HomeTips for The Kitchen And Household

Tips for The Kitchen And Household

  • Eggs keep longer if stored in the fridge.
  • Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to milk to keep it fresh.
  • A thin layer of sugar in the bottom of the cake tin will help to keep your biscuits fresh and crisp.
  • Bread, rolls, and cakes all freeze well.
  • Grate a supply of cheddar cheese and freeze it in an airtight container to use as required.
  • Steaming vegetables instead of boiling them uses a minimum amount of water. Once done cooking and water has cooled, use it for your plants.
  • Keep all glass bottles with lids and use them for jam and canned fruit.
  • Keep lettuce fresh by storing it in a plastic shopping bag in the freezer.
  • To save time and money, buy vegetables like carrots and green beans in bulk when in season and cheaper. Freeze them for times they are scarce.
  • Use half a lemon and a few drops of juice to scrub anything from cheese graters, chopping boards, and even the inside of your microwave.
  • Place cleaned fresh garlic in a jar of oil and store it in the fridge. The garlic will keep fresh for a long time, and the oil can be used in a salad dressing.
  • Keep the lemon peels to throw in your bath. The water will smell great and your skin will feel soft and smooth.
  • When cooking, work on a newspaper when peeling your veggies and cutting things up. Later you simply wrap the newspaper up and throw all your rubbish away at once.
  • Mix 2 tsp of white vinegar with 3,7 liters of water and dispense it into a spray bottle. Squirt onto windows and rub with newspaper for sparkling windows.
  • Toss a cap full of white vinegar into your washing and your colors will come out bolder and your whites will come out whiter.
  • Mix vinegar with warm water to clean stains out of carpets.
  • Deter cats by pouring vinegar around the edges of the area that you want to rid of cats every few months.
  • Always wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after handling meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood.
  • Clean your work area with a mild bleach solution before and after food preparation.
  • Make sure to thoroughly wash fresh produce under running water to remove dirt and residue.
  • Refrigerate or freeze raw meat, poultry, and seafood within two hours.
  • Never defrost food at room temperature. Use your fridge or microwave or cold water which is replaced every 30 minutes to prevent bacteria growth.
  • To avoid tears when peeling onions, cut off the ends of the onion and stick it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Once it’s heated you don’t have to worry about burning eyes.
  • Peel garlic by putting the whole garlic bulb in the microwave for 15 seconds. This will make it super easy to peel off the skin. This works for tomatoes and peaches too.
  • If your brown sugar has gone hard, empty the contents into a ceramic bowl and cover with a dampened paper towel. Microwave for 20 seconds to soften it to the desired consistency.
  • Have your potato chips or wafers lost their crunch? Heat them on a kitchen towel for 30 seconds in the microwave. The towel will absorb any moisture from the goods and the crunchiness will be restored. If it doesn’t work the first time repeat.

Green Living

green living

Being green doesn’t mean you have to become a vegitarian and opt for life on a small plot in the country.

Green living means taking some responsibility for the impact you have on the environment.

One of the easiest ways of doing this is by observing the three R’s of green consumerism which are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. They add up to savings for you and, ultimately the world around you.

Buying And Cleaning Tips:

  • Buy goods packaged in recyclable containers such as glass, unwaxed and unlined cardboard, plastic or tin.
  • Avoid overpackaged products. Fruit and vegetables are often cheaper if you buy them loose.
  • Whenever possible, choose non-disposables, such as razors or electric shavers (electric shavers untimately use less energy than disposables and shaving cream, believe it or not), rechargeable batteries and fountain pens instead of throw-away ballpoints. Use cloth nappies, or a nappy service which provides clean closth nappies, as these are also cheaper in the end than disposibles.
  • Buy fewer aerosols. Even though they no longer contain CFCs, the containers are not recyclable, are a flammable hazzard and can cause respiratory ailments.
  • Bicarbonate of soda and warm water will clean ovens. Sprinkled onto a wet sponge it will clean tubs, shower cubicles, tiles and toilets. (rinse and buff afterwards. It will also scour kitchen appliances and cooking utensils, freshen carpets and clean drains. (pour 300 ml down the drain and then the same amount of vinegar).
  • 1 Tablespoon of cornflour in a spray bottle with with 300ml of water can be used as a starch. (Don’t keep after use or it will attract mould). In powdered form, cornflour words well as a carpet shampoo.
  • Ordinary white vinegar used neat will clean stainless steel and chrome appliances, tiles, glass, mirrors and bathroom fixtures. One part vinegar diluted with two parts warm water will clean varnished woodwork and descale appliances if you let it stand for 30 minutes for descaling.
  • Run white vinegar through your coffeemaker to clean it followed by a couple of rinses of clean water.