5 REAL Uses For Coffee Grounds – I Tried Them Out!

There are multiple websites and tons of pins on Pinterest touting the many benefits of coffee grounds. Some work, some do not. For example, several sites say that used coffee grounds repel ants. Not the ones I saw crawling over the grounds I'd spread in my porch. I think I even saw one scoop some into a teeny weeny cup.

So for my benefit and yours, dear reader, I decided to wade through the mounds of “Uses For Used Coffee Grounds ” and let you know which practices are true which did and did not work, at least for me: 

 

1. Use To Scrub Pots And Pans - Yes, using a handful of grounds does substitute for toxic abrasive cleaners, BUT coffee grounds can also clog your sink!  If you're going to try this, do the scrubbing on a towel or some newspaper that you can clean without flushing the grounds down the sink.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Use Coffee Grounds As A Household Deodorizer – Yes, you can place some in a jar or dish to absorb odors from refrigerators and freezers, BUT you can also put a bowl of them in a musty basement or garage to help with smells. And, they're great at the bottom of trash cans (especially in the bathroom) to get rid of those nasty odors!
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Plant Food – It's true that rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, and evergreens love acidic soil. I collect my grounds in a used coffee can (of course) and sprinkle them around my rosebushes. They love the grounds and I love the roses! 
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Shoe Deodorizer – Junior's sneakers are an environmental hazard, so I grab a pair of old knee-high panty house, filled each sock with coffee grounds, and place them in each sneaker. Okay, so the odor doesn't fully disappear, but at least now I don't want to pass out each time I pass Junior's shoes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Use When Shopping For Perfume Or Cologne – The last time I went to Bed, Bath & Body Works, my daughter and I had a blast trying on new scents. Unfortunately, it was difficult to really get a sense (pun intended) of the new scent when the old one was still in the air and on our arms. I had packed a tablespoon of coffee grounds in a little Ziploc bag and we took a whiff of the coffee between fragrances. The coffee scent actually cleared our noses of the previous smell.

Coffee grounds are one of those substances I always look at and think, “they HAVE to have more uses than just for coffee” and they do. 

Some work, some don't, but if you drink coffee and you have the grounds around anyway, why not try some of the uses above? They worked for me!

Thanks for reading!

Note:  Photos are courtesy of Pixabay.

5 Non-Tech Games For When You're Travelling Or Stuck In Traffic

I live in New Jersey where it can take five minutes to drive a mile or half an hour, depending on traffic.  Yes, the Garden State is congested, which makes it a challenge when you're driving little ones around.  They get impatient and start to...

• Whine
• Complain
• Fight
• All of the above

That makes any potential trip hell for me!  

  

So I found these 5 Non-Tech Games For When You're Traveling Or Stuck In Traffic:
 
 
1.  Where's The Alphabet – Use road signs, billboards, shop names — any reading material outside the window qualifies as long as it's spotted on your side of the car. If you're the front-seat passenger, focus on the right. Look for every letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order, although the letter can be located anywhere in the word. For example, if there's a sign for a farm, there's your A. The exit for the Broad Street Bridge would cover B, Road Closed is C and so on. First one to the letter Z wins.


2.  Odd Or Even – Each rider guesses how many of the next 20 license plates will end with an even number. The closest guess wins.


3.  The Crazy License Plate Game – Take the license plate in front of you and make up crazy phrases to describe the driver. For example, FCB21M could translate into Five Cute Babies with 21 Moms.

  
4.  Count The Number Of Fools On Cellphones – Here's a diversion with a message. In my area, many people still, unfortunately, talk on cellphones while they're driving even though it's DANGEROUS and AGAINST THE LAW. The kids know this is wrong and we've talked about why it's so bad, but we can't do anything about it, so we've turned it into a challenge. We try to count how many stupid adults they see driving while talking on cellphones. Another benefit to this game is that it alerts me to which idiots probably do not have their minds on the road. Our highest count so far: 15 people in 30 minutes. Shame on those drivers!

5.  Count...Something - Count the number of...whatever. It can be anything: kids on bikes, telephone poles, headlights, train cars, blue pickup trucks, etc. All you have to do is shouting out the thing to keep track of the number. 

 

 

With my daughter having gymnastics practice four times a week and my son needing to get to baseball, friends' houses, etc., I'm ALWAYS on the road.  These games have been a God-send, even with a teen in the car.

 

Give them a try, then come back here and tell me:

 

 

Which worked for your kids?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 Tips For Going To Sleep & Getting Back To Sleep

 

One thing I never realized until I became a parent is that, for me, parenting affected the quality of my sleep. From the first night I brought Junior home, I became attuned to every little noise he made. I'm still attuned to my kids' voices and now, with menopausal hot flashes waking me up every night, I sometimes don't get much sleep at all. Recently, I discovered several things that actually help me get the number of hours of rest that I need to function. Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. This is just stuff that works for me. Please talk to your doctor before taking any herbal supplements.

Tip 1: Time your caffeine intake. Menopause does tricky things to your body including influencing how certain substances, like caffeine, affect it. I've found that drinking any kind of beverage containing this stimulant after 12 p.m. influences my sleep. Thus, after noon, I switch to seltzer, water, or decaf green tea. For more on caffeine and what it does to your brain, visit this article.

Tip 2: Stop all electronics and television use an hour or two before bed. The blue light from your phone and tablet negatively influence your sleep (for more on that, click on this article from Harvard Health. This was hard for me, but it helped.

Tip 3: Read a book. It relaxes the nerves and calms the mind. (For more on the benefits of sleep before bed, click here.)

Tip 4: Cultivate a sense of gratitude. Instead of worrying at night, I mentally list all of the things I'm thankful for. It relaxes me and gives me a sense of peace.

STOP ALL ELECTRONICS AND TELEVISION USE AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE BED.  

Tip 5: Sleep in a cool room with some type of white noise. Your body needs to cool down in order to fall asleep and stay asleep. I use a fan which not only helps with the hot flashes, but fills the room with a nice, calming hum. I also use my Chillow when I have hot flashes (to read my review of the Chillow, click here.

Tip 6: Consider melatonin. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I sometimes use a low dose of melatonin with the blessing of my doctor. It helps me go back to sleep and doesn't leave me with the grogginess in the morning that over-the-counter medications did. For more on melatonin, click here.  

Tip 7: Clean your room. I'd heard that de-cluttering helped, but since I'm not the tidiest person, didn't believe it. Yesterday I actually did it and WOW! It did help! I look at my dresser and feel like I'm in a hotel. Apparently looking at the mess caused some stress. Now, no mess, less stress.

Tip 8: If you can't fall asleep or back to sleep in about 15 minutes or so, get out of the bed and go somewhere peaceful to read. 

 

Studies have proven the incredible benefits of sleep. It's essential to health and mood. If you can't sleep, try some of the above. They're working for me!

DO YOU HAVE ANY SLEEP TIPS?  I'D LOVE TO HEAR THEM!

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Thanks for reading!