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Add rice to salt shaker to keep salt from sticking
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If you don't have:Buttermilk,1 Cup add 1TBLSP. lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup- let stand for 5 minutes before using. or you can use 1 cup plain yogurt to the recipe as a substitute
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If you don't have Self-Rising Flour: Add 1tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp.baking soda to measuring cup- add enough flour to make 1 cup.
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If you don't have Cake flour for a recipe Use 1 cupall-purpose flour Minus2 TBLSP. to equal 1 cup cake flour
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To refresh a freezer: Place a cotton ball soaked in vanilla inside, close door for 24 hours. then check for improvement. Repeat if necessary.
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Place an opened box of baking soda on a shelf in the refridgerator to keep it fresh & to elimante odors.
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Freezer burn doesn't make food unsafe but dry in spots. It appears as grayish brown leathery spots & is caused by air reaching the surface of thefood. Simply cut away the spot either before or after cooking.
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To remove difficult smells wipe inside of refridge with equal parts vinegar & water or baking soda & water.
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Safe Thawing in microwave: Follow manufactures instructions, cook immediately because some areas of the food may become warm & begin to cook creating an enviornment for harmful bacteria to grow.
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Safe Thawing in Cold Water: Place item in leakproof packaging or plastic bag. Sumerge in cold tap water changing water every 30 minutes. Small packages can defrost in an hour or less. 3-4 pound package may take to 2-3 hours.
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Thawing whole Turkeys estimate 30 minutes per pound. cook immediately
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To thaaw small amounts of meat in a refrigerator usually requires 1 day while larger amounts like turkey will take 24 hours for every 5 pounds.
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Meat & Poultry Hot Line: 800-535-4555 (toll free nationwide) 800-256-7072 (TTY)
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Make your own delicious seasoned bread crumbs: Dry bread in 250-degree oven until thoroughly dry. Whir in a blender or place in plastic bag and crushwith rolling pin. To season: Mix 1-teaspoon crushed oregano leaves, 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme, 1/2 teaspoon onion salt, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper to each cup of crumbs.
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Egg-Dyeing Tip: Before coloring eggs, dip them into a glass of hot water with a tablespoon of vinegar -- the acid helps the dye cling to the eggs.
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Cheese hard cheese like Parmesan or swiss last for weeks tightly wrapped. Soft cheese like cream cheese last a week once opened.
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Eggs Fresh eggs last several weeks past the sell by date Toss any with hairline cracks
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Ice Cream discard 2-3 weeks after opening
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Lunch meat Good 3-5 days after opening
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Yogurt Good about a week past the sell by date
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Pickles & other condiments Toss every 3 months or if color or consistency has changed
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Milk Stays fresh 2-3 days past the sell by date Whole milk spoils faster than skim
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Meat-If fresh cook or freeze within 2 days In the freezer steaks and chicken last 6 months or more pork chops last 3 months ground beef, pork, or pork sausage lasts 1-3 months
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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.
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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/calories per serving.
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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 mashingit up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
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Measuring Cups Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
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Dishwashing By Hand Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the dishwater. This will help to stop grease from sticking to pans, pots and the sink. Then add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse water to make your glassware shine.
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To Keep Rice From Sticking Spray the sides and bottom of the pot with nonstick vegetable spray before you add the water or rice. It will help preventthe rice from sticking.
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Buy lemons that are firm, have a smooth skin, are bright yellow in color and are heavy for their size
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Fresh lemon slices added to hot tea can help give you relief from a cough
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Use lemon juice in place of vinegar in your homemade salad dressing
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Juice lemons at room temperature; apply slight pressure and roll the lemons on the counter to help allow more juice to come out, then cut and squeeze
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Juice lemons at room temperature; apply slight pressure and roll the lemons on the counter to help allow more juice to come out, then cut and squeeze
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To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.
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To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
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Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle - perfect shaped pancakes every time.
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Butter the rim of a pan in which you cook rice or pasta so it won't boil over.
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When baking in a glass pan, reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
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If you like canned soup but think it's too salty - add a few chunks of cut raw potato before you cook it. The potato will absorb alot of the salt - remove it before eating.
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When using walnuts for baking: place them in a plastic bag with just a pinch of flower & shake. Keeps walnuts spaced through out the cake, etc. They will not all go to the bottom.
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If you want creamier macaroni and cheese just substitute sour cream for the milk
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Put on a kitchen rubber glove to open stubborn jar and bottle lids
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A cup of vinegar in a cup while cooking fish helps keep that fishy odor away.
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Pie Crust Tip - Put liquid shortening in the bottom of the pie pan. Use a paper towel, you dont need much. Put the pie crust in and then put a thin film on the bottom of the pie crust. This will keep it form getting soggy. This is great if you use Pillsbury Pie Crust from the dairy case. They will think you made it yourself.
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Before measuring shortening - line the measuring cup with plastic wrap - less sticky and No Mess to clean up!
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Need a biscuit cutter and don't have one? Use a mason jar canning ring or a used soup can that has been cleaned and both ends cut out. Makes perfect biscuits!
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Quick Delicious HomeMade Doughnuts - buy canned biscuits open biscuits and seperate, take a lid off of a plastic soda bottle and cut out the centers of the biscuits. Fry in wesson oil until they float, turn over and fry until other side is brown, put confectioners sugar in a gallon sized baggie and shake
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When measuring sticky items such as peanut butter, molasses, etc., rub some oil on the inside of your measuring and everything will come out without sticking
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Buy a cheap small plastic pump spray bottle, and fill it with any cooking oil . Use it to oil baking or frying pans. Cheaper to use than "PAM"
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Save butter wrappers or margarine wrappers and use them to grease your pans with. Store in a ziploc bag in the fridge
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Prevent cheese from sticking to the grater, spray the grater with cooking spray before beginning.
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When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
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When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness.
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Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
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To save money, pour all leftover veggies and water in which they are cooked into a freezer container when full, add tomato juice, and meat, and seasonings to create a "Free soup" in case you have plans and time is short.
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3 large stalks of celery , chopped and added to about 2 cups of beans (navy, brown, pinto, white) will make them easier to digest.
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a lump of sugar added to water when cooking greens helps vegetables retain there fresh color
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Never soak veggies after slicing, they will lose much of their nutritional value
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Soggy lettuce? soak in a mixture of lemon juice and cold water... result crisp lettuce.
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For a quick low-fat crunchy topping for muffins, sprinkle the tops with grape-nuts cereal before baking.
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boiling eggs - to see if they're done spin, it if it spins it done, if not it needs to boil some more
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Dry Bread Remedy - If your bread becomes dried out, try popping it in the oven for a few minutes after adding a little water to it ( or microwave with a wet paper towel ). The bread will absorb the water and become moister.
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When rolling out dough on your counter for cookies, etc...lightly spray counter with cooking spray before flouring; the flour wipes off counter with a paper towel instead of sticking.
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To see if your eggs are fresh, float them in a bowl of water. If they float, discard them
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To get the most juice out of a lemon, soften it first by pressing and rolling it on a countertop
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If your coffee is bitter add just a pinch of salt (not too much)
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If your iced tea is cloudy add a pinch of baking soda.
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To make big ice cubes for your pitcher of iced tea or lemonade, use muffin tins as ice cube trays.
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To add a special touch to iced tea, freeze whole berries, fresh mint, or citrus slices in ice cube trays filled with water.
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Store berries in the refrigerator without washing them - they'll last longer. Just wash right before eating.
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When you get to the bottom of your bag of chips and only have crumbs left, don't toss them. Put them in a freezer bag or container and stick them in the freezer. They will stay fresh and the next time you need a topping for a casserole or dish they are ready to go!
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After opening bags or boxes of Brown Sugar & Confectionar Sugar, store the rest in Ziplock baggies to keep the sugars moist & fresh.
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Instead of buying the saran wrap elastic bowl covers (kind of expensive), use shower caps (you can get about 15 for $1 at the Dollar Store!)
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To keep leftover salad crisp just place a paper towel over the top and put the lid on and turn upside-down in the fridge. Just replace paper towel each time you get some out.
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Need a butter dish, the plastic covered dish that comes with Crisco sticks works great, it is one way to reuse something that you would throw away When it is time to go on cook outs you can take it and not worry about it getting broken
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put your flour in the freezer - NO bugs
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Store ground coffee in fridge to keep it fresh
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Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains.
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Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
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Store your fresh baked cookies (or other baked goods) with a piece of white or wheat bread in first,the moisture will be absorbed by the piece of bread and your baked goods stay nice and soft!
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Put your plastic wrap in the freezer. It WILL stick to your containers, but it WON"T stick to itself
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Putting a piece of white bread into a bag of brown sugar also keeps it from drying out. Or store it in your freezer.
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~ Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a differentcolor twist tie.They are: Monday - Blue
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Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper
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To clean stuck on food from pans - fill with warm water and boil on stove for a couple of minutes, then clean with a sos soap pad.
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To clean koolaid stains on the kitchen counter just sprinkle some baking soda on it and use a wet cloth to wipe it up.
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To clean stuck on food from your microwave - wet a dishtowel and microwave for a few minutes - the stuck on food will wipe right off!
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Use a denture cleaning tablet to get the hard coffee stains out of your glass coffee pot!
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Cut S.O.S. Pads in half before using. You'll waste less and it will sharpen your sissors!
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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.
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Clean thermoses with AlkaSeltzer - fill with warm water and drop in 4 AlkaSeltzer Tablets and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary)
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Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.
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To get coffee stains out of the glass pot try table salt, lemon juice and a little water swirl around in pot then wipe any remaining stains before rinsing
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Use salt and lemon to clean Copper pots and pans - Spray lemon juice on the tarnish .... add table salt, watch the tarnish vanish. You can also use vinegar in place of the lemon.
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If you love brownies but hate to wash the baked-on mess in the pan, try lining the pan with aluminum foil. It makes it easier to get them out of the pan too!!
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Use a denture cleaning tablet to get the hard coffee stains out of your glass coffee pot!
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to get the hard coffee stains out of your glass coffee pot - Add some table salt to warm water and swirl around until pot is clean. Rinse well.
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Use baking soda to clean stubborn stains on pots and pans
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