5 Surprising Uses for Common Kitchen Items

While it may seem like there may be nothing to eat in the house, that doesn’t mean the contents of your kitchen pantry (or fridge) is totally without use. There exist a great number of little known uses for common kitchen items that are just not exploited enough. Here is a brief sampling of a few, some you may know, but there are some bound to surprise:

Baking Soda

Baking soda and baking powder are both used as leavening agents in baking (baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate while baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate together with acidifying and drying agents) and most people know at this point that baking soda is great for absorbing unwanted smells in your carpet or fridge. However, baking soda is also good for keeping your green vegetables a desirable shade of green. If you add a bit of baking soda to boiling water before you cook vegetables like asparagus and broccoli it will prevent your vegetables from turning dull. But be careful, adding too much will turn your veggies bitter. Half a teaspoon is probably enough in a large 4-quart pot, but you might want to experiment a bit to find the right balance.

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rene d.

5:55PM PST on Jan 20, 2013

Thanks

January 20
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Melania P.

7:53AM PST on Jan 18, 2013

Great! Sharing this

January 18
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Danuta W.

2:01AM PDT on Sep 23, 2012

Thank you for the information

September 23
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Sue H.

7:29AM PDT on Sep 22, 2012

good to know

September 22
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Dale O.

8:22AM PDT on Jul 31, 2012

Here I am again-interesting about milk. Use baking soda mixed with water for an upset stomach-tastes absolutely horrible but sometimes only that will work. It is advised to add a few drops of lemon juice since technically it could damage the stomach, but have used it without for decades and haven't imploded my stomach yet.

Have returned to this topic because the other offering for Daily Action was doable only if one could provide an American zip code in the signing of the petition. Nice, but some of us live elsewhere on this far flung planet and use postal codes instead or in the event one is a Hobbit, a toe print on the envelope suffices.

July 31
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Fabulous, knew most of the tips but there are always new ones to use.
Would be nice to read these articles without ads that point flashing arrows and other moving effects that are annoying.

Siti R.

4:35PM PDT on May 28, 2012

olive oil for shaving mmmm..interesting!

May 28
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Carole K.

10:42PM PDT on May 13, 2012

Things my Mama taught me long ago...... except she did not know about the olive oil & that was an item we never had @ our house bc it was too expensive. Thanks for the reminders!