What’s your skill/tip that you always feel smug about when it pays off?

[PepperPepperMan]

Reading the comments on a FB page, included things like, taking boiled eggs with you on days out, taking a wet flannel out with you instead of baby wipes and hot dogs in a tea flask with rolls and sachets of ketchup.

I was always really disorganised on days out with DC what did your mum/nanna do as a little survival tip that you carried forward?

Slice a lemon and freeze the slices for drinks

For parents of babies in cloth nappies - save their 17-24/2-3 ish age bottoms, they will probably fit again when the child is potty trained.
Also save newborn/tiny clothes, they make excellent doll’s clothes.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

My parents had holiday travel down to an art, we had lots of U.K. caravan holidays which required a 3-4 hour drive to get to the destination.

We would be loaded into the car at 5am, in PJs and there was "no room in the boot for the duvet" so it would have to be draped over our knees as the only place for it. Us 3 kids would be asleep within 10 minutes.

Dad would drive for 3 hours and stop at the last Little Chef on the route. At that point we'd all be woken up, off to the toilets to get changed, brush teeth and freshen up then go into little chef for a full English breakfast. Final trip to the loos then we'd drive to the the caravan park and leave the car there till check in time and take a walk to the beach. Mum would have a cool box and a bag with beach stuff right on top of everything in the boot. The cool box had ice packs, boiled eggs still in shells, chicken legs, crisps, satsumas, kitkats or penguins, cheese sandwiches, cherry tomatoes and cucumber rounds. And a big bottle of squash which had been frozen the night before so it acted as an ice pack and melted in time for lunch.

Your parents were geniuses! I would never in a million years manage to be that organised.

Knowing how to make great Yorkshire puddings. Not sure why, but always brings me such joy

@OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow

I’ve got a huge bottle of cheap cologne (European supermarket special). I fold up tissues, put them in a zip loc bag and soak in cologne. On hot days everyone (yes you scoffing bil) wants one. My dd does this thing using socks as rollers to get big bouncy curls. Looks brilliant. And she has socks.

Dont understand this one, why would I want a tissue soaked in cheap cologne on a hot day ? I'm not being snarky genuine question.

My DPs were like @HalfShrunkMoreToGo's in that they were very organised with a cold box, etc. We were a big family so travel and eating out was always a PITA and expensive, so we would have picnics all the time. When in France, their favourite holiday destination, we'd stop and buy 2 flutes (large baguettes), pate, ham, tomatoes and a tray of peaches and with that, a knife, my grandad's old army ground sheet and a set of Tupperware glasses (you had to remember who'd had which colour), we picnicked down many a country lane!

I always do a supermarket online delivery whilst sitting on the beach on holiday to arrive about three hours after we arrive home. Plus if we are going for a week I freeze very fresh milk before we go and leave it in the fridge to slowly defrost whilst we are away so there is still fresh milk when we get back for DHs cuppa.

I don't understand either?

@stillcrazyafterall

I have a 'parking purse' - small purse full of change because I found I never had coins to pay for parking/tips in restaurants etc. My colleagues laughed when I told them but now quite a few have done the same!

I keep a handful of small change in the centre console in my car for this reason. I'm fed up of parking in places and not having the right money. Car park machines don't give change either.

I know you can pay by app but usually when I use it I need to update bank card details or I'm in a different vehicle that I've not registered on there yet and it's quicker to pay cash.

If you have to cook a lot of bacon, loosely roll each rasher up around a couple of fingers and put them on a baking tray in the oven. You can fit loads in and as long as you don't overdo them, they'll unroll again on to the plates.

@Amore2

Love this thread! Using a dishmatic (washing up wand) to give the shower a scrub. I do this a couple of times a week, squeegee the screen and spray the daily shower spray after my shower and now don't have to do the dreaded deep clean once a week (more like forthnight, tbh!). Life changed!! 😂😂

This is probably my favourite tip on here so far. What a good idea. It must be so much easier than using a cloth that you have to keep rinsing out. Do you use the type that you normally put Fairy Liquid in the handle and it comes out of the sponge bit? If so, do you just pour bathroom cleaner in there instead?

I'm going to add one to my shopping list now!

@poorbuthappy

Always pack the white wine in with the frozen food at the supermarket. That way by the time you get home and you can't possibly wait for it to go into the fridge it will be chilled.

Another great idea! I normally get a delivery but next time I do actually go to the supermarket I'm going to try and remember to do this!

Add some dry stuffing mix to the sausage meat when you make sausage rolls. Adds flavour and soaks up the greasiness.

I take freezer clips and plastic box food storage on holidays when we're.in apartment accommodation because I have learnt over the years that those places don't provide them and you need em to keep food fresh. I don't care how old that makes me sound 😂

It's an utterly useless skill. But I'm very proud of my ability to balance a spoon off the tip of my nose. I don't expect it'll get me on X-factor but it's still my 'thing'

My MIL did a flask of pigs in blankets and another of hot choc which was rather epic after a brisk winters walk

@Hillary17

Knowing how to make great Yorkshire puddings. Not sure why, but always brings me such joy

Please, please, please, please please share the secret, @Hillary17!

I am a good home cook, but I cannot do yorkshires - or toad in the hole - they always turn out flat. I've tried different recipes, bought a metal tin that I can get screaming hot in the oven before the batter goes in, rested the batter, not rested the batter, begged and pleaded, and still no joy.

Oh - and as a counter to all the lovely picnic/holiday journey stories - when I was a kid, my mum decided it was too much work to boil, peel and mash eggs to make egg mayonnaise sandwiches (which we all loved - she used salad cream instead of mayo, and it was delicious), so she decided an easier option was to scramble the eggs.

Cold, scrambled egg sandwiches, eaten in a layby, whilst mum smoked in the front seat. Yum. Not.

@Spanielsarepainless

My DH always took a couple of small plastic trays when we were going on a long drive and had taken a packed lunch. We used them like huge plates and saved the inside of the car from getting crumby and scattered with crisps!

Definitely pinching this idea! Genius!

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius - my mum used to have her pudding tins right at the top of the gas oven, that was on at least gas mark 7 if not higher, and there would be a few mm depth of dripping in them which was sizzling hot before she put the batter in. Nearly always resulted in beautiful cup-shaped little yorkies. The hot fat stopped the centres from rising much, so you had these fabulous little gravy holders!

Always bring a clothes horse or travel clothes line when camping or to holiday cottages. I have a couple of very neat clothes horses that take up very little space in the car

Use a laundry hamper to pack stuff into for holidays. Then use for its intended purpose at your destination. It goes straight from car to utility room when back home. Obv, you can use any bag for this, but I find a large laundry hamper/bag works really well because there's no confusion over the clean vs soiled storage

Always, always, always bring snacks and books/toys for kids when you leave the house. Doesn't matter where you're going or for how long - means my lot are always well-behaved when there's a long wait in a restaurant or in boring queues

Bring a bag or tub for rubbish

Dressing gowns are brilliant for wrapping up to drive home all snuggly after a day at the beach

Crush garlic without peeling the cloves

Freeze chunks of ginger and chili's, then grate from frozen - so much easier to prepare (if a little cold!)

I'm obsessed with kikoys. I use them for:

• Ring sling for baby
• Back carrier for older child
• Scarf
• Pashmina
• Towel
• Sarong
• Dress for toddler who'd wet themselves
• Cape for superheroes/princesses
• Mopping up spills
• Blanket in hot weather

Clearly I took Hitchhiker's Guide very seriously because I rarely leave the house without a towel!

@Sillysuzie

Freeze yogurts for packed lunches. Keep a 2l bottle of water in freezer for long journeys. Always take frozen bottles on walks so you don't drink it too fast and need to pee in the wild.

Fill a water bottle 3/4 full, then balance against peas etc in the freezer do it is tipped to 45 degrees. Leave overnight and fill the remaining part with water in the morning - you can then drink straight away, but the water keeps cool for ages

[quote bigbaggyeyes]@AtlasPine I used to find that the cling film had an odd smell after freezing, but the sarnie was fine (the smell didn't transfer) as long as it was something simple like cheese or peanut butter. [/quote]
I used to have 6 sisters sandwich boxes - would make up 3 lots of sandwiches for DDs on a Sunday, and 2 lots on a Wednesday and stick them in the freezer to pull out ready in the morning. I never got any complaints but can't put anything like salad/ wet tomatoes in - just used to be ham or cheese, then added some veg sticks separately

Crush oxo cubes in their foil
Also pet food in pouches