Home & Family Hints for everyday living

Everyday solutions... for around the home!

Go to Holly's Hints Home Page

Hints for the Home and Family

LINKS:

Also, check out the Seasonal Hints & Updates page

Use the "Equivalents" button above.
Check it out!

Click here for Holly's 'How- to' Hint with photos

Furniture Care Hint:
Formica and wood surfaces do scratch. To prevent some of the wear & tear on them put the self-adhesive cork or fiber pads on the bottom of toasters, mixers, televisions, lamps, planters, etc. Ceramic and pottery items can scratch the surfaces real easily. Note that even if appliances have hard plastic feet on the underside it still may scratch. Why take a chance? Put the protective pads on!

Recipe of the Month Juanita's Hamburger Stew

     This one I grew up with as (and still is) a family favorite.   Juanita is my Mom.
      It has also become a 'deer camp' and winter gathering favorite as well.
      QUICK to make - less than an hour.
       You can make it a day or 2 ahead and it also freezes well.

NOTE to print this recipe: go to the RECIPE BOX - it is in the Casserole Category - you can print it from there.

Ingredients: Serves 4

- 1 lb ground round
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 ½ t salt
- ¼ t pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 c mini carrots, kept whole (or chop up 3 large)
- 3 potatoes cut into slices or cubes
- 1 14-15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 t parsley flakes

Directions:

1) Prepare & measure out all of the ingredients.

2) In a large saucepan or skillet, brown the ground beef and onion in the olive oil,
breaking it up into bite size pieces.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients to the meat.

4) Cover, simmer for 30 or more minutes until a fork goes easily into the potatoes & carrots.

5) Serve with soft or hard breadsticks or crescent rolls or cornbread.

Hints:

* You can easily double or triple this recipe to feed a crowd
or to have some left to freeze for serving on another day.

* Store it in a large zipper food bag for easy transporting to camp or
to take up less space in a freezer.

J J J J

Go to my RECIPE BOX for more of my favorite recipes. Holly's Hints Recipe Box

You will FIND recipes I have posted on this page in previous months and many other recipes.

Do YOU want to submit a recipe to be posted in this Recipe Box?
Email the recipe to:   holly@HollysHints.com
You MUST include: 1) Your full name - however, if I post your recipe I will only show your first name.
                                 2) Your email address - this will NOT be used in the recipe posting, this is so I can contact you.
                                 3) The State, Province or Country you are from - this will be on your recipe post
                                 4) Optional - a short history of the recipe or how you use it

If your recipe is selected to be added to the RECIPE BOX, I will contact you when it is posted on this website and let you know where to locate it and ask you to let me know if you want any changes on it done.

This fun site was a gift from Locus Designs, and it fits perfectly with my goal to have us all share and learn.

J J J J J J J J J J

DO YOU WANT YOUR
Kitchen and Bath towels to absorb water?

You can by
Never using
Fabric Softener on them.

Do NOT use any liquid or
fabric softener dryer sheets on them.

Why? Because the softener coats
the fabric fibers &
as it covers the fibers -
it seals it and repels the water
instead of soaking it up.

J J J J

Miscellaneous

Holly's Hint: to get more juice out of lemons, limes, & oranges - microwave them fot 20 - 30 seconds
before you cut them in half.

Holly's Hint: Release your mind from clock watching
by using a timer to help keep you on task or to remind
you to get clothes out of the dryer or turn off a sprinkler and so on.

Holly's Hint: Save your thumb - push the nail into a piece of cardboard.
Hold the cardboard instead of the nail - Now start hammering it in place, once secure, tear away the cardboard.
Finish hammering the nail into place.

Holly's Hint: making CREPES - let the batter rest in the refrigerator one (1) hour before using.

Drugstore.com has more than you'd think. Holly has ordered from this site since 2001.

Drugstore.com also sells, food, toys, skin care, household items, including babies & pets. Give them a try.

GRILLING SAFETY HINT:

Grill grates should be lubricated BEFORE you start grilling. Wipe olive oil OR use your cooking spray on your cool grill grates.

If you forget to 'oil' it before you heat up the grates Do NOT use a cooking spray as it is flammable & it can cause a flame that will follow up the spray to the can in your hand & can cause severe burns to you & may even cause the can to explode!!

Grilling and basting a whole turkey

   Dwight grilling turkey
   over charcoal.
   This is our favorite way
   to have turkey.

Dwight bastes the turkey with a butter sauce recipe
he learned many years ago from a friend.

HINT: You can find his Butter Sauce recipe in the Recipe Box.

Grilling - My husband loves to cook - on the grill outside. He has perfected it over the past 28 years. He does it all - gas, charcoal and wood. He's a retired teacher & coach and found that cooking is a great way for him to unwind - it's therapy for him. So you can be sure that I will be including grilling hints and recipes here in in my Recipe Box.

HINT:     HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE GRILL IS HOT ENOUGH?
To test that your gas or charcoal grill is ready to cook on - just take a regular crescent shaped ice cube
& place it on the grate. If it melts in 15-20 seconds - it's ready.

HINT: For grill flare ups - keep a spray bottle of water handy to spray them quickly .

HINT: One of our favorite and easiest marinades is
Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing. Marinade any chicken cuts, turkey tenderloins,
beef kabobs, fish fillets or pork chops in this dressing
for 30 or more minutes before you put it on the grill.

HINT: Do NOT use any marinade that has had raw meat soaking in it. TOSS it.
OR -
Heat it in a large pan & when it starts to Boil - let it boil for 5 minutes -
WATCH & stir it because a lot of marinades foam up & BOIL OVER the pan & make a mess.

Click here for: Entertaining Hints

Idea for your future high school
or
college Graduate

Here’s a photo of the T-Shirt Memory Quilt
I made our son for his high school graduation.
It is a great way to preserve the memories of
growing up by using their favorite t-shirts

that depict special events of their lives.

email me for further information:
holly@hollyshints.com

Online Shopping Sources

FREE Photo Card at Hallmark with code PODFREE

Holly's Hints Shopping Guide - shop where Holly shops

Click here for more LINKS to sites that may interest you for your HOME.

NOTE:
All web site links are listed as a convenience to our visitors. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites.

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