Healthy Skin

Cucumber Juice for skin healthy
Mix equal quantities of cucumber juice, rose water and lime juice. Wash your face and apply the mixture overnight. Rinse off in the morning. This clears the complexion and keeps the skin healthy

Banana For Smooth And Glowing Skin
Banana reflects the skin fabulously. Mash a ripe banana and add two tablespoon of honey. Prepare a paste and apply it on the skin. Leave it for getting dry and then wash with cold water. It will offer a radiant glow on the skin.

Apple For Oily Skin
Apples are very good for oily skin. To get rid of shine caused by oily skin instantly, cut a thin slice of apples and rub on affected area, leave it for 10 minutes and wash it after 10 minutes with lukewarm water.

Honey As A Facial Mask
Honey is perfect in curing acne by cleansing skin pores and it also doesn't allow bacteria to grow on skin layer due to its anti bacterial properties. While waxy part of honey helps kipping skin soft, smooth and glowing. You can apply pure honey directly to your skin. Leave it for 15 to 20 minutes and rinse. Honey is also rich with antioxidants so regular application of honey also makes the skin look younger.

Baking Soda As A Facial Mask
Wet your face with cool tap water. Now dip your wet fingertips in baking soda and gently rub across your face and neck. The soda will exfoliate your pores and cleans your skin. If you feel dryness after exfoliation apply some moisturizer on your face.

Grapes For Oily Skin
For oily skin, apply a mixture of grapes (softens your skin), lemon (natural cleanser) and egg white (tightens the skin). Leave for 20 minutes and rinse with warm water.

Honey And Cinnamon For Cure Acne
Make a paste by mixing honey and cinnamon powder. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. Repeat for two weeks.

Avocado Facial Cleanser
Take and egg and beat the yolk until it is light and foamy, add a half-cup of milk and mashed ripe peeled avocado. Now use blender or a food processor to mix it well and make a thin, smooth, creamy mixture. Apply this mixture using cotton balls or pads as you would any other cleanser. This cleanser is quite effective againts pollution and grime. Therefore, it's a very pure method of keeping your complexion free of pollutants, which can intefere with normal skin function.

Oatmeal Mask

Oatmeal mask adds fabulous glow on skin and enhance the texture to make it plain and even. To prepare an easy facial mask with oatmeal, take 5 to 6 tablespoons of ground oatmeal in a bowl and add water to make a thick and smooth paste. Spread the mixture on the face evenly and let it dry. Rinse it with cold water. You can also add milk instead of water to make your facial skin more nourished. This is the best oatmeal mask recipe for oily skin people. If your skin is damaged due to sunburn, it can be cured effectively with oatmeal mask.

Oatmeal Facial Mask

Oatmeal facial mask is the best face cleanser. It opens up the skin pores and flushes out dirt. This mask is suitable for all skin types but people with oily skin will get most benefits. To create an oatmeal mask for acne five to six drops of almond oil, juice of half lemon, an egg white and a tablespoon of oatmeal powder. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to make a smooth paste. Add water if it is very thick. Apply it on the face and let it stay for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash it off with cold water. This mask can be applied on alternate days. The mask should be followed by gentle moisturizer.

30 Old Wives Tales About Food in Your Kitchen that Might Actually Work

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.

15 things That Should Not Be Refrigerated

There are certain items, even against popular belief, that should not be stored in the refrigerator. By refrigerating many items, the flavor can be lessened or change the texture, and in some cases, even make it spoil faster because of condensation from the refrigerator. 

I am all about how to store food so that it lasts as long as possible. There is nothing that I hate more than throwing away good food that just didn't last as long as it should and wasting money. 

 

Hot Sauce 
It can live happily in the pantry for up to three years and this includes Tabasco and Frank's Red Hot sauce. You can also include Worchestershire, Heinz 57, Soy Sauce and Sriracha as all non-refrigerated items!


Potatoes
The refrigeration affects the flavor of all potatoes and that includes all kinds; white, baking, red, purple, fingerling etc. Store in dry pantry in a paper bag. Plastic bags promote moisture and mold.


Bread
The refrigerator dries out bread very quickly. Keep what you will eat within 4 days in a dry pantry at room temperature and freeze the rest. 

Onions
Try to keep in their original mesh bag or any other that allows circulation and keep in the pantry. Keep away from potatoes which causes onions to rot. 

Tomatoes
Refrigeration kills the flavor of tomatoes and causes them to be mealy. Keep them out of plastic bags. To ripen faster store in paper bag. 

 


Avocados
Avocados should not be refrigerated until they are ripe. Once ripe, they can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. If you are refrigerating a whole avocado, it is best to keep it whole and not slice it in order to avoid browning that occurs when the flesh is exposed to air.


Coffee 
Surprisingly to me, you should not refrigerate or freeze coffee because it causes condensation and changes the flavor. Goes for beans and grounds. Keep in airtight container in pantry. 
 
 
Garlic
It will last in the pantry for two months. Refrigerating garlic can reduce the flavor and actually cause mold. Store loose and once head is broken should use within 10 days. However, you can put minced garlic in the fridge as long as used as soon as possible. 

Honey
Placing honey in the refrigerator will thicken and crystallize the honey. Honey is all-natural and can stay good almost indefinitely in the pantry. 



Winter Squashes
Any type of winter squash from acorn, butternut, spaghetti squash will taste better and last about a month or more in the pantry. 

Melons
Keep whole melons on the counter to achieve the best flavor. Research has found that storing at room temp helps to keep antioxidants better intact. Once cut you can store in the fridge for 3-4 days. 

Oils
Oils get thick and cloudy when you place them in the refrigerator. The only oils that must be refrigerated are nut oils. Otherwise keep them in the pantry. 

 

Fruits
Certain fruits like apples, berries, peaches, apricots and nectarines should be placed on the counter until ripe. It can change the flavor of the fruit so that it is not as flavorful if refrigerated.

 

Non Food

Batteries
It is a common myth that you should store batteries in the refrigerator, but extreme heat or extreme cold actually diminishes their performance.  
 
Nail Polish
The only thing that refrigerating nail polish does is thicken it and change the chemicals. Keep at room temperature and away from direct sunlight. 

 
Credits to: mythirtyspot