Photo by Yogi
I just received an email from one of my friends who listed numerous tips about using household ingredients to help around the house written or sent by “Evelyn.” Some of these suggestions I have never heard of, but I thought it would be fun to discuss. If any of you know if these suggestions work for the stated intended purpose, let me know. Here goes:
“1. 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. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.”
(Green Talk’s note: My kids hate reheated pizza via the microwave. We usually use the toaster oven or oven to heat up the pizza. Since I have been doing this, I have thrown less pizza away. Just think, less leftovers going to a landfill.)
“2. 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.”
(Green Talk’s note: If anyone knows how to accomplish this without using a plastic bag, let me know. I wonder if you can use a canvas pastry tool? Just in case you can’t substitute, when you are done, wash the zip lock bag, let it air dry, cut off the zip lock part, and then recycle it where your grocery bags are recycled.
“3. 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.”
(Green Talk’s note: Look for a cake frosting that does not contain any Trans fats, if there is such a product. Anyone have a suggestion of store bought healthier frosting?)
“4. 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.”
(Green Talk’s Note: for those of you who dislike using microwaves for health reasons, do you have a trick for heating up bread in the oven to keep it moist? I use an oven to reheat my rice with a cup or more of water added to the rice depending on the amount of rice I am reheating. Nothing is worse than dried out rice.)
“5. Newspaper weeds away: Start putting in your plants, [sic] and work the nutrients [sic] into your soil. Wet newspapers [sic] and put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.”
(Green Talk’s Note: I have done this and it absolutely works. I do not use the colored sections of the paper. Make sure your newspaper publisher uses soy based ink. I overlap about four sheets of paper with another four sheets. It may be overkill but I hate weeding. I do not use use newspaper in my raised vegetable beds since I am afraid of the dioxins from the bleaching process of the papers. I am curious as to how people feel about using newspaper for weed control around vegetables?)
“6. Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.”
“7. No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.”
(Green Talk’s Note: I actually heard of putting a dryer sheet in shot glasses on your outdoor tables to keep mosquitoes away. I personally do not use dryer sheets because of the chemicals in them. If you have any sort of skin issue such as eczema, I was told by my pediatrician years ago that the dryer sheets will make it worse. The dryer sheets coat your clothes with the chemical contained in the sheets. How does everyone feel about using them for the mosquito removal? Better yet, do you think the nontoxic dryer sheets would do the same trick?)
“8. 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.
(Green Talk’s note: I heard ants don’t like this either. Would you have to sprinkle after every rain storm?)
9. 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.
(Green Talk’s note: I love this suggestion since instead of recycling your paper towel rolls, just reuse it for this purpose. Tiffany at the Nature Moms Blog mentioned to reuse toilet paper rolls as seedling containers. See her article here.)
“10. 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.”
(Green Talk’s note: Out of curiosity, what would happen if you washed and dried you clothes with the safety pin? Would it melt?)
“11. 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.”
(Green Talk’s note: Way to save water by not spending time getting the sticky solution out of the cup!)
“12. 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!”
“13. Reopening envelope: 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.”
(Green Talk’s note: No more wasted envelopes, and less trees cut down!)
14. Conditioner: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot 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…
(Green Talk’s note: Again, another great reuse tip.)
“15. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies , take a small glass fill it with ½ [sic] cup [sic] of Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid , mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!”
(Green Talk’s note: Put this mixture near your inside compost bucket. I get fruit flies in the summer near my bucket.)
“16. 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 & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!”
“17. 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, 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 – t hat 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 catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!”
(Green Talk’s Note: I actually use a 1/2 of cup of vinegar in my wash to avoid using dryer sheets all together. Some people use the laundry detergents with soy based softeners in them. I can’t use these products because they make me itch. I may be on the unusual side about this phenomenon. Another suggestion is to hang clothes that are made of nylon, polyester, or other synthetic materials to dry since I find those are the ones that retain the static cling. Another suggestion I saw was shorten your dryer time by 10 minutes and let the clothes air dry the rest of the way.
As I stated above, dryer sheets are full of chemicals and should not be used. Does anyone else have any ideas of what to use in lieu of dryer sheets? In addition, take your lint (if you don’t use dryer sheets) and put it in your composter.)
At the bottom of the email was the name “Evelyn.” I could not find out who Evelyn was, so if any of you knows who the correct author of the above suggestions, I would like give her credit.
Let me know if you have tried any of the above suggestions, and add to these as well.
Stretch Mark Mama says
you know…I wonder if heating frozen chicken nuggies in a skillet would make them more palatable…I never like to heat up the oven…but the microwave just turns the nuggies to mush…mmmm…
Stretch Mark Mama’s last post: Snarky Saturday: The New American Home
Green Talk says
I wonder if it would make the nuggets more crispy? Would your kids like that? Let me know if you try that. Nuggets in a microwave are terrible! Your last post did not come up on the comment link. I will add it for you. Anna
Paul says
Dryer sheets also create a build up on the dryer belt which will cause it to slip over time.
Green Talk says
Paul-how do you know if your dryer belt is slipping? Any signs? Anna
Stu says
Just wondering how the Dryer tip for Mosquitos works? Do you mean a Dryer sheet from the tumble dryer?
Stu’s last blog post..Classic & Vintage Car Insurance
Green Talk says
Stu, this is what the tip advised. This is not the first time I have heard this. I was wondering if the eco-dryer sheets warded off the mosquito as well. Try this tip and see if it works, then get back to me! Anna
Antiques says
Great tips and thoughts. I have learnt some very nice and useful ideas.
Russell Renovator Freeman says
There are lot of ways to saving money in household with some good tips and tricks. The more you look for details the more you save on them. What a Great list of tips!
Megan says
Thanks for the tips. Would never have thought of them myself. I especially like number 14, I tried it and it worked great. Thanks again.
Green Talk says
Megan-if you try any others. Let me know! Anna
Polina says
Love the tips, especially ones about Measuring Cups and Getting Rid of Ants. Does anybody know something to save strawberries from being eaten by birds: we place nets over cherry trees to keep birds out, but all strawberries get eaten up or just ruined:( Would be very thankful if anyone knows some useful hint.
Green Talk says
Polina, I grow strawberries and use a bird netting on them. The birds leave them alone. I think Gardner’s Supply has a very small sized bird netting. I find I get stuck on the netting alot too. I use the same netting for my blueberries too. Have you tried the netting on your strawberries? Anna
Elizabeth Newell says
If you like deviled eggs, but want to avoid the tedium of filling them without messing around with the plastic bag, try mashing the eggs up in a bowl with a fork and your favorite ingredients, then have ‘deviled egg salad sandwiches’ instead. Or, for a party, you could serve that on crackers or those tiny toast rounds.
Paul says
Hi Anna,
Your clothes will not be dry when you remove them from the dryer. The dryer drum will not spin as fast when there is a buildup on it.
Luc J says
About the mosquitoes, I’ve read something about a garlic spray that you can spray on your plants in the garden. Would keep them away and even kill them on contact. I wonder if it’s garlic only, or if there is any other toxic component that they don’t mention.
I love the cayenne pepper idea, we don’t have squirrels here but I’m certainly going to try it for other purposes. Also wonder about the effect of a rainstorm.
.-= Luc J´s last blog ..Compact Shaving Cream Alternative for Travel =-.