Post Your Helpful Household Tips

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was just wondering what helpful household tips my various board members have come up thru the years. Now, to make it more interesting, it has to be something you came up with or upon totally by yourself (so no fair going to the Martha Stewart website :wink: ). And you notice I put it in Cafe Society, because I am thinking of something involving food, mainly at least.

Me, one time I was in a 7-11. And I asked the store clerk what that wonderful smell was by the coffee. She said, she put a little cinnamon in the coffee maker. And the coffee did taste markedly better. (Just so I am clear, it was not so much you actually tasted the cinnamon. It was just to accent. But as I said, it made a big difference.)

Also, my mother and I once wanted to try this Piccalilly recipe (that’s a kind of reddish relish, in case you didn’t know). The recipe called for canning. We didn’t can. But my mother simply made the recipe, to proportions even, and simply stuck it in the freezer [EDIT: we put it in a LARGE Ziploc bag. Many other things, even plastic, have a tendency to shatter in the freezer, as I am sure you know]. (Yeah, I definitely don’t can, then or now. It just sounds so dangerous. What more can I say?) So if a recipe calls for canning, and you really don’t want to, just stick it in the freezer. (And no you didn’t all already know that :wink: :slight_smile: .)

Okay, this last one isn’t food per se. Well, it kind of is though. You know, when something keeps slipping, just put a rubber band under it. They even have industrial-sized rubber bands, for really big stuff. I say food, kind of, because presently I am using it for my freezer. Otherwise stuff would be falling out it left and right, when I open it (I really need to clean out my freezer). That last one I think I came up with myself. But come on, someone must’ve mentioned it on Martha Stewart’s site by now :wink: .

Anyone else come up with a good idea :slight_smile: :slight_smile: ?

2

MISSED EDIT WINDOW: Or, discovered by yourself (as was the case with the 7-11 worker :wink: ). :slight_smile:

3

Lemon peals down the garbage disposal to make it smell nice.

Keep a dust pan handy near your countertops. Use the dust pan (instead of your hand) to catch the debris as you wipe down your countertops.

4

When cooking, do all your prep work first (mise en place). Then, while cooking, use any down time to “clean as you go”.

It feels good when you finish preparing a nice meal and the kitchen is clean.

5

Don’t keep tomatoes in the fridge.

Invest in an electric soap dispenser.

Use good knives and keep them sharp.

6

Also, just to make clear again, it can’t be something that you read in a book or website. But perhaps something you heard from someone—a person, or perhaps helpful relative. In other words, something you got on the ground level (if that makes any sense).

7

I’ve always done this. When my kids were little and helping me cook, they called it “playing cooking show” because whenever you watch those shows, the host has their ingredients pre-prepped like that.

Helpful cleaning tip that I didn’t learn from someone else? Uhhh… well, when I clean a room I always start by vaccuuming, and I vaccuum everything: countertops, sinks, toilets, tubs, furniture, anything. Gotta move the debris before you start in with the chemicals!

8

I will tell you this, but I bet you won’t do it!

Buy four pounds of 80/20 hamburger. Put it in your crockpot, add garlic. Use a blender to mince together celery and onion, even carrots, too. Dump in the crockpot with the beef. Cook on LOW. Every time you pass the crockpot, use a pancake turner to chop up the beef, and sort of stir it around.

When it’s done, either put a plate against the beef and refrigerate the whole thing. If the crockpot is too big for your refrigerator space, ladle the mess into containers and refrigerate.

The next day or so, take out the beef, remove all the solidified grease, and package in meal-size portions in quart freezer Ziploc bags. Flatten the bags, and freeze.

You now have magic in your freezer! Any recipe that starts “brown one pound of hamburger, pour off grease” this Ziploc bag is ready to go!

Tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti, chili, even hamburger gravy over noodles/rice/potatoes! And for those days when you are completely wiped out, Hamburger Helper!

I "invented this when I had toddlers, I worked 40 miles from home, and Mr VOW was Sgt VOW and I never knew when he’d be home!

~VOW

9

Tall things that accumulate dust you often fail to notice or clean, like the top of my washer dryer. Now I clean it, stretch Saran across it, fold the edges up so it’s unnoticeable from below. Now when companies coming or you notice a pile of dust, it’s easy peasy to deal with. Carefully fold the dusty old Saran onto itself and remove, then replace with fresh. Voila!

House is a mess, someone stopping by, no time or inclination to do a furious cleaning? Get out the ladder and a couple of tools, hammer, screwdriver, etc. spread some newspapers , set up the ladder, leave the tools lying around like you were just in the middle of something. Maybe clear the top of a cabinet or take down a picture from the wall, etc. Voila! Anyone arriving will of course easily accept any and all conditions in your house as, ‘you’re having some work done!’

10

When you have to shake a bottle of liquid, like salad dressing, hold the top on. That one time you don’t, it won’t be screwed/snapped on and you’ll make a huge mess. You’ll probably only ever make this mistake once, but save yourself that one mess.

Magnetic knife strips aren’t just good for knives and kitchen stuff.

11

This goes for pretty much any bottle. I learned this lesson the hard way with a bottle of Kaopectate when I was at work one day. I looked, as my coworker gleefully informed me, like I had been subjected to a bukkake and of course I had no other clothes to change into for the remainder of my shift.

My contribution: a potato masher, the kind with a thick wire in a serpentine pattern, is an excellent tool for breaking up ground beef in the skillet as you cook it. For years I used a wooden spoon because that’s how my mom did it. Then one day, for whatever reason, I decided to try the potato masher. It works incredibly well.

Also, a turkey baster works great for sucking up the grease left over from browning hamburger or cooking bacon. Much better than trying to spoon it out.

12

Oh my. Did you at least get to take some of the Kaopectate?

13

One rule I’ve always lived by, that has yet to fail, is when you don’t know a recipe, start with one part/one part/one part/ETC. and adjust accordingly later.

I’ll tell you my experiences and successes (or lack thereof) with them, and let you decide for yourself.

About twenty years ago I wanted to make my own Sarsaparilla. The simplest way I concluded was to use Sarsaparilla herb from a local herb store. (The Master would protest that’s not historical. But as I said, it apparently didn’t matter to me.) One Part Sarsaparilla herb, steeped in One Part Water, made into a Syrup with One Part Sugar. Then when it cools and is done, I used a tablespoon or two of the syrup in carbonated water. Club soda is what I used. Perrier is a good choice too, I now realize. 8 to 12 oz. of carbonated water, of course (I just approximated at this point). I liked it.

The point is, the recipe still works, I think. (Btw you should use a cheesecloth for fine straining [to complete the recipe :slightly_smiling_face: ]. I had to press or squeeze the cheesecloth a little bit too. I think that’s okay.)

Now, years even before that, I wanted to recreate KFC’s Coleslaw. (They’ve got the best Coleslaw if you didn’t already know :wink: .) One Part Sour Cream, One Part Mayonnaise, a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, a tablespoon of Sugar, and shredded Cabbage and Carrots of course.

Now that one I did have to adjust. The tanginess just wasn’t really right. So I changed it to ⅔ cup Mayonnaise and ⅓ cup Sour Cream. I haven’t revisited that recipe for a while. But that’s it I think.

In any event if you’re keeping score, apparently this method seems to work 50/50, for me at least. YMMV.

:slightly_smiling_face:

EDIT: Hmmm. Just noticed something. The tablespoon of sugar/vinegar would be a slight deviation from what I thought was an ironclad rule. Well, I guess the rule has some slight exceptions. But it still works I know. :slightly_smiling_face:

14

It was actually at work and I was preparing it for a client (I was a caregiver) but yes, enough survived in the bottle for a dose.

15

This can’t be original to me, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else: when I get re-fills for my meds, I unscrew the one child-guard lid and toss it in the recycs then screw the old bottle onto the new one. My meds are on a Lazy Susan on the breakfast table along with the salt/pepper, the Stevia, the coffee mug with the pencils/pens/scissors, and napkin holder, so this process doesn’t take up any more room. It also removes one baby step from mis-taking the wrong med.

16

After you put the red pepper suet in the bird feeder, wash your hands before touching your face.

Learned the hard way.

17

A small can / bottler opener, like this, is really useful for opening sealed packages etc. Run it down the line of tape to open a box, use it to tear a bit of the plastic band around the ice cream carton, etc. There’s always one stuck to our fridge - no need to go digging around for a box cutter or a pair of scissors.

Not completely original, as it was inspired by this gadget to peel hard-boiled eggs, but I implemented it without shelling (heh) out 15 bucks. Put a few boiled eggs in a plastic container. Fill about halfway with water. Put the lid on. Shake the whole thing up a dozen times.

The shells will practically fall off the eggs.

We also do hard-cooked eggs in the Instant Pot, which generally gives easy-to-peel eggs, but even done on the stovetop, the plastic-container-water thing works well. When I wanted to peel a dozen eggs for a road trip, I got them done in about 2 minutes.

When I’ve made a big pot of soup or meat sauce, and I want to put it into containers to refrigerate / freeze, I don’t bother with a soup ladle, which would take forever, or trying to pour directly from the pot into the container - which is a guarantee I’ll spill something. I use one of my Pyrex measuring cups, and ladle the food in larger quantities. Much faster and tidier.

18

seriously? I need to try this

19

I have drawers in my kitchen, so I can’t tell the difference, from above, which is the bottle of vinegar in use, and which is the new one.

When I start a new bottle, I take a Sharpie and write a big „A“, for Active on top. No more accidentally picking up the un-opened bottle, or opening a second bottle.

One from my parents: Get a roll of blue painters tape - the blue stuff. Works better than the beige stuff for labeling, and clising, bags and other containers for the pantry, fridge and freezer.

20

Shake that bottle (the one where you are holding the lid!) over the sink, or at least over the counter. When pouring from a bottle/pitcher/carton, pour over the sink or counter.

~VOW
(the mom who ends up cleaning the drips and splats from the floor)