Pantyhose Tip #10 Wrapping Paper Holder

My wrapping paper always ends up ratty on the ends, but in my search for ALL the useful things you can make from old pantyhose (see Pantyhose tip #1) I found this tip, and am going to give it a try.

Put the tubes of wrapping paper in the legs of an old pair of pantyhose. Hang over a closet rod. No more torn paper.

I imagine you don't have to hang it to get the same paper-saving results, but it would be a handy way to get them out of the way, I guess.

Houseplant Starts, Your Free Air Cleaners

Some plants are so easy to propagate, it’s ridiculous. You just take a piece of the plant, stick it in water and before long, roots! When I trim my pothos, I can’t bear to throw out the trimmings. Instead I sprout them. The spider plants are even simpler, since they send out babies all by themselves.

Not only are propagated plants cheap/free, these houseplants plants clean the nasties out of your indoor air. New countertops, synthetic rugs, plastic shower curtains, paint... all possible sources of VOCs that reduce indoor air quality (benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, all carcinogenic). But these babies suck it all in and clean it up, giving you sweet oxygen in return, some better than others (check link above for the best ones).

If you need a start, come by and I'll hook you up. Before long, you will be making more, they grow like crazy. They are the sourdough bread start of the plant world.

Pantyhose Tip #9 Find Small Things

Lost something small, like an earring, a sewing needle, maybe a bead? Try this:

Stretch a section of wrecked panty hose over the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner, then vacuum around the area where you think you lost the thing... jewelry comes to mind, but it can be any small, hard to see thing. The vacuum will suck up the stuff around without sucking it into the bag.

Test your Olive Oil

I hate being ripped off. And it isn't like olive oil is cheap, but given the choices in oils, for my own reasons I prefer olive oil to corn or canola... too bad corn or canola oil is probably what I have in my cupboard!

This is the most expensive canola oil on the planet! It SAYS 100% extra virgin olive oil, and has no other ingredients listed, yet I know it is not extra virgin olive oil. How? I did the refrigerator test. Olive oil hardens, canola and corn oil do not. Apparently there is big money to be made in fake olive oil. Add a little green coloring, maybe a slight flavor, and there you have it.

Apparently, Italy was exporting more olive oil than they make. So someone figured something was up. ABC did some tests to discover the fake oil. NPR did a report. I am just flat out mad about it. Maybe I should have known. I bought mine at the Devil's own “Sam's Club”. Oops.

The NPR guy says if it’s less than 10 bucks a half litre, it’s probably fake. I hate using price for my pre-buy test, though.

Pickled Eggs

I just enjoyed a homemade pickled egg. They are an acquired taste, so I am told, but if you love you some pickled eggs, mmm boy, try making them yourself.

First, peel a hard-boiled egg. Next, put it in a jar of pickle juice, after you've eaten all the pickles. It can be hot pickles, pickled peppers, mustard pickles... even pickled beet juice. Wait a day to a week, depending how pickly you like your eggs. Then eat. They are chewier than straight-up hard boiled eggs. And easier than pickling eggs from scratch.

Look, I've never gotten sick from this, and I've done it lots of time. This is a much-tested recipe. I haven't tried it with sauerkraut juice yet, but that's because I never have enough juice left, however, some friends gave us a can of sauerkraut juice, and I feel obliged and challenged to create something from it for our next get-together.

Dried Orange Peel for Firestarters

Dried orange peel can be used as a firestarter in your fireplace. Save your peel and let it dry out, then burn it in the fireplace. It's so much nicer than paper... smokes less, pops more. What fun!

We did this for the first time last night, and oh, what a show! It burned and sputtered for a long time, and it was amazing to watch. I suppose the oils in the orange act as fuel. It was well worth the effort. In fact, I plan to save ALL of my orange peel from now on, just so I can do this.

Cheap Greens

Maybe you've eaten sprouts before. “They're alright, I suppose” is what you thought. Well, it's what I thought, anyway, until I sprouted my own. Really. I've always had the store bought kind or the salad bar kind, and I am telling you, those are all slightly funky. The difference is huge.

When you sprout these yourself, not only do you control freshness and eliminate the need for any additives, you also get a much wider variety. Of course, you can sprout straight alfalfa, but for some excitement, you can add other things too. You can sprout broccoli (way more nutrients, apparently, than regular broccoli). You can sprout radish, for a hint of peppery goodness, without that overpowering radish harshness. Or onion sprouts. Or bigger bean sprouts. You can make a mix of sprouts for a new taste, oh the possibilities!

We got a mix from the local health food store, alfalfa, radish, clover (weird, eh?) and fenugreek. It's a 16 ounce bag for just under 5 bucks. There are two tablespoons in an ounce, so that is 16 things of sprouts. And each container of sprouts is 2 times bigger than the store type, because I am using one of those extra large plastic containers from the Thai restaurant (about 6 inches tall) so these work out to be about 15 cents a pack. It's almost done now and I am munching it, even though it is a day or two away from being done. Yum.

This was ridiculously easy to do. 2 tbs of seeds in a container with 4 tbs. of water. Soak overnight. Add water in the morning. Like magic, they sprout. Then rinse twice a day until they are far enough along to be yummy. Or a week, which is apparently the official amount of time. Then store in your refrigerator. Here are the step-by-step directions. Someplace on that site is a video, too.