Now You're CookingDivine recipes and much more

Fresh Breath
Don’t leave the sprig of parsely on your plate after dinner. Chew the leaves for a refreshing natural breath freshener.

Brown Sugar Saver
To prevent brown sugar from hardening once it’s been opened, place a wedge of apple in the bag before sealing .

Bugs at Bay
To keep insects out of your kitchen canisters put a few bay leaves in your sugar and flour. It won’t affect the taste of baked goods, but keeps the bugs at bay.

Eggs for the Road
Here’s a great way to take eggs on a camping trip, or even when you’re an overnight guest at someone’s home and you volunteer to make breakfast. Use any container that has a tight fitting lid. (We use a clean glass jar.) Break the eggs, one at a time and let them gently slide out of the shell while holding the container at a slant. Let each egg slide slowly into the container so the yolks don’t break. Secure the lid tightly and put the container into a cooler. Pack ice all around it , except on top. We leave the lid slightly above the ice. If staying at some-one’s home, put the container of eggs in their refrigerator upon your arrival. If camping, make sure you always have enough ice to keep the eggs cold. The eggs will stay separated and will come out of the container, one at a time, when you pour them gradually. This always amazes me. (If any of the yolks break while in the container, it won’t affect the flavor, just the shape.)

Eggshells
Here’s a hint for the egg shells: put eggshell halves back into the egg carton and plant seeds in each half shell. Plant the eggshells with seeds right into your garden, givng added calcium and protein to your plants and soil.

Emergency Kits
Keep some boxes of *weatherproof items in the trunk of your car. ** Bottled water, beef jerky,crackers, etc. Date the packages and put fresh supplies in by expiration date on items. This comes in handy if you get stuck in a traffic jam and have small children who are hungry or elderly people who need to take meds, etc. ; or you find yourself in a snowstorm or other severe conditions.(Keep food items in a zip lock bag to keep critters out of them.) ** For those who are concerned about using water in plastic bottles due to health concerns when the bottles get too hot or freeze, water can be stored in glass jars with snug rubber-lined lids. Keep them upright and separate in zip lock bags to help prevent leakage & breakage.  In the winter, leave room for expansion in glass jars.
* Weatherproof items : in cold weather you can store candy bars, but you’ll have a mess if you haven’t taken them out by the time warm weather rolls around.

Natural Cleaning
Lemon wedges are great deodorizers for garbage disposals. It also helps to clean the blades. Just drop a couple of wedges into the disposal, run the cold water and grind them clean in seconds.

To deodorize your dishwasher, add a cup of baking soda to an empty dish-washer and run it on the rinse cycle. Stop the machine and let it air dry. It will be fresh and clean.

To deodorize your trash can pour 2-3 cups of kitty litter into the bottom of the trash can. Replace as needed .

Family Cookbook
Buy a blank recipe book and fill it with family recipe favorites in your handwriting. (Print if your handwriting is not legible.) Those special recipes will be preserved for your children , grandchildren and beyond.

Company Ice
When making iced tea, lemonade, punch or any other non-alcoholic beverage, pour a portion of the mixture in some plastic ice cube trays, or plastic egg cartons. Freeze them and add to each guests glass to keep the drinks from being diluted. For an especially refreshing pick-me-up, freeze some chopped mint leaves in about a tablespoon of water & add the mint cubes to your drinks.

Food Dye
Add a little food dye, (coloring), to white or yellow cake mixes, pancake batter, (prior to baking/cooking), milk, cereals, etc. for birthdays or other special occasions to give them a more festive appearance.

Snacks for Kids
[ Making them more eye-appealing helps to whet the appetite.]
When you or your children are hungry before mealtime, try these in place of sugary treats . (It’s best to make them in advance or you’ll be tempted to just grab something to satisfy the immediate hunger) :

* wash a small bunch of grapes, then using a pastry brush, coat them with  this mixture: egg whites that have been slightly beaten then stir in a small amount of water. After coating the grapes, sprinkle with SweetLeaf Stevia.
(SweetLeaf Stevia is an all natural herb sweetener which has no saccharin, refined sugar, aspartame, fructose or high glycemic fillers of any kind and is available in grocery stores.) The benefit of adding SweetLeaf Stevia is that it has a high fiber content, zero calories, zero carbs and great taste.

* cut an orange in half and place face down on a small plate. Place one end of toothpicks into small fruits, such as strawberries, grapes, orange slices, melon balls, etc. and the other ends into the rind of the orange half for a fun, healthy treat. When all the fruit picks are gone, the orange half can be eaten as well.

* take pitted olives, put a small amount of cream cheese in the center & use a small carrot stick inserted into the cream cheese to make them look like weight-lifting dumb bells.

* with a peeler, peel strips of carrots and thread onto toothpicks so they make a repeated “S” shape. Place in ice water overnight. At snack time, remove the toothpicks and they will keep their shape.

* clean two stalks of celery, then fill both stalks with your favorite cheese-dip recipe. Make sure they are filled above the edge of the stalks. Place the two stalks together with the fillings touching. Secure with string or rubber bands and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut diagonally into bite-size pieces and serve, making sure to remove string or rubber bands.

Ice Bottle
If you drink bottled water, save the bottles, wash them and fill 2/3 of the way with tap water. Put the lids on tightly and put bottles in the freezer. These are great to use anytime you need ice in your cooler or if you have a family dinner and need to keep a pot luck dish cool but have no more room in the refrigerator. Line the bottom of the cooler with frozen bottles and set the pot luck dish on top. If there’s room, you can put more bottles on the sides.

Kitchen Sponge
Throw it away! Sponges used in the kitchen to wipe dishes, counters, etc. can contain undesirable bacteria . Even putting them in the dishwasher doesn’t guarantee that they are sanitized enough to kill the bacteria lurking inside. It’s best to use a cloth dishrag that is washed in hot, soapy water with a little clorox added.

Lethal Combination
There are some cleaners that should NEVER be combined. Chlorine bleach when mixed with toilet bowl cleaners or ammonia can be a dangerous substance. When these chemicals are combined, it can create chlorine gas, which can be a lethal combination. 

Clean Oven
When your casserole or pie spills over in the oven, you can sprinkle some salt onto the spill while it’s still warm. Once the oven cools, the spill will clean up when wiped. This works on the stove top as well.

Pot Luck
When taking soup to a pot luck dinner or to a sick friend, use a clean jar with a lid and they won’t have to worry about getting the container back to you. When taking to a sick friend, tape a label on the jar with the kind of soup, date and your name in case it doesn’t get used the same day. They may want to send a thank-you later and may not be able to remember who brought what.

Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices will keep their flavor better by not exposing them to heat and/or bright light. Hang your spice rack inside a pantry or place herbs and spices on a turntable inside a cupboard where they will be away from heat and light. When adding seasoning to a hot pot on the stove, use a measuring spoon rather than sprinkling directly from the container. This helps prevent caking.   

Growing Herbs
If you decide to grow your own herbs, you can make a handy growing space for them by using an old window without glass. Find the desired spot in your garden and place the window on the ground. Each herb can have it’s own space. Be sure to make labels for the herbs as well. If you are using packaged seeds you can use the empty packages by securing them to a stake with wire through a punched hole. I would laminate the package first by covering it with clear packaging tape. For seeds that are not purchased, make your own label, laminate it and secure as before.

Fresh Tomatoes
To ripen green tomatoes, place them in a brown paper grocery bag, then add a banana or an apple and set in a warm place in your kitchen. Within one or two days your green tomatoes should be ripe and ready to use.

Salty Taste
When you taste the soup you made for dinner, you notice it has way too much salt. Add some peeled raw potatoes to the soup and they will help absorb some of the salt as they cook.

Cooking Soup
An excellent soup thickener is mashed potatoes. If you have some mashed potatoes left over from a meal, put them in an ice cube tray, freeze, then store potato cubes in a freezer bag labeled with date and contents. The next time you make soup, add one or two cubes as needed.

How to Remove Stain
Keep a bottle of club soda in the cupboard for quick stain removal. (You may want to label it as such so someone doesn’t drink it.) We’ve never had a stain that didn’t come out when putting club soda on it right away. We have used it on wine, tea, blood stains and more. As soon as your tablecloth, *clothing, or carpet is stained, pour club soda over the stain. Let the bubbles work on the stain for 20-60 seconds or so. Blot with a clean white cloth. If there’s any sign of the stain, repeat the process. Note: If you’re pouring club soda on a tablecloth that is on a wooden table, dry the wood and protect it with plastic before doing the stain treatment. (It’s even better to remove the tablecloth from the table before treating, but that’s not always feasible. You need to treat the stain as soon as possible for best results.) * I would not suggest using this treatment on dry-cleanable fabrics . Do so at your own risk.

Trimming Bread
When making pretty sandwiches, an easy way to trim the crust off the bread is by using a pizza cutter.

Wet Wipes
When eating finger food, like ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, etc. have some moistened washcloths ready. Put them in an 8″ square glass baking dish and warm for 30-40 seconds in the microwave. Test their temperature before giving the wet wipes to your guests.