This is too funny! I have the same thing and just didn't know it.
The weather here is wonderful. What is everyone doing today?
This is almost weird, lol.

Depending on the weather situation in NY ( they are expecting snow) we will leave from here with Ava and sleep over our son Frank's house to celebrate his girlfriend Josephine's mother's surprise birthday party on Saturday. If it's cancelled then we will stay home until next week for the party.

I already have a shopping bag filled with Ava's favorite treats. 😋

I bleach my husband's white socks and underwear. So I throw my white dishrags in with them. They get a one week workout then into the bleach. I have never noticed a 'funky' smell but haven't really held them to my nose either. The microwave must kill any bacteria causing the smell. Will try it if the bleach isn't doing the job.

No odor on my dishrags or towels, change them every day or after cleaning up after cutting any meat or poultry.

mcash70 said:No odor on my dishrags or towels, change them every day or after cleaning up after cutting any meat or poultry.

One of the best purchases I ever made was to get a big pack (48) of bar towels from Samsclub for under $20. I keep a big stack of these in the kitchen, ready for use. That way, we can always grab a fresh towel for whenever we need it. On average, I'd say we go through 3 towels a day. Once a week, I put them all in the washer with bleach, and back to the kitchen they go. When they get too dingy and raggedy for kitchen use, they get moved to the rag stack where they're great for general cleaning or for hubby use in his workshop. A pack of 48 lasts me about 3 years before they're all into rags.

I've also noticed that our use of paper towels has gone down tremendously since we started using the towels for wiping up spills and other cleaning in the kitchen.

We go through tons of paper towels in our house.

With no windows in the basement apartment it's hard to dry them so we use the paper towels more. Putting the dish towels into the microwave when they are wet only makes them damp so whenever we shut the oven off after use I put the towels on the inside of the oven and close the door on each edge so they don't fall in. I've singed a few towels that way. 😊

I bleach my husband's white socks and underwear. So I throw my white dishrags in with them. They get a one week workout then into the bleach. I have never noticed a 'funky' smell but haven't really held them to my nose either. The microwave must kill any bacteria causing the smell. Will try it if the bleach isn't doing the job.

I bought some Clorox brand dish towels at Costco, they have a red stripe but you can bleach them, and I find bleaching cures any dish towel or sponge funk. I use the purple nonstick sponges, and I just keep enough on hand that I can use a new one every day, and I bleach all of the towels and sponges once a week. I use t-shirt rags to clean windows and for dusting, I throw those in as well. I'm sure microwaving kills the bacteria in the same way, too.

I didn't know you could wash and bleach those sponges. I use mine until the 'scratchy' side is shot, then replace. I have a stockpile that should last til 2020 - rather by accident. Glad to hear about the bleach. My son changes his (dishrags) out every day or so and commented that mine smelled at bit. I was surprised as I thought what I was doing worked. I also have a hook on the door above the sink and when I am done with a rag I wring it out well and hang it up to dry. I noticed that my MIL lets hers lay in the sink (sometimes) wringing wet. Seems like a guaranteed way to promote germs.

What I was talking about doesn't have anything to do with bacteria or cleanliness. It comes from certain fabrics and dyes that are used in colored towels etc., and no matter how much they are washed, it can still be a problem. Doing the microwave thing takes care of that whatever it is. Scrubbers carry more bacteria than anything else in your kitchen, so a stint in the microwave or dishwasher takes care of that. As far as working with chicken or meats, I only use throwaway paper towels and use bleach on the cutting boards after. You guys really don't have to worry about eating in my kitchen, lol. I think it's pretty safe!!

We use those smelly face sponges that were featued in QVC. They never smell and after they start to get soft I use them to clean off my grill grates or on the car.

Karen, I just finished making some artisan bread for my husband (baguette) and am up to the "let raise until double' on your multi-grain bread. I could only find 5 grain Red Mill but will go to our Natural Pantry and I am sure they will have the 10 grain. I used the hot water from HotShot, hot for softening the grain but it was only 80F after an hour. Not worried about that. But it comes out of the spigot @ 212+ degrees which I would assume would qualify for boiling. Perhaps not. Next time I will really boil some water. The batter is sticky, even with the 2 tb added flour but it did pull from the sides so I didn't add more. It would only dry it out. Besides I am getting used to working with sticky dough (artisan) and I know that the less you mess with it after the kneading and the less flour you incorporate at the end, the softer and more moist the bread is.

I am going to go try to catchup on some bookkeeping (yuk) and maybe clean an area in the kitchen to get some iris and lily seeds sown in pots and put outside.

Mary, I wasn't too concerned about the water because I used the boiling water from my teapot and called it good. I did let the loaves rise until they were above the edges of the pans, and this next time even a bit more. I will be interested to know how the 5 grain tastes to you because I had a hard time finding the right one and had to go to 10 grain but it was really good. I love the toast with my lemon lavender jelly. Too bad we aren't close enough to share samples. Some of yours sound so good.

It is unbelievably light and moist. The best I have ever made. I can't really taste it (chemo) but Damien lovesssss it.
I purposely used three glass bread pans so that they would be shaped to go into the toaster. If they raise out of the pan that they that muffin top. Great recipe. I will get some 7 and 10 grain to see how that goes. Damien voted for a little more honey. The water didn't seem to matter as they dough raised very nicely. treated it as an artisan bread, adding as little flour as possible. Love the way it turned out. Thanks so much for a great recipe.

Good Morning - for super bowl I am making cheeseburger egg rolls and later on this week I will try to make Mac Donald's chicken nuggets from a copy cat recipe. Ava only eats nugets from Mac Donald's so I will give it a try. I bought an order of their nugets just so I have an " authentic" box to put my nugets in 😋 she checks out each nuget to make sure it's the real thing.

Mary, I am so glad you liked the bread. I have not been here long enough to have known about the chemo. I am so sorry and hope that things are going well for you.

Franklin, those egg rolls sound really good. I get the French fry containers from McDonalds when I make my burger and fry cookies. As for nuggets, they will never again cross my lips, lol. A few years ago we went through a drive thru on a road trip, and I decided to try those things. I took a nice bite and spit it out as they were raw inside. To this day, I cannot even look at those things!!!

I tried a new beef recipe that turned out really good so will post that today.

Karen, the chemo and radiation were over last Oct 29 so all that is left is the tests every so often. The radialogical oncologist (say that ten times fast ) is a little bummed about my taste and dry mouth but I am doing just fine. Lost 13 pounds that needed to be gone. I called it the radiation diet.

I found both 7 and 10 grain hot cook cereal. The ten grain is much finer so I figure the bread might turn out a bit heavier. But I can adjust for that.

How about a dill onion bread recipe. Easy to make with my kitchenaid. I used to set the timer and hand knead for 8 minutes. No way I could do that now but the faithful kitchen aid does the kneading in about 3-4 minutes once all the flour is in. Turns out great. About the same amount of dough as your recipe.

Glad to hear you're doing well Mary Stella! And that bread sounds fantastic- I'm so going to make that!

Thanks, Mary, that sounds wonderful. Nothing like the smell of dill baking in a fresh loaf of bread. Here is the beef recipe that I tried this week and added to my "favorities" list.

MEXICAN SLOW COOKER BEEF

1 (3-5lb) sirloin tip or rump roast
2 c. low sodium or regular beef broth
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 c. favorite salsa-i used my homemade marinara sauce instead
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder-I skipped this
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Brown meat in Dutch Oven. Whisk remaining ingred. and pour over meat. Bake at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours depending on how done you like the meat. My roast was 3 lbs and I roasted it for 2 hours, and it was perfectly done for us.

I sliced the meat against the grain as paper thin as I could get it for our sandwiches. You could also shred this for enchiladas, tacos or sandwiches. I put the meat in containers and poured that wonderful juice over the meat. You can freeze it or use it immediately. I like to warm it a little and butter the buns for sandwiches. I had an extra pint of juice that I froze and will use when I make and slice an extra roast. This is also delicious as a main course meat served in the juice with baked or mashed potatoes and a vegetable. I added sauted mushrooms to the juice when I heated this as a main course.

Great Superbowl sandwiches.

+++FOR SLOW COOKER
Brown meat and place in slow cooker. Pour all other ingredients over the meat and cook on l0w for 8 - 10 hours. Shred or slice.

Going to try that one for sure. Sounds wonderful for our frigid days.

I typed up the dill onion recipe for a young friend who doesn't bake bread. I bought her a kitchen aid a couple of Christmas' ago so I tailored the instructions for that. She makes it just fine now but it looks a little over the top if you didn't now it was for a novice bread baker.