encyclopedia of tips and tricks
 

AKA "life hacks"

I thought I'd start a thread where we could post life hacks, tips and tricks and shortcuts that we've learned through the years to help make life easier and have them here in one spot for all of us to refer to. It can be about anything.

For example..with Holiday baking on the horizon...

When baking, before I even start, I fill my sink with hot soapy water. I then wash as I go. This way I'm able to reuse cups, bowls, etc.. rather than dirty a ton of them. You're also not faced with a mountain of dirty dishes when you're done cooking. There are often points in a recipe that you have to wait for a step to complete before you can proceed, such as baking a crust or waiting for chocolate to melt or something to cool, you can take advantage of this "wait" time and wash.

This also allows me to easily bang out a few recipes without the horror of cleaning up after myself at the end of it all.

I always keep a piece of paper pinned to my refrigerator. Every time I run low on something or grab the last one, I write it down. This way, when it's time to go shopping, I just grab my ready-made list. This is specially practical for things you may not use as often and not realize you're almost out of. Saves a lot of aggravation. I also do this at work for office supplies. Otherwise I'd forget that I was running out of scotch tape and needed to some next time I placed an order for pens & paper.

I keep my cereals and rice and grains in plastic containers such i.e. Tupperware, Rubbermaid, etc. I cut the directions strip from the side of the box and tape it to the container or on the inside door of the cabinet. Same goes for round oatmeal containers. Just use an exacto/craft knife to cut the strip away and attach to container or door.

I was asked to bring a hot dish to Quilt Club and i did not have too much time so I put the frozen store bought Lasagna in glass casserole and bake it and they ate it all. When i bake cookies I have learned to cover cookie sheet with Parchment paper and the bottoms do not burn or get to brown before they are done.

On a standard sheet of paper I wrote out a list of all the grocery items that we buy. The list has several columns on it and it is in the order the items are found in the store. Using our printer, I print the list on both sides of the paper, (it is good for 2 shopping trips).

Everyone in the family uses a highlighter to highlight the items that I need to buy. Before my weekly shopping trip I review the list and highlight what we need. At the end of the list is an "Other" spot for those items that are not on the list, (furnace filters, prescriptions, and other seldom bought items).

My list saves a lot of time in the store and items are not forgotten.

Elise

I have two adult grandchildren living with me. Before I started pinning a grocery list to the refrigerator I would go to get something I knew I had and would find it gone. Now they know if they use something to add it to the list.

An oatmeal box holds 2 rolls of toilet paper for reserve in the bathroom.

Arrange spices in alphabetical order and on a rotating base in the cupboard. (Mine are old so not sure if can be found in the stores now. One is double layered. You know--if it's a good idea, they quit making it!))

I'm glad to see most of these I already do. Well, except the frozen lasagna one LOL, cool trick!!

I love the frozen lasagna trick. I usually go to the deli and buy some sort of salad, put it in a fancy dish and sprinkle some chives, paprika, or whatever I have on hand that goes with the salad and dress it up a bit. By now I'm sure my friends have caught onto me.

I use plastic clothespins to close chip bags, cereal, cracker packages, dog food bag.... much less expensive than chip clips.