Dippin' Oreo's

 

Okay I have a tip for you today!!!  I was dipping an oreo the other night... it's a bad habit, everynight I start craving something sweet! And there just happened to be oreo's in the pantry... so you know the rest of the story! :)   Anyway- when my youngest son (who is now 25) was little- he hated dipping his fingers into the milk with an oreo dunk.  So he would stick a fork into the cream filling and dip them.  It's crazy that after all these years, I still have to use a fork! LOL Just a crazy little tip for you today, but I promise if you try it, you will forever be a fork dipper!!   Just sayin'

 

Where to put all those stuffed animals??

My two little boys have so many stuffed animals. I can't seem to find something to put them in that doesn't take a lot of space. Here's what I did.

 We had a couple of beanbags downstairs in the basement that I wanted to use.

 First, I emptied one of the beanbags. I took the foam balls out  of the one beanbag and put them in the other beanbag I wasn't going to use. So one beanbag has stuffed animals and the other has foam balls still in it.

Next I placed all the stuffed animals in the empty beanbag. Zip it up and your done. Now when my kids want to read, they grab a book and sit on there beanbags. I don't have to worry about stuffed animals all over the place or trying to find a spot to put them!!


*Amy*

Make your own Buttermilk or Sour Cream

Have you ever needed Buttermilk or Sour Cream- but when you went to the fridge.... you realized you didn't have any?   Yeah I've been there, and it usually happens when I'm making something and need it that very minute!!

Well it's your lucky day.. here's all you need!

Click on the recipe card and it will enlarge it so you can read it better... and as always if you would like the file for the card so you can print it, just leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you.

                                                                                                                ~Karen

Simmering Sents

I was peeling an orange for breakfast this mornng- and it made me remember something I used to do years ago when the boys were young.  I would put things into a saucepan on the stove & simmer them to make the house smell good!  You can use whatever you have on hand.  This morning I used the orange peel from my orange, added a few drops of Almond & Vanilla extracts and a Cinnamon stick.  Put everything in a saucepan with some water and bring it to a boil, boil it for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer & continue to cook it on the stove for as long as you want... oh the smell is WONDERFUL.  Just keep adding water to it as it boils down, every 1/2 hr or so. I have put it into a sm crock pot before too.  It's great, except when Clair comes in and says umm are you making an apple pie?  LOL  I don't know where he got the apple from- but you can use an apple in it too!!  So get those pans out and start simmering away!!! Your noses will be glad you did.

Make your own Goo Gone

I have used goo gone for a while now- to get the sticky labels off of jars & it works, but it is so stinky... and probably toxic- so when I found this great idea--- I thought I'm going to try it. 

its easy & really works.  Just mix equal amounts of coconut oil and baking soda.  I put the jar of coconut oil in a pan of water on the stove & heat it up until it's liquid- then measure it out and mix the soda into it.  Then when you need it, just scoop a bit out and rub it on- and wash off. 

Here is a brand that we like on amazon

Storing Potatoes

I just went and bought some potatoes & onions from a local farmer-- we stock up on them every winter. Right now they are still in the bags in the garage, but soon I will take them out of the bags and pour them into lrg. plastic milk crates- I like to store them this way because the crates have holes in them to allow air flow & you can stack them 2 or 3 high.  Here is a trick to help keep potatoes from budding- just place a couple of apples in with them- it works like magic!  

Happy Tuesday... if you have any great tips, please share... I would love to post them for others to use!!

How to clean up all that GLITTER

Tis the season for all that SPARKLE!!! And I'll admit it- I do love the glitter- but oh how I don't like having it all over EVERYTHING!!!  And cleaning it up for months!!

So today I am going to give you a great tip... when you need to clean the sparkle up, grab this!!!

yep.. a lint roller!!!  It works like magic!

so the next time you have the glitter mess.. grab your lint roller & clean it up in a jiffy!!!  I've never tried it on my face, but there's an idea! It seems like I WEAR as much as I use!  LOL

Make store bought frosting... better

I don't usually use store bought frosting... home made is sooooo much better!!  But there are times like this last week when I was making cookies for the little boy's (Grandsons) to frost.  I made sugar cookies for them and was in a hurry to get things ready before they came-  so I grabbed the store bought frosting. 

But there's an easy trick to make the frosting taste more like homemade & make it go farther too!!

Just put the can of frosting into a medium size bowl & whip it with an electric mixer...
it will increase the amount of frosting & it also makes it a better consistency for little hands to spread onto cookies.



if you are using a cream cheese, or vanilla frosting you can add a little bit of Almond emulsion to it & oh  it makes it taste so good!!! I was going to take a picture of the frosting after I mixed it up-- but once the little boy's came... I was too busy keeping the sprinkles off the floor!! LOL and forgot-- I didn't even get a picture of the cookies. :(   Next time you're in a pinch for time try this trick & let me know what you think.


Here is the emulsion that I use.

Help your cheese last longer in the fridge

I don't know what happened, but at the moment I have 3 blocks of cheese in my refridgerator.  It must have been on sale lately, and I bought it without checking to see how much I already had.  Anyway- I thought I would share a tip with you on how to make it last longer & keep it from getting mold.  It's pretty simple- just take it out of the plastic wrapper and wrap it in tin foil.  I have found that it doesn't get mold on it and it really does last longer.  So there's your Tip Tuesday!!  Now- how about sharing some of your favorite tips with me??  I would LOVE to hear what they are... 

How to check your ovens temperature

Are you always burning or under cooking things?  I've learned that ovens can loose their accuracy, and there is a simple way to check your ovens temperature.  Here's what you do- place an oven safe thermometer on the middle rack & heat your oven to 300 degrees. When your oven beeps to tell you it's that temperature, read the thermometer and see what the difference is- then you know if your ovens temperature is accurate, and if not make your adjustments when you bake. 

Keep Oders out of your fridge!!

Here's a tip I learned a few years ago... If you put a piece of newspaper in the bottom of your crisper drawer in your refridgerator, it will help absorbe the oders you can get from your fruits & vegetables.  

and it also makes cleaning easier too.  So there ya go, try it and let me know what you think!!  What are some of your best tips?

How to Crack an Egg...

I have been baking some breads for an event I'm helping with-- and it reminded me of a little secret I've learned about cracking eggs.  How many times have you cracked an egg to put into a recipe & the shell goes in too?  Well this little trick works every time-- no more fishing shells out of the bowl. 

If you crack your egg on a flat surface like your counter top, instead of on the edge of a bowl- you will create a clean break.  No shells- because they stick to the membrane instead of falling into the bowl.  I know it sounds complicated, but it really works.  So the next time you crack an egg try it you will be amazed.

How to clean your coil stove

So I told you yesterday about the bar keepers friend! I couldn't stop just there! I had to try it on my cracked stained stove! Just look at the difference!

 Have I sold you yet on the product?

I pretty much used the same method as my tub!

1. I took out all of our coils.
2. Sprayed water on the stove in a spray bottle to get everything wet
3. Sprinkled a thin layer of the magic cleaner on the wet surfaces.
4. Lightly rubbed in the product with a dish scrubber.
5. Rinsed the product off
6. Amazing clean stove with no sweat and blood!

Seriously give it a try you'd be amazed by the price of the product and how well it cleans!

How to clean your bathtub!

I can't believe that I'm letting the blogging world see how nasty my bathtub was! But yeah it was pretty gross! I've heard about this magic cleaner a few times and was skeptical to give it a go! I mean I tried everything to get my grippers cleaned on the tub. Apparently I wasn't trying the right cleaner. Here is the before and after!

 This magical cleaner is the most amazing stuff ever! No deep scrubbing! Pretty much just pure amazing!

This is what I did to clean my tub...

1. I took out all of our shampoos and body washes.
2. Turned the shower on to get everything wet
3. Sprinkle a thin layer of the magic cleaner on the wet surfaces.
4. Lightly rubbed in the product with a dish scrubber.
5. Turned on the shower again to rinse
6. Amazing clean shower with no sweat and blood!

Seriously give it a try you'd be amazed by the price of the product and how well it cleans! Click here to get some delivered right to your door! Thank you amazon

UPDATE: They have recently come out with a wet version and I really really like this just as much!

How to clean a Front Loading HE Washer

Does your front loading washer ever start to smell musty or like mildew?  After I had mine for a few months I noticed this horrible smell in mine, and so I started searching to find where it was coming from.  This is what I found & what I do to prevent it from happening......

How to clean your Front Loading Washer....

first separate the rubber flap in the front like this-- yuck, see that gross gunk in the bottom of it?  It never dries out, so after awhile it starts to get moldy and smells really bad.

take a paper towel and wipe down inside of it-- do it a couple of times to get all the water out

and this is what you end up with--- after I have wiped it out really good, then I take a paper towel and spray it with pine-sol or another disinfectant and wipe it out again-- No more mildew! I try to do this after each load, but I hadn't done it for a couple of times, and it was pretty bad.  There's your tip for Tuesday-- it doesn't make laundry any more fun, but it does make breathing a little better! :)

Get Organized!!

A few months ago I did some organizing around the house-- a few simple things that have made a huge difference, here's what I did..... 

The first one is inside the cabinet next to my oven.  I have a drawer FULL of hot pads.... too many in one drawer, so I put a 3M hook on the inside of the cabinet door and hung a couple of them there.  I love this and use them a lot- they are very easy to grab. 

The next one is probably my FAVORITE!!! I have serveral sets of measuring spoons--  I am always trying to sort through them to find the one I need.  This is brillant... again I used very small 3M hooks- I think they were for keys.  They are perfect to hold a single measuring spoon on each one, you can tell at a glance which spoon you  need.  

 This one is a close second to my FAVORITE!!!   Are you always trying to fish out the tweezers in your make-up bag?  Well here is the answer.. hot glue a strong magnet onto the inside of your medicine cabinet & wah-lah you have tweezers right where you can find them every time!  Love this one!!   The Razor is held by a pencil holder-- they work great for tooth brushes too! 

And the last one is a very bright idea!!   I actually bought this flashlight and it had the magnets already on the back-- And it cost me a lot of money too!  Well, the store was closing so everything was at least 50% off-- but you can make your own out of any flashlight, for hardly anything.  Just glue a heavy duty magnet onto the back of any flash light & put it on your breaker box-- in case of an emergency you will always have a flashlight handy.
Well, there are a few ideas for you to be thinking about this week--- it's amazing how small changes can make the biggest difference!!  Makes life a bit easier!!   Good-Luck. :)

How to soften Brown Sugar

I made granola last week and when I went to get the brown sugar, it was as hard as a rock!! Have you ever had that happen?  Well, if you look really close at this picture you will see those two little white thngs in the bag.-- They are the secret to keeping your brown sugar SOFT.  Yep MARSHMALLOWS.  I had the flat square kind, so thats what I used- but you can use any kind.  Just put one in with your sugar and it will keep it soft, and if you have some that is already hard-- put one in and it will soften it up!! Amazing... There's your tip for Tuesday!

Cooking Bacon

I'm back with another tip for our tip Tuesday!

So I love bacon anything, but cooking it is not my favorite at all. I hate getting splattered and having to clean up all ov that grease. So I recently discovered that you can cook bacon in your oven! Hallelujah! Now when I am making a nice breakfast everything can be ready at once!

*First we like to cut our bacon in half. To make it a little easier on the kids to eat.

*Second line a baking sheet with a couple of sheets of tinfoil.

*Third place the bacon on and put it in a 375 degree oven.

*Fourth check on it in about 4 min and once it has reached your desired doneness. take it out and place on paper towels. (we like ours crispy)

*Fifth, let the grease cool on the foil and when it hardens just take off the foil and throw it away for easy clean up!

Make your own microwave popcorn

My tip today is something I have done since my boys were very young-- they are now 25, 29 & 31.  So I've been doing it a long time, but I thought I would share it just in case some you didn't know you can make your own microwave popcorn--- and  it's really easy.  When the boys got married Amy & Jamie their wife's had never seen it done before-- so if you haven't either, let me show you how.

  

First you need a plain brown paper sack-- the kind you put a lunch in works great. And a 1/2 cup of raw popcorn-- open the sack so that it will stand up, and pour the popcorn into the sack.  Fold the top down on the sack and put the sack in the microwave standing up straight.  Cook for 2 minutes- just like you do the store bought packages.    

after it has popped, you can eat it plain- or add any topping you like.  You can buy these shaker top flavorings at the store, I think I found mine at Bed Bath & Beyond.   Or just use butter & salt, cinnamon & sugar or a cheese powder. There are lots of different ways you can flavor it-- and I promise you won't be able to tell the difference between this & the store bought packages.  It's a lot cheaper too- so that is always a plus!!

A trick to help you open those tight jar lids

Here's a trick to help you open those jar lids--- it's simple and works everytime.

Next time you have a lid that is too hard to open, grab an elastic band and put it around the lid---

it gives you something to grip onto and the lid will come off so easy!!!