Simple useful things that took you too long to work out...

[MyCatIsAGit]

Like taking the oven shelf out of the top oven to use in the bottom (bigger) oven so you can fit 3 trays in rather than just 2.

10 years we've had that oven, juggling baking trays at Christmas and for kid's beige food and chips tea, in fact most days. Especially as top oven doesn't work v well.

Revelation this Sunday..

And thanks for the 4-gang tip. Could've done with that last year camping.

The higher settings can be for frozen bread or very dense bread?

Even simpler rice cooking:
Get measuring jug
Do 75ml of rice per adult
Double that amount of water
Boil water, add rice, turn as low as hob will go, and PUT LID ON.
In however many minutes it says on the packet you will have cooked rice that doesn't need draining.

It doesn't work if you take the lid off and peek before its done.

Boil the water , and than let it cool.

• after it is cool , boil the water again!
• this is it! you are done !

explanation : the double boiling eliminates dissolved air in the water and decomposes minerals in the water ! dissolved air + minerals +dust are the causing of the cloudy look!

(off internet - works too)

Not having kids will save you a fortune in money, stress levels, ageing, and more! I am always surprised that more people haven't realised this!

Rice:
Measure rice by volume. Remember the measurement.
Wash the rice in about three changes of water to remove all the loose starch.
Leave to soak for about 30 mins.
Drain and put rice in pan.
Add exactly the same volume of water as you had of rice at the start.
Put lid on and bring to boil.
Turn off and leave for ten mins, keeping the lid on.
It will be lovely and fluffy and will not need draining.
It's that, or get a rice cooker.

You can remove a carpet burn by sandpapering the top - takes off the burnt fibres and leaves the fluffy bits underneath. You'll have a slight dent but much less noticeable than the burn.

Put an elastic band around a pot of paint so that the rubber crosses over the open top, and you can rest the paint brush on it from the edge to save mess.

If you don't have an egg cup, you can cut a bit out of the egg box and use that. Good if you seldom eat boiled eggs but just fancy one.

BitofFun - that's also handy if you're in self-catering holiday accommodation that doesn't have egg cups (particularly happens abroad)

After years of asking DH to open jars etc, I discovered that I can open them all by myself if I slip on a pair of washing up gloves as they grip better.

Littleham. Having spent 1/2 a day of my precious half term degreasing the tops of my kitchen cupboards and thinking about perhaps finding some of that drawer liner paper to cover them with, what is waxed paper and where do you get it from? Ok I know what waxed paper was eg cornflake inside packaging, but can you still get it now and on a roll?

Keep a zip-lock bag in your freezer for vegetable peelings & once the bag is full tip it into a pan or slow-cooker with some water & a few peppercorns to make stock.

Make a "wheat" bag by putting cheap rice into a bit of an old pair of tights. I use the foot, twist it & double the tights over to make sure there are no leaks. Slip inside an old sock & microwave for about 40 seconds. Perfect for period pain or to target sore muscles. Can also be stored in the freezer for migraines/sprains/bruises. Plus you can add lavender to it & just open the bag & top it up when it stops smelling.

Use leftover Yorkshire pudding batter to thicken up gravy, no lumps, discovered this after 20 years of rinsing leftovers down sink if not enough left for a lunchtime pancake next day.

Chop herbs & add to ice cube tray with a little water

Keep shoes in there boxes, then your never missing a shoe

Keep a separate, brightly coloured cloth for the toilet, the chuck & replace

Clean windows with water & washing up liquid, a squeegee, then wipe edges with kitchen roll

White vinegar down the toilet gets rid of line scale (hard water area)

Peeling ginger with a teaspoon - bloody genius!

Keep grapes in your freezer. They instantly cool down a non chilled glass of wine without diluting it

It's taken me nearly 20 years to realise that when bathing a dog, if they hate having water tipped over their head let alone shampoo, the solution is that they need to have their own flannel. Cleaner dog, drier me!

Cover bottom of bbq or fire-pit with tin foil before putting charcoal in - you can bundle it all up and chuck the next day.

Freeze grapes to cool wine - they don't dilute it and spoil the taste like ice does impatient wine drinker here

Use used tumble sheets to dust tv etc - they have an anti-static film which repels dust (apparently)

Use nail polish to colour code keys

Wooden tongs are v handy for getting toast straight out if slightly smaller than the norm, no more poking at the jaws of death with an electricity conduit (aka knife). Also handy for turning bacon. Not so much with turning sausages though, be warned.

We've taken to using dolls with long hair to 'store' and display hair clips - dd has hundreds and after tidying up the box 1001 times I thought we could make it a game of hairdressers. Bye bye box, hello extremely dolled up decorative and now useful dollies!

Use dog poo bags for cleaning out deposits in the cat litter tray. This has saved me a fortune as instead of chucking out the entire tray of litter every day I can decant the used stuff into bags and chuck it in the outside bin.

Another animal one; if your dog hates baths, trying laying a towel in the bath. Sometimes it's the lack of grip that freaks them out.

Another ice-cube tray one - pesto if you just need an odd spoonful for a quick meal, freeze the rest. Then just defrost a couple of cubes next time

Fail safe Yorkshire pudding recipe. Fill a ramekin with plain flour, same volume of milk, same volume of eggs. Use a hand blender to mix and if you have time chill it. Put oil in whatever receptacle you are using (be it muffin or roasting tin) and put it on the floor of the oven when you put the joint in. They take half an hour roughly as long as the oil is super hot. I have been doing this for years and it has never failed me yet.

I think I just made this one up but considering so many things seem to need ice cube trays - you could stack them using a letter holder sideways. Something like this turned on it's side

Lion I looked at that for aaaages thinking, 'wouldn't the water all fall out though?' then saw the turned on it's side bit.......