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20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

Dust in cereal is actually quite easy to get rid of, and so are flies that fly around your food during the summer months. Finding unusual yet helpful tools in ordinary things is always a good idea, especially when it comes to handling certain products so that they keep bringing you tasty joy for longer. These hacks are cheap, uncomplicated, mess-free, and fun!

1. Always have a perfectly cool drink on hand during hot seasons.

 

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

 

Fill 1/4 of a bottle with water so when it’s put on its side, the water stays just below the bottle’s neck. Then put the bottles in a freezer. When you need a cold drink, just take one of the bottles out, fill it up with anything you like, and enjoy a perfectly chilled drink.

2. Prevent tomatoes from rotting quickly by putting them upside down.

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

Tomatoes’ “shoulders” are sturdier while their bottoms are more delicate. Pressure from a table or plate will make them rot faster which is why it’s best to flip them upside down.

3. Remove cherry seeds with a funnel.

To enjoy your cherries without pits, use a funnel. Simply put cherries on top of the piece of fruit, push down, and voilà — your treat is ready!

4. Cook your marshmallows over a toaster.

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

6. Use a colander to prepare the remaining bits of cereal from a box/bag.

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

 Many blender attachments will fit on mason jars.

8. If you don’t have a cookie rack, you can use skewers instead.

9. Try a pizza cutter if you need to mince ingredients for scrambled eggs.

10. Keep the bands on the asparagus in place so they don’t roll all over the place while you cut the ends off.

11. Keep flies out of your wine while sitting outside.

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

12. Bake 2 pizzas at once in 1 pizza-sized oven.

13. If you have a pack of bagels, use the hole in the bagel to stuff the open end of the packaging in. This way, they stay fresh!

20 Food Hacks We’ve Tried and Loved

 14. A hairdryer will help you to remove excess moisture from a chicken to make it super crispy.

 

 

 

source: brightside

Pool Noodle Hockey for Kids

During the Summer Olympics there are mens and womens field hockey teams. They play with a stick that has a shepherd's crook on it and hit a small ball.  

For our pool noodle hockey game I created goals and sticks using pool noodles. Scroll down for more details.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR POOL NOODLE HOCKEY:

  • fat pool noodle
  • knife
  • two thin long pool noodles
  • large ball
  • 4 lawn stakes

HOW TO SET UP FOR POOL NOODLE HOCKEY:

Set up is super easy! Start by putting two yard stakes in the ground about 2ft away from one another. Put them in the ground deep enough to stay but leave them high enough out of the ground that several inches are visible.
Arch one pool noodle from one yard stake to the other and slip the yard stakes into the centers of the pool noodle ends. The pool noodle should make an arch and stay pretty secure, unless it is super windy. Repeat with another pool noodle maybe 10-15 ft away (depending on how large of a field you want).
Next, cut the fat pool noodle in half lengthwise. The cut side of the pool noodle is a bit easier to hold on to and it is easier to hit balls with the fat pool noodle pieces. 
Now you are ready to play!

HOW TO PLAY POOL NOODLE HOCKEY:

We made small teams of one and worked hard to get the ball in the other goal before it was stolen! Using the pool noodle half we hit the large ball again and again. My son was so proud of himself once he figured out how to "dribble" the ball up the field using his pool noodle. 

It is fun to get the entire body into pool noodle hockey, which was why we set some ground rules to begin with. We encouraged kids to keep their sticks on the ground or close to it when they were hitting the ball (no high sticking) and to keep their bodies to themselves (no fouls)!

This activity is great for working on hand-eye coordination, aiming, swinging, and working together.

source: toddlerapproved

Outdoor kids’ carnival with cardboard boxes

You don’t have to wait for the carnival to come to town to have some carnival-themed fun! Check out these DIY ideas to build a carnival in your own backyard!

Clown bean bag toss

What you’ll need:

  • large piece of cardboard
  • small piece of cardboard
  • colored poster board
  • white poster board
  • scissors
  • Exacto knife
  • glue
  • tape
  • construction paper
  • markers
  • bean bags

What you’ll do:

  1. Cut the cardboard so that it is the same size as the piece of colored poster board. Glue the colored poster board to the cardboard.
  2. Cut out three circles from the white poster board. Glue them to the blue poster board to make the clown’s heads.
  3. Cut out three triangles from the construction paper. Glue the triangles to the top of the clown’s heads. Use markers to decorate the hats.
  4. Draw the shape of a mouth on each clown’s face. Use the Exacto knife to cut the opening through the poster board and the cardboard backing. Only parents should handle the Exacto knife.
  5. Use markers to draw eyes and a nose on each of the clowns.
  6. Cut the small piece of cardboard in half diagonally to form two triangles. Tape the triangles to the back of the large piece of cardboard to make “legs” to help it stand up.

Cardboard carnival ticket booth

What you’ll need:

  • large cardboard box
  • flat piece of cardboard
  • wrapping paper tube
  • solid color gift wrap
  • crepe paper
  • construction paper
  • string
  • scissors
  • tape
  • glue

What you’ll do:

  1. Wrap the large cardboard box with the solid color gift wrap.
  2. Make the sign by cutting the flat piece of cardboard to the same width as the box, and about one foot tall.
  3. Cut several sheets of yellow and white construction paper in half lengthwise. Round the corners on one end of each strip. Glue the strips to the cardboard to create the sign for the ticket booth.
  4. Draw the letters for the word “tickets” on black construction paper. Cut out the letters and glue them to the sign.
  5. Cut the wrapping paper tube in half and glue both halves to the back of the sign to support it.
  6. Use tape to secure the bottom of the wrapping paper tubes to the top of the large cardboard box.
  7. Wrap the wrapping paper tube with crepe paper and use tape to keep it in place.
  8. Create a bunting by cutting triangles out of colored construction paper. Tape the triangles to a piece of string, then swag the bunting across the ticket booth.

Balloon dart board

What you’ll need:

  • large piece of cardboard
  • solid color gift wrap
  • 20 to 25 balloons
  • tape

What you’ll do:

  1. Wrap the large piece of cardboard with the gift wrap.
  2. Inflate 20 to 25 balloons (no helium required) and tape them to the board.
  3. Throw darts at the balloons to pop them.

Photo booth backdrop

What you’ll need:

  • large piece of cardboard
  • plain wrapping paper
  • plastic table cloth
  • assorted construction paper
  • string
  • scissors
  • tape

What you’ll do:

  1. Cover the large piece of cardboard with the plain wrapping paper.
  2. Unfold a large plastic table cloth and cut it in half. Tape a short end of each piece to the top of the cardboard to make curtains.
  3. Cut a narrow strip off of the bottom of each piece of tablecloth. Use the narrow strip of tablecloth to tie back the curtains. Tape the ties to the back of the cardboard.
  4. Cut triangles out of construction paper. Tape the triangles to a piece of string to make a bunting, and tape the bunting across the top of the backdrop.
  5. Have kids pose for pictures in front of the backdrop.

 

 

 

source: sheknows