I’m here with some wonderful household hints. My friend Barbara here in Phoenix sent them to me the other day. It seems like there are always some new and different ones surfacing all the time. The following are some really great ones!!
Peel a banana from the bottom and up and you won"t have to pick the little stingy things out of it. That is how the primates do it.
Take you bananas apart when you come home from the store. If you leave them together, they will 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 bottoom are firmer and better for cooking.
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It helps to pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
These are just a few tips. I’ll share more with you later.
1 gallon dill pickles ( in glass jar preferably but not necessary)
5 cups sugar
1 cups cider vinegar
3 T. pickling spices
Drain off juice from pickles. Cut pickles into 1" pieces. Fill jar with sugar, vinegar, spices. Set jar on counter. Flip jar every 24 hours. It takes 4 days to complete.
It is absolutely amazing how these pickles change into sweet pickles!
Do you have errands to run and have to be gone for a few hours? How about getting dessert started before you leave?
1 chocolate cake mix
1 box instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 pint of sour cream
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water
6 oz. chocolate chips
Mix and pour into crockpot on low. cook for 6-8 hrs. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. DELICIOUS!!!
Now if you really want to make it easy on yourself, tear or chop up some lettuce and add leftovers from the frig. This could be ham, chicken, tuna, carrots, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, grated cheese, chopped bacon, mushrooms, you name it. That could be your main course with your choice of dressing. Now you have dessert and your main course ready to serve. Just pop it into the frig until you get home.
Here is a tip on instant tea. Some people like the instant lemon, sugared tea. When I buy the Lipton mix I also buy the Lipton plain instant tea. I combine the two and it is not quite as strong with sugar or lemon. None of us should have a lot of sugar or lemon especailly those of us with acid reflex. Those are the fringe benefits you get after age 50.
I also do this with the raspberry flavored tea. In fact we not only use the raspberry tea for "tea time", I use the mix from the can in my punches that I fix for parties or get-to-gethers.
Here is suggestion that might help you out if you are in a bind at the last minute.
I make spaghetti sauce and put it in the freezer in quart containers. That way if I have company I can pull out one or more depending on how much sauce I need. I purchase a 5 lb. sack of meatballs from the store and keep them in the freezer and also make sure I have plenty of spaghetti noodles and canned mushroom soup on hand.
Once I do this my options are numerous. I can now have:
spaghetti and meatball dinner
pick up some fresh sub buns and have meat ball sandwiches
meatballs and mushroom gravy as a main dish for dinner
slice meatballs and have meatball and mushroom soup ( or leave whole)
I am not stating quantities because that depends on the size of your family or number of guests.
Mix baking mix, sugar, eggs, orange peel and orange juice and beat 1/2 minute on slow speed. Beat another 2 1/2 minutes on medium. Stir in nuts and bake for 55 to 60 minutes.
Orange glaze: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup butter or margarine melted, 1 T. grated orange peel, 1 T. orange juice. Mix thoroughly… If needed add more juice.
Try this some morning with a great cup of your favorite coffee!
WOW! Here is an easy snack! I was just talking to my friend Barb in Georgia and she gave me this recipe. Just follow the simple directions.
box of Ritz crackers
jar of peanut butter
chocolate chips
Melt chocolate chips in double boiler VERY CAREFULLY. While melting chocolate spread peanut butter between Ritz crackers making little sandwiches/cookies.
Dip each little sandwich/cookie into melted chocolate. Remove and let cool on waxed paper.
This is sure to be a hit with both the young and old!!!! Thanks Barb for this quick and easy recipe.
