General Hints and Tips, non TMX but maybe useful or interesting

[Cuilidh]

This isn't strictly to do with thermomix so may not be appropriate for this forum - please feel free to delete it if it is too far off the point.  It came to me as an email and I found some of the ideas helpful, others not so interesting.  I don't usually pass these things on, but this time I made an exception and hope others get some helpful ideas and / or benefit from it.

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! (Same thing for celery!)


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 omelettes rich, add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
 

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.
 

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.
 

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. 
 
 
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 bag, 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.
 
 
Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspapers.
 

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
 
 
No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away, also try spraying the surrounding area outdoors with Listerine, it will last a couple of days; don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames, and even inside the dog house (you could also try making a spray comprising 2 parts Listerine to 1 part citronella). 


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.
 
 
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 the end of the hose on 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. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... TA DA! ... Static is gone.
 
 
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.

 
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
 
 
Reopening 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. Viola! 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.

 
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 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!

 
INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material .. I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns 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 ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months it only takes about 30 seconds. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

[achookwoman]

Thanks for this,  I don't mind that it may be  in the wrong place.

[judydawn]

Yes, thanks from me too, very interesting.

[cookie1]

Thanks and I think it is in the correct place. Some very helpful things there. Now people will think I'm crazy counting the bumps on the capsicum bottoms.

[Shiraz49]

Lots of helpful hints there. Thanks

[CreamPuff63]

I've used a couple of those hints straight away, and they are worth remembering... if you can...

[pumpkin pie]

Some good tips, will be trying the ant one on the week-end and will mention it to a friend who is having big problems with ants and nothing working for them at getting rid of them. Thanks.

[meganjane]

We're having a terrible time with ants, so I'll be trying the cornmeal trick!

[Rara1]

Thanks Cuilidh
Love the windshield tip!

[judydawn]

  How soon we forget, had to check back to see what that was about. This list is something I will have to read from time to time to keep everything fresh in my mind.  Have printed it out now.

[meganjane]

Well, the cornmeal didn't work for the ants, but I had some cat flea powder and spread that around the holes. Worked a treat and no danger to animals treading on it.

[CreamPuff63]

I heard MJ that ants won't walk over talc, good thinking!

[thermie crew]

Yes, we sprinkle baby powder outside for the ants. It works and makes me feel much more confident with the children playing nearby.

[Cuilidh]

A couple of weeks ago I had to chop some semi dried tomatoes, a job I have always hated, it is so mucky.  I don't know if this is an 'original' idea or not, but I grabbed my kitchen scissors to chop them up and it worked really well - no oily chopping board to clean up ... bliss!!

[judydawn]

Good one Marina.