Topic Wiki

Food:
  • If you get a piece of eggshell in with the eggs while cracking them, use the other half of the eggshell to fish it out instead of trying to use your fingers or anything else.
  • If you want to separate the yolk from the white, take an empty clean water bottle, squeeze the bottle, place the mouth over the yolk and slowly release the bottle. The yolk will get sucked up into the bottle with minimal/no white.
  • When boiling eggs, add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the water. Makes them really easy to peel and doesn't affect the taste.
  • If you have a room temperature bottle (and esp can) that you want to get cold fast, wrap a wet paper towel around it and put it in the freezer. It'll be ice cold pretty quickly.
  • Microwave rice from TJ's
  • Open a can of corn,put salt pepper and cheese on top, microwave or oven it (super easy lunch)
  • 2 slices of old pizza from the fridge, lay them cheese sides on top of each other and put them in a sandwich maker. Instant calzone.
  • For chulent of course.. Using only navy beans, chulent mix a big no no.
  • If you're going to freeze ground beef, put it in a gallon ziploc and squeeze/spread it flat to fill the bag. You can stack them in the freezer and it'll defrost much faster (without the outside spoiling while the inside is still frozen).
  • To easily melt a small amount of chocolate / butter, put it in a ziploc bag and put that into a mug of hot water for a few minutes. No mess! You can cut a hole in the corner to pipe chocolate too.
  • Shredded cheese lasts longer in the freezer, but will clump up, before freezing add a little bit of cornstarch (1tbs) and shake vigorously. The pieces will stay separate and it'll be easy to use.
  • To cool down baby food without blowing at it (which may add your bacteria to the food) wave your hand at it.
Travel:
  • If you want a hot meal on any plane, bring a tradition soup or oatmeal packet and use the free hot water they offer with tea. Great for traveling in general.
  • Before you go on a long flight, freeze a JJ cappuccino.  If it's frozen they let it on the plane. Once you get up from your nap on the plane there is nothing as refreshing as an iced cappuccino. It should still be freezing but not frozen.
  • When packing a suitcase, put your socks inside your shoes. It will save a little space and stop your shoes from getting crushed.
  • The aisle seat armrest usually has a little button underneath by the hinge that allows you to lift it. Makes it much easier to get in and out of your seat, especially if your tray table is open with stuff on it.
  • When we go on trips My wife packs the childrens clothing in individual ziplocs for each day of our trip. Like that she doesn't have to look for all the matching stuff.
Computers:
  • You can open links a in new tab by clicking with the scroll wheel.

    Quickly toggle between tabs.

    1) Excel and most internet browsers: Ctrl + PgUp/Dn
    2) Google Sheets: Ctrl + Shift + PgUpDn
    3) chrome: control-tab / control-shift-tab
alternatively ctrl+number tab from left
   
  • Widows+V will open up your clipboard with all recent stuff copied.
Every day/Home:
  • If you are drilling into a wall, open an envelope and tape the flap to the wall under where you are drilling and it catches all the plaster/dust that comes out. Makes cleanup after a small drilling a breeze
  • Open glass jars with rubber gloves, Or a rubber band around the lid.
  • When you first open a bottle of soda or seltzer or pop, begin by slowly turning the cap one-quarter turn and wait about 10 seconds, watching for the small bubbles to slow down, and listening as the sssst of escaping gas gets quieter.  Then turn another 1/4 turn, and wait another 10 seconds till it quiets down.
  • If you get chewing gum on your clothes, put the clothes in the freezer for a bit, it will be much easier to remove the gum afterwards.
Stores:

  • Check out at the pharmacy in the grocery store when the regular lines are long.
Perscriptions:

  • GoodRX.com, even for meds that are covered. My insurance can have a $15 copay, but coupon from GoodRX gets me the medication for $7. When insurance doesn't cover the medication, it's a fraction of the cost. I've seen discounts of 90%
Holidays:
  • After Yom Tov, especially Pesach, make a spreadsheet. What on the menu went over well with guests and kids. What did you run short on and need to have more next time around. What did you way overbuy on. That way there is no need to reinvent the wheel next year.

« Last edited by qooldude on July 07, 2022, 12:22:43 AM »

Author Topic: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!  (Read 313722 times)

Offline ckmk47

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1300 on: October 06, 2024, 04:50:26 PM »
or use a smart plug to have it turn on on Friday morning
That works for having it on only for Shabbos.
My hack is using it to heat up food on yomtov.
1 fire and the crocpot.  and all the food was ready when we were.
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Offline ah giten

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1301 on: October 06, 2024, 05:02:50 PM »
or use a smart plug to have it turn on on Friday morning
AYLOR about starting appliances with a timer, other than AC and lights.

Offline justaregularguy

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1302 on: October 06, 2024, 05:11:36 PM »
That works for having it on only for Shabbos.
My hack is using it to heat up food on yomtov.
1 fire and the crocpot.  and all the food was ready when we were.
yea was thinking that cholent just isn’t the same outside a crocpot so that makes sense to use it for wtvr in the meantime!

AYLOR about starting appliances with a timer, other than AC and lights.

interesting. What’s wrong?
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Offline ~King Lake~

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1303 on: October 06, 2024, 05:30:02 PM »
Are there any safety concerns when mixing wax with oil? I was going to do it but someone told me not to. But not sure if they had any credible issue to cite.
I know people doing it weekly with shabbos candles

Offline HudZ

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1304 on: October 06, 2024, 05:33:47 PM »
Confusing it with water perhaps, which is dangerous.

Offline DaasTora

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1305 on: October 06, 2024, 05:41:41 PM »
Are there any safety concerns when mixing wax with oil? I was going to do it but someone told me not to. But not sure if they had any credible issue to cite.
As I wrote
I do it with a little olive oil and it extends it for a couple of hours.
and I never encountered any issues.
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Offline moko

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1306 on: October 06, 2024, 05:46:01 PM »
Remove tea light from thin, remove tea light wick and pass 48 hr candle wick through tea light?
yes

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1307 on: October 06, 2024, 05:53:03 PM »
Confusing it with water perhaps, which is dangerous.
Water with oil or with wax?
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Offline moko

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1308 on: October 06, 2024, 06:09:53 PM »
When I need chulent for my guests, I use 2 chulent bags, each with it's own food.
we've been using these for a while. I prefer soup on shabbos instead of cholent. The kids still want their cholent.

Also, replace your crockpot lid with a quarter size sheet pan for a large flat  hefsek kedeira warming surface

Offline HudZ

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1309 on: October 06, 2024, 06:32:32 PM »

Offline ckmk47

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1310 on: October 06, 2024, 06:39:27 PM »
we've been using these for a while. I prefer soup on shabbos instead of cholent. The kids still want their cholent.
Quite an interesting thing! I've not seen it before.


(But I get bags at less than 20 cents each, the chulent fills most of the pot and the meat just a small area, and the fumes of the beans will likely infuse into the meat enough to give digestive distress. So it's probably not what I need. 
But thanks for sharing it.)



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Offline HudZ

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1311 on: October 06, 2024, 07:18:01 PM »
I'd imagine that most of you know this already, but a good hack to prevent your crockpot bag from burning is to put some water between the bag and the crockpot.

Offline etech0

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1312 on: October 06, 2024, 07:25:30 PM »
I'd imagine that most of you know this already, but a good hack to prevent your crockpot bag from burning is to put some water between the bag and the crockpot.
I'm pretty sure it's written in the instructions on the box of bags I buy. But how many people read that?
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Offline yungermanchik

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1313 on: October 06, 2024, 07:32:59 PM »
I'd imagine that most of you know this already, but a good hack to prevent your crockpot bag from burning is to put some water between the bag and the crockpot.
This is only necessary with a Jewish brands not with Reynold's
Unless you use the metal "crockpots".
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Offline WayBackMachine

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1314 on: October 06, 2024, 07:47:41 PM »
I'd imagine that most of you know this already, but a good hack to prevent your crockpot bag from burning is to put some water between the bag and the crockpot.
it also depends on the quality, Reynolds Kitchens are the best

Offline HudZ

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1315 on: October 06, 2024, 07:49:53 PM »
it also depends on the quality, Reynolds Kitchens are the best
See the post right before yours.  ;)

Offline EliJelly

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1316 on: October 06, 2024, 08:56:36 PM »
and the fumes of the beans will likely infuse into the meat enough to give digestive distress.

Which kind of beans are you talking about? Navy beans are much better than cholent mix.

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1317 on: October 06, 2024, 09:13:22 PM »
Which kind of beans are you talking about? Navy beans are much better than cholent mix.
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1318 on: October 06, 2024, 09:24:59 PM »


and the fumes of the beans will likely infuse into the meat enough to give digestive distress.

I don't think this is a thing.

Either way, did he ever try beano or enzymatica digest gold?
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #1319 on: October 07, 2024, 03:34:26 AM »
Bean chulent doesn't agree with my husband's digestion, so I've been putting a piece of pastrami up instead. I cut it up into the right size before I freeze it, and pop a piece into the croc with minimal water. Delicious!
Our cholent, if we aren't having guests, is meat, onions, potatoes and carrots. And when we have guests, DW makes two cholents (second one with beans and barley). No arguing with the kids' tastes ... and I'm happy with either (or both) cholent types.
We often have celiac guests.  8)
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