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Use a pizza
cutter to cut everything at mealtime:
pancakes, french toast, grilled cheese, fish
sticks, sandwiches...anything that needs to be in
bite size pieces for the little ones! It's much
faster and easier than using the knife and fork
method.
Use lifesavers
candy to hold candles in place on your next
birthday cake! Kids love 'em!
Poke an
egg with a small sewing needle before
hard-boiling, and the egg will peel with ease! And
hold that needle in place with a magnet
refrigerator clip!
Stuff a miniature
marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone
to prevent ice cream drips! (What a great
idea!)
Zap garlic cloves
in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip
right off! You can also smash them with the flat
of a cleaver or butcher knife.
Organize your
magazines into groups according to Seasons
(spring, summer, fall and winter). This way, you
have several handy reference guides for the
appropriate Season/Holiday!
Use a
meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake
batter onto the hot griddle~ perfect shaped
pancakes every time! Always spray your grill with
nonstick cooking spray before grilling to avoid
sticking!
To keep potatoes from
budding, place an apple in the bag with the
potatoes! But never store them with onions.
To prevent egg shells
from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the
water before hard-boiling!
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Use a pastry
blender to cut ground beef into small
pieces after browning!
Sweeten
whipped cream with confectioners' sugar
instead of granulated sugar~it will stay fluffy
and hold it's shape better!
For easy "meatloaf
mixing," combine the ingredients with a
potato masher!
If you don't have enough
batter to fill all cupcake tins, pour 1
tablespoon of water into the unfilled spots...this
helps preserve the life of your pans!
To easily remove honey
from a measuring spoon, first coat the
spoon with nonstick cooking spray!
Run your
hands under cold water before pressing
Rice Krispies treats in the pan~the marshmallow
won't stick to your fingers!
Mash and freeze ripe
bananas, in one-cup portions, for use in
later baking, no wasted bananas (or you can freeze
them whole, peeled, in plastic baggies).
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To quickly use that
frozen juice concentrate, simply mash it
with a potato masher~no need to wait for it to
thaw! You can also nuke it for a few seconds right
in the cardboard container after you remove the
top.
To get
the most juice out of fresh lemons,
bring them to room temperature and roll them under
your palm against the kitchen counter before
squeezing!
To easily remove burnt
on food from your skillet, simply add a
drop or two of dish soap, or baking soda and
enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to
a boil on stove-top~skillet will be much easier to
clean now!
Spray your tupperware
with nonstick cooking spray before pouring
in tomato-based sauces~no more stains!
To remove
the smell from a tupperware container,
crumple up a page of newspaper and put it in the
tupperware for a day. The smell will be gone!
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Transfer your jelly to a
small plastic squeeze bottle~no more messy,
sticky jars or knives! This also works well for
homemade salad dressing!
To aid in washing
dishes, add a tablespoon of baking soda to
your soapy water~it softens hands while cutting
through grease!
Save your
store-bought-bread bags and ties~they make
perfect storage bags for homemade bread!
When a cake
recipe calls for flouring the baking pan,
use a bit of the dry cake mix instead~no white
mess on the outside of the cake! You can also use
granulated sugar or cocoa.
If you accidentally
over-salt a dish while it's still cooking,
drop in a peeled potato~it absorbs the excess salt
for an instant "fix me up"!
Next time you need a
quick ice pack, grab a bag of frozen
vegetables out of your freezer~no watery leaks
from a plastic baggie!
When
making bread, substitute nondairy
creamer for the dry milk~it works just as well!
Rinse cooked, ground
meat with water when draining off the
fat~this helps "wash away" even more fat!
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Slicing meat when
partially frozen makes it easier to get
thin slices.
Instead of throwing away bread
heels or leftover cornbread, use them
to make bread crumbs. For use later, store them in
the freezer.
Wrap celery in aluminum
foil when putting in the refrigerator~it
will keep for weeks! But if it gets limp, soak it
in ice water for 1/2 hour.
Substitute
half applesauce for the vegetable oil
in your baking recipes~ you'll greatly reduce the
fat content! (Example: 1/2 cup vegetable oil = 1/4
cup applesauce + 1/4 cup oil)
To ripen avocados and
bananas, enclose them in a brown paper bag
with an apple for 2-3 days!
Brush beaten egg
white over pie crust before baking to yield
a beautiful, glossy finish!
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In recipes
calling for margarine, substitute
reduced-calorie margarine to help cut back on fat!
(Same goes with sour cream, milk, cheese, cream
cheese, and cream soups) But if you are baking,
make sure you are using non-corn oil margarine
(corn oil is too soft for baking) and never
anything that just says "spread"-spreads have a
high water content-so be sure it is really
margarine.
Place a slice of
bread in hardened brown sugar to soften it
back up! You can also soften brown sugar in the
microwave-just put the whole bag or box in and
nuke it about 10 seconds at a time. By keeping it
in a sealed plastic bag in the freezer it won't
harden at all. To keep brown sugar soft, keep a
piece of apple in the box. Replace every so often.
When boiling corn on the
cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out
the corns natural sweetness! (P.S. white corn is
usually sweeter than yellow.)
When starting your
garden seedlings indoors, plant the seeds
in egg shell halves. Simply crack the shells
around the roots of your plants and transplant
them outdoors~the shell is a natural fertilizer!
To
determine whether an egg is fresh,
immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it
sinks, it is fresh~if it rises to the surface,
throw it away.
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Keep the linings from
cereal boxes~they make great substitutes
for waxed paper!
Cure for
headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and
rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go.
Don't throw away the
wrapper after removing a bar of soap. Place
it inside your shoe cabinet or shoe box. It's a
cheap way of filling the air with a nice smell.
If your
polished furniture has small scratches,
try rubbing them with a shelled walnut. You'll see
the scratches just disappear!
Here's a solution to
smelly shoes. Put some tea leaves into a
pair of stockings and stuff each into a shoe.
Leave for a day or two and the smell just
vanishes!
Don't throw out all that
leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for
future use in casseroles and sauces.
If you have problem
opening jars, try using latex dishwashing
gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes
opening jars easy!
To keep
buttons from dropping off, dab a drop
of clear nail polish onto the thread to secure the
buttons. This will harden and make it more
difficult for thread to break off.
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Are cockroaches in your
home driving you mad? Try this tested
trick. Fill a large bowl with cheap wine and leave
it under the sink. The pests will drink it, get
drunk, fall in the bowl and drown... easy!
To avoid hurting your
fingers while hammering metal nails into
the wall: Hold the nails with a wooden clothes peg
instead. So even if you miss, you won't get hurt.
To take
the tears out of chopping onions: Plug
in a portable fan and turn it to high. It'll help
blow away the fumes from your eyes - no more
tears!
Potatoes will take food
stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub
raw potato on the stains and rinse with
water.
To get rid of itch from
mosquito bite, try applying soap on the
area instant relief!
Ants, ants,
ants everywhere... Well, they are said
to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out
and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend
to march- see for yourself!
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Egg shells can be used
to clean glass bottles: Break the shells
into pieces, drop them into the bottle with a few
drops of detergent and a bit of water, and shake
vigorously. Then rinse with water.
Don't panic if your
soup's too salty: Add cut raw potatoes and
throw them away once they are cooked and have
absorbed the salt. Your soup's saved!
To return
discolored socks to their original
color, boil them in a pot of water with a few
slices of lemon. The fruit acts as a natural
bleach.
Use air-freshener to
clean mirrors. It does a good job and
better still, leave a lovely smell to the shine.
If you have problem with
slippery shoelaces which refuse to stay
tied, rub them with a candle and make them less
slippery so that knots stay put.
When you get a
splinter, reach for the scotch tape before
resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the
scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off.
Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and
easily.
For bee
stings, apply Adolph's meat tenderizer
to take away the pain and swelling.
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