Kitchen Tips
Sent in by readers, gleaned on the Internet and
some just came from dear Mom!
Get the coffeepot ready for Dad's Day! Fill the carafe half full
with cold water, then add 1/4 c. white vinegar. Run the machine
until empty, then run it again with a full pot of clear, cold water.
The vinegar breaks down the build-up and works as a decalcifier!
To reduce food and other odors (even cigarette smoke!), combine
1 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1
teaspoon allspice in a microwave-proof dish and heat until almost
boiling. Set out in the room, and soon the room will be odor-free.
An easy way to clean and deodorize your microwave is to put half
a cup of water in a microwave proof dish with one tablespoon of
baking soda in the microwave. Cook on high for one minute. The steam
from the water loosens any thing that doesn't belong there and makes
it easy to wipe away. The baking soda absorbs odors.
SOS Pads: You know how SOS pads always seem to rust out before
they're used up? I cut mine into quarters first, and use only the
smaller piece. It's big enough to do the job, and generally gets
used up before rusting occurs.
You can also store SOS pads in the freezer. They only take a second
to thaw - the one in my freezer has been there for six months and
has been used several times!
Use a dust buster for that floury counter top! Fast easy and you
can get whatever fell on the floor in a flash too.
Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring
in tomato based sauces and the Tupperware won't stain.
What to do with the kitchen sponge that, because of the very nature
of the way they are used, will tend to pick up a mildew odor? Stick
it in the microwave for a minute or two. Be careful to let it cool.
But when it does, the odor should be gone.
Lay a paper towel on the kitchen counter when you are peeling carrots
or potatoes... so much easier to just scoop up all the peelings
in the paper towel and throw away. (newspaper works well, too!)
When preparing a culinary masterpiece (as we all do, I'm sure),
it's helpful at clean-up time if you wash pots and pans as they
are used.
To keep those critters out of flour, pasta, etc. just add a few
bay leaves. This does not add any flavor to your food and keeps
the critters out.
Keep a handful of small or medium sized sea-shells in your kettle
to prevent the elements "furring up" with lime scale in hard water
areas. Replace the shells every few months or when they stop being
effective.
Squirt lemon juice on windowsills and the bottoms of doors. Ants
hate it.
Get rid of fruit flies by setting out a container filled with 1/4
cup of vinegar and one drop of liquid soap. Set it well away from
the fruit.
Rub your fingers on stainless steel under running water to remove
the odor of onion or garlic. Your stainless steel sink works more
wonders than one!
To easily remove burnt-on food from your skillet, simply add a
drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan,
and bring to a boil on stovetop -- skillet will be much easier to
clean.
I have 5 cats and 2 dogs and accidents do happen. I use equal parts
of vinegar and water added to a spray bottle with 2 T of dish soap.
When the animal has a mess, blot up as much as you can with white
paper towels, shake the sprayer bottle, spray the spot till wet,
blot up again with white paper towels, let dry. This takes the smell
out and the animals will not go potty there again.
Got a black-bottomed pan? Pour vinegar on it, then sprinkle with
a thick layer of salt. Scrub hard, rinse and voila - the shiny bottom
returns!
Ever wonder what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste
when a recipe calls for only a couple of tablespoons? Here's what
I do. Take your measuring spoon and scoop out tablespoons onto a
wax paper covered plate. Place plate in the freezer for a few hours.
When the blobs are frozen, transfer them to a ziplock bag and keep
in the freezer. A small can of tomato paste will yield 8 tablespoons.
When unwrapping butter or margarine, save the paper, folded double,
in the freezer and use to butter baking - pans when needed.
For novelty ice cubes for those summer drinks, simply take the
plastic inserts that are in boxes of chocolates and fill them with
water in the usual way. Surprisingly they can be used again and
again, and the shaped ice cubes pop out easily.
If you have excess herbs from your garden and don't know what to
do with them, dry or freeze them for future use. To dry, place on
parchment lined cookie sheet in 250F (120C) oven until dry and then
cool and store in tightly sealed glass jar. To freeze place tablespoon
size portions into ice trays and fill with water, freeze and store
in zip lock bags for later use. Just place a cube into recipe and
you have your herbs.
For "fresh" grated orange peel, quarter oranges when peeling, nestle
quarters of rind together and freeze in freezer bag. When peel is
needed for a recipe, grate the FROZEN peel directly from the outside
quarter, leaving the rest inside. This gives you something to hold
on to while grating. Pop the rest back into freezer.
A bunch of canning jars taking up space in your pantry? Use them
to store leftovers! The clear glass helps you to see what you're
storing before it goes bad, and you can even store them in the refrigerator
door.
Each night instead of putting the leftover entree in the refrigerator
I break it down into individual portions. I use microwaveable containers.
Label the contents, and mark the date. Before placing in the freezer,
I list it on a running "Inventory" sheet which is held on the freezer
with a magnet.
When I open a can of tomato paste to use a table spoon, I hate
to throw away the rest of the can. I now freeze the rest of the
can in a Tupperware Ice cube tray. When the cubes are frozen I place
them in a zip lock freezer bag. Now I have frozen tablespoon size
cubes of Tomato paste to use in the future. I do the same with chicken
broth and beef broth. No more waste!
I never buy commercially prepared bread crumbs, as I consider them
an extravagance. Instead, I keep a contained in my freezer, into
which I "sweep" all the little crumbs that are left in the bread
bag or after rolls or toast are cut. I also save all the "heels"
of my loaves, give them a quick whirl in the food processor, and
add them to my crumb collection.
When a member of family needs a quick dinner-they just look at
the "Inventory" take what they desire and cross off the "Inventory".
This saves money by not wasting leftovers in the refrigerator because
they have become "science projects". Even a few slices of leftover
roast beef and gravy can be frozen and then used for a hot roast
beef sandwich. Small portions of casseroles heat up well also.
I keep a 1 gallon plastic bag in my freezer, throw in all your
vegetable peelings and trimmings, tomato cores and tops, the outer
skins of onions, parsley stems, leek tops, whatever (not potato
peels however), when it gets full crush it down and keep adding
till full again, Then cover with water, add salt, pepper, bay leaf,
etc. Boil then strain and you end up with about 2 cups of free vegetable
stock. Pour into freezer container and it's ready the next time
you need stock. I keep adding to it until I have about 6 cups total.
What to do with leftover, dried-out pizza crust? Cut it into bite
size pieces and add it to soup. Delicious in tomato, but any soup
needing a "filler" will do. I keep the cut up chunks in the freezer
until needed.
Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring
in tomato based sauces and the Tupperware won't stain.
If you have leftover wine, freeze it into ice cubes for future
use in casseroles and sauces.
Cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt will all stay fresh much
longer if you simply store them upside. Side note... be sure the
lid is firmly attached.
Instead of buying the more expensive flavored cream cheeses, I
make my own by mixing plain (either full-, reduced-, or no-fat)
with other readily available foods, e.g. jam. This is also a great
way to use up those little bits of left-over things, like a scrap
of salmon, the last spoonful of canned fruit (mince it up first),
a grated raw carrot, etc., or a lonely berry or two.
Add a bit of salt to milk to make it last longer. Nobody likes
spoiled milk, and the salt will not affect the taste because you
add a small amount.
Grating cheese is easy in a food processor, but only worth doing
if you are doing a large amount. I grate one to two pounds at a
time and freeze for future use. Home grated cheese seems to go further
as a topping in a recipe and seems to taste better. It also saves
almost twice as much money!
After washing out a mustard squeeze bottle, fill it with your favorite
cooking oil and keep it on your pantry shelf. It squeezes out a
tablespoon of oil for a recipe or for your frying pan with no drips.
No more bulky bottles, except to refill your squeeze bottle!
I use an empty liquid hand soap container to put liquid dish washing
soap in. Then it only takes one hand to put a couple drops in the
water. Or only one squirt to wash one dish.
Instead of letting water run down the drain as you're waiting for
it to heat it up, place gallon jugs under the spout until the water
is at the right temperature. You can use this water for a variety
of things, including watering household plants or for boiling at
dinnertime. You can even place 3/4 full jugs in the freezer to conserve
energy!
See also:
Cooking Tips
Baking Tips
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