easy kitchen tips Archives - One Hundred Dollars a Month

5 Easy Ways to Keep Fruit Flies Away

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 9, 2017 · 9 Comments

Summer is awesome, except that it’s also fruit fly central. They are everywhere and they are so dang annoying. They hover all over my fresh produce and I can’t stand them! Sometimes it’s my life’s mission to rid my house of them. Luckily, years ago a cashier at the store told me how to kill them and it’s worked like a charm ever since. But then Mrs. HB told me of another way she likes. So I compiled a few ideas to get rid of those nasty little buggars.

Apple cider vinegar: {This is the method I swear by!} Place 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar in a cup covered with plastic wrap. Poke a hole in the top of the plastic wrap and wait for them to drown. *evil cackle*

Get them drunk: {Mrs. HB’s favorite method!} Okay so you aren’t really getting them drunk, but wine is involved! Place 1/2 cup of red wine and a piece of rotten fruit in a cup covered with plastic wrap. Poke a hole in the top of the plastic wrap and drown those little things in alcohol!

Toss bruised produce: If there’s a bad apple in the bunch, it’ll draw fruit flies in by the masses. Check produce regularly, use up any soft ones and throw away any fruit with cuts or leakage!

Empty and clean garbage cans and recycling bins often: Icky and sticky garbage cans are fruit fly breeding grounds. Bleach and scrub those cans to prevent a fruit fly haven!

Lure them in: Purchase a fly lure. Never used them but they have good reviews!

Have YOU ever had a problem with fruit flies? How did you get rid of them?

~Mavis

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10 Cool Ways to Reuse Your Tea Bags

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By Mavis Butterfield on June 24, 2015 · 16 Comments

If you are a tea lover like me, you probably discard tea bags like they are going out of style. Here are some great ways to get a little more life out of them. Those little tea bags are way more versatile than you ever knew!

1. Tea Bath: Run your bath water over used tea bags and then have a good soak. Your skin will be left feeling super soft and silky {plus, it’s an excuse to soak in a bath!}.

2. Tea Compress: Place your used tea bags in the fridge for a bit and then lay them on your puffy, dark-circled eyes. The tannins in the leaves help reduce the puff and dark circles and will leave you looking all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

3. Tea Healer: Have a sunburn, bruise or bug-bites or stings? Press a used tea bag {you can chill these, too} over the area and let the healing begin!

4. Tea-peat: Reuse your old tea bags alongside a new bag to make a stiffer cup of tea. It’s the perfect way to give your tea a little extra something without spending more money.

5. Tea Fertilizer: Let your used tea bags dry out and then sprinkle into the soil of houseplants, your garden, the base of your trees or your compost pile. Not only will it act as a fertilizer, but it will also help deter little pests and critters from gobbling up your garden.

6. Tea Band-aids: If you’ve ever nicked yourself while shaving and plastered your legs or face with little bits of toilet paper, here’s a great alternative. Press a used tea bag over the bleeding area and hold it there for a few minutes. The tannins in the tea will accelerate blood clotting. Who knew?

7. Tea Tenderizer: Use used tea bags to tenderize meats. I’ve done this with a whole turkey and it was so moist and delicious. I just threw a tea bag in with some water in the bottom of the pan. Easy as that!

8. TeaDye: Like tie-dye only cooler. You can use tea bags to stain wood, dye wool, and color cardstock to name a few. It’s a great natural dye alternative.

9. Tea Degreaser: If those hard to clean pots and pans are making you crazy, fill them up with hot water, throw a used tea bag in the pot and then let them soak overnight. In the morning the stuck on junk and grease will rinse right off.

10. Tea Deodorizer: Those little tea bags pack a pretty smell-removing punch. Place them in your fridge, in your smelly shoes, in your car, or hidden all over your teenager’s rooms to absorb odors.

Do you use your used tea bags in any other cool ways I’ve never heard of. Please share in the comments below!

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Penny Pinching Tip – Prepare Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 16, 2015 · 11 Comments

Sometimes buying the prepacked fruits and veggies is tempting. It’s just so stinkin easy to have someone else do what you know you can do for yourself. And I think there is a time and a place for that, but it will cost you. If you take the time to prepare fruits and veggies yourself, you’ll save big time.

Take the pineapple above for example. Costco had them on sale for $2.99 the other day. So I bought one, lugged it home and took a few minutes {5 tops} to cut and chop my way to some delicious pineapple. I put it in my own reusable container and plopped it in the fridge. Now take a look at the pricing above. For that very same amount of pineapple it would have cost me $7.99. WHAT? Seriously! For 5 minutes of my time I’m saving 62%. Now that’s my kind of savings for putting in a little elbow grease.

Do you buy prepacked fruits and veggies for the convenience? Do you think it’s worth the price?

~ Mavis

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Penny Pinching Tip – Freeze the Tops of Your Peppers

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By Mavis Butterfield on January 12, 2015 · 33 Comments

Did I ever tell you that when I was 19, I worked at Subway sandwiches for like 5 bucks an hour? Well I did. The pay wasn’t much but I received a free sandwich every shift and got to flirt with all the cute guys that walked through the door each day so it wasn’t all that bad. True, I did have to wear an itchy green visor and plastic gloves, but it was actually kind of a fun job.

ANYWHO…. one of the things I learned while working at Subway was how to cut a pepper properly. Basically, slice the top of the pepper off as close to the stem as possible, pull the core out {and toss it into the compost bin} and then slice the thing up. Everybody does that, right? Wrong!

Maybe you think this is a totally lame tip, and honestly, it never occurred to me write about it before because it’s something I’ve done forever, but last month when Mrs. Hillbilly was over for my big Freezer Meal Party, I put her in charge of chopping the sweet peppers for our Sweet and Sour Meatballs dish. Much to my do not waste food horror, I looked backed from the kitchen and witnessed her chopping off the tops of the peppers and then tossing them into the garbage can {Yes, Mrs. H.B. I am totally outing you!!!}.

Do you throw away the tops of your peppers too? Or are you a penny pincher like me and toss the tops into a baggie to use in other recipes later? I mean, you paid for it, so why waste it right?

~ Mavis

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