Helpful Hints ... add yours!

[Karen]

11.) Plug your devices into a power strip. You pay for “vampire charges” when your electronics are plugged into the wall, but aren’t being used. Power strips prevent this.

This is not true of all power strips. Check yours - if the charger is warm even if it is not being used, it is still drawing electricity through the power strip. Just something to be aware of!

[RICHARD]

During the summer months, it seems like the ice maker runs out of ice at one point or another?

I bought a case of water in plastic bottles, I took a few, opened them and took about 1/4 of the water out. I put the top back on and put them into the freezer.

Now, I had a frozen bottle of water and a problem!

Instead of adding water back into the bottle, I took a pair of kitchen shears and cut the bottle open.
I peel the plastic off - it it still going into the recycle bin - and now I have a bottle sized chunk of ice that I put into a large tumbler or large mouth water bottle.

The hunk of ice lasts longer than smaller ice cubes in your drink.

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If you are doing to drink plain water, you can take that water from a few bottles - adding it to your drink - and freezing those bottles to replenish your bottle stash.

It takes a little work, but once you get a system going, it's pretty easy to keep a few frozen bottles on hand.

[Karen]

This is one I saw online, tried it, and it still working.

Want to keep your potatoes from sprouting "eyes" and getting soft? Throw an apple in the bag with them! The fumes from the apple keep the potatoes from sprouting - I bought three potatoes maybe in either mid-March or early April, and tried it - and as I have not felt compelled to eat potatoes* since then, and they are as good still as the day I bought them!


Amazing, right?

*Paul is only allowed limited potato consumption, so having a whole one at a meal would be bad.

[Catty1]

This one seems like common sense, but I have seen many people do the opposite.

This is spray fragrance - often used in the bathroom. A few years ago I wondered, "Why do people spray all over the airspace? That's not where the smell is coming from."

I tried spraying a couple of shots, or even just one, right in the toilet. Worked like a charm!

[cassiesmom]

Insect bites ... on the advice of two different PTers I tried dabbing rubbing alcohol on some very itchy bites. It worked till I could get home and smear on some calamine lotion. Thank you, friends for the suggestion - it worked great! I've also read that a paste of either baking soda and water or baking soda and vinegar can help. When I was little, baking soda and vinegar was the treatment for bee stings. The "fizz" provided a brief distraction and then the paste helped to soothe the sting.

[pomtzu]

I like the cake mixes that are fruit flavored, such as the lemon or pineapple or orange, but always find them to be just a little short on the actual fruit flavor. The last time I made what I wanted to be a pineapple cake that you could actually taste the pineapple, I substituted the water in the mix with pineapple juice. Tasted good and gave it that little something extra. I'm going to try lightly sweetened lemonade the next time I make a lemon cake, and orange juice for the orange cake.

[Karen]

I like the cake mixes that are fruit flavored, such as the lemon or pineapple or orange, but always find them to be just a little short on the actual fruit flavor. The last time I made what I wanted to be a pineapple cake that you could actually taste the pineapple, I substituted the water in the mix with pineapple juice. Tasted good and gave it that little something extra. I'm going to try lightly sweetened lemonade the next time I make a lemon cake, and orange juice for the orange cake.

Ooh - for the lemon and orange cakes, you can always add some zest, just buy a pice of the fruit and grate it lightly into the batter - I do that with lemon cookies I have made for my nephew who is in the Navy, as most recipes are not strongly lemony enough for his taste!