I clean my counters with vinegar – straight out of the bottle it’s got antibacterial properties that are very natural and as strong as bleach. If I need scrubbing power, I dump a little baking soda on my stove and spray it with vinegar, it bubbles and cleans up baked on crud better than anything I ever used. I thought cleaning with vinegar was a little nutty and wasn’t sure if it would work but it did. I wrote about it here http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/07/budget-friendly-kitchen-cleaners.html. I also have a lot of green cleaning tips on my blog too.

Small palm tree varieties like the dragon palm are great, you can get away with watering them once a week.

It took me years to cook just the right amount of food so I rarely have leftovers. Its hard to do but worth it.

I always use the same spray bottle filled with a little soap about three times as much vinegar and filled to the top with water. It tends to clean almost anything and if something is really bad I use bicarb or salt as an abrasive.

Some easy houseplants to grow and keep: sansevierias, pothos, philodendron, cast-iron plants…all nearly impossible to kill! LoL

Sorry…can’t help with the leftovers, as I am the same way…

I’m gonna head back here to see what good, ‘green’ cleaning products are recommended to you; inquiring minds want to know!!

I have a tip for your leftover problem. How about making a list on the outside of the fridge, so you always know what is in it. You can add to it when you add something to the fridge and cross off what you take out. That way you know what you have to work with so nothing gets forgotten. Just a suggestion.

Condo Blues, will be checking out that post. Thx

Leanne, great tips, I’ll check into the palms.

Mo, believe it or not I killed philodendrons in a few days, will look at the others.

Jennifer, this list works well for my hubby when I’m out of town but prepared a number of dishes in the fridge or freezer for him to heat up.

Thanks everyone for these great suggestions:)

E-

I have a black thumb, too, and I’m shocked that I’ve managed to keep miniature roses from the grocery store alive for many months! After they bloom cut the stems and they’ll bloom again.

Leftovers- I rearranged my fridge so the leftovers sit on the shelf that is eye level. Also, we usually eat leftovers for lunch instead of recycling dinner. If I *do* make a dinner with it, I try to keep it very basic – cook up a chicken, use half one night, and then use half another night in a totally different dish. You can also freeze them to make your own TV dinners.

I clean basically with bleach (for when I cut up meat), vinegar, baking soda, and borax.

My basic cleaning spray is 1/4 vinegar, 3/4 water, and a squirt of dishsoap. Makes a great all purpose cleaner! I make dishwasher detergent w/ 1 c. borax, 1 c. baking soda, and 1/2 c. salt, and this also makes a GREAT Comet/Bon Ami substitute, too.

Milehimama, the Comet substitute looks great. I’ll have to try that. Thx.
E-

I am going to agree with Mo’s suggestion of sansevierias. We have two pots of them and have split them at least 5 times in the past 2 years and I forget to water them quite often *L* You could also try a Jade plant, they seem to be pretty hearty.

Once a week we have leftovers, usually Monday night, since that’s the night before garbage day. What we don’t eat, we throw out (there are a few exceptions).

If you like to cook and do misjudge, look at what you’ve got left and think about how you can use it in Tomorrow night’s dish. Ex. If you have leftover chicken and peas from the first night, the second night you can do a stir fry with chicken peas and some thing else.

mub, hmmm, we do have mother-in-law tongues that seem to be fine. I guess my husband must water them since I can’t remember ever doing so (lol).

Caroline, I like the idea of cleanout night.

Thanks for the suggestions!

We designate 1 night a week as leftover night–All the leftovers are taken out of the fridge and we have a “buffet”.

Home Ec 101 calls it “CORN” night.
Clean Out the Refrigerator Night.

Once I wrote “corn” on the menu plan for dinner and husband though that I actually was going to serve only corn for dinner.

Try the Wonder Cleaner–see link behind my name. Also, hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle is fabulous for removing soap scum and cleaning little grooves like around a faucet: just pour it on, wait 10 minutes or so until it stops bubbling, and wipe it off along with the grunge! And it kills germs, too!

Have you tried a spider plant? They’re very durable.

CORN, heh, I think I misread that the first time I saw that too. I think I will institute a regular night to clear out the fridge though.

I like hydrogen peroxide for a number of uses.

Tonya, Milehimama, Becca, thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions, this is fun!

E-

My pothos did great once I stuck it in my bathroom and let it just draw moisture from the air from showers. And mother-in-law’s tongue is also great since it needs very infrequent watering but gives great visual impact.

http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/ (will help you pick the plant that is right for you!)

I also have a black thumb. But I simply couldn’t resist when Aldi’s had some cute foliage on sale & it’s been awhile since I killed tried to raise a plant, so I thought I’d try again!

http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/cupid-peperomia-769.aspx
I have this plant. It is so dang simple. I’ve had it about 6 months, water it every Friday, set it outside when it’s spring or fall, in partial sun inside or out. It is growing like CRAZY! I had a big sprout get broken off. Mom said put it in a cup of water to see if it will grow roots. It did & so I put it in a small pot of soil..Now I have 2 I LOVE this plant!

http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/purple-waffle-plant-567.aspx
I also have had this plant for about 6 months. It too is growing like crazy. When I first got it, I had to repot this one because it was in crappy soil that didn’t allow it to retain moisture (thanks for advice mom!) Anyway, it is fine with or without much sun. I do keep it in mellow temps like the other one. I water this plant when it tells me it needs it. How? It wilts like it’s dead! The 1st time this happened, I thought I’d killed it, but by chance, I drowned it & within hours, it was up & happy again!

Just do your homework

Melissa and Veggiemomof2, thanks for the suggestions.