Tag: Simple Things

Simple Things #4

I have to give credit where credit is due for the idea of posting about “simple” things.  Amelia from YouCanAlwaysStartNow and I collaborate regularly on ideas for posts like travel, life, monthly challenges, as well as many other things.

I love to bake, it’s one of the things that relaxes me so today’s “simple things” are all about baking.

1. Easier Cookie Cutting

Once you’ve made your cookie dough and have it rolled and ready to go, dip your cookie cutter in flour before cutting out your cookie shapes. The flour helps the cutter cut through the dough so you can cut your cookies out faster and with less frustration!

2. Ripen Bananas Quickly

Here’s a great tip if you want to make a recipe like banana bread and your bananas are not ripe.  To quickly ripen underripe bananas, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 300°F for about 40 minutes. You’ll end up with perfectly ripe bananas for your cakes and breads!

3. Warm Up Eggs Quickly

Starting a recipe that calls for room temperature eggs, but you just barely took your eggs out of the fridge? You can quickly bring those eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass or bowl of warm water. Let them sit in the warm water for a few minutes, and they’ll be ready to use!

4. Grate Your Butter

One of the keys to making perfectly flaky biscuits and pie crusts is having small pieces of butter evenly distributed throughout your dough. The easiest way to achieve this is to use grated butter! Grate your butter on a cheese grater then stir the butter pieces into the other ingredients.

5. Instant Powdered Sugar

If you’ve made a batch of cookies or cake that requires frosting and you check the cupboards and you could have sworn you had icing sugar, fear not!  You can actually make powdered sugar if you have white sugar and cornstarch on hand. Just add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to a blender or food processor. Just pulse the sugar mixture a few times until it gets to the right powdery consistency.

6. Mixer Splash Guard

I’ve been baking a long time and only figured this out recently.  I use a KitchenAid stand mixer and every time I mix dry ingredients in it, even on the slowest speed, it still sputters out over the side. I now put a dish towel over the top of the mixer which drapes down over the sides and no more sputters. For eight more brilliant KitchenAid Hacks (and where I found this picture) visit the crazy coupon lady .

6 Simple things to help when you feel like baking,  It’s A Wandaful Thing!

What is your favorite baking “simple thing”?

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Simple Things #2

I have to give credit where credit is due for the idea of posting about “simple” things.  Amelia from YouCanAlwaysStartNow and I collaborate regularly on ideas for posts like travel, life, monthly challenges, as well as many other things.

Today’s simple things ideas is all about household sponges and some of their many uses.

All you need for endless loads of super-soft laundry is a sponge (or a few), water, fabric softener and a sealed container. These never-ending DIY laundry sheets are built to last, they’re easy on your wallet, and it’s an easy way to be environmentally friendly.

Supplies You’ll Need

  • 1 cup of liquid fabric softener
  • 2 cups of water
  • 3 sponges
  • Resealable container
Instructions
  1. Mix the fabric softener and water in the resealable container.
  2. Cut the sponges in half and place them in the container. Let them soak up the liquid completely.
  3. The next time you do a load of laundry, take one sponge out. Squeeze the sponge over the container to remove any excess fabric softener. Place the sponge in the dryer with your laundry just like you would a normal dryer sheet.
  4. Once your laundry is done, place the sponge back into the container for another time. You can reuse them endlessly. Just be sure to replace the water and fabric softener every 2 to 3 months.

Use sponges as ice packs. All you need to do is take a standard kitchen sponge, soak it in water, put it inside a Ziploc bag, and freeze it. When you’re done, you have an ice pack. The handy thing is that when the ice starts to melt, the sponge soaks up the water so it doesn’t leak everywhere.

Add sponges to the bottom of plant pots. It will prevent water from dripping out the bottom of the planter and destroying surfaces. It has happened to me too many times until I discovered this great idea.

My personal favorite use for household sponges is to put them in the bottom of the crisper of my refrigerator. This will keep your vegetables fresher for longer by preventing moisture from accumulating in the bottom of the refrigerator crisper. Line the bottom of the drawer with dry sponges and replace any time they seem wet. Removing this excess moisture will help keep veggies at their peak. This also helps keep your crisper clean.

Simple things like household sponges can have many uses and are indeed                         .    A Wandaful Thing!

What do you use household sponges for?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you back here.

I’d love it if you would follow me at all these lovely places:

Twitter @awandafulthing,  https://www.facebook.com/awandafulthing

https://www.pinterest.com/awandafulthing/

 https://www.instagram.com/awandafulthing/