Resolution Solutions for 2011
1. Resolve to have better smelling feet. Sprinkle baking soda directly into your boots, sneakers or shoes. As you know, baking soda absorbs odours, so why not begin the year with fresh toes? Or soak your feet in tea each day to cut down on odours.
2. Resolve to handle spicy foods. If you eat food that is too hot to handle, don't reach for a glass of water. The best solution is to drink milk.
3. Resolve not to eat rotten eggs. Put an egg in a cup of salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; if it floats it's bad.
4. Resolve to keep veggies fresh. Newspapers lining the vegetable compartments of a refrigerator will absorb moisture and keep veggies crisp, longer.
5. Resolve to make clump-free pasta. Use a lightweight pot for boiling pasta, add salt and oil; water will come to its initial boil faster and will return to boil faster, too, saving time and preventing the pasta from clumping at the bottom of the pot.
6. Resolve not to waste. Save clean carrot scrapings, celery leaves, outer onion layers and vegetable peels. Freeze them in a sealable bag or plastic container. When you have a soup bone or chicken carcass, throw everything in a pot to make lovely homemade soup stock.
7. Resolve to open jars without help from anyone else. If you are at home, a rubber glove or bottle gripper will give you the power you need to get into the stickier ones. However, these are not always available, so carefully wind a rubber band snugly around the lid and twist.
8. Resolve to keep shower doors spot free. Apply mineral oil over your shower doors and tile surface. Wipe off the excess.
9. Resolve to remove all pilling on fabrics. When "pills" develop on clothing (small wads of lint) use a rough piece of steel wool, run it over the material and the "pills" disappear.
10. Resolve to hang all of the framed pictures sitting in your basement. The cheapest and best material with which to hang pictures is copper wire, of a size proportioned to the weight of the pictures. The wire is hardly noticeable, yet strong and durable.
11. Resolve to get rid of ants. Wash a large natural sponge, press it dry. Into the cells, sprinkle white sugar, and place it near where the ants are troublesome. The ants will soon collect upon the sponge and take up their abode in each cell. It is then only necessary to dip the sponge in boiling water. The sponge may be set over and over again.
12. Resolve to make your own furniture polish. Mix two teaspoons lemon oil and 1 cup mineral oil in a spray bottle.
13. Resolve to clean all of the baseball caps in the house. Set them in the dishwasher on the top rack, along with the dishes. When finished, reshape the bill, and put over a pan to air dry.
14. Resolve to buy fresh bread. Did you know each day has a different colour plastic bread clip? They are: Monday/Blue, Tuesday/Green, Thursday/Red, Friday/White, Saturday/Yellow. If today was Thursday, you would want a red clip, not a white tie which is Fridays (almost a week old). To remember the colours of the twist tie, they go alphabetically by colour -- Blue-Green-Red-White-Yellow, Monday through Saturday, skipping Wednesdays. Write this code down and keep it in your wallet.
15. Resolve to make zippers slide with ease. Zippers won't stick if you rub them with the edge of a bar of soap or a candle.
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., R0A 0C0.
