Stubborn Toilet Water Line Ring

I won't include pictures here, because really- who wants to look at a toilet? But the struggle is real. I understand the ultimate solution for stubborn water rings is to prevent them in the first place with frequent scrubbing, but we had a stubborn ring that would not disappear regardless of scrubbing.

I tried a variety of cleaners without success. Finally, I found an approach that worked:

1. Pour about a gallon of water (an old ice cream bucket works well) into the toilet bowl quickly to force it to flush without refilling to expose the waterline
2. Clean and disinfect the toilet as you normally would
3. Use Barkeeper's Friend on a scouring side of a cleaning sponge to manually go after the ring

Ta-da! No more ring.

Pickled Eggs

You may ask why someone would pickle eggs. I asked once, too, until we tried them.

Pickled Eggs

1 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp salt
few drops Liquid Smoke (optional)
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp mustard seeds or 1 tsp pickling spice if you have it
12 large hard boiled eggs, peeled

Place peeled eggs in 1 qt mason jar. Simmer all other ingredients until the salt and sugar dissolve. Pour over eggs. Refrigerate about 4 weeks prior to eating. These last a long time, and are good sliced on salads or just eaten as a snack.

Tip for hard cooked eggs: Cook on high in Instant Pot for 5 min with 1 c water. Release immediately when done and cool quickly with cool water.

Based on Alton Brown's recipe, with adjustments- original recipe yields too much liquid.

Favorite Black Bean Veggie Burgers

You can make these black bean patties with canned beans, but I periodically make a bigger batch by doubling this recipe and starting with 1/2 lb of dry black beans, cooking the beans in the slow cooker as I've described here. The doubled recipe yields about 8-9 black bean burgers, which I'll freeze. It's easy to pull out a frozen patty and stick it on the grill, or bake or pan-fry it.

I've owned an Instant Pot for a couple of years now, and while it theoretically can cook beans faster than a slow cooker, I've wrestled with the timing- sometimes the beans don't take as much time to cook and you open the Instant Pot to find them mushy, and sometimes the timer goes off and the pressure is released and you find the beans aren't done and need to take time to rebuild pressure to cook more. With the slow cooker, you can lift the lid and sneak a quick taste and ensure the beans cook to just the consistency you want before removing them. I've just found it to be a more consistent and reliable approach.

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers

• 1 can (16 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, minced (can be minced in food processor) 
• 1/2 onion, minced (can be minced in food processor) 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (can be minced in food processor) 
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp hot sauce of choice
• 1/2 c dry bread crumbs

Mash beans in a bowl with fork, ground meat chopper (Zing), or a bean or potato masher. A pastry blender works, too. Add minced veggies. In a small bowl, combine egg, spices and hot sauce. Stir egg mixture into beans. Mix in bread crumbs until mixture is sticky and hods together. Divide and form into four patties. Grill on greased foil about 8 minutes per side over high heat, or bake at 375 for 10 min on each side, or pan-fry in oil.