Things my dad…

 …Sends. I received recently a chain letter from my dad with home tips. I summed it up with the ones I thought were most helpful. Haven’t tried them all, I hope they work for you.

“ In The Kitchen:

*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 spoons full of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them  up.

*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.




*Reheat Pizza. 
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. 
This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. 

*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. 


*Reheating refrigerated bread. 
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in 
A microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food 
Moist and help it reheat faster.

*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. 

Around The House: 

*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 a small pile 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!

*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.

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

*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. 







*Foggy Windshield? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car when the windows fog, rub with the eraser!

*Re opening envelopes.  
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. Voila! It unseals 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.  




*Clothes Dryers. The lint filter is made of a mesh material, even if you clean it out after each load of clothes, if you run hot water it will just seat on top of the mesh! Dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh burning out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. Take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months.”

-Cass

(Happy B-day to my sister today! ;))