Kitchen Crafts 'n' More

Monday, April 23, 2007 How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs - Readers Questions

After a recent question about bed bugs from a reader, Toni sent in this fabulous email to me...hope anyone with a problem with bed bugs will find it helpful. :) Big thanks to you Toni!

For the reader that inquired on how to get rid of bed bugs...

When my son and I moved to the apartment complex this past June, a couple of months later in the units down the end from us, was a bed bug epidemic. Talking with professionals, along with the bitten hosts, we learned this:

Bedbugs are very hardy and live a long time. Mattresses ALONG with furniture must be discarded. Bedbugs can even live hidden well in your dressers. They will go to great lengths for food so whereever you are sleeping they will find you which means including your couch.
Sadly this is a very expensive pest to have. The residents not only threw away mostly all of their furniture (inspite of spraying as the bedbugs can hide) but it cost them a fortune to wash EVERY single article of clothing and bedding in the household. Bedbugs will also feed on your furry friends and can be deadly if you have small enough creatures not able to stand their terrible bites. The residents (4 units were infested) were so badly bitten including one of the families 14 month old daughter (that in itself would have had me gone).

As a precaution, I bought clear caulk and closed up as many gaps as I could in the apt. I also put protective foam covers under all the light switches as supposingly these pests live well in and around electrical areas ( which includes your telephone,tv and etc)

A reputable airtight mattress cover was put on the mattress along with a similiar cover for the pillow.

This truly stressed me out but fortunately none of our units on this end ever had a problem. I also went to Home Depot and bought a gallon of no scent bugspray that stated it was for use against bedbugs as well (inspite of being against this stuff but was against having BB's even more)I am being honest and truthful with my information here as it came first hand. I did tons of research and lost lots of sleep.

People generally think that bedbugs come from filth. Even your most posh hotels can have them and you can also get them from something that someone else has that have them.

I wish you all the best

Hugs,
Toni~

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Posted by HappySlob :: 9:12 AM :: 1 comments

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Sugar Free Chocolate for Candymaking

Something else that you can do is buy the unsweetened baking squares (a box of eight 1 oz. squares is $2-3), melt it down, sweeten with splenda or stevia, and then add little bits of milk or cream until it reaches the consistency you want. (You'd use more milk for a sauce - like for ice cream topping - and less milk if you want to use it as a chocolate coating.)

Submitted by Shylah from Kansas; answering a reader's question about sugar free chocolate for candy making. For more candy recipes, visit: http://candy-recipes.blogspot.com

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Posted by HappySlob :: 9:10 AM :: 0 comments

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Another Tip on Relieving Toothache Pain

I have used vanilla extract to kill the pain from a toothache. Just dab on finger and rub on tooth.

Angela, Terre Haute, IN

Thanks for sending in this tip, Angela!

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Posted by HappySlob :: 9:09 AM :: 0 comments

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Sunday, April 01, 2007 One more toothache remedy - Pure Vanilla Extract

Again, thanks to Tiffany for all these helpful ideas about treating a toothache until you can get to the dentist. Here's another of her great tips:

The best remedy for a toothache is pure vanilla extract placed directly on the bad tooth. It's instant relief. The taste is terrible, but it works.

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Posted by HappySlob :: 8:59 AM :: 0 comments

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Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pops Recipe - Weight Watchers Desserts - Only 3 WW points

Weight Watchers Chocolate Covered Marshmallows
3 WW Points
Submitted by PJ


For a real treat, freeze these pops before eating. They're the perfect way to say "I love you" to kids and adults alike.

24 pieces Kraft Jet-Puffed Regular Marshmallow(s), or similar product
6 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp sugar, colored red (buy red decorating sugar)

Instructions
Thread a 6 to 8-inch lollipop or popsicle stick through the flat end of one marshmallow. Using a 1/2-inch flat paint brush, brush the flat end of another marshmallow with warm water. Thread that marshmallow onto the stick so that the wet end sticks to the dry marshmallow. If possible do not let the stick push through the dry top of the second marshmallow. Repeat with the remaining marshamllows to yield 12 pops total. (Note: You can purchase lollipop or popsicle sticks at your local craft store.)
Place the chocolate chips in a small microwavable bowl and microwave on HIGH, stirring every 15 seconds, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 minute.
Using a dry 1/2-inch flat paint brush, brush the chocolate thinly onto the rounded sides of the marshmallows. Place the finished lollipops in juice glasses to keep them upright or stick the bottoms into a small block of styrofoam.
Clean the paintbrush and use it to brush the white top of one pop with warm water. Place the sugar on a small plate and dip the moist top into it; the sugar will stick. Repeat with the remaining pops.
Refrigerate 3 minutes or until the chocolate is firm, or allow the chocolate to firm up at room temperature, about 3 hours. Yields 2 pops per serving.

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Posted by HappySlob :: 8:57 AM :: 0 comments

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Apologies for Multiple Newsletters Sent out...

Hi everyone,

Just a quick apology for the multiple emails sent out over the past number of days. I only ever sent out one email, but somehow at Yahoo Groups things went wonky and the email got sent to some of you MANY times. I apologize for any inconvenience and promise to try to find out what caused that to happen.

Thanks!
Christina

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Posted by HappySlob :: 8:52 AM :: 0 comments

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