HELPFUL HINTS

HELPFUL HINTS

Cell Phone:  if you drop it in water, bury it in dry rice in a closed container overnight.  The rice will absorb the moisture.  (this also worked to save an i-pod)

Television:  to find the ideal screen size, measure the distance from the TV to the couch in feet.  Divide by three, then multiply by 12.  This will give you the screen size, in inches.

Grease spots on clothes:  make a paste of baking soda and water and rub generously into spot.  Let sit an hour, then launder as usual.  The spot SHOULD come right out.

Baking Soda: 

            Laundry:  ¼ cup added to wash will soften clothes

            Grease:  see above (laundry, dishes, etc).  note:  baking soda + grease = soap!

Mold/Mildew smell:  to remove, soak the item in ½ cup to 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon water for about 30 minutes, then launder as usual.  The vinegar will kill the “bugs” that cause the smell!  This works for other odors as well (urine from baby clothes, for example). 

Plants:  2T Epsom salts added to 2 quarts water – water plants with this once a month to help growth

To relieve a sore throat:  roast ½ a fresh lemon over the flame on the stove until the peel turns golden brown.  Let cool slightly, them mix the juice with one teaspoon of honey. Drink the  mixture.

Rub the inside of a chicken or turkey with salt to keep it moist.

Mix 2 teaspoons salt in 1 gallon hot water and rub over the inside of car windows.  Wipe dry – will prevent frost from accumulating on the inside of the windows.

To remove red wine stains:  stretch the cloth over a bowl.  Cover the stain with salt and carefully pour boiling water over it.

Us a coffee filter in the bottom of a planter pot to keep the soil from falling out of the hole.

In a savory recipe, use ½ tsp vinegar in place of 1 tsp lemon juice.

Vinegar is a good degreaser for oily hair – just wash, then pour ¼ cup of vinegar over hair and rinse well.

Add a couple of capfuls of vinegar to the final rinse to make sweaters extra-fluffy.

Spray vinegar on weeds to kill them (careful for the grass!).

To prepare a garden:  in the fall, mow a patch of lawn to make room for a new bed.  Cover it with four layers of newspaper, then a four-inch layer of shredded leaves or bark mulch.  In the spring the compost will have killed the grass and the new garden will be ready for planting.

Use dryer sheets to clean the pet hair from furniture.  Also, use them to dust (just make sure they’re used, or they’ll leave a film on everything!).

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

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.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 .... ta da! ... static is gone.
 
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.

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!

Reopening envelope? 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 opens easily.

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.

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!

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!

BISCOTTI:  bake on roasting rack to dry both sides at once

BREAD:  place in loaf pan, then in air-filled plastic bag, then in larger loaf pan for rising

BUTTER:  make compound butter, roll in log, and freeze up to 3 months.  Ready to slice onto hot foods