Helpful Hints!!

I received this information in a forward that my mom passed on to me. I know how we all hate forwards but this one had some good info that I thought I would share. So, instead of sending it all to you via email and taking a huge risk that you'll actually open it I decided to post it on my blog for the few that read it. Some of this stuff some of you probably already know - but most of them I had never heard of before and I will begin to use them frequently. Hopefully they do work!

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

Cheese:
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

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.

Beef:
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away form the meat while cooking.

Garlic:
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of a recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic

Leftover 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.

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 baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw away the bag when you're done - easy clean up.

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.

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.

Plants:
Start putting wet newspapers in your plants. Work them into the soil and 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 newspaper.

Broken Glass:
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up small shards of broken glass that you can't see easily.

Mosquitos:
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitos away.

Clingy clothes:
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 a pin in seam of slacks and 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 the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Sealed Envelopes:
If you seal and envelope and then realize that you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two and then it will unseal easily.

Foggy Winshield:
Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glovebox of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth.

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 that you bought but didn't like when you tried it.

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 fruit flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

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. (wish I would've known this before Rhett got into ant killer.)

The Lint Filter in Your Dryer: (If you don't read any of these - PLEASE read this one!)
Even though you may take out your lint filter and clean it after each use you may still be in danger of having your dryer catch on fire. Why? The lint filter is made of mesh material and dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and that's what burns out the heating unit in dryers. 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 the dryer sheets 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.

To test whether or not you have waxy buildup on your lint filter is to take it out and run it under the facet. If the water just sits at the top of the mesh and does not go through it then you have waxy buildup and need to clean it.

The best way to jprevent catastrophe, keep your dryer working for a very longtime and  keep your electric bill lower is to take out the filter and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months. That makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

( I personally tried this and yes the water just sat and pooled on my lint filter. Yikes!! I got an old toothbrush and hot soapy water and scrubbed it for a minute or two and then the water ran through the mesh like it's supposed to. It was quick and easy and if it will prevent a fire in my house then I'm on board. My mom said that the day after she read this there was a fire in a house in Boise and it was blamed on the dryer - crazy!!)

Good info that I thought was worth sharing!!

If any of you know any helpful hints I would love to hear them. I'm all about keeping things, safe, easy and long-lasting!!