Cilantro Keeper

Cilantro comes in bunches with roots and is kept in water at the store. But if you keep it that way the leaves will rot in a day or two. But if you put it in a dry plastic bag, and in the refrigerator, it will keep for weeks.

Burn Remedy

Toothpaste.

Yep. Toothpaste. Just smear a generous coating over the burn and leave it there.

Garlic Saver

One of the problems with keeping peeled garlic cloves in a container in the refrigerator is mold.
One day we had leftover garlic cloves and a wedge of lime. Zeidy put the sliced lime wedge in with the garlic and it did not get mold.

We're still testing this one out, to see how long garlic can go without getting moldy, but it seems to be working.

Acidifying fresh cut fruit such as apples and even avocado , with lemon or lime juice, or even vinegar prevents oxidation (the brown discoloration). But this seems to be preventing the development of mold.

Fruit Fly Trap

We had an outbreak of fruit flies. They came with some fruit (obviously) and since each female will lay about 500 eggs, and the entire lifecycle from egg to adult can be completed in about a week, well you do the math. I just received fruit fly traps in the mail, but they are all but gone from a homemade trap I set while waiting for the commercial traps I ordered. The first thing was to remove any fruit that attracts them. Not a permanent solution, since we have to have fruit, but temporarily until they are all gone.

There are instructions for how to make all kinds of traps on the Internet, but the key is two things, the attractant and the "trap". The attractant is not necessarily fruit! The larvae eat yeast found in rotting fruit, so the best attractant is balsamic vinegar, or red wine vinegar or even red wine. This smells like rotting fruit to the little buggers. Now the trick to "trap" them may involve a container they can fly into and not (so easily) out, but the real trick is to eliminate surface tension on the liquid that is the attractant. Put some dishwashing liquid or Jet-Dry® into the liquid and when they land on it they'll not be able to skate on the surface and fly away; they will sink and drown.

Bug Bite Cure

Papain is a plant enzyme from papaya fruit. It breaks down proteins and is the main ingredient in Adolph's Tenderizer by Lawry Foods. Even the "Unseasoned" variety also contains: Salt, Sugar, Food Starch (prevents caking).

You can also buy Papain in tablet form at health food stores and crush the tablets and make a paste with water.

Make a paste with water and place it on a bug bite as soon as possible. It works by breaking down the protein the bug injects that causes the swelling and itching. It will not work once there is a bump &.or redness (inflammation).

Skunk Stink

Bathe in tomato juice.

Most people who live in the country know this one, but the issue recently can up when a friend's dog got sprayed.
The dog had to go to the vet because it got sprayed in the eyes and nose too, but tomato juice will take off the stench.

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