I found a bunch of Old wives tales that I put together.
I think a lot of them are great, and I can't wait to try some of
them. But keep in mind, they are tales, so some of them might not work
out.
Enjoy these tips. I think they are a fun read.
1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
2. If you are making gravy and accidentally burn it, just pour it
into a clean pan and continue cooking it. Add sugar a little at a time,
tasting as you go to avoid over-sugaring it. The sugar will cancel out
the burned taste.
3. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
4. When boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to keep the shells from cracking.
5. Burned a pot of rice? Just place a piece of white bread on top
of the rice for 5-10 minutes to draw out the burned flavor. Be careful
not to scrape the burned pieces off of the bottom of the pan when
serving the rice.
6. 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.
7. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
8. To make scrambled eggs or omelets taste really rich, add a
couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream; then
beat together.
9. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste, or at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste.
10. Never put citrus fruits or tomatoes in the fridge. The low
temperatures degrade the aroma and flavor of these persnickety fruits.
11. Re-heat 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. I saw this on the Food Network and it
really works.
12. If you happen to over-salt a pot of soup, just drop in a peeled potato. The potato will absorb the excess salt.
13. To make really easy deviled eggs with easy clean-up. Put
cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are broken up.
Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing
thoroughly. Cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg white.
Just throw bag away when done.
14. To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were
refrigerated, place a cup of water with them in a microwave. The
moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
15. Place a slice of bread into a bag of hard brown sugar. Within
a couple of days it will be soft again. A piece of an orange peel will
also work wonders.
16. For cleaning smelly hands after chopping onions or garlic,
just rub them on a stainless steel spoon. The steel is supposed to
absorb the odor. Rubbing your hands with coffee beans or lemon works
well too.
17. Before making popcorn on the stove or in an air popper, soak
the kernels in water for 10 minutes. Drain the water, then pop as
normal. The additional moisture helps the popcorn pop up quicker and
fluffier with fewer duds.
18. To keep potatoes from budding in the bag, put an apple in with them.
19. If you have over spiced your food, add in some lime juice while tasting it until it is the flavor you like.
20. After boiling pasta or potatoes, cool the water and use it to
water your house plants. The water contains nutrients that your plants
will love.
21. If you happen to have some leftover wine at the end of the
evening, (and don't plan to drink it the next night,) freeze it in ice
cube trays for easy addition to soups and sauces in the future.
22. Don’t store your bananas in a bunch or in a fruit bowl with
other fruits. Separate your bananas and place each in a different
location. Bananas release gases which cause fruits (including other
bananas) to ripen quickly. Separating them will keep them fresh longer.
23. If you are not sure how fresh your eggs are, place them in
about four inches of water. Eggs that stay on the bottom are fresh. If
only one end tips up, the egg is less fresh and should be used soon. If
it floats, it’s past the fresh stage.
24. The substance in onions that causes your eyes to water is
located in the root cluster of the onion. Cut this part out in a cone
shape, with the largest part of the cone around the exterior root
section. Or, another good tip, chew gum while cutting.
25. If your salt is clumping up, put a few grains of rice in with it to absorb excess moisture.
26. To clean fruit stains off of your fingers, rub them with a fresh, peeled potato. White vinegar can also do the trick.
27. Keep iceberg lettuce fresh and crisp in the fridge by
wrapping it in a clean, dry paper towel and storing lettuce and paper
towel in a sealed baggie in the fridge.
28. If your loaf of bread is starting to go stale, just put a
piece of fresh celery in the bag and close it back up. For some reason,
this restores a fresh taste and texture to the bread.
29. When making a soup, sauce, or casserole that ends up too
fatty or greasy, drop in an ice cube. The ice will attract the fat,
which you can then scoop out. A piece of bread works great too.
30. Boil water before freezing it into ice cubes to make crystal clear cubes.
The other great thing about natural cleaning recipes is that it is
safe for kids to start helping with cleaning jobs at an earlier age.
I’ve found that 2-4 years is a great age to get them to really start
doing regular chores as they naturally want to help at this age!
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