-GRILLING TIPS-

-Marinating quickly tenderizes meat and also adds additional flavor. Use roughly 1 to 2 cups of marinade for every 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of food. The marinade should completely surround the food. Cooked meat should never be returned to a cold marinade.

- A secret to tender, moist,tasty meat and fish is the cut you choose. The best cut for grilling steaks is a full one inch thick

- Whenever barbecuing, use tongs to turn the meat. A fork should never be used as it will punch holes in the meat and allow the natural juices to escape, causing the meat to lose flavor and become chewy.

- Tomato and/or sugar based BBQ sauces should be added only at the end of the grilling process, since these products will burn easily and are seldom considered an internal meat flavoring.

Tip of the Day #229: Cut down on Cleaning--Walls & Fixtures

Apply spray starch to doors, knobs, light switches and to painted walls along hallways and stairways where fingerprints accumulate. The coating will resist marks better.

Tip of the Day #228: Repairing a Marked/Dinged Refrigerator

If you have a refrigerator that has taken a 'beating' over the years and may be full of dents, scratches or various other marks, dab some correction fluid on the areas--it will cover the areas up nicely and look natural!
Correction fluid does come in a variety of coloura depending on the shade of your fridge.

Tip of the Day #227: Front Closet Organization

If you have children and little room to store coats, shoes, bags, etc here is a tip for you!
Place 'Command Hooks' (the white sticky ones) low on the walls and/or doors of your closet for your childrens belongings--this way, they are able to hang them up themselves as they are at arms reach and are not left just thrown in with the door shut (at least that's how it used to be in my house!)

Tip of the Day #226: Cleaning your Washing Machine

First of all, make white vinegar your best friend--she will help you out in so many situations, especially this one!

NOTE: This tip works for both top-loading and front-loading machines.

You may notice that your washing machine has quite a bit of soap build-up or in my case, I just recently purchased a used washer that had come from a home with very hard water and left quite a mess (the tub part and rubber folds were full of what looked like rust).

What you need to do is pour 2-3 cups of vinegar into the tub, and run the washing machine through a complete cycle on the hottest setting to remove odors, stains and detergent build up. If it is really bad, you may wish to repeat this process. DO THIS ONCE A MONTH TO MAINTAIN A CLEAN MACHINE.

For the lid/door, scrub around the edge with vinegar to remove mildew and detergent build up, especially where all the rubberized parts are!

Tips:

*To prevent mildewing, leave the lid open after you finish a load to allow the washing machine to dry out.

*Commerical fabric softeners leave build up in the machine. Make vinegar your fabric softener of choice, and the inside of your washing machine won't need to be cleaned as frequently – if at all.

Homemade *Banana Peanut Butter* Ice Cream

I originally saw the idea for this ice cream on Pinterest, but like with any recipe, I always tweak it to my liking. You honestly CANNOT go wrong by trying this idea! Not only is it super tasty (for both adults and kids alike), but it is HEALTHY, GLUTEN-FREE & DAIRY-FREE!! Yes, that must sound a bit funny considering dairy is generally the main ingredient in ice cream, but I assure you that the taste and consistency is the same!

Ingredients:

4 Ripe Bananas
2 tbsps Peanut Butter

Directions:

1. Chop bananas into pieces (size shown in photo)

2. Place flat on baking sheet and place in freezer for 2 hours

3. Remove from freezer and place all pieces in blender -- the bananas may stick a bit to the baking sheet, but just use a plastic spatula or knife to lift off!

4. You MUST have a powerful blender for this recipe to work properly! Begin blending frozen bananas. BE PATIENT--I cannot stress this part enough because it will take awhile to obtain a 'creamy' consistency. The first time I made the recipe, my bananas were almost going 'powdery' and I thought for sure something was wrong but I kept going!

5. Every few minutes, take a spoon and push down the bananas to start forming a base.

6. After the creaminess sets in, add the 2 tbsps of peanut butter.

7. Blend for 1-2 minutes--you will know when it is 'just right.'

8. You can serve right away, but after placing in a bowl, I popped mine back in the freezer for a bit.

I HOPE YOUR FAMILY ENJOYS THIS LITTLE TREAT AS MUCH AS MINE--YOU CAN TELL HOW MUCH MY LITTLE ONES DO BY THE PHOTO POSTED! ;)

Tip of the Day #225: Cleaning your Patio Furniture

For cleaning resin patio furniture, mix 1 part dish soap to 8 parts bleach then wipe on and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse and repeat if neccessary. Comes clean every time!