Tips

1. Reheat 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. No
soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really
works.

2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all
broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up
mixing thoroughly, cut the corner off the baggy, squeeze mixture into
eggs. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

3. Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with
your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to
frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar
and calories per serving.

4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place
them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will
keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

5. Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet
newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover
with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening
plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

6. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you
can't see easily.

7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

> 8. Squirrel Away!
> To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with
> cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
> squirrels won't come near it.

> 9. Flexible vacuum
> To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an
> empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can
> be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

> 10. Reducing Static Cling
> Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have
> a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when
> wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! --
> static is gone

> 11. Measuring Cups
> Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot
> water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your
> ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right

> out.

> 12. Foggy Windshield?
> Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the
> glove box of your car . When the windows fog, rub with the eraser!
> Works better than a cloth!

> 13. Reopening envelope
> If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include
> something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for
> an hour or two..it unseals easily. This is another good reason not to
> put outgoing mail in the mailbox on a cold winter night.

> 14. Conditioner
> Ladies: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper
> than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a
great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when
you tried it in your hair..

15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with
Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You
will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
"home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about
pets or small children being harmed!

17. INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things
around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and
he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean.
(I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He
told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to
the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh
material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
Well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through
it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film ov er that mesh
that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's
there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and
static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy
when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your
clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to
catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best
way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your
electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy
water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He
said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

Tips

*Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little
"stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.*

*Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave
them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.*

*Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay
fresh much longer and not mold!*

*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.*

*Ad d a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull
the grease away from the meat while cooking.*

*To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat
them up.*

*Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic
and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.*

*Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples.
Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over
the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla
ice cream. *

Crunchy Granola (Alison Pantry)

3 cups rolled or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1 cup Turkish Apricots
3/4 cup Sliced Almonds
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
pinch salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp Sweet Vanilla Powder

Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, wheat germ, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt. In a small pot, heat the honey, oil, water and vanilla over medium heat, whisking and cooking just enough to combine it well, about 1 minute. Drizzle half of the honey mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the remaining half and mix until thoroughly combined. Arrange the granola over 2 baking sheets in an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Add apricots. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 5 1/2 cups or 11 half-cup servings.

Corn Dogs/ Cheese sticks (Allison Mayoros)

1 c. flour
2/3 c. corn meal
2 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp. oil
dash salt
enough milk to make a smooth batter

mix all that well and then dip hot dogs and cheese cubes in batter
and cook in oil.

Cinnamon Sugared Almonds (Alison Pantry)

2 cups Sliced, Raw Almonds
3/4 cup cinnamon Vanilla French Toast Sugar
Or 3/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbs Cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla powder

Preheat oven to 325`. In a bowl, combine ingredients with 1/4 cup water. Spread mixture on parchment-lined baking pan; bake 10 minutes. Stir with a metal spatula (mixture will be thick), then spread again and bake until sugar is browned, about 10 minutes more. Cool on baking sheet, then crumble.

Makes: 4 ½ cups, store in airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Crunchy Trail Mix Bars (Alison Pantry)

3 cups crisp rice cereal
1 ½ cups raisins or dried cranberries
½ cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp sweet vanilla powder, or 2 tsp regular vanilla
3 cups O-shaped toasted oat cereal
1 cup honey
2 cups chunky peanut butter

Grease a jelly roll pan. IN a large bowl, stir together the rice cereal, oat cereal, raisins and sunflower seeds. In a medium saucepan, combine the honey and sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, then lo9wer the heat and continue boiling for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until the peanut butter has liquefied and the mixture is fairly smooth. Pour over the cereal mixture in the bowl and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared baking pan, patting it down into a compact, even layer. Refrigerate until firm, then cut into bars and store in a covered container in the refrigerator. Makes about 40 bars.

Fruity Angel Food Bars (Alison Pantry)

Use the dry mix from 1 batch of Alison Pantry Angel Food Cake mix, or one Angel Food cake mix from a box.
1 tube of Raspberry pie filling, or 1 can of Raspberry pie filling
½ cup coconut (optional)

Mix together the Angel Food Cake mix, pie filling and coconut. Place in a greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350` for about 20-25 minutes until cake is done.

Striped Delight (Alison Pantry)

2 cups Oreo chocolate sandwich cookie pieces
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cold milk
1 tub 12 oz Cool Whip Topping, thawed, divided
3 1/4 cup cold milk
1 cup Jell-O chocolate flavor instant pudding & pie filling

PLACE cookies in food processor; cover. Process to form fine crumbs. Transfer to medium bowl. Add butter; mix well. Press firmly onto bottom of 13x9-inch dish. Refrigerate 10 min. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar and 2 Tbsp milk in separate bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in 1-1/4 cups of the whipped topping. Spread over crust.

POUR 3-1/4 cups milk into large bowl. Add dry budding mix. Beat with wire whisk about 2 min. or until well blended. Spoon evenly over cream cheese layer. Let stand 5 min. or until thickened. Spread remaining whipped topping over pudding layer.

REFRIGERATE at least 4 hours. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Waldorf Chicken Salad (Alison Pantry)

1 ½ pounds of diced chicken breast fillets, cooked
1 large apple, peeled, cored and cut into ½" chunks
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped celery
Salt and pepper
Grapes, sliced
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice

In medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Toss cooked, diced chicken breast with mayonnaise mix. Toss with apples, grapes, celery, red onions (optional) and almonds. Serve on croissants with lettuce leaf if desired.

Pretzel Salad (Alison Pantry)

2 cups crushed thin pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup Jell-O strawberry, raspberry, or cherry
1 1/4 cup Whole strawberries or Red Raspberries
2 cups boiling water
3 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 8 oz tub Cool Whip

First layer:
Mix pretzels, butter and sugar. Press into 9"x 13" pan. Bake at 375` for 8 minutes.
Second layer:
Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Add cool whip. Spread over cooled crust.
Third layer:
Mix Jell-O with boiling water. Add berries. Let stand 10 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until well set– Serve.

Yummy Potatoes (Alisons Pantry)

1/3 - ½ bag of hash brown shreds (large bag)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded whole mozzarella and provalone blend
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped dried onions
1 large or two small cans cream of mushroom soup
cough milk to make a creamy sauce
1 to 2 cups French's French fried Onions

Mix sour cream, cheeses, dried onions, soup and milk to make creamy sauce. Add hash browns. Stir together and pour into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350` for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes; at the 10 min mark sprinkle on the fried onions. Enjoy!

Spiced Carrots (Alisons Pantry)

4 cups diagonally sliced carrots
½ cup chicken broth
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp allspice
3 Tbs sugar

PREPARATION:
In a medium saucepan combine carrots, orange juice, chicken broth, allspice, ginger, and lemon peel. Bring to a boil. Stir in sugar, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

Old Fashioned Apple Butter (Alison pantry)

If cooked on high in your crock pot, it takes all day to make this flavorful apple butter.

12-14 sweet-tart apples
2 cups apple cider or juice
ground allspice
ground nutmeg
sugar
ground cinnamon
ground cloves

PREPARATION:
Lightly oil crock pot. Don't peel, but wash, core and quarter apples. Put in crock pot. Stir in cider. Cover and cook on low for 10-18 hours or high for 2-4 hours.
Put soft fruit in food mill to remove skins.
Measure fruit back into crock pot. For each pint (2 cups) of fruit add: 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp ground clove and ½ tsp nutmeg. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. Stir every 2 hours. Remove cover after 3 hours to allow fruit and juice to cook down. Spoon into hot canning jars and proceed according to canning jar directions. Or spoon into freezer containers. Allow apple butter to cool and then store in freezer.
Makes about 5 cups.

Chocolate Butterscotch Sauce (Alison Pantry)

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
13 oz can evaporated milk
½ pkg large marshmallows

Melt chips in milk, stirring constantly. Add marshmallows. Stir until melted. Serve warm or cold– on ice cream, cake, or eat it right out of the jar!!!
Yield: 3-4 cups.

Holiday Potpourri

3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup whole cloves
½ orange, halved 3 bay leaves
½ lemon, halved
1 qt water

Combine all ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer as long as desired. Be sure to check often and add water as needed. Mixture may be stored in refrigerator several days and reused. Makes your house smell great.

Honey Cooking tips.

Honey Tips:
Color, Flavor and form
Honeys differ in color and taste depending on the blossoms visited by the honey bees. In general, lighter-colored honeys are milder in flavor while darker-colored honeys are bolder. Honey is enjoyed in several forms- comb honey, liquid honey and whipped honey.

Storage
Store honey at room temperature, never in the refrigerator. If honey crystallizes, simply lace the honey container in warm water and stir until crystals dissolve. Or, microwave 1 cup of honey in a microwave-save container, stirring every 30 seconds, until crystals dissolve. Be careful not to boil or scorch the honey.

Health Benefits
Research has shown that unlike most sweeteners, honey contains small amounts of wide array of vitamins, minerals and amino acids as well as antioxidants.

Honey's composition also makes it an effective antimicrobial agent. Research continues into the use of honey for treating minor burns and scrapes and for aiding the treatment of sore throats and other bacterial infections.

Honey is also a great pre-workout energy source, aiding an athlete's endurance and helping the athlete's muscles recuperate following a race or workout.

Beauty Treatments
Honey is a natural humectant, which means it has the ability to attract and retain moisture. Try using honey in facial masks, bath oils, hair conditioners and more.

Substitution and Cooking Tips
For best results, select recipes developed for using honey. When you do substitute honey for granulated sugar in recipes, begin by substituting honey for up to half of the sugar called for in the recipe. With experimentation, honey can be substituted for all of the sugar in some recipes. When substituting honey for sugar in baked goods:
Reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 for each cup of honey used.
Add about ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.
Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning.