How to make your tile grout look like new again!

After all my upgrading and renovations, I never got around to cleaning out the grout on my tiles in the kitchen and hallway since I had bought my place. They were yucky and stained, I wanted to just rip the tiles out and get all new ones...in a perfect world if I had the money to do it!

Be prepared folks, because the transformation is insane! I looked at the floor today and said, "That's it! It's happening." Grabbed my purse and walked down to the dollar store and picked up a few essentials I didn't already have around, and came back and went to work. And boy was it a lot of work...

This is a tedious job, especially depending on how many square footage of tile you have, but it is definitely worth it. Just don't say I didn't warn you though :) 

So here is the list of what you will need (most you will probably already have laying around the house)

• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Baking Soda
• Good scrubbing brush (I used a denture brush cleaner, I thought it worked great)
• 2 empty containers
• Big sponge (optional)

Step 1- Make sure your floor is nice and clean from debris (obviously).

Step 2- Mix baking soda and hydrogen peroxide in one container to get a nice paste consistency.

Step 3- Fill the second container with clean water (you will need to keep switching out the water when it gets too dirty so you don't put dirty water back in the grout)

Step 4- Go to town and start scrubbing away. You will want to take your time with it to allow the mixture to penetrate through the pores in the grout.

Step 5- After cleaning through with the paste mixture, I soaked the denture brush in the container with water and scrubbed through the grout lines I just worked on.. and so on.

Step 6- To keep the area somewhat clean, I just used my big sponge and wiped away the residue right away as I went to save time. 

Step 7- Let mixture sit on grout for a few minutes and then mop your floors, and Voila!! 

Hope you guys enjoyed my blog and hope this helps you as it did with me! Be right back as I go and enjoy my "new" floors! :) 

Pictures are below. 

What you will need

Wish I got a better before picture, but you catch the drift.. urgh

Goodbye nasty stains

Letting paste penetrate through the grout

Mopped floors, can't get over how much brighter the floors look. 

AFTER!! :) No more dark stains, yay! What a difference!

Mini cinnamon sugar donut bites

Made these delicious and adorable looking cinnamon sugar donut "bites". They were super delicious and the perfect snack. They were really easy and fun to make too.

I will post the ingredients soon! 😍

Apartment Progress

Lot of people have been asking me how my apartment renos/projects have been coming along. Here are some updated pictures if you don't have me on my social media pages to stay updated!

I definitely have put in A LOT of sweat equity into my place so far, and still have so much work to go..but I am in no rush! My kitchen is almost complete, as I have been so busy lately with life and trying to save more money a month with my budget binder (yes, that's right.. I have a budget binder! lol). To check out the before pictures check out my older blog posts to fully appreciate these pictures!

DIY key holder idea for under $5

I was walking around in a dollar store by my place to get some inspiration for little DIY design ideas and as I was walking through the picture frame aisle I had a brilliant idea. KEY CHAIN HOLDER! It also definitely matched the theme of my apartment I have going on. For anyone that knows me, knows I have THE WORST short term memory and always forget where I place things, so this is definitely something I needed to have. 

I got a picture frame and removed the backing and put it on my wall, and bought the same style hooks and voila! Little chic, super easy and cheap key holder! I spent under $5 on everything and if I ended up buying one I would have ended up spending more money and not nearly as cute :)

Patio deck tiles

Now that summer has come to an end, which I kind of am a little bit thankful for because the weather has been so hot, I finally had the chance to buy some patio deck tiles for my apartment.

What's so nice about these tiles is that they're so easy to install, instant upgraded look and you don't have to worry about putting shoes on to step out onto your deck! All big selling features for me! It definitely made me feel more confident in having someone come over and check out my patio, it made a HUGE difference. It made my boring skinny patio feel more modern and cozy, especially at night time :)

I researched a bunch of different locations on who sells decking tiles and most affordable per case. Lowes, Home Depot, and Costco were pretty much the exact same cost and were way too expensive ($30+) for only a 9 pack.. So of course I went to IKEA and got mine there.The ones I had hoped to buy were a case of 10 for $19.99 on sale, but when I got there they were all sold out!! So since I was there and was determined to walk out with deck tiles, I swallowed my pride and bought 4 cases of 9 tiles for $24.99. But after all said and done, it was well worth it! :)

Here are a few pics...

Sore tummy cure/cleanse

Almost all of my favorite things on earth to eat contains dairy, and lucky me I am lactose intolerant. Sigh!!

I had a delicious pasta yesterday that was 90% sour cream so you can only imagine the problems that happened after, I will leave the details out! Anyway, I always wanted to try some water infusion recipes so I ended up actually finding a really neat infusion pitcher for sale at Superstore on a whim. This thing is really cool!

For my sore tummy I decided to try cutting fresh slices of lemon and cucumber and putting it in my pitcher. Best to keep it in the fridge overnight. I wasn't planning on blogging this but as I am sipping it this morning and realizing how deliciously refreshing, healthy and calming to my stomach it is, I just HAD to share!

I am definitely going to try different infusion flavours as they all do different things for your body and health. I have a thyroid problem (hypothyroid) and I am definitely going to try a recipe that helps boost metabolism and energy and let you know my feedback. It is good to know your body and to be able to feel the difference when you ingest healthy and natural food choices!

Lets see how long I can keep this up for!

Delicious Soft Pretzels

I was playing around on Pinterest on one of my days off (as usual lol) and saw this really yummy and surprisingly easy recipe for soft pretzels. I wanted to make something with flour because I just bought a jumbo pack of it and needed to use it up!

Here is the recipe I found online. Like I mentioned, it was really easy and you'll be enjoying your delicious soft pretzels within 30 minutes. Yum!

You can top them with salt, cinnamon sugar, and dunk in your favorite pretzel dips.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (lukewarm, no need to take temperature)
1 packet active dry or instant yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon (8g) granulated sugar
3.75 - 4.25 cups (480-530g) all-purpose flour + more for work surface (or mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour)
1 large egg, beaten
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir with a spoon until fairly mixed, about 1 minute. Some clusters of yeast will remain. Add salt and sugar; stir until fairly combined. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add up to 1/2 cup more. Poke the dough with your finger - if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and shape into a ball. With a sharp knife, cut ball of dough into 1/3 cup sections. This measurement doesn't have to be exact - use as much or little dough for each pretzel as you wish, the size of the pretzel is completely up to you.

Roll the dough into a rope with an even diameter. Approximately 20 inches long. This measurement will depend how large you want the pretzels. Once you have your long rope, take the ends and draw them together so the dough forms a circle. Twist the ends, then bring them towards yourself and press them down into a pretzel shape.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and pour into a shallow bowl or pie dish. Dunk the shaped pretzel into the egg wash (both sides). Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 10 minutes at 425F degrees. Turn the oven to broil and bake for 5 more minutes to brown the tops. Watch closely to avoid burning.

Allow to cool and enjoy. Serve warm or at room temperature. Pretzels may be stored in an airtight container or zipped top bag for up to 3 days (will lose softness).

For the cinnamon-sugar version, bake the pretzels as directed without an egg wash. Remove them from the oven after 10 minutes. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter and brush the tops of the pretzels with it. Mix together 1/3 cup granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle over each pretzels. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes at 425F. (do not broil).

So for my first time trying out this recipe, thank you Sally's baking addiction, I learnt my lesson on using longer ropes to shape the pretzels as they expanded so much in the oven. But who are we kidding, it was the taste that mattered anyway not the shape and they were so darn yummy and the dough was absolutely delicious! Must try people!

Try this recipe and let me know how you guys liked it also! Perfect cozy, warm snack for fall weather coming around.