Things our Mothers Should have Told us.

Saw this very long list of handy Tips, they are American so may have different measurements to us.

Maybe others will have other Handy Tips to add?

THINGS YOUR MOTHER SHOULD HAVE TOLD 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 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 really 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. For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler 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 and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

8. Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. 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.

14. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

15. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

16. Squirrel Away!
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.

17. 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.

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 works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks 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 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 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!

21. 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. Viola! It unseals easily.

22. Conditioner
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.

23. 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 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, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

25. Dryer Filter
Even if you are very diligent about cleaning the lint filter in your dryer it still may be causing you a problem. If you use dryer sheets a waxy build up could be accumulating on the filter causing your dryer to over heat. The solution to this is to clean your filter with with a toothbrush and hot soapy water every 6 months.

12NextLast(page 1/2)
15 comments

Vivity,

Great hints.  There were only two I knew about.

Thank you.

Thanks Viv I have passed it on .

Yes thanks from me too Vivity

Good reading thanks Viv. We can all learn new things or rather things we did not know :)

Seggie. Great hints, Phyl. but never any left-over bits of Snickers here. Oh dear.  The hips tell it all.  I'll make sure I buy a chalk eraser for the windscreen, that is, if winter ever comes. Fogging windscreens are a real nuisance and heater & aircon. don't work  so that hint is much appreciated. Love to all.

Seggie the di mister should work you blow cold air .

Talking of Snickers bar reminded me that at Xmas packets of them were very inexpensive but to stop being tempted to eat them all I put them in a largle plastic contained right at the bottom of my chest freezer.   I find I cannot go to the bother of getting them out unless I am really in need of a sugar hit.

 

But I will make the apple dish with the snickers bar crumbled on top...sounds  nice.

 

Seggie you can also rub the inside screen with a cut potato

Does that work on bathroom mirrors? Logically it should?

yES vIVITY i THINK IT DOES --NEVER TRIED IT MYSELF  Sorry about the caps lock

 

Pete it is the A/C that defogs the screen as it takes the humidity out of the air

 

Well the reason you get foggy windows is the temperature difference between outside and inside so if it is cold outside and warm inside bingo . To cure this blow cold air over your windscreen .

Thanks for all the tips Viv

Should be interesting to try them all out - of particular interest is the one about the Mozzies - with all the rain, they seem to be everywhere 

Now wonder where one can get a dryer sheet ?

Guess we do not have to worry too much about the squirrels either but it could work on rabbits ?

Wonder if $eth would know ?

Saw somewhere soaking a bit of kitchen sponge in some fabric softener can work as drier sheets, but hardly use dryer mainly used dryer sheets when  "softening" towels after putting them out in the hot sun dries so quickly tends to leave things somewhat baked or also dryer sheets good to use when getting rid of tissue bits when accidentally left in a pocket.  

Not easy to find dryer sheets in shops this time of year.

I was wondering if the cayenne pepper might work with bats and other pesky critters who eat fruit off the trees. It could be made into a spray.

What is a "dryer sheet"?

Goes into dryer to soften up and stop static on clothes.

I think the pepper works by the fine powder irritating the nostrils

I've also read it is supposed to keep snakes away from an area but do not know if it works.

Interesting that fabric softener would keep mosquitoes away. At Xmas someone gave us a citronella oil lamp ($5 at Kmart) and it works a treat.

Thanks for all the interesting info.

You would think if you used fabric softener on your clothes then it would repel the mozzies ?

What about spraying your clothes with fabric softener ?

Wonder if it works that it the smell of the softener masks the carbon dioxide and other emanations that your body emits ?

Anyone got a good way of getting rid of Aphids? Only realised they were there way high up above my head height on a big hibiscus when enormous ant activity around the tree base suddenly showed up.

Seggie. Thanks all. I'll have to try the potato as after problems, I don't use the heater or the airconditioner. Tried to send message to you, Pete but it didn't work????? 

I have sent you a PM Seggi

seggie

Abby Neem Oil might be a good mosquito repellant, works wonderfully as a shampoo as one of my sons said when he used the Neem Shampoos which was on the side in the Laundrey, he just didn't realise it was the dog shampoo!

Wow what a helpful list of things Viv.

Very good reading - will keep that for sure.

Thanks.

I always use Dermaveen shampoo and conditioner on Sweet Thing as she seems highly allergic to different grasses when they bloom.

Adding a bit of Neem Oil may be a worth while thought especially if it kept fleas and mosquitos away from her.

You must thank your son for being a human guinea pig :)

I am sure Seet Thing appreciates te gesture too.

Abby didn't tell him it was dog shampoo he hadn't realised, couldn't harm him no point in alarming him.  Heavens might have made him think he could start barking :)

One day when he least expects it you will let it slip out :)

The Dermaveen is made out of oats - sure is expensive

I sometimes make an oat tea infusion rinse for her when she gets bad allergy.

 Is this what you needed to know ?????

   

Neem oil is also good to spray on roses to get rid off aphids and ants

12NextLast(page 1/2)
15 comments



To make a comment, please register or login

Preview your comment