Rust Remover

Have you got rusty wrenches or garden shears that barely open and close? Then you'll want to give this household hint a try! You'll just need one inexpensive ingredient.

Vinegar! Yep, just take your rusty tools, clean off any loose dirt and rust then soak in plain white vinegar.  These shears, pruners and saws were pretty far gone but after just a 12 hour soak they were considerably better. Some were too long to fit in my basin of vinegar so I soaked rags with vinegar and laid them over the parts of the tools that were not submerged. Look at how dirty the vinegar is in that basin!! 

Soak your tools from 12-48 hours then use a stiff wire brush or steel wool to scrub more rust off (yes there is a little elbow grease involved). When you are satisfied with how the tools look wash with soap and water then dry thoroughly.  Apply a light oil, like mineral oil, to keep them from re-rusting.

I might give these a re-soak to see just how much more rust can be removed.

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Bag Closure Hack

This is so simple and yes, it works! Actually had a "duh!" moment when I saw it!

Just cut a notch out of the top of your plastic food bag, pour out what you need, then take the two side tabs left on either side of the notch and tie them together.

 You're welcome 😊

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Veal Stew Pie

Meaty stew under a golden pie crust is Comfort Food 101.

(See note at the end of this post on how to clean a burnt pot. Yes, it happens to the best of us 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Ingredients: 

Pie dough for an 8" pie (store bought or homemade)

2 tbsps olive oil

1 lb veal cut in 1 1/2" cubes

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 medium onions, quartered

3 tsps minced garlic

1 1/2 tbsps flour

1 1/4 cups water

1 tbsp dry onion soup mix

2 tsps worcestershire sauce

2 tsps red balsamic vinegar

1 cup beef broth

3 carrots, cut in 1/2" slices

1 tsp dry thyme

1/2 tsp savory or sage

fresh chopped parsley

1 or 2 potatoes cut in chunks (I planned on serving this stew with Colcannon Mashed Potatoes for St Patrick's Day so didn't add them this time)

Pat the veal cubes dry with a paper towel and add salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet to high. Brown the meat well, you might have to do it in batches, then remove to a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions, cooking for 3 minutes. Add the garlic in the last minute. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the beef broth to deglaze the pan then add the water, onion soup mix, worcestershire sauce and balsamic. Return the meat to the skillet along with any juices from the plate.

Add carrots, (potatoes if using them), thyme and savory or sage. Add enough water just to cover everything. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 2 hours. After 2 hours remove the cover and simmer for 30 minutes to thicken (keep watch that it doesn't burn!) Check to see if you want to add more salt or pepper then stir in the parsley.

Your stew is good to go but if making it into a pie, roll out the pie dough on a floured surface then place in the bottom of an 8" pie plate. Fill with stew and and cover with top crust, wet and pinch edges to seal. 

Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.

Link to Colcannon Potatoes:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/03/colcannon.html

 

Note: Keep an eye on your simmering pot or you just might have to start all over again. 😖

This trick of boiling water with a fabric softener sheet can loosen the burnt mess and save your pot. Let it soak for about 1 hour. A scrape with a razor blade and a little elbow grease and its good as new!

You know the old saying "a watched pot never boils"? But if you turn your back on it for 1 second...⬇️

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Easy Roller Blind Makeover

Are you tired of blinds that look like this?

Then take them down! It's just embarrassing!

All you need is a pair of scissors, a strip of material and a sewing machine (or you could sew it by hand I suppose, but it would take a little more time. This job took less than an hour.)

Cut the fringe and that whole piece of blind right off up to behind the wooden pull bar.

Have a piece of material about 2-3 inches wider than your blind. It should be long enough to fold a hem over on both sides and envelope that wooden pull bar at the bottom of the blind. Fold the corners in at the sides and pin it to the shade.

I did one side and then the other, but if you're really good you could get away with one pass. 

As you can see I had to use a chair to hold the blind up while sewing to balance the weight of the roller.

And that's it. Told you it was easy : )

How to Keep Kitchen Papers Rolling

I can't believe I never knew this !!

How many times have you gone to take a short piece of plastic wrap and ended up with a big, long piece that got all stuck together because the roll popped out of the box. You try to unstick it and use it, but end up balling it all up and throwing it out.  No more. Don't waste anymore plastic wrap, foil or wax paper.

I never noticed that a lot of the boxes have little push tabs that when pushed hold the roll in place.  If the box you're using doesn't have a tab, just cut your own little tab. 
It's not going to change your life, but it will take away a little daily frustration.

You're welcome : ) 

Need to Slice a Ton of Fries Quickly?

Use an apple slicer and corer to slice fries quickly.

Why didn't I think of this before?

Just cut the bottom of the potato so that it sits flat and press down with your apple slicer. Presto!

Ready to use in your favourite recipe.

Here's a good recipe for Potato Wedgies

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2014/07/potato-wedgies.html

Household Hint - Defrosting the Freezer

What does this have to do with defrosting a freezer?

The lid !!
It fits perfectly in the bottom of my upright freezer.

It also fits in the freezer part of my fridge.  Just empty your freezer, turn it off and place a fan inside.

Sit the lid on an old towel. The lid will catch chunks of ice and water while the towel will catch the runoff from the sides.

You'll be done defrosting the freezer in about an hour (depending on how much ice you've accumulated of course)

Rust Remover - Natural VS Chemical

So I needed to get rid of some rust on a "stainless steel" ?!?! shower shelf.

I looked up natural ways to do it and came up with a few. The most promising looked like a lemon cut in half with salt or vinegar.

This is what I started with..............gross!

I started scrubbing with my salt covered lemon.  

It seemed to take a little rust off, but not much.
Then I tried an old toothbrush soaked in vinegar.

That's better.  Look at all that splatter !
But I'm not going to lie.  I had to finish off with a soapy scouring pad and window cleaner.

It still took a lot of elbow grease, but I think the chemical method worked better.
Sorry environment : (