Holiday Contest - Household Tips!

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Your appliances with the plastic touch pads i.e. micro wave touch pads get scratched from years of use. Clean them with a cleaner like 409,put it on a cleaning cloth not on the plastic touch pad. Then apply some Car Wax (small amount) and Wax the touch pad like a car... The result will bring back the finish as close to new as it can be. try it it works!
 
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When making Chicken Salad, Tuna Salad, etc, most people put chopped boiled eggs in it (I do). I like my boiled eggs diced up fairly small so it mixes & blends well, but dicing eggs with a knife can be a hassle. An easy way to dice up the eggs is to put one peeled and hardboiled egg in a large mixing bowl. Now use a fork and mash on the egg again and again. The egg squeezes through the tines, and you end up with a finely diced egg for your salad.
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If you get cut and it's not terribly deep but appears it could use some stitches and you do not want to go to the ER, press the wound close and then lay down a line/layer of Super Glue over the cut to completely cover and close it. Depending on where the cut is, the glue will hold the cut closed for up to 7 days and will be waterproof. The glue will finally break away and fall off on its own in about 7 days which is the same length of time stitches stay in, and the glue seal is waterproof.

Don't freak out about this, Doctors have been doing it in wars for years. In fact, in Vietnam, they used to glue wounds to the liver closed with super glue because the liver is so soft and hard to stitch! :w00t:

I've done this several times with great results. If the wound is on a "crinkle spot" (palm of your hand for example) or a joint that moves a lot, the glue will actually pop off within 2-3 days with all the movement, but simply apply more to keep it sealed.
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If you like iced tea, but don't like it getting watered down, fill an ice tray with tea and freeze it. You'll have frozen "tea cubes" (instead of ice cubes), and when they melt, you're just adding more tea to your glass instead of diluting it with water.
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To easily clean your grill for the next cook, place the dirty grate over the fire/coals, then take a sheet of aluminum foil and wad it up into a loose and large ball. Let the grate heat for 5-10 minutes. Now, hold the ball of foil with tongs and then scrape your grate to easily clean it.
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If you have a wall clock or small remote control or other device that uses a single AA battery and the battery dies, you'll have to replace the battery. If you don’t have AA, but you do have AAA (which are too small) you can still make it work. Get a small strip of aluminum foil and fold it into a small, fairly square shape - about the size of your pinky nail, and around 1/4 inch thick.

You'll need two of these. Pack the foil squares into either side of the battery compartment so it is in contact with the plate on one side and spring on the other. Now stuff the smaller AAA battery into the compartment so that it is nestled between, and in contact with, the aluminum squares. Presto, your wall clock is running again!
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Want a quick snack of fresh popcorn but don't want to make a whole pot or a full bag? Get a 2 cup glass measuring cup (it MUST be glass). Put in 1 Tbsp of oil; just enough to cover the bottom. Microwave the oil for 1 to 1.5 minutes. Now add 1 Tbsp of popcorn kernels (just enough to cover the bottom). Put a saucer over the measuring up and then microwave it for about 2 minutes or until the popping gets real slow. Instant 1.5 to 2 cups of fresh popcorn for a light snack!
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You can use newspaper to clean your windows for a streak free & lint free shine. Pick your favorite cleaner (Windex, water & vinegar, etc) and use sheet of newspaper for wiping and drying instead of a regular towel or rag.
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Speaking of uses for aluminum foil-- if you get it wet and wad it up into a ball, it also works for removing rust.
 
We keep those disposable hand soap dispenser on every sink. Inevitably, those things run out, and typically before you're ready to go to the store and buy more. :doh:

No worry, simply fill that hand dispenser 1/3 of the way full with dish detergent such as Dawn, now fill it the rest of the way with warm water. Put the top back on and shake vigorously to mix. Presto, a full bottle of hand soap!
 
Dip your ice cream sccoper in hot or boiling water for a few seconds before scooping your ice cream. It makes it so much easier to get good scoops.
 
Use toothpaste and a soft bristled toothbrush to clean and shine up dirty jewelry. Rinse off with water - looks like new.
 
Burnt on crud on your stove top grates? Place them in a plastic bag with a little ammonia and seal it up. Sit it out in the sun. Next day, carefully open the bag being careful to keep the bag away from your face (the fumes will be intense). Most of the crud will wipe right off. Whatever is left will come off with just a little bit of elbow grease.
 
line your baking pans with aluminum foil before you cook to avoid scrubbing afterwards. to line pans easily, turn your pan upside down and press a sheet of heavy foil around it. remove foil,flip the pand over and drop inside. crimp edges of foil to rim of pan
 
To find out if oil is the proper temperature for frying foods: For deep-fat frying, drop a cube of white bread into the hot oil. If it browns evenly in 60 seconds the oil is 350-365 degrees, in 40 seconds, 365-382 degree, 20 seconds, 382-390 degrees. For shallow frying, the oil is hot enough if it is shimmering and rippling along the bottom of the pan. The most reliable way to gauge the temperature is to use a deep-fat thermometer.
 
make your own vanilla extract... place 2 split and chopped vanilla beans in one litre(a fifth) of vodka or bourbon. shake it once a day. let sit for 2-3 months
 
save your tuna/chicken cans...cut out the bottoms, they have many uses..

1. perfect size for making homemade english muffins/crumpets
2. cookie/biscuit/doughnut cutters
3. minature cake pans
4. candle holders/camp stoves( If you want to get fancy, decorate the tuna fish can with a ribbon or some glued on beads. Use a taper candle and slide a glass hurricane lamp into the tuna fish can.)
5. good for crafts or mixing small amounts of paint
6. egg poacher
7. ashtrays
 
A seasonal one....

Got a big bowl of mixed nuts to crack, and nowhere to put the shells?
Before filling the bowl, stack two decent size plastic cups inside each other.
Place in center of bowl. Fill around the cups with nuts.
Use the cup to hold the cracked shells. When it is full, pull out the top cup,
empty it and then drop back into the bottom cup.
Also makes a nice place to put the nutcracker and picks.
 
make your own vanilla extract... place 2 split and chopped vanilla beans in one litre(a fifth) of vodka or bourbon. shake it once a day. let sit for 2-3 months

Building on the vanilla theme as well as my mason jar theme, I have a vanilla bean in with white sugar in an aqua glass canning jar to create vanilla sugar.
 
Baby shampoo mixed with equal parts apple cider vinegar makes an excellent doggie shampoo!

Cereberus likes it because it also repels fleas and ticks. His coat is shiny and his white spots glow!
 
Cereberus told me to write about his raised food and water bowls. Since Cereberus is so tall, raised bowls are better for his back, but they are pretty expensive.

I went to Walmart and bought two 5 gallon buckets, and two large stainless steel bowls. When I got home, I put about two gallons of dry dog food in each bucket. Then I put the bowls in so that their rims rest on the bucket rims.

Voila! A stable raised pair of doggie dishes for a fraction of the price of ready made dishes!
 
save your tuna/chicken cans...cut out the bottoms, they have many uses..

1. perfect size for making homemade english muffins/crumpets
2. cookie/biscuit/doughnut cutters
3. minature cake pans
4. candle holders/camp stoves( If you want to get fancy, decorate the tuna fish can with a ribbon or some glued on beads. Use a taper candle and slide a glass hurricane lamp into the tuna fish can.)
5. good for crafts or mixing small amounts of paint
6. egg poacher
7. ashtrays

Save those little black plastic containers that contain mashed potatoes.
These are perfect for mise en place and reheating things in the microwave.

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Not so much a tip, but something I like to do.
Use a glass vinegar bottle with a pour spout (one with some fancy floral painted artwork on it, for example) as a container for your dishwashing liquid.
Looks pretty on the sink too.
6517-mps-spout-bottle.jpg
 
Not so much a tip, but something I like to do.
Use a glass vinegar bottle with a pour spout (one with some fancy floral painted artwork on it, for example) as a container for your dishwashing liquid.
Looks pretty on the sink too.
View attachment 9494

I use this idea also for those aqua glass bottles I was talking about earlier in the kitchen.
 
Since this is a Holiday contest ....

We have cooking equipment that sits on the shelf about 11 months between uses. I may make 2 cheesecakes between January and mid November, then I may make 4 in one day.

Same with jello molds, cookie cutters, ... heart shaped cake pans.

I wash everything before use.

(Well, we also have one cat that seems to seek out every door thats even slightly ajar, who then opens the door and goes exploring, and another cat who tries opening the drawer of hte filing cabinet. This second cat does a Banzai charge on the pantry when the doors open because he likes hiding behind the stuff on the bottom shelf, prompting me moving the kitchen linen to the second shelf)
 
As I do not have much family, my favorite holiday tip is to make one friend's holiday extra special. I choose all sorts of goodies to make their holiday extra special and share a bit of my favorite things with them. It is really fun to shop with the best of my area in mind.
 
I LOVE using a pasta pot with the strainer to make chicken stock - throw the chicken and veggies etc in the strainer in the pot, add water simmer till it's stock. Lift out the strainer and you are left with just stock!! No fishing everything out and straining the stock!!
 
Garlic breath?
Chew and swallow some parsley or suck a fresh lemon of all it's juices!
LOL :kiss:
 
Great stuff so far! :thumb:

There is just a wee bit of time left before this contest closes, so get those tips in if you got 'em. :clap:
 
Thrown away the boxes your christmas lights came in?
(like I did)..
When you undo the tree (and I don't.. I store it in a closet covered with large sheets of tissue paper from year to year-- that's a tip, right? lol)
Save your paper towel rolls and fold the lights into a nice neat bundle, then shove them inside the empty roll, then take the plug end and either tape it on the top of the roll.. or tuck it in last.
 
Do you use bar soap?
Olay lasts longer than any other.
Ivory comes in second, but you have to unwrap the bars and store them in a cool place.
 
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