I’m moving back to college and have a lot of stuff to take on the airplane. What is the best “space saving bag”/vacuum seal storage bags to buy that’ll fit in a large suitcase? Thanks

I recently purchased a down comforter, but it’s way too difficult to put it back into the original bag for storage. A sales rep at BedBath and Beyond told me to store it in one of those vacuum seal storage bags (thus preventing moisture/dust mites from entering). However, in researching down filling, I read that down should not be strenuously compressed, nor compressed for long periods of time. So was the sales rep jerking my chain, or can I store my down comforter by placing it in one of those Space bags and sucking the air out of it with a vacuum? Thanks!

I’m planning on making meals ahead of time and storing them in a months use. What kinds of vacuum seal storage bags/containers should I use?? Should I wrap them in foil first?? What about soups??

PS .. I do have a vacuum sealer system (foodsaver).

Thanks in advance!!

tinyurl.com Click the link above for more information and promotion! Use ziplock bags for space saving storage: shopping bag into planting bags: alternate rival vacuum sealer bags: vacuum seal and freeze fresh vegetables. Space bags combo – vacuum storage saver bag foodsaver vacuum sealers…

Cheaper is better

I need a neat way to store my clothes that doesn’t involve a dresser or plastic bins or vacuum bag things. Im staying in a kinda basement apartment and there’s no closet. Im trying to go for something subtle, simple, and modern. Any sites or ideas would be great

So my mom who is full of old school sayings told me today that if you put something in the fridge such as "peanut butter" or …..canned food and then taking it out the next day will cause the food to spoil much much more quickly. Is this right?

Just know that just because you were taught something, even in school, does not make it right. Is there a REASON this could be true? I know "some" bacteria flourish at low temps, but then wouldn’t this bacteria die once it left the fridge?

So I am getting a guinea pig in a couple of weeks. It will be no older than 4 months.

I think I will be using FLEECE BLANKETS instead of the original bedding (hay, etc…) And PLEASE FOR THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT USE FLEECE (people that don’t use fleece just answer the next questions below, please)! But fleece users, can you explain how you make the bedding…. I don’t want to use anything that could make the guinea ill. If I do use paper for anything, it’d only be plain white COPY PAPER — not newspaper (because I read it is bad). Is that okay?

Washing the blankets frequently and cleaning won’t be a problem!
But would I only have to do 1-2 a week of cleaning?
& how long does a fleece blanket last until you have to get a new one, since you’ll be washing it ALOT?!

At the pet store, the biggest bag of food is 5lbs. () and I was wondering how long a bag like that would last? Weeks? Or what. Or how much does your bag of food last? And what size is it? And it says to feed the guinea vegetables daily and fruit 1-2 times a week, so would you still give it a cup of food from the bag daily also?

When it comes down to playing with it, how can you spend time with it? I am going to get it a ball so it can roam around in my room, and get somewhat of freedom. But how can I give it one on one time, since it won’t have a companion (another guinea pig). I don’t want it to become lonely or depressed. & Should I get it a hideout?

The smallest space for it’s home I would give it is 20 x 10 x 12 and if it came down to the largest would be 24 X 12 X 16 inches… There is only ONE guinea pig, so it won’t have to fight over space with another and + when I’m home, I’ll let it out. It’s only going to be in the cage when I’m not home, I’m cleaning, or I’m sleeping. Is that okay?

You can talk about those 2 topics however you like, in any way! I need much details!
1. The fleece bedding
2. Food
3. Play

I am just looking for the cheapest route ! (:

And any important details you would like to give me, then please do!! (:

The hazelnuts are still in their shells, have been kept in a cool, dark, dry place (though not the freezer) in an air-tight storage bag and also in the bag they came in. I cracked one open and it looked, felt, and smelled fine–no rancid odor. Gave it a little taste, and it tasted fine too–not sour or otherwise ‘bad’–but I never eat raw hazelnuts so am not certain what they’re really supposed to taste like in the untoasted state.

I bought a quart of soft-serve ice cream from a local stand. I would like it to last about 2 months without it becoming gritty, which it will typically do after it is kept in the freezer for awhile. Would it be possible to vacuum seal it in a food-saver container to prevent it from becoming gritty and also decreasing the amount of freezer burn?

So I’m going to be going to Florida for about a year. I need to take bed sheets, towels, etc. I won’t have enough time or energy upon landing to go buy all the stuff. So I’m wondering if there are any vacuum seal bags/containers that everyone recommends, and if they are safe to take on a plane. They will be going in my checked baggage, not in carry-on bags.

Thanks!

—

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to
pick the little ‘stringy things’ off of it. That’s how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints
in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them
in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350
for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low
and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on
the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer
for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes
with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.
It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.
The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel
roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-
row openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt
or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose.
Place pin in seam of slacks and … ta da! … static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
!
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of
your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside,
just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals
easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and
leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you
bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2′ with Apple Cider Vinegar
and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the
cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t
digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works
and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the
house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the
dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil-
ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he
took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a
mesh material … I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. Well …
the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us
that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that’s what burns out the heating unit.
You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your
clothes soft and static free … that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel
waxy when you take them out of the box .. well this stuff builds up on your clothes
and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your
house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long
time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with
hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!
Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that.
So, I thought I’d share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran
through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it
with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when
I rinsed it … the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! T
hat repairman knew what he was talking about!
note from Jean—-I checked out my dryer screen–I seldom use bounce,– but water would scarcely go through !! I cleaned it and then the water sailed right through -.imagine that ! —-
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE’S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE
SOMEONE’S LIFE.

I would like to know your ideas on preparing or partially preparing foods ahead of time on the weekends so that during the busy work week, all I need to do would be to throw the ingredients together and pop in the oven, heat in the microwave, etc. I have limited freezer space, so preparing a whole meal and storing it in the freezer isn’t really an option. For instance, sometimes I will cook whole chickens on the weekend and cut up the meat and put it in freezer bags, so that I can just add the already cooked meat to a recipe. Anyone have any other tips to share?

check it out:

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to
pick the little ‘stringy things’ off of it. That’s how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints
in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply
chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them
in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350
for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low
and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on
the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer
for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes
with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.
It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.
The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel
roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-
row openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt
or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose.
Place pin in seam of slacks and … ta da! … static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
!
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of
your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside,
just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals
easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and
leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you
bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2′ with Apple Cider Vinegar
and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the
cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t
digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works
and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixe
haha def. not me :p