Household Products and Food: Incredible Uses Part 2

This is part two of my series of amazing uses for household products and food. As I said in part one, there are many products and food that can be used for cleaning, cosmetics and even healing certain wounds.

This is also a great way to go green and save money. So, please join me for part two and learn about amazing uses for household products and food.

Part one of my series can be found here.

Part two: Food You Can Use.

Oatmeal

• Use oatmeal to treat poison ivy and chicken pox by grinding in a blender to make a fine powder. Pour into a cheesecloth or nylon stocking, suspend under bathtub faucet, and let the water run over it. Soak in the bathtub to help relieve itchiness.
• Make a dry shampoo by making a fine powder in the blender. Rub the oatmeal through the hair and leave the oatmeal in for a couple of minutes. The oatmeal will absorb the oils in the hair. Can be used when camping or for bedridden people that are unable to take a shower.
• Oatmeal is used to neutralize odors. People line ashtrays with oatmeal to neutralize the smell of smoke. Place an open container in the refrigerator to absorb odors.
• Make a facial scrub out of oatmeal. Grind two tablespoons until grainy and add one teaspoon of baking soda and water until the mixture is a paste. Gently scrub the face and then rinse.
• Oatmeal can be turned into clay, much like Play-Doh that kids will love. Just add one cup of oatmeal with flour and add water until it has a dough consistency. Use food coloring for different colored dough.

Olive Oil

• Dab a little olive oil on the hinges of a squeaky door or squeaky cupboard hinges.
• Use a teaspoon of olive oil and a soft cloth to polish furniture.
• Taking a teaspoon of olive oil before bed will help stop a person from snoring. Olive oil will help lubricate throat muscles and that helps with the snoring.
• Olive Oil will remove paint from skin. Rub on the skin and leave on for five minutes. Rinse and rub clean with a cloth.
• Rub on a baby’s bottom to help alleviative diaper rash.

Soda Pop

• Cut flowers will last longer when a half cup is poured into the water.
• Soda pop will unclog a drain. Pour a two-litre bottle in the drain. Wait a few minutes and then rinse with water.
• Pour soda pop over the corrosion on car batteries. Let the soda sit for a few minutes and then wipe off with a rag.
• Toilet bowls can be cleaned with soda pop. Simply pour the pop in the bowl. Let the soda pop sit in the bowl for an hour and then flush.
• Using aluminum foil dipped in soda pop, rub small rust stains off real chrome.

Vinegar

• Deter ants inside the house by spraying vinegar around baseboards and under appliances. Outside spray vinegar around the perimeter of the house.
• Spray vinegar on grass growing through driveway and sidewalk cracks to kill the grass. Vinegar will also kill weeds.
• Coating car windows the night before frost will help keep the windows frost-free. Use three parts vinegar to one part water.
• Vinegar will soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dab on the bite area to help relieve itching.
• Make a hair rinse with vinegar. Vinegar brings out highlights in brunette hair and restores the acid mantle while removing soap and sebum oil.

Of, course there are many other uses for these foods. Just google them and you will find some other great uses.

That concludes this part of the series, Food You Can Use. Next Wednesday I will talk about household products that are useful around the house.

Household Products and Food: Incredible Uses

This is part one in a series that I will do about amazing uses for household products and food. Not everyone is aware that some products you may have in your cupboard and even some foods will help clean your house, rid your yard of certain pests and even help clear pimples.

Follow me during this series and I am sure you will find something that may be useful to you. Not only that, but if you are interested in becoming more green, this series will help you do just that. In addition, this will save you some money too. Now, I think we all want to save money.

I will start with Food You Can Use.

Bananas

• Use mashed bananas and ¼ cup of yogurt to make a facial mask. Apply to the skin and rinse off after twenty minutes.
• Rub houseplants with leaves with the inside of a banana peel to remove dirt.
• Add a banana when cooking a roast and it will help tenderize the meat.
• When experiencing PMS eat a banana and the B6 will help regulate glucose level thus affecting your mood.
• Keep Aphids at bay buy burying cut up banana peels a few inches from roses.

Honey

• Honey can be used as an antiseptic it has a good amount of Hydrogen peroxide. Open to an open would to promote healing. It also lessens the appearance of scars.
• Mix honey with the juice of one lemon and drink to help alleviate coughs and sore throat.
• Mix honey with eggs and flour to make an effective skin moisturizer or facial mask.
• Add honey to vinegar and water to help ride the body of parasites.
• Honey can also be used to calm anxiety and nervousness. The honey’s nutrients have a calming effect.

Mayonnaise

• Rub on skin to relive sunburn
• Use mayonnaise to condition dry hair. Apply to hair and then put on a shower cap. After a few minutes shampoo out.
• Strengthen fingernails by dipping nails in a bowl of mayonnaise. Leave on five minutes and then rinse off.
• Use mayonnaise to remove crayon marks from wood furniture. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe clean.
• Remove old bumper stickers on the car by rubbing on mayonnaise. After a few minutes, wipe it off.

Milk

• Use milk to remove ink stains from clothes. Put the stained area in a bowl of milk and leave overnight. Wash as normal.
• Tarnished silverware can be removed by adding a little vinegar to fresh milk and soaking for a half and hour. Next rinse and buff with a soft cloth.
• Mix three tbls powdered milk with 1/3 cup of warm water to make a make-up remover. Put mixture on a facecloth; remove the makeup and then rinse.
• Clean patent leather with milk by gently dabbing on then let dry and buff with a soft cloth.
• Make corn on the cob taste sweeter by adding ¼ cup of powdered milk to the pot before cooking the corn.

Join me next Wednesday as I continue with Food You Can Use.

Time for the Belt Tightening

I started thinking lately that I need to get back into clipping coupons and make a concentrated effort to get on a better food and product budget. I used to do this as a stay-at-home mom years ago. It was easier then because I did not have to work outside of the house.

There are so many resources these days like the internet, which makes bargain hunting a lot easier. Years ago, we only had coupons in the Sunday paper. Not so today. There are numerous sites that offer printable coupons. I am only just starting to research the best sites. When I compile my list, I will post it here and provide a little description of each site.

In today’s economy a lot of people are turning to ways to save money. Both Corvette and my hours were cut at work so some changes are in order. I am sure this will take a little time to get started, but I know it will pay off in the end. So I am off set up my new food budgeting system. If any of you have tips or links to great sites, feel free to comment on them. I will appreciate any help.

Friday Food – Onion Blossoms?

Ok, so my friend L at work was talking to me about going out to eat at Texas Roadhouse the other day. Of course my interest peaked because I thought another copycat recipe! She said they ordered Onion Blossoms. I thought what the heck is that? So of course I have the trusty Google ready and waiting. I came across a couple of recipes and since my curiosity got the better of me I had to try one. One is fried and one is baked. For the sake of healthy eating I tried the baked one. Now it was ok except I only had a red onion and a yellow onion. So I figured what the heck. The purple one sort of turned out like the pic above and the yellow one just sort of sat there refusing to open and they also weren’t exactly as breaded as much as I would have liked. I can say both were flavorful, but a little hot to the taste. Corvette liked them but went looking for the Zantac right away. hmm…

The baked one is here. The fried one is here. I am not sure if I should even try the fried one. If anyone has tried it please let me know. I wanted to serve one as an appetizer at ThanksChristmas but I don’t want a houseful of heartburn casualties.

Anyway, I am off to see Butterfly perform in her first gymnastic expedition. Can you say Nastia Liukin or Shawn Johnson? Summer Games 2020? You never know… I will post on that later.

Also, I know I missed last Friday but I figured everyone probably had enough leftovers and did not even need a new recipe.

Friday Food – Honey Spiced Rubbed Pork Tenderloin