkle a bit onto a sponge and scrub away.  Then, store the baking soda in the refrigerator to remove any odors.  You can also sprinkle it in diaper bins, smelly sneakers and shoes to remove unpleasant smells.

It can definitely feel daunting to begin to sort through your cleaning products and throw out a majority of store bought items.  While this list is a very basic sample of simple solutions, it can easily help you live  a cleaner and safer life (for you and your family), and certainly free up a  lot of storage space in your closets, so you can pack them with things that matter most, like photo albums and memories of your kids enjoying their time in your clean and safe home.

By Alexandra, Free Stuff Finder Canada Contributor

There is a Dole Recall for Canada! Urgent! Dole is recalling their Italian Blend Salad for possible Listeria Contamination. Three provinces that we know that this product as been sold in are Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. However, it may have been sold in other provinces across Canada as well. The affected product is 10-ounce bag with a best-before date of 14-March-12 If you or someone you know have purchased this product DO NOT CONSUME, DISREGARD IMMEDIATELY. Products that contain Listeria may not look or smell contaminated. For more information on Dole Foods Recall Click Here. Share this with friends and family so that nobody gets sick!

Think how much time you waste in your kitchen because you have no idea where things are. How much food do you throw away because it’s been overlooked or you can’t even tell what’s in them? Well, it’s time to clean up your routine and your kitchen. Here are 4 tips on reorganizing your kitchen and foods for faster cooking. Grab the kids and make it a fun family project.

List Your Items

The most important thing of this exercise is to create a list of all your items in your refrigerator and freezer. So, as you clean each out and place foods inside, create a list. Include a section for quantity. As you place your items inside, write it down. If you run across the item again, place a hash mark. Itemize your items. Your categories may be as follows:

• Frozen Vegetables
• Sweets / Deserts
• Pork
• Beef
• Chicken
• Fish

Empty the Contents of the Refrigerator

Empty everything from your refrigerator. If necessary, clean it down with a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Next, combine any duplicate containers like relishes and dressings. If you have more jars that can’t fit into your refrigerator door, create a dedicated space for all of these items on a shelf. Place everything else back in, nice and neat. Leave a section open for leftover foods.

Empty the Contents of the Freezer

The freezer is more difficult to tackle. You don’t want to have foods defrosting. If you feel this will be a long process, place some of the items into your refrigerator. Clean out any excess ice that may have built up in your freezer. Toss any freezer burned foods. Dedicate a section to frozen vegetables, convenient foods such as frozen sandwiches, mini-pizzas, and ice cream. Next, arrange your meats and make sure they are easily identifiable.

Label Your Freezer Items

One thing we find throwing away the most is frozen meats. One sure way of saving money is by going to a meat market instead of your major grocery store. You have to package most of your meat yourself, but you are saving a ton of money.

Once you get home, wash your meats off if necessary. Next, season the meats, and pack them away in zip lock freezer bag. This is timely but cuts the meal preparation time. Get the bag sealed as flat as possible with the least amount of air in them. Now, you will want to label the bags. If you happen to have address labels at home, this will do nicely. If not, grab a piece of paper and write the meat’s name on there. Cover it with regular tape.

Place the bags on the shelves according to the meat type. All of your beef items would go on one shelf and all of your pork items will go on another shelf, and so on. If you can place another meat on one shelf, try to add chicken, so you can easily identify the different meats.

Now you have an organized refrigerator and freezer. Place your itemized list on your refrigerator door. Each time you deplete the item, cross it off your list. Have a grocery list next to that list and add the item so you know what needs to be restocked on your next trip.

By Taya; Free Stuff Finder Contributor

There has been a recall for Playtex Pacifier Holder Clips. The clips can crack and a small part can break off. This poses as a choking hazard to your baby. If you or someone you know have these clips please be sure to take the pacifier holders away from infants immediately and contact Playtex for instructions on how to return the product for a full refund. Click Here for more information.

Health Canada is recalling Compliments brand Stir-Fry Style Vegetables from all marketplaces due to a possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers are being asked not to consume the recalled products.

Brand Name: Compliments

Product Name: Stir-Fry Style Vegetables

Product Size: 34g (12oz)

UPC: 0 68820 10648 7

Health Canada is asking anyone who has the product in their home to either throw it out, or return it to the store it was purchased at.

Listeria monocytogenes does not affect the appearance, smell or taste of  the food it contaminates, but can make you very sick, and my even cause death in some cases.

Listeria Monocytogenes Symptoms

• vomiting
• nausea
• persistent fever
• muscle aches
• severe headache
• neck stiffness

Women who are pregnant, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are at a much higher risk of serious complications. Infected women who are pregnant may experience mild, flu-like symptoms, however the infection may lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn or even miscarriages and stillbirths. In severe cases, people may die.

The first thing people think about when trying to grow their savings account is that they need an additional job. There just isn’t enough time in the day with all the responsibilities they have. You need to think outside of the box for other opportunities that exist. Here are 6 unique ways to save more money.

Open a Holiday Savings Account

This is just one of the types of savings accounts to open. You can talk with your bank about the various accounts, but a Holiday Account is the most general used and offered. It’s pretty much to save for a specific purpose. Most banks will automatically deduct the dedicated amount from your checking account bi-weekly or monthly. These accounts usually allow you to earn a higher interest rate. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

Take Advantage of Certificates of Deposits

Once you have a nice account built up, transfer it over to a Certificate of Deposit (CD) account. Some start with as little as 1 month. You will gain interest and it can automatically roll over. It’s another small step but gains you interest you would not have had.

[Read more…]

Health Canada is voluntarily recalling packages of Freya-28 Birth Control. Some of these packages may contain placebo pills. The affected products contain these lot numbers: 3739F001B and 3739F002B. If you have one of these packages, please contact the pharmacy you purchased it from.

My go-to fish dish is usually salmon. I stalk the fish counter at the supermarket all the time, looking to see if there are any wild salmon choices. Finding wild fish is important to me because farm-raised fish is extra fatty and I think it is sort of odd to gobble up farmed fish, no offence to any farmed fish lovers, this is just my personal choice.

Of course, I can not bring myself to pay full-price for wild salmon because it can get quite costly and I am on a tight grocery budget. This has caused me to get a little more creative in the kitchen.  I sometimes get tilapia, especially if I have a craving for fish tacos. However, I have decided to make an effort to incorporate other fish dishes into our diet.

My husband really enjoys snapper and I happened to find a great price on fresh wild snapper this week. Unsure of the best way to prepare it, I asked the gentleman behind the counter for his advice. He suggested pan frying for best and most delicious results. This seemed easy enough so I purchased a little over one pound of fish for my husband and I.

The dish turned out near-perfect, not bad for my first attempt. I just had to share my success story with the world, in case there are other moms and dads out there looking to broaden their fish-cooking horizons.

Follow these easy instructions to prepare a savory fish dish that your family is sure to enjoy.

You will need:

• two snapper filets
• Bread crumbs
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Olive oil
• Seasoning of your choice

*This Dish takes about 15 minutes to prepare

Simple Snapper

1. In a medium sized bowl mix bread crumbs and seasoning of your choice. I used a Mediterranean mix along with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. You can also add grated parmesan cheese if you would like, but I held the cheese this time.
2. Cut fish into a manageable size and drop into bread crumb mix. Generously coat the fish with crumb mix until fish is completely covered.
3. Heat a frying pan with olive oil on med/high heat.
4. Carefully add fish to pan. Cook for about four minutes and flip fish. Continue cooking for about four minutes or until fish is completely cooked.

To round out this meal I made a little spinach salad and couscous. This was a seriously quick and delicious meal! I would recommend it for any mom on the go. My husband devoured his dish with a smile on his face. I could not have been more satisfied with my first attempt at making snapper.

Another great part about this dish is that I got the wild snapper for much less than salmon. Although I will always look for salmon first, snapper is a great alternative that proved to be budget friendly.

Do you have any favorite fish dishes that you would recommend? Share them here, I would sure like to try another new dish!

By Tara, Free Stuff Finder Canada Contributor