You may not yet know this about me, but I tend to get (overly) excited about simple little things. Especially simple little tips that make life just a notch easier. Case in point—the bagel tip I’m about to share. But first, a bit of background.
So, yesterday after a mega office organizing session with a client, I stopped by Trader Joe’s on my way home. Stopping at Trader Joe’s, in and of itself, is always a treat since there’s isn’t a Trader Joe’s in my town. In fact, I have to drive forty-five minutes and all the way to another state to go to Trader Joe’s. But, it’s always worth the trip.
Yesterday’s stop at Trader Joe’s was particularly worthwhile. It was a quick stop for just a few mission critical items—coffee filters, oregano, peanut butter filled pretzels and salmon. Plus, a few impulse purchases made their way into my cart like a bar of soap and bagels.
After picking up the essentials and non-essentials, I made my way to the checkout area, and started chatting with the checkout lady. I always enjoy this aspect of my Trader Joe’s shopping experience because the checkout people are always so friendly and they make really interesting small talk about the items in my cart. “Oooh, this snack mix is to die for.” Or “Have you tried the Fire Roasted salsa? It’s really good.” I love the enthusiasm of the checkout people, as it kind of validates my long drive for groceries.
Yesterday’s check out chat included small talk about bagels. Now, if you aren’t familiar with Trader Joe’s bagels, they’re really yummy. And they contain no preservatives so the checkout lady was reminding me to refrigerate or freeze my bagels once I got home. But, she took it a step farther and suggested that I slice my bagels *before* freezing them, just like she does. And that’s the tip that seriously made my day. It’s so simple and yet I never thought of it before. Instead, my approach has been to freeze my bagels whole, and then microwave them before toasting them. Usually I microwave them a tad too long, making them either too hot to slice or a tad bit rubbery (or overly crunchy) after the toasting process. But no more—now I’m a slice-your-bagels-before-you-freeze-them kind of girl. And I’m really happy about it, too.
Yep, that little tip had me grinning from ear to ear in much the same way I would have been grinning had the check out lady told me I won the free grocery giveaway. But nope, my grin was all caused by a little time-saving-bagel-toasting-made-easier tip. That really is all I need to make my day.
What’s your favorite life-made-easier tip? You know (after reading this) that I would love to hear it. And really, it doesn’t have to be earth shattering like the bagel tip, just some simple thing you do that makes life just a notch easier. Thanks for sharing!
Aby, I had to laugh at this post b/c I know exactly what you mean! Sometimes it’s an obvious-but-somehow-I-never-thought-of-it change that makes all the difference. I do slice my bagels this way–I figured that out on my own–but it took a magazine to tell me to divide water into two pots for boiling if you’re in a hurry. Seriously, this changed my life when I was single & would arrive home from work late, so hungry I could barely wait for my pasta. I was also asked by my sister to refrain from discussing how much better my life had become once I started putting similar utensils together in the dishwasher. (Yes, sometimes they nest & a few don’t get clean but so what? Now I just LIFT THE PILES & plop them back in the drawer! Yeah! See, I’m talking about it again!) 🙂
Not quite the same thing, but I’ve often wanted to give a reward to the person who had the idea to remove the tollbooths from one side, & just double the toll on the other.
Here is a tip I learned today… My day care child’s mother was nearly in tears after her daughter used a glitter gel pen to decorate her American Girl doll’s face. They tried everything from a bleach pen, to alcohol to a magic eraser to get it off… but nothing budged it.
I googled (my favorite research tool) and found that acne medication with benzoil peroxide (we used Clearasil) applied to the doll’s affected parts and set in the sun bleaches the stain out. Remarkably the dolls skin was not bleached.
Since peroxide bleaches, we protected the dolls clothing and cloth body and wiped the dried Clearasil off with a damp napkin.
Pretty cool! Had to share:)
No earth shattering ideas to give this afternoon, but I am in need of a TJ’s run (my girls love their fish sticks and they are the only ones they will eat that don’t have that questionable minced stuff inside). I haven’t tried their bagels – definately adding them to the cart and cutting before freezing.
wait, I’ve got it. I’ve heard of parents dressing their kids for school before bed, but never done it before. Last night, my 4yr old started to take her PJ’s off before bed (crying about being too hot) and instead of pleading to put them back on, then pleading again in the morning to get her dressed, I picked out a cute pair of shorts and a tshirt for her to wear. She loved it and getting her out the door was crazy easy (just toothbrush, hairbrush and shoes).
Thanks for the tips so far — keep them coming! I sort my utensils into the dishwasher, too. This falls under the category of simplifying the step in the process you dislike the most — which happens to be putting away the clean dishes. 🙂
I love the idea of putting your kids to bed pre-dressed. 🙂 And who knew Clearasil would work on an American Girl doll? Don’t you just wonder who tried it first? 😉
Thanks!! Can’t wait to hear more.
Thanx for the great tip! It’s the little things that make life so much easier!!
My tip seems totally lame, but it really does make my life easier.
I buy ground beef in bulk from Sam’s or Costco. I used to separate it into 1 pound bags and freeze it. Now I brown all of it first and then separate it into bags for the freezer. When I want to whip up a meat sauce for pasta or make a quick taco dinner, I just have to thaw in the microwave and add it to the sauce.
Told you it was lame, but it works for me! LOL
@Robyn, I like your tip! Thanks for sharing it! I don’t think it’s lame at all. 🙂
Aby
Ok so I don’t know if I would call mine a tip or not but, when I learned it it made my life a little easier. So, did you know that on the ends of an aluminum foil box there are little tabs that you can push in that hold the foil in place. I learned that like a yr ago. No more pulling the whole roll of foil out. Go check out your box. Even the generic brand boxes have them. Cool huh! My cling wrap has them too! I hope this makes someones life easier.
I love when I have to drive out to Virginia Beach to visit a client because I can visit the TJ there (also a 45 minute drive). Wherever I buy my groceries, I buy cheese in a block and grate it myself. I then freeze it in 1 cup amounts. Pre-grated cheese has a lot of unnecessary ingredients in it to keep it from sticking together. I never have a problem with cheese I grate sticking together. It’s so easy to reach in the freezer and pull out what I need. The bags thaw very quickly. I also do this with green peppers and onion, chopping a lot at one time and then freezing to use later.
Great tip! Any yes I drive 40 minutes for TJ’s peanut butter filled pretzels too! They are my absolute favorite!!!!
My favorite time saving tip is using a simple blog to store ANY information I may need to look up in the future. I set up a very simple layout in Blogger. I chose one that had a search box. Then, anytime I want to remember something (but know I won’t in my brain), I enter a blog post. You can also tag them with categories. I have put everything from homemade laundry soap recipes, price comparisons for different products, scanned in pages from magazines for crafts or other useful info I might be able to use, household service price comparisons, Christmas lists for people, etc. All it takes is
a keyword in the search box to “remember” my information.
You know when you stay in hotels? I always bring home the shampoos and teabgs/coffee sachets. The t/c sachets get put in a jar near the t/c cannisters. when I run out, and forget to buy new ones, my secret stash is always brilliant. The shampoo and conditioners get put into my kids swim bags so they have something for after their swim but it’s not bulky and it’s not the end of the world if they leave it behind.
Another freezer tip for you. I freeze knobs of peeled fresh ginger that are ready to go by grating on the microplane. In fact, frozen they grate easier. I use it in asian dishes but also in homemade chicken soup (great taste and immune boosting properties) as well as grating some into herbal tea when someone is sick.
I also take leftover tomato paste and plop tablespoonfuls on a long length of plastic wrap. Close the wrap on itself then twist around each plop like a sausage link and freeze. When I need a spoonful of tomato paste or several they’re ready and waiting in the freezer. I just snip off how many I need with kitchen shears and plop them out.
My favourite time saving laundry tips are to peg socks out on the washing line in pairs & then you pair them up as you take them off the line & that’s it! No taking them off the line & trying to find the pairs later. I also adopt the ‘shake & fold’ technique for laundry which means I never have to iron- you shake your washing really hard before you peg it on the line & then when it’s dry you fold it straight away into the laundry basket instead of dumping it into the basket. Then you just put it away! :o)
OMGoodness! Christine G. your tip about creating a blog to store info is BRILLIANT! Thank you.
marielle, I do something similar with our homemade pizza sauce: I shock freeze it in an ice cube tray and then transfer the cubes to a ziploc bag. I need 2-3 cubes for a round pizza so I just set them on my counter to thaw in the morning 🙂 I also make a big batch of pizza dough, divide it into parts, place them in individual freezer bags, flatten and freeze. I either put them in the fridge to thaw overnight or leave them on the counter for a few hours. Makes for a quick homemade pizza – you just have to think of taking the stuff out of your freezer 😉
Adding to Robyn’s tip: my husband flattens the 1 pound portion of ground beef as much as possible, filling all the way to the edges of freezer bag. This way it defrosts faster and is easier to store : )
@Garbriela,
I love that tip! What a great idea—space saving and time saving. 🙂
Aby