1) Add a splash of a raspberry cider, apple cider or whatever other fruit flavored drink you can pick up at your local farmer's market, to your favorite, home brewed tea. You instantly have a new delicious and refreshing drink!
Note: You can also had a bit of sugar or honey if you pick a cider that isn't quite as sweet as you'd like.
2) Don't have a lot of time for dinner but, either you want to impress your family or friends or need to make your meal stretch?
Try making a tuna helper, generic or brand name. Instead of tuna, add leftover chicken or even a can or two of canned chicken. Throw in a diced clove of garlic or two. When it's done, throw in some steamed veggies. Those microwavable bags are just fine. Add some salt and pepper to taste, throw in some extra cheese and viola! You have a meal that looks incredible and homemade. Your family gets a well rounded meal, with their startch, their veggies, and proteins too. A side of fruit and you've got the perfect meal.
Note: If you want, you can add some extra noodles and another bag of steamed veggies. Though if you do this, be sure to adjust the milk and/or the water as well. You can make a huge batch for very little.
3) Running low on or don't have any laundry detergent? Try these handy household items:
A 1/4 cp of baking soda in the wash, will soften clothes and absorb orders.
A 1/4 cp of white vinegar in the rinse cycle, will freshen the clothes and remove any residue from the clothes and your washer.
To brighten your whites a bit more, add a little lemon juice to the wash, it will works wonders.
4) This tip comes from The Paper Cup Kitchen: When oven roasting turkey, put the turkey in with the drumsticks closest to the back. The drumstick take the longest to cook and the back of the oven is hotter than the front, so this will help with cooking the turkey evenly.
5) This comes from The Urban Organic Gardener: If you can, let your water sit out for 24 hours before you water your garden to let the chlorine evaporate out.
6) Here's my own tip for you vodka lovers out there. You can easily make your own flavored vodka! Take the fruit of your choice, cherries, lemons, oranges, tomatoes, etc. and cut them into chunks - no need to dice or mince at all. Put them in a sealed, glass container, along with your favorite vodka of choice and put away somewhere. Once a day preferably but, you can do it once every other day, give the container a good swirl. After about 5 - 7 days you will have your flavored vodka! Now, there is no need to buy a super expensive vodka to do this with but, in my experience, a cheap vodka is no good either! So, keep that in mind.
If you're wondering why tomato vodka, it goes perfectly in a Bloody Mary!
7) This one is from the family. If you've got wilted greens, when you put them in the water to wash them, add a bit of white, distilled vinegar into the water as well and your greens will perk right up. The amount of vinegar depends on how big your water bath is and how many greens you have in it! So, some experimentation required.
8) Need a biscuit cutter? Use a tuna can! If you want to multi-task, you can open both ends of the can and it is not only a biscuit cutter but, you can use it to sit in your pan or on a griddle and pour your eggs in. You'll have perfectly delicious, round eggs! Want a bigger size? You can use those cans of chicken somewhere next to the tuna in the grocery aisle!
9) Have any blood stains you need to get out of clothes? A GREAT tip I learned from an ER nurse and thank goodness for her too! My youngest gets bloody noses all the time and this has saved more than several clothes and sheets in the last year. Here's what you do, soak the affected area of clothing or sheets in hydrogen peroxide for a minute or two. You may have to do this a few times depending upon how long it sat before you got to it or how big the spot is. Once you've let it sit for a few minutes, rinse it in water. If it's not gone, start the process all over again! I promise you, it's the easiest thing to do ever!
Note: If you want, you can add some extra noodles and another bag of steamed veggies. Though if you do this, be sure to adjust the milk and/or the water as well. You can make a huge batch for very little.
3) Running low on or don't have any laundry detergent? Try these handy household items:
A 1/4 cp of baking soda in the wash, will soften clothes and absorb orders.
A 1/4 cp of white vinegar in the rinse cycle, will freshen the clothes and remove any residue from the clothes and your washer.
To brighten your whites a bit more, add a little lemon juice to the wash, it will works wonders.
4) This tip comes from The Paper Cup Kitchen: When oven roasting turkey, put the turkey in with the drumsticks closest to the back. The drumstick take the longest to cook and the back of the oven is hotter than the front, so this will help with cooking the turkey evenly.
5) This comes from The Urban Organic Gardener: If you can, let your water sit out for 24 hours before you water your garden to let the chlorine evaporate out.
6) Here's my own tip for you vodka lovers out there. You can easily make your own flavored vodka! Take the fruit of your choice, cherries, lemons, oranges, tomatoes, etc. and cut them into chunks - no need to dice or mince at all. Put them in a sealed, glass container, along with your favorite vodka of choice and put away somewhere. Once a day preferably but, you can do it once every other day, give the container a good swirl. After about 5 - 7 days you will have your flavored vodka! Now, there is no need to buy a super expensive vodka to do this with but, in my experience, a cheap vodka is no good either! So, keep that in mind.
If you're wondering why tomato vodka, it goes perfectly in a Bloody Mary!
7) This one is from the family. If you've got wilted greens, when you put them in the water to wash them, add a bit of white, distilled vinegar into the water as well and your greens will perk right up. The amount of vinegar depends on how big your water bath is and how many greens you have in it! So, some experimentation required.
8) Need a biscuit cutter? Use a tuna can! If you want to multi-task, you can open both ends of the can and it is not only a biscuit cutter but, you can use it to sit in your pan or on a griddle and pour your eggs in. You'll have perfectly delicious, round eggs! Want a bigger size? You can use those cans of chicken somewhere next to the tuna in the grocery aisle!
9) Have any blood stains you need to get out of clothes? A GREAT tip I learned from an ER nurse and thank goodness for her too! My youngest gets bloody noses all the time and this has saved more than several clothes and sheets in the last year. Here's what you do, soak the affected area of clothing or sheets in hydrogen peroxide for a minute or two. You may have to do this a few times depending upon how long it sat before you got to it or how big the spot is. Once you've let it sit for a few minutes, rinse it in water. If it's not gone, start the process all over again! I promise you, it's the easiest thing to do ever!
