Secrets of Success

Thicken Your Soups/Chili Naturally!

When making any soups, stews or chili's with beans mash them a bit once you've submerged them in the liquid. This naturally thickens the liquid to a great consistency! This will also cut down your use of "cream" soups or flour (which means less calories!) Bon Apetit!

Motivation...

"Fall down seven times, stand up eight" ~ Proverb

Safe Bubbles!

I have a toddler that loves bubbles but isn't the most coordinated! Sometimes when your kids are playing with bubbles, they can go into their eyes or mouth... So.. I found that the solution to that is to use her "tearless" bath soap! You can either use the shampoo or bubble bath, just make sure it's the tearless version!

Homemade Tarnish Remover that ACTUALLY works!

I went into a jacuzzi wearing a sterling silver necklace and it turned BROWN! I had warn this necklace for 4 years and this had never happened before! Here's how I fixed it:
~Take a pot deep enough to submerge what your trying to fix.
~Line the pot with aluminum foil.
~Add 1tsp of salt and 1tsp of baking soda
~Add enough water to cover the object
~Bring to a boil and "cook" for at least 3 minutes!
~It was a bit dull afterward so I cleaned it with toothpaste and it's good as new!!

Apple Slicing

If you're "vertically challenged" like me, you know how difficult it is to get high enough to push down on your apple slicer to cut through and more often then not it ROLLS to one side! I've found that if I put the apple top side down that it stabilizes the apple making for an easier cut!

Nighttime Diaper Disasters?

I have a toddler that wears a Size 4 diaper. I have found that by putting on a Size 5 for nighttime sleeping greatly reduces any chance of leaks! The increased size seems to hold more while still fitting properly. A girlfriend of mine also found that putting a maxi-pad inside the diaper works well too!

Picking a Pasta Packet!

They're convenient, cheap, fast and easy to make... We've all grabbed them off the shelf and served them up for dinner!

This takes 5 extra seconds but can save you SO many calories... When picking a packet, simply look at the "needed ingredients".. Most will say that you will need to add "water, milk or butter"... Try and buy the ones that only need water and butter! Milk contains WAY more calories than you realize and there are plenty of other ways to get your calcium!

Leave that LID alone!

Every time the crockpot is uncovered, HALF of the cooking time is lost! Most pots have a glass lid, so you can see what's going on inside. If for some reason you must open the pot, make sure you do all your additions then to minimize overall heat loss. I know you want to.. but LEAVE THAT LID ALONE!

Bring that Ice Cream scoop out of hybernation!

An Ice cream scoop doesn't need to JUST be used on ice cream! It's a great way to portion control things like: Mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, even desserts!

Don't SUPER-SIZE.... MUFFIN-SIZE!

You can bake just about ANYTHING in a muffin tin and they are a PERFECT portion size! Making a meatloaf? Do it in individual servings! Baking Mac-n-Cheese and don't want to eat the whole pan (like me)? It's CONTROL in a CUP!