Cleaning: How to Clean your Glass Top Stove

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Cleaning a glass top stove is not as scary or difficult as many people think.  In my experience, I found that you do not need the special glass top cleaning agent with the special scrubber sponge that the manufacturer claims is necessary.  (*Disclaimer- Not following the manufacturer's directions may damage your cooktop.)  Again, this is my own experience that no damage has occurred from my cleaning practices.  Any scratches that I have on the surface are from my pots and pans during cooking.  All I use is a regular dish sponge with a scrubber side and Dawn dish soap.  I use this method to clean my stove every time.  Even with the dirtiest messes, including grease splatter from frying, your stove will be clean and shiny.


Step 1:
Wipe all debris off the surface.

*If you have burnt on rings around each burner, you can use a scraper (flat razor tool) to scrape everything up first.  I usually do this once-twice a year.

Step 2:
Using a very wet, soapy sponge, wring out soapy water onto the surface of the stove.

Step 3:
Use the scrubber side of the same sponge to spread the soap on the entire surface and scrub in a circular motion until everything feels nice and smooth.

Step 4:
Either use the same sponge or a new soap free sponge to wipe up suds, rinsing between each wipe.  The purpose of this is to clean the soap off the stove.

Step 5:
Use a dry paper towel to wipe up any excess water and soap so the surface is nice and dry.  If you have any ridges or seams (as I do around the edge), be sure to use your fingernail to get the paper towel in the ridge to get out all residue and soap.

Done!!  That's it!

Recipe: Parmesan Crusted Potatoes

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Parmesan crusted fried potatoes- Boil potatoes till tender. Cook in frying pan (small batches) in melted butter (about 4 tbsps each batch), breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, adobo. Cook on med/high until golden brown and crispy. Make sure to scrape the breadcrumbs from the pan.  Delicious!!

Parmesan crusted potatoes

Meal Planning

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I started meal planning earlier in the year and it has been a huge life saver!  Instead of struggling each day to try to figure out what to cook for dinner, I decided to give it a try.

I started by making a list of my most popular dinners that I make, separated by categories (chicken, beef, pork, other).  I also made a separate list of side dishes.
-Items with a * are slow cooker meals.-

I then printed out monthly calendars for the year using calendar-365.com

The hardest and most tedious part is filling in each day.  I try to alternate chicken and beef while sprinkling in some pork and "other" foods.  You can repeat the same schedule for each month or make a new one each month.  I put the finished calendar in a plastic sleeve and hang it inside the door of a kitchen cabinet so it's hidden.  ...just a personal preference.

I keep the meal lists in a binder in plastic sleeves to keep them clean along with each additional blank month.

Some people like to keep weekly meal plans as well which include breakfast and lunch.  I personally find it to be too much work, so I stopped using those.  I find that the monthly plan works just fine for me.

Meal planning is also good for grocery planning.  When I make my grocery list, I look at my meal plan for the next 2 weeks and add anything that will be needed for those meals.  It can also be helpful if you have a strict grocery budget.  It cuts down on random groceries.

*Keep in mind, the meal plan is not written in stone.  At least once a week, I stray from the plan either because I'm just not in the mood for what's on the schedule, I don't have the supplies for the meal, or time does not permit.  That's ok!  That's life.  Just go with it :-)