Household Hints (via e-mail)

[CG6468]

Take bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they 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 bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
 
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat.
 
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them.
 
For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double boiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a minty frosting.
 
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic, and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.
 
Leftover Snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground, work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds.
 
Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
 
No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes 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.
 
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.
 
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling. It works; 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.
 
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.
 
De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser.
 
Re-opening envelopes: 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. It unseals easily.
 
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's 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.
 
Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. flies are drawn to the cup and gone forever.
 
Wash your dryer filter: dryer sheets cause a film over filter that will burn out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. The best way to keep your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take the filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months.

[DixieBelle]

Great list! I have seen some of these before and they really do work.

[Ballygrl]

Awesome hints! I had no idea about the dryer filter.

[longview]

Neat!  Thanks for sharing those.

[sybilll]

Awesome hints! I had no idea about the dryer filter.

That's the best one on the list IMO.  Washing it makes a huge difference on drying time. 

[CG6468]

Awesome hints! I had no idea about the dryer filter.

Me neither. I saw something about it on TV within the last month or so. You cannot see the deposit, but it's there and causes problems. Same thing with lint you can't see.