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 293744 times)

Offline etech0

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #60 on: June 10, 2020, 10:45:44 PM »
Quickly toggle between tabs.

1) Excel, Chrome, and other internet browsers: Ctrl + PgUp/Dn
2) Google Sheets: Ctrl + Shift + PgUpDn
chrome: control-tab / control-shift-tab
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Jellybelly

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #61 on: June 10, 2020, 10:47:14 PM »
its different. theyre both essential
While everyone else here is useless 😜

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #62 on: June 10, 2020, 11:15:33 PM »
Try emulsifying the cheese into a sauce with all that starch on it  :)
This conversation is pointless if you never tried it... We are talking about less than 1/10 of a teaspoon of corn startch extra per serving. Have you ever measured 1/10 of a teaspoom before?

ETA: 32 servings of cheese in a bag, one tablespoon of corn starch, equals less than 1/10 of a teaspoon per serving.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2020, 11:19:05 PM by jj1000 »
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #63 on: June 10, 2020, 11:17:55 PM »
This conversation is pointless if you never tried it... We are talking about less than 1/10 of a teaspoon of corn startch extra per serving. Have you ever measured 1/10 of a teaspoom before?
If there's enough starch to prevent clumping then there's enough to prevent proper melting and browning. I will admit that I have never tried adding such a small amount of starch to non-pre-shredded cheese, if that's what you're talking about then I will try it next time I shred some cheese and see how it goes.
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Online jj1000

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #64 on: June 10, 2020, 11:19:55 PM »
If there's enough starch to prevent clumping then there's enough to prevent proper melting and browning. I will admit that I have never tried adding such a small amount of starch to non-pre-shredded cheese, if that's what you're talking about then I will try it next time I shred some cheese and see how it goes.
A kasha on a maysa... Let me know how it goes.

I'm talking about the bag of shredded mozzarella from Costco.
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #65 on: June 10, 2020, 11:21:27 PM »
She'd your own cheese don't buy it already shredded.
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #66 on: June 10, 2020, 11:23:37 PM »
She'd your own cheese don't buy it already shredded.
Please explain to my kids.
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Offline grodnoking

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #67 on: June 10, 2020, 11:23:57 PM »
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.
You can even ask the pharmacy how much it is not on insurance and sometimes it's cheaper!
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Offline grodnoking

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #68 on: June 10, 2020, 11:31:39 PM »
Yep, can't really get anywhere close to a real pizza oven without at least a stone, a pizza steel is even better.
If you don't have a pizza stone you can put the pizza pan directly on the bottom of your oven for a minute to get it crispy.
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Offline justaregularguy

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #69 on: June 10, 2020, 11:40:20 PM »
Right click a tab and creat a color coded group of website tabs (mentioned in a different thread ) very helpful for me at least as I’m working servicing several law firms at once 
nothings impossible- the word itself says Im possible

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #70 on: June 10, 2020, 11:46:16 PM »
If you don't have a pizza stone you can put the pizza pan directly on the bottom of your oven for a minute to get it crispy.
Assuming you're using an aluminum pan, that just won't work even remotely as well. Aluminum is too good a conductor of heat, it won't really retain much heat. That's the point of the baking stone or steel, they don't conduct heat well so they take a very long time to heat up but retain a large amount of heat.
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #71 on: June 10, 2020, 11:47:19 PM »
A kasha on a maysa... Let me know how it goes.

I'm talking about the bag of shredded mozzarella from Costco.
Oh, well in that case, sure if you find adding a drop of starch to be helpful, no reason not to do it, there's already way too much starch coating that cheese to make it work the way non-pre-shredded cheese will.
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Offline grodnoking

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #72 on: June 10, 2020, 11:47:56 PM »
Assuming you're using an aluminum pan, that just won't work even remotely as well. Aluminum is too good a conductor of heat, it won't really retain much heat. That's the point of the baking stone or steel, they don't conduct heat well so they take a very long time to heat up but retain a large amount of heat.
Try it
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Offline elya

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #73 on: June 10, 2020, 11:48:14 PM »
Assuming you're using an aluminum pan, that just won't work even remotely as well. Aluminum is too good a conductor of heat, it won't really retain much heat. That's the point of the baking stone or steel, they don't conduct heat well so they take a very long time to heat up but retain a large amount of heat.
So how does one get the raw pizza on to the fiery hot Pizza stone?

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #74 on: June 10, 2020, 11:48:29 PM »
She'd your own cheese don't buy it already shredded.
Yep, life is better when you shred your own cheese. I'm still guilty of buying pre-shredded cheese though, it's too convenient.
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #75 on: June 10, 2020, 11:49:53 PM »
Try it
Don't have to, I have science 😏
All kidding aside, I'm sure it will help a little to heat up whatever pan you are using, it just won't work nearly as well as a baking stone or baking steel will. Cast iron is a great alternative if you don't want to buy a baking stone.
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #76 on: June 10, 2020, 11:51:03 PM »
So how does one get the raw pizza on to the fiery hot Pizza stone?
Best way is with a pizza peel obviously but if you don't have one you can use a cutting board or something, just put some cornmeal or flour on top before you put the dough on it so it slides off easily.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2020, 12:21:35 AM by mmgfarb »
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #77 on: June 11, 2020, 12:00:19 AM »
Yep, can't really get anywhere close to a real pizza oven without at least a stone, a pizza steel is even better.
A betty crocker does the job for me.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #78 on: June 11, 2020, 12:21:15 AM »
A betty crocker does the job for me.
I didn't know she was turned into a cooking vessel but cool.
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Re: Life Hacks, Post Your Favorites!
« Reply #79 on: June 11, 2020, 12:26:18 AM »
So how does one get the raw pizza on to the fiery hot Pizza stone?
With foil which can stay between
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