Stacy – Page 25 – My Chicago Moving

De-skin potatoes without a peeler

Time to ditch the peeler again! Peel a potato in a snap by boiling it and then giving it an ice bath. The skin will separate from the potatoey center and you can pick it right off.

Prevent brown sugar from hardening

Help brown sugar stay soft and scoop-able by tossing an orange peel or a slice of apple along with the sugar into an airtight container. For a quick fix, microwave brown sugar next to a small glass of water. The moisture within the microwave will help break up the block of sweetener.

Speed up ripening

Be a total magician and morph a banana from green to yellow or a peach from crunchy to juicy all with the help of a paper bag. When fruit is tossed into the bag, concentrated ethylene gas helps it ripen faster.

Give bananas a longer life

Keep bananas fresher, longer by wrapping the end of the bunch with plastic wrap. Better yet, separate each banana. The plastic wrap blocks ethylene gases from releasing out of the stem, consequently ripening the fruit too fast

If you are looking for a great apartment dog that won’t take up to much square footage then check out this link :

29 Dog Breeds That Will Fit in Your Apartment

Within the last couple of weeks I noticed gnats flying around and flying right into my face. The issue was that these were not in the kitchen where you would normally think they would be- perhaps by fruit or vegetables on the counter. They were in the living room flying around the seating area. So after some investigating I found my 2 new houseplants filled with them. Actually the houseplants’ dirt was covered with them. What are they: FUNGUS GNATS

Fungus Gnats thrive in moist soil. So after potting my new plants with bagged potting soil the plant soil became infested. The houseplants are currently outdoor plants. But for those who want to rid their plants of the fungus gnats without re-potting with new soil here are some links that can help:

Using Vinegar

Insect Killers

Natural Remedies