TIPS FOR HOME, GARDEN and FOOD

YARD AND GARDEN TIPS

ANTS: Put small piles 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!

MOSQUITOES: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

SQUIRRELS 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.

WEEDS AWAY: Put in your plants and work the nutrients in your soil. Then, wet newspapers and put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

HOME AND APPLIANCES TIPS

DRYERS: How to protect the heating unit on dryers. Take your dryer filter (cleaned of lint) out of your dryer. Take it to the sink and run hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material. The hot water that should go through it will sit on top of the mesh and not go through the filter. This is because dryer sheets cause a film over the mesh and this invisible film is what burns out the heating unit of the dryer. The waxy feel of the dryer sheet is what builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. Over time, this may cause the dryer unit to burn up which may result in overheating and fire. Wash the dryer mesh filter with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush every six months. This may make the life of the dryer at least twice as long and eliminate the risk of fire.

ENVELOPES, REOPENING SEALED: 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. Viola! It unseals easily.

FOGGY WINDSHIELDS: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! It works better than a cloth!

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. Flies are drawn to the cup and gone!

GLASS, BROKEN: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can not see easily.

SHAVING: 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 did not like when you tried it in your hair.

STATIC CLING, REDUCE: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. The same works when you place a pin in seam of slacks when wearing panty hose. Static is gone.

VACUUM, FLEXIBLE: 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.

FOOD TIPS

BANANAS: Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

CHEESE: Store opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh longer and not mold.

EGGS, DEVILED: 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.

EGGS, SCRAMBLED: To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich - add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream and then beat them up.
(Just don’t eat eggs too often as this is a highly acidic food.)

FROSTING - DOUBLED: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. Result: the added air increases its volume giving you approximately twice as much frosting for more cakes and cup cakes allowing you to consume less sugar and calories per serving.

GARLIC: Add garlic (immediately) at the beginning 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.

MEASURING CUPS: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with HOT water. Dump out the hot water, but do not dry cup. Add your ingredient, such as peanut or almond butter and watch how easily it comes right out.

PEPPERS: 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.

PIZZA: Reheat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove. Set heat to med-low and heat until warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy pizza. Never microwave.

SNICKERS BARS: Leftover from Halloween can make a delicious dessert. Chop up bars with a food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place apples in a baking dish and sprinkle chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve. Yumm!


For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies.. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.