1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
2. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and won't mold.
3. 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.
4. To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich, add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream before beating.
5. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
6. Reheat leftover Pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. Or warm it in the oven on a cookie sheet or pizza pan at 350 degrees for 8 min. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza.
7. Easy Deviled Eggs - Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag, seal and mash until they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing and mixing thoroughly, cut off the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done for easy clean up.
8. When you buy a container of ready made Cake Frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You will double it in size. You can then frost more cake or cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
9. To warm left-over 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.
10. Use wet newspapers in your garden or flower beds, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspapers.
11. Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of broken glass that you can't see easily.
12. Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
13. To keep rabbits or other animals from eating your plants, sprinkle them with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and animals don't like it.
14. 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.
15. Reduce static cling by pinning a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress.
16. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out. Or spray the measuring cup or spoon with Pam before using.
17. 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 and it will unseal easily.
18. 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 on your hair.
19. To get rid of pesky fruit flies or gnats, take a small glass, fill partway with Apple Cider Vinegar and a little squirt of dish washing liquid; mix well. Those gnats will be drawn into a watery grave.
20. Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They will eat it or take it home to eat later but can't digest it, so it kills them. It may take a week or so, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed. This only works for certain types of ants.
