Did you ever notice that peppers have either three bumps or four bumps and what the difference is? Do you peel your banana like a monkey?
I love to read household hints. I try many of them….some work…others are useless. Some are just bits of information that are trivial but nonetheless interesting and entertaining. There are thousands that circulate on the internet.
With the warmer weather FINALLY here, so are the bugs. Ants, mosquitoes, fruit flies….
Here are some tips to help get rid of the little buggers before resorting to chemicals. Then beyond that are a bunch of tips that might help around the house.
Insect/Critter Repellents 
No more mosquitoes - Going out for a picnic or working outside? Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
Squirrel away - Stop eating my plants! Sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant, and the squirrels will stay away.
Get rid of fruit flies - Stop swatting! Fill a small glass halfway with apple cider vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid. Mix well. The flies will be drawn to the cup and gone for good.
Get rid of ants - Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it home, can't digest it, and it kills them. It may take a week or so, but it works and you don't have to worry about pets or small children being harmed.
Foodie Preparation Tips
Cooking ground beef -- Add a teaspoon of water to the frying pan. It will pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
Reheat pizza - Who wants soggy microwaved pizza? Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.
Easy deviled eggs - Put cooked yolks in a zip lock bag, seal, and mash. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing, cut the tip off the bag, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done for easy clean up.
Expanding frosting - When you buy a can of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes and it will double in size.
To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich, add a few spoonfuls of sour cream, cheese, or heavy cream and beat them up.
Measuring Cups - Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Pour out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it slides out.
For an easy brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in a double boiler and pour over warm brownies. Let sit and voila! An easy mint frosting!
Reheat refrigerated bread - To warm rolls or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in the microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
Food (in general)
Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "strings" off. Did you ever watch a monkey peeling a banana? Those monkeys have it down!
Store your open chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and no icky green mold!
Take your bananas apart when you get home from purchasing. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking. Who knew?
General Tips
Flexible Vacuum - To get something out of a heat register or under the refrigerator, add an empty paper towel or gift wrap roll to your vacuum. Then bend or flatten it to get in narrow openings.
Newspaper Weeds Away - Try putting wet newspapers in your plants. Put overlapping layers around the plants. Cover with mulch. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass - Use a wet cotton-ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see. Use a flashlight as well.
Reducing static cling - Pin a small safety pin in the seam of a clingy article of clothing to reduce the clingies. 
Foggy windshield - Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and store it in the glove compartment of your car. When the window gets foggy, rub it with the eraser to get rid of the fog.
Reopening envelopes - If you seal an envelope and realize you forgot to put something inside, just put the sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two.
Conditioner – Ladies -- Use your hair conditioner to share your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth.
Hope you learned something and found something useful to try. Have a great day!
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