Get this cool gizmo! Amazon calls it a “baggie rack holder.” It will hold open your freezer Ziploc bag, hands-free, so you can pour in your soup or chili, or in my case, the hamburger mix.
God bless the wizard that invented this!
~VOW
Baggie holder - ah, yes.
Years back, I visited a place called Let’s Dish: you basically go and assemble a bunch of meals, using ingredients they have set out for you. For things that required baggie storage, they had you put the plastic bag inside something like a measuring cup or drinking glass, and fold the edge down over. The vessel would hold it open for you. Wouldn’t work so well with a really large item like a pot of soup - but for a cup or so, it was pretty dandy.
Oh, and I’ve got to tell you about onions. When you keep them in the refrigerator, they don’t make you cry anymore.
Actually my mother discovered this by accident, when she started storing them in the fridge.
Cutting them under water, even, really doesn’t work. I’ve heard people say they keep a piece of bread in their mouth to stop the tearing. I never tried it. But I have to tell you, it already sounds a little silly to me 
.
God, no. It may work in some limited capacity but you’re going to be throwing away a lot of awful food.
Non-kitchen household stuff:
Invest in a big cheapo plastic tray. When you’re dusting, move all the ornaments etc. off each piece of furniture and onto the tray, dust the item of furniture, then replace the tchotchkes after wiping each off. Much easier than shifting or juggling the tchotchkes around.
If you have a ceiling fan above your bed, wait until you’re about to change the sheets before dusting it. Pull the top sheet back and then dust the ceiling fan. Most of the crud will float down onto the dirty sheets. Then carefully bundle up the sheets and take them to the washing machine.
If you have a really dirty pan or skillet with burnt on grease, it’s easier to clean if you add some hot water and dishwasher soap and let it sit for a few hours.
Put some cling wrap over the partially finished half gallon of ice cream, under the lid. Prevents crystals.
Sometimes, simmering that soapy water for a while can help too.
Yes, this works great for me. It isn’t magic, but much less of an eye reaction than room temperature onions.
Deglazing isn’t just for sauces. If I have a pan with burnt stuff, while it’s still very hot I’ll put a bit of water in it, and scrape it just like I’m deglazing. That also isn’t magic, but can get up a bunch of stuff that otherwise would have to be scrubbed after it sets.
If you have a young child, make their bed water proof pad, sheet, water proof pad, sheet. That way if there is an accident at night, you can just pull off the top two layers, and be at dry sheet very quickly.
Also if you have a kid. Instead of yelling across the house “turn it down” use the phone app for your TV/receiver/etc to turn down the volume.
Cleanser is really cheap, and is a good cleaner for lots of surfaces.
These tips will greatly reduce the amount of paper products you use, in exchange for an extra load or so of laundry once a week.
A whole bunch of cheap hand towels can replace paper towels. Use them in the kitchen or almost any other place you’d use a paper towel, and as they get dirty toss them in a nearby hamper. Have a bunch, so it’s no big deal to go through 4 or 5 (or more) per day when you cook, and still only wash them once per week.
Similarly, scrap fabric cut to the right size, and with the edges sewn, make great everyday cloth napkins. When used, toss them in the same hamper as the towels.
I don’t do anything to avoid onion tears. I kinda sorta enjoy the burn.
After upsizing to a king mattress, I had a devil of a time orienting the fitted sheet when changing my bedding. The width and length dimensions were too close to easily eyeball, and the elastic went all the way around, exacerbating the problem.
Once I knew a sheet was on correctly, I used a Sharpie to mark the side dimensions with an S. The marker clue easily hides up under the mattress, and I feel so smart not having to fuck with my bottom sheet for annoying amount of time every week.
Dryer sheets help dust baseboards.
If you have grout that won’t scrub or bleach clean, consider buying some grout pens. They work a little like Sharpies, only they lay down a line of tough exterior latex paint in the grout groove. I did most of the grout in my house about a year and a half ago, and it’s lasting really well. The only exception is the kitchen counter tile grout right next to the sink and under where I do most of my work. When it starts to flake up a bit, you just touch it up.
They come in a variety of neutral colors and are easy to apply, after a few minutes of practice right at first.
Also, one doctor told me (now retired) in his humble opinion, you have six extra months on any expired OTC medication. You do realize now I have to say to never do this. But still.
And in my refrigerator, I use the four-day rule. If it’s older than 4 days, I chuck it. Things loaded in vinegar and other natural preservatives, you can keep a little longer. Milk I don’t know. When it starts tasting funny, I discard it (and yes I know it has an expiration date). But the four-day is still a good rule of thumb.
For leftovers, sure. For other things, like milk, that makes no sense.
Could you clarify? I would not be surprised to find salad dressing in our refrigerator that is four decades old and still fine.
I think it’s a sell-by date, and I understand you should get at least a week beyond that if it’s stored properly. We’ve gotten up to 2 weeks.
As for me, I have a sponge with one side scotch-brite that lives in the shower. When I’m done cleaning myself, I put it with the scrubby pad down and I use my foot to scrub the floor of the shower. Every once in a while, I’ll shake some scouring powder down first. Beats getting on my hands and knees to scrub.
One thing we started doing some years ago was keeping a pitcher in the kitchen in a very handy spot. All the stuff we used to fill from the sink . . . Pet water, coffee maker, electric kettle . . .we. now use the pitcher to fill. It’s such a little thing, but somehow is easier: fewer spills, less awkward wedging, more control over amount.
Next, and this is maybe not in the spirit of the OP, my biggest household tip is that if at all possible, have a cleaning service. It is transformative. The house never gets too bad, because it gets reset every month or two weeks or whatever. The difference in my personal stress level is incredible, both because my house is cleaner and because even when its not, I don’t worry about it. I don’t sit and drink my coffee on Saturday fretting about how I really need to scrub the floors but I really don’t want to. Professionals are amazing. Our service sends two people and in an hour and 15 minutes the two of them do whatbwouldd take me 6 hours, and they do it better.
There’s so much baggage tied up in having a clean house. Having a dirty house used to make me feel ashamed, and like a bad person. And it never felt like it was really clean, and it always felt like my job . . .my husband would help, but the managment and the responsibility and the shame were mine. Cleaning service fixed that. I am serious when I say for the same money, a cleaning service can do more for many marriages than counseling.
I buy frozen veggie in bags, but for 2 of us, I never need a full bag. So I cut a strip along one of the sealed ends, pour our what I need, then twist the bag and use the strip to tie it closed. Saves me hunting for a twist tie in my junk drawer!
I love you.
Your house cleaning service advice was brilliant and sensible. Unfortunately, at our house in AZ (which is literally out in the middle of nowhere) would be essentially inaccessible to a cleaning service, unless it were staffed by jackrabbits or cows.
But your advice was pure gold. I put it up at the top of the list along with my husband’s cooking tip on what to do with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey carcass: he threw it away.
~VOW