Of dustpans & phytochemicals

Volume III, No. 17 (November 27, 2005)
Copyright © Deborah Michelle Sanders 2005

If the L-rd had not been my helper,
I should soon have slept in the silent grave.
When I felt that my foot was slipping,
Thy love, O L-rd, held me up.
Anxious thoughts may fill my heart,
But Thy presence is my joy & my consolation.

-- From Psalm 94





HOUSEHOLD HINTS:

If you’re getting frustrated in sweeping out the kitchen, it could be because your dustpan is warped. Straighten it out with a hammer, & you’ll be back in business.

Home owner? Maintenance can be a full-time chore. Start with the basics, & you’ll be more relaxed. Caulking is such a basic. Wherever one material (such as the roof) comes into contact with another material (the walls, the chimney), that’s where to caulk!

When shopping in any store that carries foodstuffs, including chain drugstores, keep an eye peeled for a cart that is devoted to clearance items. There may be dents or the expiration date may be close to today, but if you buy from the cart, you may be able to save 10-75%.

Replace your car’s oil filter whenever you change the oil. The filter has absorbed dirty oil, which will just contaminate the clean new oil you add.

If you receive winter-forced daffodils (or live somewhere warm, where they will soon be in your garden), & want to arrange them with other flowers, be aware that they have a sap in their stems that is harmful to other plants. So, quarantine the daffodils for 12 hours, by putting them in their own container full of water.

To get out the last ounce or so of foodstuffs like salt or oatmeal that come in cardboard canisters, cut the top off. To get the last ounce or so of toiletries like shampoo , cut as much of the container off as necessary to be able easily to reach its bottom. For both purposes, use a knife that you have dedicated for crafts. A serrated knife serves me well in these endeavors.

Instead of going out to buy an artist’s palette, recycle an egg carton. (This works better with a plastic egg carton than it does with a cardboard one.)

Never buy a new car in its 1st year on the market. Like everything else electronic, it takes its own kind of “beta testing” to get out all of the “bugs.”

Use freezer Zip-Lock® bags over & over for freezer storage, even of meats. Simply use a free produce bag to cover the item while you are in the store. Once you get home, put a Zip-Lock® bag OVER the plastic bag. Unless you are unfortunate enough to tear the zipper, you can reuse that bag indefinitely.

Some public libraries will lend artwork which you can display in your home. Some even lend tools for maintenance & crafting. If your local library does not, call around to neighboring counties. In most states, anyone who lives in the state can receive a library card in any county therein.

Do you have a little girl who has a big doll? Try to obtain the doll’s clothing at a thrift store or garage sale – only, look at newborn’s (children’s) clothing. It should be a perfect fit!

Need to remove rust from chrome? Here’s a nifty way. Take a tiny piece of aluminum foil & wrap it around your finger (shiny side out). Rub the chrome until the rust disappears. That’s it!

You no longer have to clean messy pans of oatmeal! Just spray oil into the pan before cooking! And you know that the same trick works with measuring spoons or cups into which you need to pour sticky foods like molasses. You also are quite aware that when measuring, you should apply the dry ingredients before the wet ingredients, so as to save on that chore of washing up!

If a rubber spatula develops a fray at the edge, just take your kitchen sheers & trim that edge – the spatula will work as well as a new one!

I never peel potatoes, & I only peel carrots when I’ve been foolish enough not to use one until it has developed a “beard.” I also eat an apple completely, everything but the stem! You might not want to go so far with the apple, but know that all the good phytochemicals are right below the skin, so don’t peel eggplants, either.

Of crispy chicken & misplaced objects

Volume III, No. 16 (November 20, 2005)
Copyright © Deborah Michelle Sanders

Attach us to Your commandments….
Attach us to the Good Inclination & to good deeds
& compel our Evil Inclination to be subservient to you.

n From the Jewish morning prayers






HOUSEHOLD HINTS:

Get that Kentucky Fried Chicken® crispness without the fast-foods price. Just create a coating of ½ part crumbled cornflakes to ½ part flour & place in a shallow bowl. Season as desired; then add ½ tsp baking powder (NOT soda) for each total part of coating & stir well. Fill another shallow bowl with water. Put chicken first in water, then in the crumbs/flour mixture, & then back in water. People who do not observe Jewish dietary restrictions can use milk in place of water. You can then bake or fry the chicken.

When sending a card to a hospitalized person, use his or her return address, not yours. In this way, if he or she has been discharged, the card will still reach its intended destination.

Squeaky floorboards do not need anything expensive for repair. Just take talcum or baby powder, & apply it with a broom. End of problem.

When you open a container of milk – or, after having prepared non-fat dry milk – add a pinch of salt. It will keep the beverage fresher longer.

Do you have a door that is bent out of shape? The easiest way to get it back in shape is to spring for a new hinge. Apply it midway between the 2 existing hinges. Over time, the curve will be straightened out by the force of gravity.

Are you a man who likes to wear silk neckties? Or a woman who wears silk scarves? You can prolong their lives once you’ve removed them by rubbing them against your bare thigh. The nap will be lifted & the wrinkles will disappear. This works because of your body oil, & the large flat surface like an ironing board.

Anyone who can sew can revamp garments that no longer work in their present condition. For example, sleeves with elbow holes can be shortened. Or a full skirt, or wide tie or lapels, can be made narrower. If the garment seems beyond salvation, at least remove everything that can be used again (buttons, zippers, & other notions), before consigning the garment to the ragbag. (Alternatively, give the intact garment to charity.)

You can save valuable time in scheduling & keeping your kids’ visits to the doctor or dentist for routine checkups, if you schedule the visits back-to-back. In this way, you can make just one trip for all the children.

You can obtain many used or returned items from shop owners, at stellar prices. For example, ask a plumbing contractor for sinks or toilets. Ask a dry-cleaner for clothes, a shoe cobbler for footwear, a carpet store for a rug. You get the idea: you can obtain these -- & more – at fabulous discounts,. Floor samples in a store cannot touch these prices, even though the floor samples are considerably cheaper than regular retail.

Serve breakfast juice in 4-oz shot glasses. All the flavor you need to get the morning started right, without high expense.

Consider what you actually NEED, instead of what you initially WANT, before parting with your hard-earned dollars. For example, I recently had a metal watchband break. After trying to no avail to fix it, I initially thought of getting a professional repair. But then I realized: All that I REALLY need is a watch for outside of my house, as I have several clocks inside it. So, I have taken to keeping my watch inside my purse, AND have saved myself several precious dollars.

Don’t go out & buy a new mattress just because your bed has become too soft or your back has gotten bad. Instead, go out & buy a sheet or sheets of plywood large enough to cover your bedsprings. (Ask the lumberyard to saw the wood to size if you don’t have the appropriate tools.) Insert the plywood between your mattress & bedsprings, & there you are!

Place a layer of newspaper at the bottom of trash bins to keep odors away. This works both in a kitchen garbage pail, or in outside trash barrels.

If your coffeemaker with an automatic timer has seen better days, here’s how to economize. Buy a new coffeemaker that is cheap because it lacks a timer. Buy a separate timer, such as is used to turn lights on & off to fool a potential burglar. Plug your new coffeemaker into the new timer, plug the timer into the outlet, & you’ll have your morning coffee waiting for you, at moderate expense.

If you want to give flowers to an out-of-town friend, phone a florist in her town. (You can get the info on the Web.) You’ll save big bucks over FTD, which charges for the middleman.

In order to find a misplaced object – such a frustration to all of us at times – the best place to look first is exactly where it is supposed to be!

Of medications & flooring

Volume 3, No. 15 (November 13, 2005)
Copyright © Deborah Michelle Sanders 2005

L-rd, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen today that You & I cannot handle together. – Saidie Patterson

HOUSEHOLD HINTS:

If your doctor prescribes a new medication for you, ask for a trial free sample. You COULD also take the script to a pharmacy & ask the drugstore to fill it for only a few pills – BUT you will have to shell out a co-pay. Furthermore, the drugstore charges a dispensing fee on every prescription bottle that it fills.

To save on molasses or honey when you are baking, sprinkle the measuring cup with flour before measuring the sweetening. The easiest way to do this is to keep some flour in a large-holed dispenser (you can also use this flour to dust baking pans.).

A nice way of cushioning goods to be sent to others is to take plastic bags from the market, & blow each one up, knotting its end. These will cushion the shipment nicely.

Would you ever have guessed that there are 2 kinds of damp mops for different kinds of floors? Yup, there are. A wet mop is for cleaning resilient flooring. A sponge mop is for all other kitchen & bath floors.

Before washing clothing, cover nice buttons with aluminum foil, to keep them looking their best. Close zippers completely for aesthetic reasons, as well as to avoid harmful “hook-up’s.”

This is hardly the kind of thing you would think of if you were bereaved, but it’s crucial. Burglars read the obituary columns daily, & plan their criminal path in part with reference to the survivors’ names & the telephone directory. Be sure to have someone house-sit for you on the day of the funeral, to avoid double heart-break.

Do you own an umbrella stand? A major inconvenience is having to clean out the bottom. Try this trick: Cut sponges to fit the bottom. Then you’ll only have to wring them out into a pail, instead of having to bend over each time for several minutes.

Only buy produce in local season -- for 2 reasons: First of all, it is going to be cheaper (no transportation costs). And, secondly, local produce is far less likely to have been sprayed with pesticides, owing to the lenient regulations of many other countries.

If you need to use sandpaper on a plastic or wood surface, but have run out, you can use a cement block or a brick to roughly sand. Then use an emery board to touch up the inevitable scratches. (DON’T try this on interior furniture!)

You MAY have a deposit tied up in a utility company’s coffers, especially if you started new service in the last 2 years. Inquire of your land-line & cell phone companies, & of your gas & electric provider, to see whether you are now eligible for a refund.

When your kids are past the squirt-gun stage, ask them to provide you with one. It can help you in many ways that a squirt bottle could as well. But it has a special use if you are putting up wallpaper. It dampens the corners of sheets that are still dry, after you have applied water to the whole sheets..

After the politicking is over, & the election has passed, the candidates’ offices shut down. For any candidate who spent funds in campaigning, the office will be running for a while afterwards. Go to the office, & request envelopes, posters, or whatever else you would like to have. Most candidates will be willing, because otherwise they would most likely have to pay for disposal. All you’ll need to do is to put your own return-address sticker over that of the candidate, use the back of the poster, & so forth.

Before you commit yourself to purchasing a major appliance, find out whether service is available locally. If it isn’t, you’ll have to shell out transportation money -- & maybe even the assistance of a local dealer to unassemble it for it to be able to be shipped. Ridiculous!

Don’t throw out the shavings from a pencil sharpener (particularly a big one). The cedar makes for great stuffing for sachets for hanging in a closet!

In cold weather, an alternative to extra blankets or an electric blanket is good old newspaper. Yes, folks, just spread newspaper over your mattress, beneath the bottom sheet. You’ll be surprised at how well this works.

The best way to keep your floors relatively clean is to install floor mats both inside & outside each door. Sisal or rubber mats are particularly durable, & you can find then in appealing designs. The expenditure now will pay off in your needing fewer cleaning materials. Your back will thank you, too!

Of 911 cell calls & sweeping

Volume III, No. 14 (November 6, 2005)
Copyright © Deborah Michelle Sanders 2005

O L-rd, it is good to give Thee thanks,
To sing psalms to Thy name, O Most High,
To declare Thy love in the morning
& Thy constancy every night,
to the music of a 10-stringed lute,
to the sounding chords of the harp.

--from Psalm 92






BEST BUYS FOR NOVEMBER:

Pumpkins
Apples
Cranberry sauce
Baking ingredients, including evaporated milk (which is a very good item to keep on hand, in case of an emergency that keeps the stores shut).
Citrus season starts in November
Brussels sprouts
Broccoli
And, of course, TURKEYS! (Buy the day AFTER Thanksgiving for rock-bottom prices!)

Winter coats on Election Day & Veterans Day
Blankets & quilts
Fabrics
Furniture

The prime season for consumer coupons falls between Thanksgiving & Christmas



HOUSEHOLD HINTS:

Did you know that you don’t need to participate in a wireless cell phone plan to be able to dial 911 in an emergency? It’s true – use any old cell phone that has a currently-charged battery so it can receive a signal, & you’re in business, safely!

When you get a spill in your oven, sprinkle the mess with a mixture of 1 part cinnamon to 5 parts salt just as soon as you turn the oven off. Once everything has cooled down, you can use a spatula to clear out all of it, & then follow up with a sponge.

After a spaghetti dinner, place the pasta & the sauce in SEPARATE containers in the fridge. Next time that you want to serve the dish, put the pasta into a colander & run hot water over it. Then stir it in a pot of boiling water for just one minute, & drain it again in the colander. Meanwhile, heat the sauce. The dish will taste as good as on the day that you 1st prepared it.

If you need to take a large number of medications at different times of the day, the small meds trays designed for 7 days of pills may not be sufficient for you. Try this. Take 2 plastic ice cube trays that hold 14 cubes each, & securely tape their bottoms together, keeping the trays in the same plane or orientation (not back-to-back). Label from top to bottom for the days of the week, & from side to side for the hour at which the medications are to be taken. If you have a VERY large number of dosage schedules to deal with, just add another tray.

If you have broken glass to sweep up, here’s the safest way. Put a plastic bag over the dustpan. Sweep the glass in. Using heavy gloves, run your fingers across the broom straws, to pick up the smallest shards of glass. Place them on the dustpan. Remove the plastic bag by drawing it inside out. Toss.

Decorate your kitchen with pictures of food cut from magazines – or, from cookbooks that have a separate inset of color pages.

If you are sweating after a work-out, grab a bag of discrete produce from the freezer – I mean such things as corn kernels, peas, cranberries, or blueberries. Rub it on your neck & forehead. Instant relief!

To keep broom straws clean, fan them with your fingers onto the filled dustpan.

While Bounty & other premium paper towels are expensive as all get-out, they are still cheaper than cloths like those manufactured by Swiffer®. They can be used either wet or dry on the Swiffer® floor mop or other accessory.

Right after Election Day, visit the various candidates’ offices to get paper goods that are now surplus – envelopes & posters (use the backs) are just some of the items that you can obtain for free.

A creative way for parents to get respite from caring for their kids is for them to exchange weekends with another family. Family #2 brings the kids of Family #1 home for one weekend. Next month, the exchange is reversed.

On all electronic equipment, WAITING for its features to become commonplace will save you big bucks. And you DO know that software should never be purchased unless it has progressed beyond Release .0!