Time-Saving Kitchen and Household Hacks You Need to Know
Looking for simple yet effective tips to make your daily routine easier? From ripening bananas to keeping cheese fresh, we’ve rounded up the best kitchen and household hacks you can start using today. These easy tricks will save you time, help you cook like a pro, and even make your home life more efficient. Learn how to store food, repurpose common items, and solve everyday challenges with these genius tips. Perfect for anyone looking to maximize convenience and enjoy smarter solutions.
- Bananas Ripening Faster: When you get home from the store, separate your bananas. If left connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
- Keep Cheese Fresh: Store opened cheese chunks in aluminum foil. It keeps the cheese fresher for longer and prevents molding.
- Peppers with 3 vs. 4 Bumps: Peppers with 3 bumps at the bottom are sweeter and better for eating raw, while those with 4 bumps are firmer and better for cooking.
- Ground Beef Tip: Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef to help pull the grease away while cooking.
- Rich Scrambled Eggs or Omelets: For richer scrambled eggs or omelets, mix in a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream before beating the eggs.
- Brownie Treat: After making brownies, melt Andes mints in a double boiler and pour over the warm brownies. Let it set for a delicious minty frosting.
- Garlic Flavor: Add garlic early in a recipe for a mild garlic taste; add it at the end for a stronger flavor.
- Halloween Snickers Dessert: Chop leftover Snickers bars from Halloween. Slice apples, place them in a baking dish, and sprinkle the chopped candy over the apples. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
- Reheat Pizza: To reheat leftover pizza, use a nonstick skillet on medium-low heat. This keeps the crust crispy, unlike the microwave.
- Easy Deviled Eggs: Place cooked egg yolks in a ziplock bag and mash them up. Add other ingredients, reseal, and mash until mixed. Cut off the tip of the bag and squeeze the mixture into the eggs for easy cleanup.
- Expand Frosting: Whip store-bought frosting with a mixer for a few minutes. You can double its size, making more frosting with the same amount.
- Reheat Bread: To warm refrigerated biscuits, pancakes, or muffins, place them in the microwave with a cup of water. The moisture keeps the food moist and helps it reheat faster.
- Newspaper for Weeds: Wet newspapers and place them around your plants, then cover with mulch. Weeds won’t grow through the newspaper, unlike plastic.
- Pick Up Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up small glass shards that are hard to see.
- Repel Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket to keep mosquitoes away.
- Keep Squirrels Away: Sprinkle cayenne pepper on your plants. It doesn’t harm the plants, but squirrels will avoid them.
- Flexible Vacuum: Attach an empty paper towel roll or gift wrap roll to your vacuum to clean under the fridge or through narrow spaces.
- Static Cling Solution: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip or slacks to prevent static cling.
- Measuring Sticky Ingredients: Before using a measuring cup for sticky substances like peanut butter, fill it with hot water, then dump it out. The ingredient will slide out easily.
- Clear Foggy Windshields: Keep a chalkboard eraser in your glove box. Rub it on your fogged-up windshield for a clear view—better than using a cloth!
- Reopening Envelopes: If you’ve sealed an envelope and need to add something, freeze it for an hour or two. The seal will come off easily.
- Shave with Conditioner: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs smooth.
- Eliminate Fruit Flies: Fill a small glass halfway with apple cider vinegar and add 2 drops of dish soap. Fruit flies will be drawn to it and disappear.
- Get Rid of Ants: Place small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, bring it home, and can’t digest it, which kills them.
- Dryer Filter Build-Up: Even with regular lint cleaning, dryer sheets can leave a waxy build-up on your filter. Clean the filter with a toothbrush and hot soapy water every six months to prevent overheating.
