Want to have fresh produce year-round? Extend the life of garden vegetables by freezing your green beans or string beans. This is an easy cooking technique you can use, all you need is a pot, some water and a few plastic bags to keep your vegetables fresh for a long period of ...more
After you finish cursing out the bleepity-bleep who tossed his gum on the ground, try this. Learn how to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe. You will need: a street curb a freezer or ice cubes a cotton swab rubbing alcohol a plastic bag (optional) WD-40 (optional) Goo G ...more
Watch this instructional photography video that shows how to build a useful, inexpensive tripod for the amateur photographer on a budget. This tripod will be more useful than most commercial tripods with only a plastic bag full of beans. The result is a stable, useful extensio ...more
Watch as Manjula prepares Punjabi chola, a classic chickpea Indian dish than can be served with naan or any other Indian bread. You will need: 1 cup chickpeas (Garbanzo beans, Kabuli chana) 2 tea bags 3 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon cumin 1 tablespoon basen (Gram flour) 2 medium ...more
Love to cook beans from scratch but hate to wait for them to soak? Well, sorry to say, you still have to soak them. But by soaking an extra-large batch in advance, then storing the pre-soaked beans in zip-top bags in the freezer, they'll be ready to cook at a moment's notice.
Are your shoes a little too tight? Don't toss them away, there's hope for them yet, and it involves one of the most basic elements on Earth— water. By packing your high-heeled shoes with plastic ziplock bags filled with water, then storing your shoes in the freezer, you'll hav ...more
Storing your groceries or recent purchases from Target in the provided plastic bags may be convenient, but think of how many people use these non-biodegradable plastic bags and then toss them every day and every year. Help clean up the environment by making reusuable tote bags ...more
Take a bowl with sliced raw shallot and layer in some halved cherry tomatoes. Add in a cup of white beans, then a can of italian tuna, drain the oil (packed in olive oil) and break it up a little as you add. Add a big handful pitted calamata olives, cut in half. Take a couple ...more
Tired of eating ho-hum, overpriced takeout for lunch? Try some of these inspired homemade options. You Will Need: * Casserole ingredients * Sandwich ingredients and bread * Burrito-size tortillas * Leftovers * Cream cheese or cheddar * Beans * Salsa * 3/4 white wine * 1/2 cor ...more
Bed bug management requires many levels of attack. Prevention is very important. You should never pick up discarded items on the street. Don't buy used or refurbished mattresses or furniture. Toss out vacuum bags. Steam, cleaning, and heat are tools to use in addition to inse ...more
Danny Lipford shows us how to filter rocky soil in a flower bed in this informative video. By stapling 2 pieces of 2x2 to a hardware cloth, a mesh is produced that can be clipped onto a wheelbarrow. A home-made sifter of this variety, without a solid frame has the distinct adv ...more
Start by obtaining a bag of garbanzo beans and soak them in water overnight. After they have soaked overnight, put them in fresh water again with one tablespoon of baking soda in the water and boil them for about two and a half hours until they are really tender and soft. Afte ...more
Hetal and Anuja from Show Me the Curry! take a step away from their usual Indian cuisine to show you how to make a delicious Mexican-style seven-layer dip. Choose the serving dish. For large parties a decorative bowl is suggested; otherwise, you can make individual servings in ...more
Put some breading on the fish by dipping it on the beaten egg mixture. Place the cornstarch in a clear plastic bag and put-in the fish. Close the container (be sure that there is some air inside) and shake until the cornstarch is evenly distributed on the fish. Fry the fish ...more
Join chef Sarabjit Singh of Side Wok in Malcha Marg, New Delhi, as he prepares a nice and tasty spicy starter dish. Learn how to make Thingming mushroom starters. Cooking these exotic mushroom starters is not only easy, but well worth it come dinner time. Ingredients: *200g ...more
Moving is one of the top ten most stressful life experiences. Here’s how to pack it up without wanting to pack it in. You Will Need * Wardrobe or cardboard boxes * Twist ties * Heavy duty garbage bags * Shopping bags * Luggage * Dryer sheets (optional) Step 1: Invest in war ...more
Check out this instructional video that will teach and demonstrate how to play corn hole. What is corn hole? Corn hole is a game in which players take turns pitching small bags filled with corn (or sand or beans) at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. These platforms ...more
Leaving scissors wet or forgetting them outside can cause them to rust. Rusty scissors, if you can even open them, will leave brown marks on everything you attempt to cut through. Attempt is the truth—rust dulls the blades of the scissors making it virtually impossible to cut ...more
This video shows you how to make an oven baked green bean casserole. In order to do this you need certain ingredients. Those ingredients are 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 2 16oz bags of frozen green beans, 3/4 of a cup of milk, 1/8 of a teaspoon pepper and 1-1/3 of a cup o ...more
Do you spend a lot of cash on Chai tea lattes from Starbucks or Coffee Bean? In this video, learn how to make your own and homemade always tastes better than the store bought kind! So, save a few dollars, get out your favorite mug and cuddle up with a good book. It's time to m ...more
Whether you have to move into your car or you want to, there are some bases you need to cover. This Howcast guide demonstrates how to live out of your car. This is also helpful for cross country trips. You Will Need * Pillows * Blankets or a sleeping bag * A cooler * A camp s ...more
Nachos are the perfect appetizer, especially when the tortilla chips are warm and crispy. Learn how to make your own nacho chips the simple way - with fresh corn wraps. these corn chips are made from corn wraps and they are so easy to make. Cut a stack of corn wraps into trian ...more
If even the bats are intimidated by the clutter in your attic, it’s time to tackle the mess. Watch this video to learn how to clean out your attic. Step 1. Review Empty the contents of every box and bag in your attic. Put aside anything you can’t imagine you’ll ever again us ...more
Where We Go Wrong Nutritionally In our fifties we face numerous food challenges. We often choose to ignore them rather than face them head on. Here are the problems we face: We burn calories slower. Everything we put into our mouths seems to wind up someplace else: hips, thi ...more
Planning the Trip Get lots of brochures Send for brochures of the places you will be visiting. Make a travel book with the brochures to get the grandchildren and their families excited. The best place to contact for these brochures are the Visitors Bureaus or the Chamber of ...more
Why settle on just pork chops or ribs when you can string up the entire pig? Serious Eats posts an great slide show on roasting a whole pig, from materials to the process to the perfect pig roastin' sauce. Warnings PETA members should probably exit this page right about now. ...more
Recycling your garbage is noble and, in many places, mandatory. But it also can be very confusing. This guide will clear up the rules. Step 1: Check Laws Check the local laws regarding recycling in your town. Step 2: Rinse Rinse glass bottles, plastic containers, and alumi ...more
This video teaches the secrets of making extra crispy fried chicken in simple steps. First add some flour mixed with seasoning salt in a zip lock bag, simultaneously beat an egg with some water. Now add some seasoning salt to the chicken, put it in the bag and shake it well. I ...more
Freezing is a great way to preserve the nutrients and lengthen shelf-life of food. No need to waste extra apples from the fall. Freeze your apples to be used in a variety of ways at the date of your choosing. Freeze apples to pack the freshness of autumn into your homemade pi ...more
Accents are not only fun but attractive too, when done properly, at least. Work on your Irish accent, practicing the inflection and sound of consonants and vowels. Impress your friends with your new accent. You may have the luck of the Irish, but you’d better work on getting ...more
theres a porta potty on the deck of a boat tell the victom to use the porta poty cause the one on the boat is broken when they use the poty they will be gassed with helium then hydrolicly forced out of the poty and slips on poop out side of the poty and tossed with 20 pound of ...more
Need a camera stabilizer, but don't have the cash? With an old pair of jeans, a bag of lentils, and an hour or two of your time, you can make one for cheap. Maybe even free, if you have a bag of those legumes already. This tutorial comes courtesy of Jeff Meyer on TechRadar. H ...more
The sprouts, they're alive! Alive, I tell you—aaaaaaliiiiiive! (Cue dramatic music.) It's true: sprouts are a living food, and they're packed with more nutritional benefits than some raw vegetables. It's easy and fun to grow your own sprouts from seeds, legumes, and grains. P ...more
Homemade ice cream is so good and you can make it with just a few ingredients and no special equipment. Most cookbooks and magazine recipes expect you to have an ice cream maker at home, but you can imitate the churning effect of an ice cream maker by shaking or tossing around ...more
Most of us lead busy, work-filled lives, often clocking in a 9-to-5 five days a week. And when that clock signifies the hour to leave, the last thing on anyone's mind is: "Time to go to the grocery store to pick up more fresh produce!" (Well, to be fair... maybe more people ar ...more
Your freezer is no one-trick pony. While it does excel at keeping your food fresh for as long as possible, it has a few secret talents it doesn't want you to know about. Like making soda slushies and pyro-friendly smoke mix, as well as reviving dead hard drives. Even better—it ...more
I've never met a person who doesn't love French fries. And, to be frank, I have no desire to meet such a person. I know traditionalists who love their fries with ketchup; European folk who love theirs with mayonnaise; gourmet eaters who prefer truffle oil; and some, like my g ...more
Though the word "pie" may conjure up images of a dessert made of dough with various fillings, the famous Frito Pie is, in fact, something of an entirely different nature. Absurdly simple in its construction, this pile of Fritos and chili is served in the actual chip bag and mo ...more
Right now is that magical time of year when the general public decides to embrace their inner fattie and get baking in the kitchen. Hello, pies and cakes and cookies and everything carbs. Goodbye, diets—see you in the next year, when you cripple us with unbridled guilt and lon ...more
There are so many apps out there that it can be hard to decide which ones you should keep on your phone, especially if you're working with limited storage capacity. Sure, you can install and uninstall apps depending on when you need them, but that can be a little tedious. Tha ...more
Now that the Super Bowl is over, you might find that you have an econo-sized bag or two of opened potato chips slowly going stale in your pantry. After all, there are only so many bowls of Buffalo Chicken Pizza Beer Dip you can eat with 'em—and you definitely don't want them t ...more
Chances are you've got a bunch of wooden takeout chopsticks doing nothing but cluttering up your utensils drawer. That's a darned shame, considering that chopsticks aren't just for shoveling food into your mouth—they're actually the best cooking tools a cook can have (plus the ...more
Why give a heart-shaped card to your favorite person when heart-shaped bacon can convey the same message and taste so much better? If heart-shaped candy and sweets are no longer your thing, you have a plethora of unique, heart-shaped DIY crafts to choose from. Make heart-shap ...more
Don't toss out those cardboard tubes just yet. Whenever you have one leftover from a roll of paper towels, toilet paper, or wrapping paper, hang on to it, because it's got some great DIY potential. Cardboard tubes of all sizes can be handy for a variety of uses, from storing ...more
Lettuce is not just for salads, it's a versatile green that you can use in hundreds of different ways. So many people in America toss their lettuce when it starts to wilt, thinking that it's too far gone to make a nice, crisp salad. But you can cook with lettuce like you would ...more
There are a lot of people out there who don't like vegetables, but I would contend that that's because they haven't eaten any really good vegetables. I thought I hated tomatoes (okay, technically a fruit, but used mostly as a vegetable) until I ate some fresh from a garden. On ...more
I've had a thing against bananas ever since Mario Kart; not only do I believe it's the worst weapon in the game, but it's also a very funny-looking food. Nevertheless, bananas are a great source of potassium, and I can't overlook that. But bananas are fragile, so you have to ...more
I am a man who enjoys a good cup of crap. Not just any crap, but the kind that makes the Seattle coffee-snob inside of me feel all warm and happy as if the sun were out (which of course it isn't.) It's the kind of crap that has traveled through the intestinal tracts of a noctu ...more
With T-Day on the horizon and approaching rapidly, you are probably in one of two camps. The one that is eagerly awaiting the holiday feast with barely-contained drool. Or the one that involves breathing heavily into a paper bag while worrying about your lack of oven and stove ...more
Stop! Do not pour that leftover wine, coffee, or bacon grease down the drain. And those herbs that have been in your fridge so long they've literally turned on you? And what about when that recipe only calls for two tablespoons of heavy cream, a quarter cup of tomato purée, or ...more
How many times have you thrown out the remaining cardboard tube from an empty roll of toilet paper? Most of the time, they don't even make it to the recycling bin, and with the average American using over 20 rolls each per year, that's over 6.4 trillion tubes being wasted each ...more
As a species, our cells are designed to use sugar for energy. Is it any wonder that as humans evolved, we grew to love the taste of sugar? Nowadays, we're the victims of our own efficiency at making foods sweeter. Now that morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes are common issues ...more
Meet the Wonderbag. The "first non-electric slow cooker" uses an insulated bag made of poly-cotton fabric, polyester, and repurposed foam chips. You bring your one-pot meal to the desired cooking temperature, usually via the stovetop. Then you turn off the heat, pop the pot in ...more
I love cheap, nutritious food: lentils, rice, toor dal, and other beans and grains. Even popcorn. The only problem is that they usually come in floppy plastic bags that make measuring ingredients more difficult. I usually open up one corner of the bag only to have everything c ...more
You probably already know that cooking involves a ton of chemistry. Bread rises because of the reaction between the flour and leavener, and the delicious crust on your steak is formed by the Maillard reaction. Understanding the chemistry going on behind the scenes is one of th ...more
Bread doesn't have a long shelf life, as most of you probably know quite well from firsthand. You get it home from the store and before you know it, the loaf has turned from soft and perfectly pliable to hard and crumbly—and maybe even moldy! So what's the best way to keep you ...more
If there's one thing that gets used far too frequently in the modern kitchen, it's the trash can. Home cooks everywhere waste enormous amounts of food by throwing it away before it's actually ready to be tossed. So much waste... so depressing.. One way to lessen the amount of ...more
In my opinion (and I suspect in the opinion of the masses), there is no greater snack food than potato chips. They're crunchy, they're salty, they're fried, and they're bite size; what's not to love? But I believe that, like almost all foods, potato chips can get even better. ...more
Oatmeal isn't the most glamorous breakfast, but it's definitely one of the best. It's healthy, filling, delicious, and easy to personalize. And, if you have instant packets, oatmeal is also a very quick and easy breakfast. Like so many foods, instant oatmeal is healthier and ...more
Even though we love taco salads and bread bowl soups, edible bowls and dishes have now gone far beyond those oldies-but-goodies. Using food as serving dishes helps with cleanup, reduces food waste, and makes your spread more creative and interesting. Here are some of our favo ...more