1.
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave
them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.. I didn't know that!
2. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
3. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for
eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for
cooking.
4. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
5. To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of
sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
6. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of
garlic, and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of
garlic.
7. Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet
on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps
the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking
channel and it really works.
8. Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg
yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add
remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly,
cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away
when done easy clean up.
9. Expanding Frosting: When you buy a
container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a
few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more
cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories
per serving.
10. Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits,
pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave
with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and
help it reheat faster.
11. Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants
in the ground, work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put
layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and
forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they
will not get through wet newspapers.
12. To keep squirrels from
eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The
cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near
it.
13. Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or
under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll
to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
14. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static
cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing
works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam
of slacks and ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone.
15. Before you pour
sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out
the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as
peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
16. De-fog
your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of
your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a
cloth!
17. Re-opening envelopes: If you seal an envelope and then
realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed
envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.
18. Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than
shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way
to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it
in your hair.
19. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit
flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2
drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn
to the cup an d gone forever!
20. Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles
of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't
digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it
rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small
children being harmed!
21. Wash your dryer filter: Did you know that
cleaning your lint trap with a dryer sheet can ruin it? Dryer sheets
cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You
can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to
make your clothes soft and static free, and smell good. You know how
they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Apparently that
stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is what
causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! You can
test it by running the lint trap under water. If the water goes through
you are good. If not then you need to clean it. The best way to keep
your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill
lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and
an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
22.
Drop a small object on the carpet and can't find it. Place panty hose
over the end of the vacuum hose and start vacuuming. The panty hose will
trap anything to large to fit through the tiny hose and keep it from
getting sucked into the vacuum.
23. Wearing a skirt or dress on a
windy day. Cut open a few sections on the bottom seam. slip in some
heavy washers or flat weights (anything small heavy and flat will work)
then sew the seam back up.
24. Need to cut some corn off the cob.
Use your bundt pan. Place the ear on the opening in the center of the
pan, and as you slide the knife down the ear, all the kernels will
collect in the main part of the pan.
25. Forget dryer sheets!
Crumble up a clean piece of aluminum foil and toss it in the dryer with
wet clothes. No static, no smell, no mess! Reuse it until it falls apart
then recycle it!!! Mine is going into it's 6th month! (PS Towels will
be more absorbent since dryer sheets coat the nap on them!)
