How to Clean your Glass Stovetop

You get in a little closer and see the battle scars from making home made french fries.. Gross right? Yes, I know I probably should have cleaned it up right after the mess happened, but let’s face it – it was too hot to touch and then I forgot about it. Also I’m the queen of boil overs, and there’s no real good stovetop cleaner out there. I’ve heard of different care methods, like using an exacto blade to scrape off carbonized residue, but I was afraid it would scratch up the smooth glass. Not wanting that to happen, I looked into some other alternatives, and the best one is.. Baking Soda!!

Don’t ever assume that it’s easier to clean than the old fashioned coils. I thought that 6 months ago when we got this stove that it would be easier to clean for its smooth surface, but don’t be fooled. Whatever the case,  it’s awful and yucky looking, so I thought it was high time to see how I could get rid of this fossilized grease on my stovetop.

All you need is

1. Bowl & Hot Soapy Water
2. Baking Soda
3. A Cleaning Rag
4. Gloves (I didn’t use any because I thought baking soda wouldnt be harsh on my hands.. but I was wrong, so try to use gloves, you’ll thank me later)

First, you fill a bowl with hot tap water water and mix it with some dish soap. Submerge the rag in the bowl and get it wet.

Apply baking soda in a generous amount all over the affected area.

Now pull out that hot soapy rag out of the bowl and squeeze half the water out. You want it to be soggy, not sopping.

Then wait about 15 minutes…

Then swirl the rag around in circles, using the baking soda paste as a gentle scrub.

The dry up the surface and shine it up with windex. Good as new!!

I repeated these steps 1 time to achieve these results. You may also leave the rag on for longer, depending on how bad it is.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love CrockPots because they simultaneously make my life easier and make it seem like I've put a lot more effort into dinner than I actually did. Anything that can do that is definitely a winner in my book.

Because we're finally experiencing some fall weather around here, I decided to use the trusty CrockPot today to make some chicken tortilla soup, yum! And because it was so easy, so delicious, and I haven't posted a recipe in a long time, I thought I'd share with all of you! :)

Ingredients

2 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans Ro-Tel (I like the lime & cilantro, but the regular is fine)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn
1 onion, chopped
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth
1-2 cups of water
1 Tbsp garlic powder*
1 Tbsp chile powder*
1 Tbsp ground cumin*
1 Tbsp dried cilantro*

tortilla chips
sour cream
shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

*Instead of these spices, you could include a packet of Taco seasoning if you prefer.*

Put chopped onion, cans of beans, rotel, corn, chicken broth, water, and spices in CrockPot and stir to mix. Put chicken breasts on top of mixture and make sure they're at least partly submerged in liquid. Cook on high 6-7 hours or low 8-9 hours. Before serving remove the chicken breasts from soup and shred, if needed, (sometimes they'll just fall apart on their own, but sometimes they need some help). Return chicken to CrockPot, stir to combine.

To serve put a few tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl, ladle soup over tortilla chips, top with shredded cheddar cheese, (today I used the Kraft Mexican blend and it was yummy), and a dollop of sour cream, serve with more chips if you like. Enjoy!


Compliments of http://jonandjenmiller.blogspot.com/2010/09/crockpot-chicken-tortilla-soup.html