1. In a pinch substitute egg white for glue. Stick light paper together with a little egg white when glue runs out.
2. After boiling eggs, don't pour the water down the drain. Instead, let it cool; then water plants with the nutrient-filled water.
3. Sometimes a recipe will call for only an egg white or only an egg yolk. Don't throw out that good leftover! Just freeze it and add it to your next omelet or scrambled eggs. If you make sure they don't get freezer burn, they will last quite a while, but I like to use them as soon as possible.
4. When hard boiling eggs, put a drop of food colouring into the water. When cooked, the eggs can be stored and the colour will tell you which eggs are hard boiled.
5. When poaching eggs, always add a few drops of white vinegar to the water so that the eggs stay together while boiling.
6. Bake your eggs in the oven! Remove the crusts of several pieces of bread. Butter both sides and fit them into muffin tins. Drop one egg in each muffin cup onto bread, cover with foil. Bake for about 5 mins. 325 degrees, top with cheese or salsa. Bake for another 3 mins. Enjoy!
7. After purchasing a carton of eggs, turn the carton over and return them to the refrigerator. This little trick helps eggs last longer.
8. Never again watch an egg roll off of the counter and onto the floor. Cut egg cartons into 3, 4 holed sections, the next time you are baking or cooking you need only take out one section and you don't have to play the balancing act with the eggs. Tip: Reuse cartons so that you only cut them once.
9. Did you know that egg shells are excellent at cleaning drains? Crush the shells as fine as you can and let them sit in the sink drain basket. Each time the water runs, the egg shells will make their way through to your drain pipes. Egg shells act as a safe abrasive and will help to get rid of any grease or hair buildup.
10. Use paper egg cartons to make little fire starters. Keep one in the laundry room for when you clean out the lint tray. Stuff lint into each section. When full, use old candle stubs, and drip wax onto the lint. Store until needed.
11. Store decorative plastic Easter eggs inside of empty egg cartons. Doing this is much more organized then storing them in a plastic bag. They don't get dirty or cracked and can be stacked, boxed identified easily.
12. Salt not only makes eggs taste better, but it makes egg dishes clean easier. Sprinkle salt on dishes right after breakfast; it makes them a whiz to clean when you have time.
13. When the kids get too old or "cool" to hunt for eggs, give the kids a chance to hide the eggs so that the parents or grandparents can have a turn searching.
14. Chef's secret! When making homemade stock, clarify the final product by beating egg whites to soft peaks, one for each quart/liter of stock. Crumple eggs-shells and mix them through the egg whites. Stir the mixture into the stock and bring it to a simmer, do not let it boil. The egg-whites will coagulate, rise, and take any particles and cloudiness out of the stock. Keep a close eye on the simmer (push the coagulated egg-whites to the side a bit to see) and let it simmer for about ten minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for another ten minutes. Finally, sieve the stock again through a tea towel.
15. Unbelievably Easy Egg Drop Soup Recipe (with ingredients that most of us have on hand!). In a soup pot, bring to a boil 3 cups chicken broth. Combine 2 tbsp. cold water with 1 tbsp. corn starch, stir into boiling broth. Stir 1 tbsp. soup broth into 1 slightly beaten egg. Slowly pour egg mixture into hot broth. Stir constantly until slightly thick. Tip: To this yummy delight you can add cooked meatballs, or a little Soya sauce, or chow mein noodles or rice.
Happy Easter!
Solutions, is compiled from various sources: infinitygoods.wrodpress.com, essortment.com, ehow.com, foodgeeks.com, helium.com, thriftyfun.com, rd.com, saltinstitute.com, en.wikibooks.org. Thanks to all who sent in tips and tricks! Similar information may be found elsewhere.
Solutions sleuth Reena Nerbas is a home economist and speaks professionally on the topic of household challenges; she is also the author of two national bestsellers, Household Solutions 1 with Substitutions and Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets. She can be heard on radio programs across Canada and seen on the CBC TV show Living Winnipeg.
www.householdsolutions.org
