Beauty in the Ordinary

This is not about being brilliant, or extraordinary, it's not about wanting to be famous, or making headlines, or trying to impress...this about sharing a 'gift' each day with the world...to lift the spirit of people when they read this blog, to show them the beauty in the ordinary.
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Raold Dahl

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Life Tips

Everything your mother didn't teach you...maybe...



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. 


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. 


To really make scrambled eggs or omelets 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 minty frosting. 


Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic, and at the end of the recipe if you 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. 


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. 


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 baggy, 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. 



Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground, work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds.



No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes 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 your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings. 



Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling. It works; 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. 


De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser. 



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. flies are drawn to the cup and gone forever.




Wash your dryer filter: dryer sheets cause a film over filter that will burn out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. The best way to keep your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take the filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months.

Editor totally absolves herself from validating any of the above.

11 comments:

  1. Morning J., ... some great tips there ... luv the flexible vacuum, defog your windshield, be-gone annoying fruit flies, and hair conditioner for shaving.
    Can't remember little mum telling me any of those... I seem to only remember the ones like ... duck your head we're driving under a bridge!
    Yup...that one has been really useful !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Terrific!
    I will be using some of these for sure esp the banana one. Mine go bad so quickly!
    Thank you <3
    xx
    z

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was aware of a few of these ... fantastic tips. Never too old to learn a new trick!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Right V..I don't remember her teaching us anything like this either...that's why the post begins 'everything your mother DIDN'T teach you. I thought it was Dad that told us to duck in a tunnel! Obviously both of them were useful advice-givers! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great tips...thanks for passing them on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a super duper post! I especially like the devilled egg hint ,lots of great hints.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fruit flies!! I am so grateful for this info!

    ReplyDelete
  8. MBJ - my pleasure.
    ABL - you and I must be the only people on the planet who still love devilled eggs - LOL!
    TC - we seem beset by the little buggers too this year. I know it is the vendange right now...but please!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! I knew about cooking with garlic and shaving my legs with conditioner (which I do), but I did not know about the rest of these - they're great! Thank you! :)
    And thank you for your sweet visit over at my little cottage - I enjoyed reading what you shared!
    Hugs,
    Zuzu

    ReplyDelete
  10. I absolutely loved this Jacqueline!! I want to print it out and laminate it, as well as carry copies to pass out, just brilliant!
    A friend of ours recently told us how he heated up left over pizza in a pan, so we've been doing just that and it *does* work, crispy crust every time!
    Thank you for this...
    xo J~

    ReplyDelete
  11. There are some seriously good tips here Jacqueline...I am going to have to print this one out. I am sure it took you a while to create this post...thank you!! Best wishes for a wonderful weekend :)

    Jeanne xx

    ReplyDelete

Go on...make my day...

Related Posts with Thumbnails