Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Practical Household Tips to Make Your Life Easier


by Lois Breneman - 2006 - Heart to Heart
  
Lemon Juice without Seeds ~ First microwave a whole lemon for a few seconds for a juicier lemon.  Cut a lemon in half, set the cut part of the lemon on a small piece of cheesecloth, secure with a twisty.  Then squeeze lemon juice onto seafood or other foods without having to fish out the seeds!  The seeds will be kept inside the cheesecloth!   You will find cheesecloth in the canning section of your grocery store.

Quick and Easy Potato Dish in the Microwave ~ Cube about two or three potatoes into a greased casserole dish.  Chop or slice one onion, and add one tablespoon of butter.  Cover and cook in the microwave on high until tender, stirring at least once.  Add salt, pepper, Old Bay Seasoning or dried herbs.  Other options for more variety: add sliced celery and carrots, frozen peas, other vegetables or cheese.

If You Have Greasy Fingers When Using Your Microwave, simply use your knuckles to program the microwave, to prevent smudges and save clean-up time.

Whole Wheat Flour ~ should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.  Unlike refined flour, it contains oil from the wheat germ that can become rancid at room temperature.

Rusty Cans ~ When cleaning out under the sink recently, I found metal cans that had rusted on a Rubbermaid turntable.  To prevent further rusting I covered the bottoms of the cans with plastic wrap.

Contact Paper on Turntables ~ When my Rubbermaid turntables got rust marks from the cans (above tip), covering them with colorful contact paper to match the kitchen made them like new!  Earlier I had mentioned in a newsletter how the bathroom scales, a wedding gift from more than thirty years before, still worked perfectly, though they needed a makeover.  I repainted the white metal part, covered the top with marbled contact paper to match the bathroom and they looked like new!  Before throwing out and replacing an item you already have, see if you can fix it or give it a makeover.

Metal Can for Grease ~ Three things garbage disposals object to are grease, eggshells and onion skins.  Never pour grease down any drain, as it will harden and clog the drain.  For convenience, pour grease from cooking ground beef, etc. into a metal can under your sink and store under the sink with a tight lid.  

Oxi Clean ~ is one of the best stain removers I have ever tried and I’ve heard others say the same thing.  I bought my first container at Walmart, but recently found the same 24 ounce container at Dollar General for just $3.50, a much better buy.  This store has other brand name items for less, including Glad sandwich bags.  You might want to check it out.

Easier Way of Picking Up Toys ~ Mom, if you are the one to pick up toys, because your baby is too young to do the job, purchase a “Grabber” at Walgreens or another store.  You can use it to pick up toys at great speed and drop them into a nearby basket!   Save your energy for better things!  The “grabber” is a tool for elderly people to pick up things without stooping, as well as for reaching items on a high shelf – even taking the angel and other decorations off a Christmas tree!  My thought is that we could all use this kind of assistance.  It helps to make certain jobs easier.  Do you remember how difficult it was to stoop when you were pregnant?  Now if we can just get it to tie shoes!

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