My experiences with Kroger’s Clicklist

I just want to state up front that I hate grocery shopping. It’s the one thing that if I was super rich, I would pay someone to do.

In our area our big grocery chain, Kroger’s has a new feature called Clicklist.

Clicklist is simply an online grocery shopping method where you order your groceries through their website. 

You pay online, set a time for pickup, go to the designated spot to pick them up, they bring them out to your car and load them for you.

You don’t even need to get out of your car!

When this first came out I thought what many of you all may be thinking at the moment and that is, “That’s lazy!”

And for some it is. Then I was talking with my hairstylist who is pregnant and has a little boy and she told me why she liked doing it and I started to see the many possible benefits of it.

Here is a list of reasons why this is becoming so popular and why you may want to try it if it’s available in your area:

• A tired mom with a sick kiddo. We all know what it’s like to drag a sick, cranky baby through the store.

• You’re sick yourself and just want some soup and cold medicine. They aren’t doing prescriptions yet with Clicklist, but their website states that they may implement it in the future. Many stores have drive-thru pharmacy pickup anyway.

• You are injured and don’t want to drag the crutches out to hobble into the store.

• You’ve had a rough day at work, you’re running late and you know there’s nothing at home to make for dinner. You’re exhausted, cranky and you know if you go into a busy store with rude people and long lines you may just finally snap.

• You are elderly or handicapped. Maybe it’s cold or rainy and you are concerned about crossing an icy parking lot.

• You forgot an important ingredient for your special dinner and ask your spouse to pick it up on the way home. They’ll be less whiny about it if they don’t have to get out of the car and you promise to throw in a special treat for them if they stop to pick up the order for you.

A few stores in the area also offer delivery, which is awesome for the elderly and shut ins!

Clicklist is very easy to do. The online ordering instructions were simple. You pay online and the order isn’t charged until pickup in case there’s something that the store didn’t have or a weighed item like produce needed to be finalized.

You can see what's on sale. I like that all the items in the store are available with the current pricing.

You can add notes to an item like you want green bananas, or you want your deli ham sliced thin, etc.

Each item also has a box you can unclick if you are not willing to accept substitutions for when they are out of a certain size item or brand. 

Often they will give you the larger size at the smaller size’s price if they are out of what you ordered.

If you are wanting only a certain brand, etc., you can un-click the substitutions allowed box. 

You can also type in a note like what other brand or flavor you are willing to accept if your original choice is not available.

If they made a substitution, it will be on your printout and the store clerk will ask you if the substitution they have is acceptable to you or not. If not, they will take it back and credit your order.

All my shopper’s card electronic coupons were applied. You will want to load your coupons to your shopper’s card before finalizing your order.

Then you can pick the date and time range of pickup. There’s a drop down menu of time slots. They average about 6 orders at one time and you have a one hour window. 

The time slots fill up fast so if you’re wanting to pick it up that same day, you will want to get your order in early. It may just depend on how large and how busy your store is, too.

You then get an email notice about your order and again shortly before your time to pick up is. I put an alarm notice on my phone to remind me to go get my groceries in case I got busy and forgot.

If you miss your pickup time, they put all your items back and delete the order.

The pickup was simple. Just pull into the designated spot, call the phone number to let them know you’re there, give your name and within minutes they come out to your car with a cart of your groceries.

Frozen or refrigerated items are ice cold since they keep them cold while waiting.

I did check off my list as I unpacked the items at home to make sure I got everything. I’ve learned from others that missing items are rare, but if it does happen, call them and they will either provide the item for you to pick up or credit your charge card.

They only accept credit and debit cards as forms of payment and no paper coupons can be used.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and convenient it was!

There is still one problem though, I have not been able to work out....I still had to unload and put away all the groceries, but at least I wasn’t as tired when I came home from the store!

I won’t use it every time I go to the store, but I can now see the benefits of it.

How about you? Do you think now you may use this convenience?

~ImNotaSupermom

This Month's Giveaway Is...

Free sample of Basic H2® Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate multipurpose cleaner!*

This sample of Basic H2 concentrate will make one bottle of window cleaner AND one bottle of multipurpose cleaner. So you get two bottles worth of cleaning!

Here is a short video on Basic-H2:

This little 16 oz bottle creates an unbelievable 48 gallons of super-safe, really powerful, all purpose cleaner. 
We challenge you to use it up any time soon to clean everything from spilled milk, to bug guts on the window, to splattered spaghetti sauce.

One 16 oz. bottle makes:  

• 48 gallons of super powerful cleaner, or  5,824 bottles of window cleaner
• Sustainably sourced ingredients derived from corn and coconuts
• Does not contain phosphates, dyes, toxins, toxic fumes, hazardous chemicals, fragrance or chlorine.
• Packaging is recyclable

Clean credentials:

• Nontoxic
• Natural
• Super concentrated
• No phosphates
• Biodegradable surfactants

Just fill out the short form below to tell us where to send the sample to and we will do that. This offer ends April 30, 2017.

Or you can click the "Contact Us" tab up top and tell us where to send your sample.

*Note: You will receive a sample of Basic-H2, not a full size bottle. This sample however, will make 2 full spray bottles of cleaner - 1 window cleaner and 1 multi-purpose cleaner. Spray bottles not included.

How To Use Your Dryer Vent To Help Heat & Moisturize Your House During Winter

Today’s newer efficient homes come with a price. The air inside our homes can become almost toxic and with the cold weather comes dry air.

Germs love dry air as they can float through the air more easily. Nasal passages become dried out not working as effectively at keeping the germs from entering our bodies.

Throats become dried out causing scratchy, sore throats. Allergies flare due to an overabundance of dust and pet dander.

I always recommend opening windows for at least 10-15 minutes every day to help “change” the air in your house.

Another way you can add moisture to the air during the winter is to use your dryer vent to pump the heat and the moisture from wet clothes back into your home.

There are benefits to this procedure and cautions, so please be sure to consider your own situation and needs and read the instructions below.

Benefits:

Adds moisture and heat to the air. Helps to warm the home by using the heat from the dryer. Adds moisture to the home from the drying of wet clothes and from the water in the bucket.

How to assemble:

See below picture.

Any large container will do. I like using Shaklee’s large team pack container of Performance Sports Drink. It has just the right size opening to fit the dryer tube.

I used a hole saw to drill out some vent holes in it. If you don’t have a hole saw you can use a sharp knife (with caution) to make some holes. They don’t have to be pretty, just functional. Cut out holes approximately this large.

Next, add a couple of inches of water. This is to trap the lint. Change the water at least once a week to avoid mold from developing and to empty out the lint. Use an old strainer to catch the lint as you pour the old water down the drain.

Loosen the clamp around your dryer vent and remove hose from pipe that exits your house. 

You can buy a vent cover at the hardware store or you can use a plastic lid with tape or at the very least stuff a rag in the vent exit tube. This will prevent cold air and any little critters from coming into the house.

Depending on the size of your container you are using you may want to get one of these inserts.

See pictures below:

(Please ignore the paint on my dryer – my husband decided to use my dryer as a paint mixing table. Wonderful.)

You may also just be able to clamp your dryer hose right onto your container without an insert. I love these easy dryer tube clamps – you can loosen and tighten them without the need of a screwdriver.

If you are uncertain how to make your tube fit the opening of your container, take your container with you to the hardware store and try different tubes and inserts. 

If you go to a smaller, specialty hardware store you will get more expert help than you usually get from the big box stores.

If you can’t make it work, try a different container. Look around and use your imagination.

Tip: 

Empty out and vacuum out your dryer tube of excess lint or just replace it. The buildup of lint inside the dryer tube can cause a fire. Lift up your dryer tube. It should feel very light. If it feels heavy, clean out or replace the tube.

Attach your tube to your container and sit it on a stable surface like the floor or a table.

Now for some of the cautions.

If you use a toxic fabric softener like a store brand – do not vent your dryer inside your home! Many of these fabric softeners and perfumy laundry detergents are very toxic and are the cause of many allergies and asthma problems. Please consider switching to a safe product. I use Shaklee’s laundry products – Get Clean Healthy Home - Laundry

I love how the light scent fills my home. If you don’t want any scent you can use the unscented laundry liquid and their unscented dryer sheets.

Make sure your furnace is running regularly. You don’t want too much moisture building up in your home. Check your laundry area regularly. If you see any moisture building up or if the air seems particularly heavy with moisture. Discontinue use. You do not want too much moisture in the home to cause mold.

If your laundry room is in the basement, make sure your door to the upstairs is open while your dryer is running. Don’t worry about the cooler air from the basement coming in – the air exchange is good as long as there is no mold in your basement. 

If there is mold, do not do this and make it a priority to get any mold eradicated from your home. The expense of doing so is far less than the medical expenses you will have if you don’t. Mold is a serious problem and is the cause of many health problems.

Once the cold weather is over and your furnace is not running much, be sure and vent your dryer back outside. Again, you do not want too much moisture to buildup in your home and cause mold. This procedure is only for when the air is very dry due to heating and you are looking to add a little moisture to the air. 

Make sure there is always a little water in your container and change it at least once a week. 

Check to make sure your connection to your container is fitted tightly and that your container is on a stable surface where it won’t fall over. 

Make sure your dryer tube does not have a kink or sharp bend in it. This will cause lint to build up inside the tube.

If you are doing a lot of loads, check to make sure your container isn’t getting too hot. Give it time to cool down between loads if necessary.

Never leave your home while the dryer is running, regardless of whether you are venting it inside or outside. Dryers often catch fire for many reasons. I personally saw a neighbor lose their house due to their dryer catching fire as they ran a quick 15 minute errand. So sad.

Now that you’ve read the precautions, I think you may really like using this method. We love how it adds a nice scent and moisture to the home and it helps to warm our basement up, too.

Now for the legal stuff: I am not responsible for injury, damage or loss to humans, pets or property. Any modifications you make to your home or appliances is totally up to you. Though this procedure is simple, an improper design or modification can be a safety issue. Use common sense or ask someone who has it for advice. When in doubt, consult a professional.

For more information on the laundry products we use that are safe, non-toxic and much cheaper to use as they are very concentrated, visit www.ToBeHealthy.MyShaklee.com or contact us by clicking the “Contact Us” tab up top and filling out the contact form.

If you would like to receive our Healthy Newsletter, click the “Contact Us” tab up top and filling out the contact form and tell us you want to receive our Healthy Newsletter.

5 Easy Ways Moms (& All Women) Can Get Healthier

1 - Kick the Stress

Most of us experience stress every day. Daily stress and anxiety wreak havoc with our sense of well-being and the impact of prolonged stress can have severe consequences on our health.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control estimates 75-90% of all visits to the doctor's office are stress related. One key to good health is to keep levels of stress in check.

Get started by:

• Identifying Your Stressors — Whether it's money issues, traffic or the piles of laundry, the first step to managing stress is knowing what is causing the most stress in your life. Once identified, you can begin to figure out how to overcome stress or manage it better. So what’s bugging you?

• Setting Priorities — Take stock to determine what's really important and learn to say "No". This can be one of the biggest favors you can do for yourself. You can’t do it all, so choose what is most important to you and learn to let the rest go. It’s OK if you start singing, “Let it Go, Let it Go…”

• Delegating Responsibilities — You don't have to be "Supermom", learn to ask for help and assign tasks to other family members. The best “managers” are those who know how to delegate. Teaching kids about responsibilities is also good for them, not just to help you out. You are not helping them any by doing everything for them. One of the best lessons a mom can teach her children is how to take care of themselves.

• Relaxing and Meditating - Research has shown that taking time out of each day to relax and meditate can help reduce stress. This is so true. Taking just a few minutes a day to just sit and relax; breathe deep and empty your overcrowded brain can do wonders for your mood. Even if it means locking yourself in the bathroom with earplugs.

• Exercise – Don’t forget the benefits of exercise. See our tip on exercise below.

*Try Shaklee’s Stress Relief Complex*, a botanical combination which includes a powerful stress reliever from green tea to help promote relaxation, alertness and concentration, and help relieve everyday stress in as little as 30 minutes.* This stuff works great. A Mom’s best friend during trying times.
2 - Get Enough Sleep 

Emerging scientific evidence indicates that insufficient sleep can be harmful to our health.

Sleep Well and Re-energize - Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule; establish a relaxing bedtime routine; and try not to eat a meal, drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages or exercise within a few hours of bedtime. 

There is nothing like a good night’s rest to help with your day. It can be hard though when there are so many things on your mind. Try meditation, reading and hey, here’s an idea! - talking with your spouse! Just keep the talks light, nothing stressful.

*To contend with occasional sleeplessness and to help you get a good night's rest, try Shaklee Gentle Sleep Complex* which uses natural botanicals to promote a calm and restful sleep.
3 - Eat Right

Good nutrition is essential to health and poor food choices contribute to health challenges including weight gain. Start by improving your diet by eating a variety of foods, choosing whole grains, beans and legumes and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Don't forget to include some lean protein from fish, chicken, soy and nonfat dairy and select heart-healthy omega-3 fats from fish, avocado and nuts.

*It’s hard to eat right and who has time to cook a big meal every day? So to help fill in the gaps don’t forget your vitamins. Shaklee’s Vitalizer is a complete daily vitamin regimen in a convenient easy to take pack. Just toss them in your purse or pocket and off you go – with energy! Plus we guarantee you will feel better in 30 days or your money back!

4 - Exercise 

No brainer here. We all know that exercise is a healthy habit and it's never too late to start. You don’t have to train for a marathon to feel good. Just a 30 minute workout can boost your mood and you can literally kick stress out of the way. Walking is a great activity for everyone, too. Start with a 10 or 15-minute walk, especially if you haven't been exercising regularly and build up from there. Lifting light weights 2-3 times a week is a must for strong bones and keeping muscle. Do your best to be active every day. Exercise helps lower stress, lose weight and increase strength, which helps our stress level too.

*Shaklee can help your exercise program with their weight loss program and sports nutrition products. 

Lose the weight & keep the muscle with Shaklee 180

Stay hydrated with Performance Maximum Endurance Sports Drink in orange or lemon lime flavors

5 - Take a "Timeout" with Friends

A landmark UCLA study suggests that hanging out with friends can actually counteract the kind of stress most women experience on a daily basis. When women engage in this 'tending or befriending' with children and other women, studies suggest that the hormone oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect.

We always knew that friends made us feel good and now there is actual evidence that they are good for our health!
So the next time you need a lift-me-up or simply want to relax, call up your closest group of girlfriends for a fun gathering.

*And why not make money while having fun and sharing with your friends? We can show you how: It’s Time to DreamAgain

Watch our fun, short video of Moms and what we do here:Moms Making a Difference

Take care of yourself so you can continue to take care of those you love.

Wishing you all the best,

Julie

Want to learn more about how Shaklee helps to keep you healthy with products that come with a 100% money back guarantee?

Visit our website: ToBeHealthy.MyShaklee.com

Tips For Making Your Dishwasher Perform Better

We love our dishwashers, don’t we?

I love being able to throw the dishes in, slam the door, hit a couple buttons and walk away.

And happiness is when all the dirty dishes fit in the dishwasher. Yay!

After a while though, our favorite appliance can begin to let us down. Dishes aren’t getting as clean as they used to, glasses are spotted and it can begin to smell.

So what are we to do? The thought of a new dishwasher sounds delightful, but don’t throw out your old friend quite yet.

To keep your kitchen buddy working at his best, he does need some TLC. Yes, that’s right – you need to do a bit of regular maintenance.

Now before you start to say, “Ugh! I’d rather just buy a new one!” the maintenance really isn’t that hard – if you do it on a regular basis.

The first thing to do is dig out the owner’s manual. The manual will tell you what parts you can take apart to clean.

Here’s a tip. Buy a big binder and large pocket sleeve protectors, then put all your household appliance manuals in there and file it on a bookshelf. This makes the manuals easy to find and take up less space. Plus, if you ever go to sell your house, leave that book out on the counter and the new potential buyers will love you for it and may look at your house more eagerly.

All those food particles and debris gets trapped in the filters built into the dishwasher and they need to be cleaned out every so often. But don’t worry it’s not hard.

Most dishwashers are very similar in the bottom. Remove the bottom rack, and proceed to one-by-one remove the sprayer arm, strainer and filters per your manual. I have like 5 pieces that remove for cleaning in mine.

Tip: Place them in order from left to right how you took them out. This way you will remember which order they go when you go to put them back in. They only fit one way, kind of like a puzzle.

Take a toothbrush and some gentle cleaner. I like to use Basic-H² and scrub all the pieces thoroughly and rinse. Then spray with a good disinfectant all over the pieces and down in the sprayer arm holes. I like to use Basic-G as a good disinfectant. Do NOT use bleach or any other harsh cleanser.

If the sprayer arms have clogged holes, use a pipe cleaner or small straw brush to gently clean the holes. Do NOT use a toothpick because the tip could break off inside the arm, clogging the holes and later molding inside.

You will notice when you pull out the pieces at the bottom to clean there is still a puddle of water there and wonder why it doesn’t drain all the way. I wondered the same thing.

I learned it’s because you don’t want the pump or the seals to be dry. If the seals become brittle, you will end up with messy leaks and pumps are expensive to replace.

If you notice when you start your dishwasher, it will drain the water that’s in it first before filling with new water. So it doesn’t use that old water that had been sitting there in the wash cycle.

Tip: Run water at the faucet to hot before starting the dishwasher. This will shorten the time it takes for the dishwasher to heat the water, saving time and electricity.

I will clean this underwater area too, so as to prevent molding and to inspect. You can take an old towel to soak up the water and then use a rag to wipe out.

You will also want to gently clean the seal where the bottom of the door meets the bottom of the tub. No water gets here unless the seal is bad, but the moisture can make it start to mold there. Mold is something you do not want to get ahead of you, so attack it before it starts with a good disinfectant.

Clean up any stains and rust areas. Inspect your racks for breakage and tips missing so your dishes do not get damaged.

Inspect your seals for cracks and leakage. Get them fixed right away or you will be fixing your nice floor after a major water leak springs.

If you haven’t cleaned your dishwasher’s parts in a while you are in for a real treat. It can be nasty, so carve out some time. After that if you keep up with the cleaning, it will only take a few minutes and won’t be so yucky. I try and clean mine about once a month.

Like anything else, if you keep up with it it’s not so much work, but if you let the cleaning part get away from you then you will be spending more time cleaning it and doing the dishes more often since they aren’t getting as clean as they used to.

So there you go. An easy way to make your dishwasher act like new again without spending money. Think about all your dishwasher does for you and repay it with a little love and a little cleaning now and then. Just like any relationship – it needs some attention.

Dishwashing detergent can be very toxic and deadly to children and animals. Please protect the ones you love by using a safe, natural alternative.

I love Shaklee’s Automatic Dishwashing Powder. It works as well as the toxic brands, but is much safer and cheaper to use because you actually use less of it due to it being so concentrated. It is also great for cleaning other stubborn messes.

Click here to find all of Shaklee’s Healthy Home products: ToBeHealthy.MyShaklee.com/HealthyHome

When You Really Don’t Want God To Bless Your Enemies

I have always struggled with certain passages in the Bible like when Jesus instructs us that we are to love our enemies and ask God to bless them. 

When someone hurts you and then you hear that you are to ask God to bless them, you just want to scream, “What? Are you kidding me?!”

The last thing I really want God to do is bless them! It seems all the compassion I can muster is to ask God to not let them suffer too long when that bus you wished for them runs them over.

Let’s face it, forgiveness is hard, and asking for them to be blessed can seem downright cruel of Him to ask.

Then it was shown to me that I misunderstood the lesson.

When Jesus said we are to love our enemies and ask God to bless them, He wasn’t saying we should ask God to send them money, lots of stuff, or for them to achieve great financial success and have all their hearts desire.

Jesus meant we are to ask God to bless them in the way that is most beneficial to all. We are to ask God for Him to show Himself to them, to softly reach out to them, to open their eyes to the hurt they’ve caused and to seek God for their own benefit, not ours.

Ok, that I think I can do.

Now that I get it, it may be just a bit easier to ask God to bless my enemies instead of praying for that bus to come and run them over, or whatever other calamity I may be thinking. 

I also have noticed it takes less painful effort to do this than to waste my time and emotions stewing over the hurt.

It’s the same as the lesson of turning the other cheek. God doesn’t want us to be doormats for other people! Good thing, because I have a short fuse for that! 

He wants us to forgive others as He has forgiven us. How many times have you’ve been angry at God and have hurt Him and he turned the other cheek? He forgave and forgot, and He does it much quicker than we do.

I believe the turn the other cheek is to behave in a way that means we don’t exact our revenge on others for hurting us, though at the moment it really sounds good, doesn’t it?

It means we are to ask God to be our vindicator as he really knows how to get to the other person – through their heart. 

Where we just want to hurt them back, which really accomplishes nothing, God wants to reach them, turn them around and help them along the right path. Kind of like he is already doing with us.

Ouch! That stings a bit.

This method really benefits us. Think back to the times when someone really hurt you and you asked for them to be hurt just as bad. Only to watch them seemingly be blessed in ways of finances, things given to them that you wanted and success in ways you can only dream of.

Ahhhh! Why is God blessing them when you were the one that was hurt?!

It seems like you are the one who got hurt while they seem to be getting rewarded for their bad behavior. What gives?

Well, we know that it does balance out. Call it karma or call it God's way of making sure everyone is even, either way - what you reap, you eventually will sow. 

And a life that appears calm and perfect on the surface often can mean there is a fierce undercurrent of disaster that is hidden from our view just under that seemingly perfect life.

So, the next time someone really is awful to you, don’t assume God wants you to get all the junk and the enemy to prosper. Ask God what He wants you to do. 

Forgive might be a word that quickly comes to mind. It may taste bad at first, but it’s OK for you to ask God to help you do that. Then ask Him to bless your enemies now that you know what it really means.

You may just find that the blessing is yours. J

Julie

Disinfecting Wipes

Here is a great tip to help ward off the cold and flu viruses this year.

Shopping cart handles can be pretty nasty and most of us like to wipe the handles down with a disinfecting wipe. 

I often notice the stores will be out of the wipes they provide and I’ve also noticed they don’t do such a good job of cleaning.

I put several of the wipes we use in a Ziploc type baggie to throw in my purse. I use these to wipe down the shopping cart handles. I just pull one out of my purse as I walk up to the carts.

I like to have disinfecting wipes in my car to clean off the steering wheel, handles, radio knobs, etc. every now and then, too, especially if we just walked out of a store and my kids have touched every toy and item in the store.

Don't you just love it when you see your kids handle all the toys in the store, then stick their fingers in their mouths?

Ugh!

We use Shaklee’s Germ Off Disinfecting Wipes and we use them on everything, phones, doorknobs, handles, you name it.

I love these and I’ll tell you why I trust these wipes over the Clorox brand!

They not only disinfect much better and the disinfecting power lasts longer than bleach wipes, they also clean better than the bleach wipes!

I noticed when I used the Clorox wipes on shopping carts the grocery stores provide, they get the handle wet, but the handle still seems dirty. Plus, I notice the wipe itself is still white after wiping the surfaces down.

Did it really clean?

When I use the Shaklee’s Germ Off Disinfecting Wipes, I notice the surface seems cleaner and the wipe is black from the dirt and grime it just cleaned off.

Wow! It really lifted the dirt off and you can almost hear the germs dying a quick death.

I also like Shaklee’s Germ Off Disinfecting Wipes because they are safer to use. 

They are less toxic so kids can use them and they don’t pollute the environment. The material is also biodegradable and can be thrown into the recycling bin.

Since it has better cleaning and disinfecting powers than the Clorox wipes do, they are great for classrooms and offices.

Before I was able to work from home I used them to clean off my desk phone at work. Not much is yuckier than coming back from lunch and seeing a co-worker who has been sneezing and hacking all day sitting at your desk using your phone and pens! Yuck! 

So I always had some in my desk and I made it a point to let them know I was getting rid of their cuties! LOL!

They make great teacher and co-worker gifts. ;) hint, hint.

To help stay healthy this year, do what our family does, carry Shaklee’s Germ Off DisinfectingWipes with you everywhere. You just never know when they will come in handy. 

Julie

You can find the wipes we use here: 

Shaklee’s Germ Off Disinfecting Wipes