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Original poster

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

379 replies

MyCatIsAGit · 27/05/2015 06:55

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..

OP posts:
Theselittlelightsofmine · 30/05/2015 00:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

darksideofthemooncup · 30/05/2015 00:19

Then I thought about my freezer that I have to boot the drawers shut and did a little guffaw

HirplesWithHaggis · 30/05/2015 00:21

If you buy fresh root ginger, freeze it in a ziplock bag and not only does it keep much longer, it's dead easy to grate.

KeepitDown · 30/05/2015 00:22

To cut a cake sponge neatly in half, wrap dental floss all the way around the perimeter. Then criss-cross the ends, and pull tight so that the loop around the sponge slices through the cake as it closes. Easy to do, and cuts it perfectly with no mess.

RudeBarbandCustard · 30/05/2015 00:23

If you have a dog, don't bother paying over the odds for dog poo bags. Buy value brand nappy bags. They're much cheaper and come in packs of several hundred - and they're scented Grin

posthumus · 30/05/2015 00:33

Keep a rubber band on your wrist. Attach it to a button on your shirt/coat/blouse and hook the other end round your thumb for steady mobile phone photos/videos.

berri · 30/05/2015 07:33

Just put this on the 'white sauce' thread and then thought it should go here as it's so handy! White/Cheese sauce in 4 minutes…

Start with a Pyrex jug/bowl that can go in the microwave. It needs to
be quite big (0.5 litre is fine) as the sauce may rise in the jug as
it cooks.

300ml milk (put this in first)
25g flour
25g butter

Give it a very quick whisk before you start.

Then 1 minute in the microwave on high, whisk and put back in.

Repeat that step until it's had 4 minutes in the microwave in total -
at that point, it will have thickened.

Then stir in 50g of grated cheese.

Done!

LosingNemo · 30/05/2015 07:47

Re putting things in ice cube trays (pesto etc), once frozen put contents in ziplock bag. Saves loads of space and also you don't need to have hundreds of Ice cube trays.

For veg fussy toddlers, make up veg purées (a la weaning), freeze and chuck a few in sauces as you make them. I still serve separate veg but an safe in the knowledge that at least some goes in!

Use magnetic bull dog clips on the fridge to keep bibs etc handy

Littleham · 30/05/2015 10:57

elephantoverthehill

Wax paper is often called greaseproof paper in supermarkets (look in same location as the foil and cling film). I think Lakeland does it as well. Or mail order.....

www.creativepaperproductsltd.co.uk/page/food_papers

AuntyMary · 30/05/2015 11:13

Some great tips on here! My tip is about jam-making. Don't bother with all that boiling and sugar thermometers. Make it in the microwave in around 8 mins (plus a bit of faffing - so call it 10).

Here is the recipe

elephantoverthehill · 30/05/2015 11:18

Thank you for that Littleham

AuntyMary · 30/05/2015 11:19

And also about managing underwear laundry. I have 3 teenagers and a DH and there is an awful lot of underwear thrown into our laundry basket. I hate sorting it, so time consuming. So, when hanging up the washing outside (I have a three-sided rotary drier) I use one side purely for stuff I'm not going to iron, sports kit and all underwear). I unpeg it last when it is dry and put it on top of the 'collecting' basket, bring it in, scoop up the underwear and non-iron, take it upstairs and put the underwear into a pop-up laundry bin that I keep on the landing. They all go and furret out their clean underwear from it. This has saved me days of my life. (Have I made up the word 'furret'?)

In the winter I do the same thing with a heated airer thing.

Love the peeling ginger with a teaspoon and freezing it making it easier to grate. Going to try that this week.

Bifflepants · 30/05/2015 11:22

When pegging out the washing, put all the knickers and bras around your wrist like a load of weird bracelets. Stops you having to keep bending down to the laundry basket, and you don't drop any.

AuntyMary · 30/05/2015 11:32

Like that Biffle !

Lweji · 30/05/2015 11:44

Hanging bits like socks, I hang them in pairs (leave a space if necessary), so that they are easier to sort out when dry.

One thing that it has taken me years to figure out was how to encourage DS to read a magazine his granddad pays for, and reading in general. I have started leaving them on the breakfast table and then I have to hurry him up because he gets stuck with reading instead of reading. But he usually has enough time. :)

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 30/05/2015 11:56

When making risotto, don't bother with making stock in a jug. Chuck half the cube in with the wine and keep topping up as you cook from the kettle. Halfway through add the other half.

If you cut up chillis barehanded, rub your hands with oil before washing them.

Trousers dry quicker pegged by the back of the waistband and the cuffs don't get creased.

MehsMum · 30/05/2015 12:19

Biffle, genius! I'm always dropping them on the lawn!

Littleham · 30/05/2015 12:34

I'm going to try this one as I'm always having to re-open envelopes.

Reopening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and realise you've forgotten to include something inside, just place it in the freezer for an hour or two and voila, the envelope will unseal without a trace!

Of course you might get strange looks from your boss if you try to install a freezer in your office. Grin

PuppyMonkey · 30/05/2015 12:43

Don't hang socks on the washing line with a peg, just drape them around the rim of your washing basket and leave out in the sunshine - they dry just as well and it's easier to sort them out.

GiraffesAndButterflies · 30/05/2015 12:43

Freezing leftovers etc: seal the bag as close to the top as possible (squeezing out the air first), then lie it on its side and flatten it out to make a thinner longer rectangle type shape rather than a clump at the bottom of the bag. It will both freeze and defrost more quickly and if you're in a real hurry defrosting, you can break it up into bits if it's thin enough. Works brilliantly on anything that's not too solid or lumpy, like spag Bol.

Pipbin · 30/05/2015 12:48

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.

Dear god, why has no one told me this before?

FridayJones · 30/05/2015 13:14

Close your eyes when trying to get the two ends of a zipper joined up.
2 years of struggling with baby sleeping bag zips, and one night , i had to change it with no lights on and it was amazingly easy.
Next day super difficult again, So I thought hmm, close my eyes see if it works again, and it did.
Works for buttons too.

Pipbin · 30/05/2015 13:17

There are a lot of people saying that stuff should go in ziplock bags.
Where can I buy them, I thought they were an American only product.

PenguinsAreAce · 30/05/2015 13:27
  1. Put the child in the high chair.
  2. Do up the straps.
  3. Now put on the bib with sleeves over the straps.
DustBunnyFarmer · 30/05/2015 13:28

If you only use half a link of chorizo for a meal & get fed up of finding the remaining half at the back of the fridge a week later/binning it, dice the rest & freeze it when you use the first half. If you've frozen it in a reasonably spacious pot, it's easy to shake out just what you need. Cooks/fries off fine straight from frozen too.