Everyday Hints for Home & Family, recipes, cooking, measuring, how tos

Everyday solutions... for around the home!

Hints for the Home and Family

LINKS:

Site Map

Save $$$$ and Control impulse grocery shopping -
Use a grocery list:

Click on: Basic Grocery List to get a free copy

Use the "Equivalents" button above.
Check it out!

Click here for Holly's 'How- to' Hint with photos

Furniture Care Hint:

Formica and wood surfaces do scratch. To prevent some of the wear & tear on them put the self-adhesive cork or fiber pads on the bottom of toasters, mixers, televisions, lamps, planters, etc. Ceramic and pottery items can scratch the surfaces real easily. Note that even if appliances have hard plastic feet on the underside it still may scratch. Why take a chance? Put the protective pads on!

Recipe of the Month Juanita's Hamburger Stew

     This one I grew up with as (and still is) a family favorite.   Juanita is my Mom.
      It has also become a 'deer camp' and winter gathering favorite as well.
      QUICK to make - less than an hour.
       You can make it a day or 2 ahead and it also freezes well.

NOTE to print this recipe: go to the RECIPE BOX - it is in the Casserole Category - you can print it from there.

Ingredients: Serves 4

- 1 lb ground round
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 ½ t salt
- ¼ t pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 c mini carrots, kept whole (or chop up 3 large)
- 3 potatoes cut into slices or cubes
- 1 14-15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 t parsley flakes

Directions:

1) Prepare & measure out all of the ingredients.

2) In a large saucepan or skillet, brown the ground beef and onion in the olive oil,
breaking it up into bite size pieces.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients to the meat.

4) Cover, simmer for 30 or more minutes until a fork goes easily into the potatoes & carrots.

5) Serve with soft or hard breadsticks or crescent rolls or cornbread.

Hints:

* You can easily double or triple this recipe to feed a crowd
or to have some left to freeze for serving on another day.

* Store it in a large zipper food bag for easy transporting to camp or
to take up less space in a freezer.

Go to my RECIPE BOX for more of my favorite recipes. Holly's Hints Recipe Box

You will FIND recipes I have posted on this page in previous months
and many other recipes.

This fun site was a gift from Locus Designs, and it fits perfectly with my goal to have us all share and learn.

**********

DO YOU WANT YOUR
Kitchen and Bath towels to absorb water?

You can by
Never using
Fabric Softener on them.

Do NOT use any liquid or
fabric softener dryer sheets on them.

Why? Because the softener coats
the fabric fibers &
as it covers the fibers -
it seals it and repels the water
instead of soaking it up.

****

To Freshen your Linens

add a 1/4 cup of baking soda or 20 Mule Team Borax
to the washing cycle.

****

Towels & Clothes dry faster if you shake them before
you put them in the dryer.

Miscellaneous Hints

	Toothbrushes can be cleaned / sanitized every month in the dishwasher.
	Store blankets in pillow shams to save room in closets for other items.
	to get more juice out of lemons, limes, & oranges - microwave them for 20 - 30 seconds before you cut them in half.
	Release your mind from clock watching by using a timer to help keep you on task or to remind you to get clothes out of the dryer or turn off a sprinkler and so on.
	Save your thumb - push the nail into a piece of cardboard. Hold the cardboard instead of the nail - Now start hammering it in place, once secure, tear away the cardboard. Finish hammering the nail into place.
	Cleaning with VINEGAR works best & faster if it is warm. So either mix it with warm water or if want to use it full strength - heat it up in a microwave safe container for 30 or more seconds. Using it warm really makes a difference. Food Hints
	making CREPES - let the batter rest in the refrigerator one (1) hour before using.
	Garlic cloves peel easier if you microwave it for 15 seconds.
	Olive oil should be kept in dark containers & in a cupboard.
	Cake & frosting mixes, and canned frosting can be easily 'perked' up by adding flavor oils and food coloring to them.
	ALL kitchens should have 3 cutting boards - this is for food SAFETY !!!
	One for: RAW meat
	One for: COOKED meat
	One for: VEGGIES & FRUITS

Make sure they are labeled so that anyone using them knows which is which.

I have 4 cutting boards - my 4th one is for cutting breads, etc.

Drugstore.com has more than you'd think. Holly has ordered from this site since 2001.

Drugstore.com also sells, food, toys, skin care, household items, including babies & pets. Give them a try.

GRILLING SAFETY HINT:

Grill grates should be lubricated BEFORE you start grilling. Wipe olive oil OR use your cooking spray on your cool grill grates.

If you forget to 'oil' it before you heat up the grates Do NOT use a cooking spray as it is flammable & it can cause a flame that will follow up the spray to the can in your hand & can cause severe burns to you & may even cause the can to explode!!

Grilling and basting a whole turkey

   Dwight grilling turkey
   over charcoal.
   This is our favorite way
   to have turkey.

Dwight bastes the turkey with a butter sauce recipe
he learned many years ago from a friend.

HINT: You can find his Butter Sauce recipe in the Recipe Box.

Grilling - My husband loves to cook - on the grill outside. He has perfected it over the past 28 years. He does it all - gas, charcoal and wood. He's a retired teacher & coach and found that cooking is a great way for him to unwind - it's therapy for him. So you can be sure that I will be including grilling hints and recipes here in in my Recipe Box.

HINT:     HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE GRILL IS HOT ENOUGH?
To test that your gas or charcoal grill is ready to cook on - just take a regular crescent shaped ice cube
& place it on the grate. If it melts in 15-20 seconds - it's ready.

HINT: For grill flare ups - keep a spray bottle of water handy to spray them quickly .

HINT: One of our favorite and easiest marinades is
Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing. Marinade any chicken cuts, turkey tenderloins,
beef kabobs, fish fillets or pork chops in this dressing
for 30 or more minutes before you put it on the grill.

HINT: Do NOT use any marinade that has had raw meat soaking in it. TOSS it.
OR -
Heat it in a large pan & when it starts to Boil - let it boil for 5 minutes -
WATCH & stir it because a lot of marinades foam up & BOIL OVER the pan & make a mess.

HINT: Use timers to keep track of items cooking on the grill - that way you don't have to be a 'clock watcher' and you can do other things without worrying about keeping track of the time.

HINT: Always - Always: For any food item, if you have doubts about it being safe - then throw it out. It is always better to be safe than sorry. The value of the food is never more than the health of people.
So "When in doubt - Throw it OUT"

Click here for: Entertaining Hints

Idea for your future high school
or
college Graduate

Here’s a photo of the T-Shirt Memory Quilt
I made our son for his high school graduation.
It is a great way to preserve the memories of
growing up by using their favorite t-shirts
that depict special events of their lives.

To order the instructions on how to make one
for a loved one and your friends - go to my
Holly's Treasures - Catalog

Online Shopping Sources

Holly's Hints Shopping Guide - shop where Holly shops

NOTE:
All web site links are listed as a convenience to our visitors. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites.

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