Merry Christmas!!!

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I look forward to this time of year for lots of reasons but one in particular is the FOOD!! The cheese balls, honey ham, egg nog, fudge, candy, I could go on and on! We enjoy cooking around the holidays,Rick does especially! Believe it or not, he is a great cook! I wanted to share one of my favorites that he fixes, usually after Christmas, with the left over ham. Depending on how much ham is left depends on how much he makes....You will need onion, 3 different types of hard cheeses of your choice(we use cheddar, monterey and mozzarella,garlic powder, adobe seasoning, onion powder and mayonaise. The key to this is you have to use a food chopper with every ingredient. Mix everything well(he doesn't measure anything so I'm not sure but to tell you,add to taste). You can use it as a spread and serve with corn chips(fritos) or make it a little dry and make it into a ball, then roll in crushed pecans and serve with crackers. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do this holiday season and if you have any of your favorite holiday receipes....please share!! Waiting to hear from you, email me at rickshouseradio@gmail.com. Merry Christmas and Happy Eating, The Mrs...............

RECYCLE THAT!!!

I love to recycle! Anything that I can reuse I try and do, after all, our landfills are full of things that take years to break down,anything we can do, even small, can help a great deal. I love to recycle things from my kitchen especially, things I purchase at the grocery store that's a perfectly good storage container often work great for other things. We drink Maxwell House coffee and I buy the large tubs with the handle....wow, what a great storage container, you can store Q-tips,cotton balls, fingernail polish or even drill bits, nails and much more in these handy containers with lids! I also save my Parmesan cheese containers! I store salt, powdered sugar and I mix my own spices in them....they are great for lots of stuff. How about those wine bottles? I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 17 years ago and my doctor recommended I drink red wine everyday, so I did! I buy the gallon table wine in the pretty glass jugs and boy have I had fun with those! You can take the metal lid and put a slit in it and paint the glass.... POOF, you have a bank! I also have a sea shell collection that I store in these beautiful glass jugs, and you can also take lights and stuff them in the jugs, place them behind your shrubbery or on your deck....PRETTY, especially for Christmas or Halloween! I love recycling, it's a challenge for me and I would like to challenge you!! What can you recycle this week or month? You might find yourself thinking the next time you go to throw the next Gatorade bottle away or coffee jug, "what could I use that for?" Happy recycling, The Mrs...................

The Holidays are upon us!!

"Our company is here!!!", I here this often during this time of year, all the way through until after New Years, and I love it!! I myself have very little family left, I have a brother and my mother and Rick has his parents, so most of our company is friends. Although, our immediate family is growing, I now have a wonderful son-in-law and a precious grandson due in March! The term "Home Improvement" is generally used to mean improving a structure or a landscape and so on but this time of year I think of it in different terms. I see so many families with parent, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, children, all still living but because of some petty pride or self centered attitude, they don't speak, even at holidays. Now, I understand that in some instances it is completely necessary for safety or proper mental health, I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about adults acting like adults!! Rick and I miss our family members, especially this time of year and we are saddened when we hear about families who are not speaking due to adults not accepting their kids or family members not respecting each others choices......WHAT???? "Home Improvement" is needed not only ON our homes but IN our homes!! Lets love our kids, after all the are just kids even when there 20, and lets tolerate our mouthy aunt or know-it-all uncle, isn't this what the Holidays are all about? "Home Improvement"....if your family doesn't need it I bet you know a family that does, lets encourage peace and harmony the Holiday season and do some REAL " HOME IMPROVEMENTS"!!!! The Mrs.........

Breath Clean Air

I have pretty bad allergies as many people do. I took allergy shots for almost 3 years and they did help but they still exist! I am mainly allergic to dust and dust mites, so no matter where I live I still am exposed somewhat. I have learned many things about controlling dust over the years and one of the things is keeping your duct work clean! There are many companies now that clean duct work and most of them are very reasonable. I would recommend having your duct work cleaned especially if you are moving into a new home! We were having a house built and the finish carpenters had the windows and doors open to let air in (as we didn't have our heat and air on yet),and we didn't think anything about it. We moved in and my allergies went nuts! We had gone to extra pains over my allergies...hardwood floors, allergy filters, well cleaned before we moved in, but to spite everything I was getting really sick! After two rounds of antibiotics and a bunch of other meds. Rick said "somethings up and it's time to investigate!" Well he did! First call was to an air control consultant, he tested the air and nothing. Next call was to the Duct Doctor! They came out and began cleaning our duct work and guess what? BIRDS NESTS had been constructed in the master bedroom over our bed and in our living room over the front door, right up in the duct work! The vent openings had been covered while we were working on the house, before we moved in but I had begun to take some down and clean right at the openings while the finished carpenters had completed those rooms and that's when my fury friends had went to work! WOW, what a difference....I finally got well! So take it from me, if you or a family member is sickly, have your duct work cleaned, you might be surprised what you may find in those ducts. Breathing clean, The Mrs...................

Clean Cheap!!

We all need to save money any way we can now a days and one way I've found is in cleaning supplies. Can you believe how expensive cleaning supplies are? The only inexpensive product that I sometimes buy is Ajax or Comet, I can buy these on sale at Walgreens for .50 per can, with their coupons. I make most all of my cleaning products and you can too!! Rick has had some great guest on his show that I have learned a lot from on this subject, along with reading and such, and I thought I would share a few.
I keep 3 spray bottles with different mixtures, depending on what I'm cleaning. #1 sprayer contains 1/4 cup ammonia with the rest water. I use this for grease cutting and it works great! I use it on my vinyl flooring with a microfiber mop, my kitchen and little greasy finger prints.
Spray #2 contains 1 cup of vinegar and the rest water. I use this to clean mirrors, pictures, glass, tv screens, computer screens. It works great!!
Sprayer #3 contains 2 Tablespoons of bleach, 1 teaspoon of Dawn dishwashing liquid and the rest water. I use this for bathrooms and kitchen. It works great to clean toilets, sinks, tubs and tile. I sprinkle a little baking soda on my sinks and tub after I spray the bleach mixture on, if it needs a little extra scrub from soap scum or you can use the comet.
This is sooo much cheaper than all of the fancy cleaners on the market today!! If you don't like the smell you can add a drop or two of lemon or lavender oil, I guarantee you'll notice the savings!! Happy cleaning, The Mrs.................

"Ricky"

Sorry guys, I've been down with a bad sinus infection, I just didn't feel like doing much of anything. As you can see the title on this post is "Ricky", that's what his mother and I call him and a few kids we went to elementary school with. I got an email this week from a listener and they were talking about how funny "Ricky" is on the air. They went on to talk about the nicknames he gives his sponsors and all the funny stories that he tells that have happened to him over the years.....well, I am here to tell you they are all true! Ricky doesn't make up any of it! I think we all probably have funny things happen to us if not everyday but at least every week but we are so busy we don't really hone in on how funny they really are, well Ricky does! Granted, there is a lot going on in our house...we have my 81 year old mom who lives with us and who doesn't have good hearing, we have 3 boys, 2 cats and now thanks to my daughter and her husband, 3 dogs, my daughter and her husband don't live with us but they are definitely in the mix AND are expecting our first grandchild! Thank goodness for "Ricky's" humor! I'm not as carefree as my husband, I like things planned and organized, I like order and I like to be on time to everything and I rarely misplace anything(boring huh?) and my funny bone is not near what Rick's is but we all need humor, especially right now! The economy is sooo bad and the divorce rate is up, the crisis with insurance, I could go on and on, we all need to laugh!! Let's all try to lighten up and do more laughing, heck if you are having trouble finding something to laugh about just tune into to Rick on Saturday's 3pm-5pm central time on www.rickshouseradio.com and I'm sure he will have plenty of things that will make you laugh!! You can chat with me during the show too on the live chat! Let's do some laughing this week!! The Mrs.................

The Gulf Coast will recover!!

I have been blessed to be able to live exactly where I have dreamed of living since I was a small child....the gulf coast! It has been one of the saddest summers I have seen through the years I have lived here. The area I live in did not have the massive blobs of tar washing ashore like some of the other areas did but it was still devastated none the less. I have seen restaurants close, hotels with vacancy signs in the prime of summer, the putt putt golfing business empty, I never thought I would see something devastate this place like this other than a hurricane! The beaches are our lively hood here....that's really it!! Without our pristine white beaches the business industry dies, but one of the many reasons I love it here is the people! The people here are resilient like no others I have seen. They don't whine, cry or even get very down, they just work!! Yes they're upset but they never give up. We had a friend stop by Saturday afternoon and he is in the construction/remodeling business. He began to tell us about his work and how tough it had been but he still had a smile on his face and said "I'm going to watch the ballgame tonight with the family and I can't wait!" this is why I love it here! Visit the gulf coast when you can and support this beautiful area and I think you will truly enjoy the sweet people too!! Hope to see you here!! The Mrs.............

Don't wait for a problem.........maintenance!!!!!

I just had my first root canal and crown done and oh boy has it been horrible!! It started about 2 years ago with just a little pain when I would bite down on something. Recently it went from just "a little" pain to PAIN!!! Pain to cold, hot, pressure, air...everything. If I had listened to my dentist I could have probably have avoided the root canal and only ended up with a crown. Isn't this human nature for a lot of us? Put things off that's expensive or time consuming or whatever. We all tend to do this with things around are house too. We don't drain our water heater yearly or we don't have our heat and air unit on a maintenance plan. We think as long as it's working then leave it alone. Sometimes, even if we notice a little odd sound or it seems to be running more....we still don't call for help until it has completely stopped. Just like my tooth! Find out what the manufacture for your home appliances, etc., recommend and have it done.....BEFORE it stops working, and it will save you time, money and much aggravation in the long run, take it from me!! Maintenance for one and all, the Mrs.............

U Glue...have you tried it?

If you have not used U Glue you are missing out!! I love this stuff!! Rick was asked this year to try a product and see what he thought. Rick is asked all through the year to try products and if he likes them then usually he'll have them on the show to talk about it. Some products he's asked to try are tools....nail guns, special lights, saw blades and so on but other products he passes on to me to try out. This one definitely got 5 stars with me!! It is this really sticky goo that comes between two non stick pieces of paper. You can use it on wood, sheetrock, tile and just about anything else you can think of. It doesn't pull the paint off and there is no holes. It holds up to 2 lbs and there is no mess!! While hanging some of our Halloween decorations I had my U Glue in hand! You can get this at any of the big box stores and I saw it the other day at a Walmart. I have alot of keepsakes from our kids, you know, all that stuff us mom's keep, I can use U Glue and it doesn't hurt my wall nor the precious little witch made of green and black construction paper that my 20 year old made in 1st grade! Give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed, let me know! The Mrs..............

Where do you live??

Rick and I have been fortunate to live in Tennessee, Georgia and my favorite... Florida! Depending on where you live depends on what you need to do to winterize around your home. As we were decorating our house for Halloween this weekend there were a few things I thought of...in TN and GA I always took my ceramic flower pots in because if they froze the glaze would pop off. In FL we are dealing with hurricane season now....having plywood cut for our windows and a safety bag packed with flash lights, water and such...bringing in the ceramic flower pots are not necessary here where we live in FL. It's funny how we all have different things we think about this time of year that we need to do to prepare for fall/winter. What do you do where you live? Write and tell me, maybe we can all help each other or maybe just share a little piece of our part of the country and what it's like there this time of year!! Waiting to hear from you, The Mrs........

What a Beautiful Day!!!

Fall is in the air, do you feel it too? This is my favorite time of year...the smell of pumpkin spice and seeing all the Halloween decorations....I love it!!! We are decorating our house this weekend. Our kids get so excited, especially when we make our tombstones. Watch the website for photos and "how to's" on the subject. This is a great family activity and I would love to hear ideas from you and what your family does this time of year! I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope your team wins this Saturday!!! The Mrs..........

New Show!!

Hello all! I have been away for a while. I hope to be more consistent now that our move is complete and our office set up! Some very exciting things are happening in the "Rick's House" we are kicking off a brand new show streaming on the world wide web with a much requested web cam and a chat room! Please visit our facebook page and chime in on our posts....what fun we are having there!! We also are expecting our very first grand baby!! Sometime in March we will become Grandma and Grandpa!! So many exciting changes....and I'm glad to be back to my blog. Write me!!

Home Depot!!!

I love the Home Depot!! I love to go and look in the garden section, well and the lighting and oh yeah the paint and decor too, I could go on and on. I remember when we were newly weds and Rick loved to go to the Home Depot on a date!! I hated it back then but now I count myself lucky to be able to go, without children of course, and look at all the new things available now!! I can remember when our children would cry when we pulled in the Home Depot parking lot on a Sunday after church...." oh no Daddy please don't make us go to Home Depot!" The tears would flow because they knew it was at least a 2 hour visit!! I think all of us mothers should write to Home Depot about developing some type of "kid friendly room" so us moms can shop in peace while our children are happily playing and the Home Depot is not such a dreaded event. Lets email or write to them girls....I bet their sales would increase! Women are the fastest growing homeowners in the US so you know what that means....and most of us do love to shop! Well enough today on to other things for Rick's House. The Mrs.........

I'm the Mrs..........

Hi everyone! I am Amy Allen, wife to Rick Allen. For those of you who are asking "who the heck is Rick Allen?" he is a home improvement guru who happened to stumble upon a position in radio hosting 10 years ago. He talks all about home improvement, some cooking and country music, every Saturday.
I have never had a blog before, so bare with me as I learn how to do this blog thing. All I can say is life with Rick has never been boring! I have been asked 1000 times "is Rick really like he is on the air?"....all I can say is YES!! When he was new to the Home Improvement business, we lived the life of Tim Allen on the TV show. Every weekend Rick had a new project he would start...when he says he has done everything wrong at least once...it's true!! He never would give up until he learned everything about the project he could and finished it right but it was a trip living with him then. I never new what I would find when I came home after a day of shopping on Saturdays!!! That was 22 years ago....WOW, how far he has come since those days!! There were times I feared for my life, lol. Well, tune in tomorrow for more from the Mrs.....