{Tips to Try: Fun Household Tips & Tricks}

June 19, 2013

I've come across more fabulous tips and tricks for you to try around your house that will hopefully save you some time and headache.  There are a few on this list that are new to me, and I can't wait to try them out.  Hope you have fun with these! 
  1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
  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 spoons full 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 microwave pizza.
  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, continue mashing it up and mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.  Just throw bag away when you’re done for 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, and you also eat less sugar and calories per serving. 
  10. Reheating refrigerated bread-To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that have been refrigerated, place them in the 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, and 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, but 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 from underneath the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum.  It can be bent or flattened to fit into narrow openings.
  14. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling.  It works, and you will no longer 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 ½ full of Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish-washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and 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 burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to leave your clothes soft, static free, and smelling great.  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.  You can test it by running the lint trap under water. If the water filters through, you are good. If not, it's time 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 too 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.
I can't wait to see how these work for you!
xoxo,
Katherine
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1 comments:

April @BarbellsandBellinis said...

I'm crying. I love this. Thank you!