You don’t have to be a top chef to know the flavorful benefits of cooking and sautéing with onions and garlic. By adding these two staples, you can change the game when it comes to the taste of some of your favorite foods or dishes. Veggies like onions, garlic, and even shallots last much longer than their counterparts, such as bananas, apples, and oranges (and don’t even get us started on avocados).
Still, there is a simple hack to further their longevity by as many as three more months. Just take a paper bag — a standard lunch bag will do — and punch holes all in the bag using a paper punch. Once you have that done, fold the bag top down a couple of turns and secure it with a paper clip.
Scrub Produce With Baking Soda
Chemicals, huh? You can't live without them, but you also can't live with the vegan PTA mom going on and on about how your shampoo is basically poisoning you. Thanks to this hack, she will have one less thing to nag about. For years, baking soda has been touted as one of your kitchen's most versatile must-have items.
You will have an all-natural produce scrub by adding a couple of teaspoons of baking soda to 1-2 cups of water. Combine the mixture in a large mixing bowl, or add the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake well. Once mixed, you will have the perfect all-natural solution for ridding your produce of pesticides, dirt, and unwanted yuck from every nook and cranny. Once cleaned, make sure to rinse your produce thoroughly.
Clean With Essential Oils
Essential oils have recently been enjoying great PR. Their popularity is due to their natural sources and limited impact on the environment. There are more and more companies and individuals who find new and useful means to incorporate them into their everyday products and lives. One such way is to use them in the cleaning of our homes and living areas.
The most beneficial aspect of essential oils is that they are natural, not harsh like man-made chemicals, and have much fewer side effects. By combining essential oils with other natural products, such as baking soda or vinegar, a whole new world is opened up to a more natural method of cleaning.
Get Rid of Garlic Smell With a Spoon
Garlic is great. It smells great, it tastes great, and it is the supreme leader of the kitchen, ruling from its throne of the little basket on top of the microwave. The only thing keeping garlic from being the best thing that has ever existed is how it leaves your hands smelling spicey for three days after you're done using it.
Luckily, there is a way around it that doesn't involve using surgical gloves. Once you're done handling your garlic, rub your fingertips on the back of a silver spoon for a few seconds. Then, wash your hands with soap and enjoy not smelling like the fish you just cooked.
Attach a Car Air Freshener to Your Fan
If you need to get your home smelling sweet but short on time, you only need a car air fresher and a regular household fan. Purchase the kind that usually clips into a vent and attach it to your fan, being careful that it is not in the way of the rotor blades.
The moment you start that baby up, your house will be smelling like a peach, or any other scent you desire, in no time. All without having to spray aerosols inside your living space. Rejoice in the sweet scents that permeate your space with this ingenious time-saving hack!