[BlindTlk] handy household hints

[maddymartin at mymts.net]

Hi all,
I got this from a monthly newsletter and thought I'd share.

Things your Mother should have, and many probably did tell you.
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 open 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 four 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 really make scrambled eggs or omelets great add a couple of spoonful's of
sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream then beat them up.
6. For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed, melt Andes Mints in a
double boiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty
frosting.
7. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic or add
it at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.
8. Leftover Snickers Bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop
them up with a food chopper. Peel core and slice a few apples. Place them in a
baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over them. Bake at 350 degrees
for 15 minutes Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!
9. Reheat pizza. Preheat Leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the
stove. Set heat to medium low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.
No soggy micro pizza. Also, as a side note, reheating leftover pizza in an air
fryer works remarkably well.
10. Easy deviled eggs. Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag, seal and mash
till they are all broken up. Add remaining ingredients, reseal and keep mashing
it, mixing it up thoroughly. Cut the tip of the bag, squeeze mixture into the
egg. No messy clean up, just throw the bag away.
11. Expanding the frosting. When you buy a can of frosting from the store, whip
it with your mixer for a few minutes. It will double in size. You get to frost
more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less calories and sugar
per serving.
12. Reheating refrigerated bread. To warm pancakes, biscuits, or muffins that
were refrigerated, place them in the microwave with a cup of water. The
increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
13. Newspaper weeds away. Start putting in your plants and work the nutrients
into the soil. Put wet newspapers around your plants, overlapping as you go.
Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening
plastics; they will not get through the newspapers.
14. Broken glass. Use a wet cotton ball or q-tip to pick up small chards of
glass you cannot see easily.
15. No more mosquitos. Keep a dryer sheet in your pocket, it will keep the
mosquitos away.
16. Squirrel away. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your
plants with cayenne pepper. It does not hurt the plant and the squirrels won't
come near it.
17. Flexible vacuum. To get something out of the heat register or under the
refrigerator, put an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll onto the
vacuum. It can be bent and flattened to get into narrow openings.
18. Reducing static cling. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and
you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing with wearing pants with
panty hose. Place a small safety pin in the seam, and guess what, static is
gone.
19. Measuring cups. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill
with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your
ingredient such as peanut butter and watch how easily it comes right out. Or,
spray the measuring cup or spoon with Pam before using.
20. Foggy windshield. Hate foggy windshields, buy a chalk board eraser and put
it in the glove box of the car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser. Works
better than a cloth (great idea for our drivers).
21. Reopening 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, it unseals easily.
22. Conditioner. Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It is cheaper
than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It is also a way to use
up conditioner you bought but didn't like in your hair.
23. Goodbye Fruit flies. To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass,
fill it half way with apple cider vinegar and two drops of dishwashing liquid
and mix well. You will find those flies are drawn to the cup and gone forever.
24. 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. It works and you don't have to worry about small
children and pets being harmed.
25. Dryer filter. Even if you are very diligent about cleaning the lint filter
in your dryer, it could still be a problem. If you use dryer sheets the waxy
buildup can be accumulating on the filter and cause your dryer to overheat. The
solution to this is to clean your filter with a toothbrush and hot soapy water
every six months.