17 Simple Kitchen Hacks To Make Your Life Easy

Hi good people. As you all agree, caring for a home is no mean feat. Suppose you want to make your life easier as you care for the home. In that case, it’s important to look for ways to simplify your life. So, today, I want to share simple kitchen and home hacks to make your life easier.

I have used all the hacks and can confidently say they work.

Simple Kitchen Hacks To Make Your Life Easier

Let me share simple kitchen and home hacks to make your life easier without further ado.

1. Restoring Stale Bread

Is your bread dry and stale? No problem. You can restore the bread so long as it doesn’t have mold.

Here’s how to restore stale bread:

• Sprinkle the stale bread with some water.
• Wrap the bread with aluminum foil.
• Place the bread in a cold oven.
• Heat it in the oven at 300° F for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove the bread from the oven and remove the foil.
• Put the bread on the oven rack and heat it for another 5 minutes. This removes excess water and makes the bread crispy.
• Enjoy your restored bread.

2. Reheating Pizza in the Microwave

If you have leftover or cold pizza, you can reheat it successfully in the microwave.

Here’s a hack to reheat pizza in the microwave. This hack heats the pizza and also prevents the crust from becoming dry and chewy:

• Place the pizza on a plate and put the plate in the microwave.
• Fill a cup with water and place it next to the plate in the microwave.
• Heat the pizza for 30 seconds and check if it’s hot enough. The water produces steam that prevents the crust from becoming dry and chewy. The water also makes the cheese moist.
• If the pizza isn’t hot, heat for another 30 seconds.
• Remove the hot pizza and dig in.

3. Peeling Garlic Easily

I used to dread peeling garlic until I discovered this hack.

Here’s how to make peeling garlic bliss:

• Toss the cloves of garlic you want to use into the microwave.
• Heat them in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.
• Remove the cloves from the microwave and peel out the pesky husk. The microwave loosens the skin, and you can peel it off effortlessly.

4. Testing Egg Freshness

Do you suspect that some of your eggs aren’t fresh? You can easily test egg freshness by doing the following:

• Fill a bowl with cold water.
• Place the eggs in the water (one by one).
• If an egg floats, it’s not fresh.
• If an egg sinks, it’s fresh. Eat it.

5. Get More Juice From Your Citrus Fruits

Suppose you want to maximize the amount of juice your citrus fruits such as oranges, limes, and lemons produce. In that case, you can use this hack.

• Remove the fruits from the fridge (if you’d stored them there).
• Allow the fruits to remain on the kitchen counter until they reach room temperature (about 30 minutes).
• Roll each fruit firmly on the kitchen countertop using the palm of your hand. This breaks the juice capsules open, making it easy to extract the juice.
• Cut the citrus fruits open and extract the juice using your preferred method.

6. Prevent A Pot From Boiling Over

One of the things that annoys me the most in the kitchen is when a pot boils over. Ouch! I have to clean the stove, something I don’t enjoy.

Well, there is a kitchen hack you can use to prevent a pot from boiling over. You can use the traditional kitchen utensil – the wooden spoon.

Here’s how to do this kitchen hack:

• Place your pot on the stove and light the stove.
• Place a wooden cooking spoon across the cooking pot. Ensure the scooping side of the cooking spoon faces downward.
• Carry on with your other chores peacefully. The wood repels the water bubbles and thus prevents boiling over.

7. Extend The Freshness of Leafy Greens

When you don’t store your leafy greens such as cabbages, spinach, lettuce, etc, correctly, they can have a short shelf life. You can extend the freshness of your leafy greens by doing the following:

• Wash the leafy greens under the tap using cold water.
• Allow them to dry completely after washing.
• Bundle the greens in dry paper towels.
• Place the bundles in plastic bags.
• Place the bags in the fridge. The leafy greens remain fresh for days.

8. Make Homemade Buttermilk Instantly

Suppose you want to bake but have no buttermilk. In that case, you can quickly make some buttermilk instantly. Here’s how to make instant buttermilk at home:

• Put cold milk in a cup or jar.
• Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the milk. You can use a tablespoon of lemon juice if you don’t have vinegar.
• Let the solution sit for about 10 minutes.
• Voila! You have your homemade buttermilk.

9. Using Frozen Butter For Baking

If your butter is frozen, you can still use it to bake. There’s no need to thaw it first.

Here’s how you can use frozen butter for baking:

• Remove the butter from the freezer.
• Grate the amount you want to use.
• Let the grated butter sit at room temperature for a few minutes. The grated flakes soften and warm quickly.
• Get on with your baking.

10. Keeping Cooking Bananas Green and Starchy

Green bananas are versatile as you can make numerous dishes using them. These bananas are best when they are starchy and green.

When you have a lot of cooking bananas, they can ripen if you don’t store them properly.

You can keep green bananas green and starchy using the following method:

• Divide the bananas into bunches.
• Wrap the banana stems using foil or plastic wrap. Doing so slows down the ripening process.
• Put the bunches of bananas in the fridge to make their shelf life longer.

11. Speed Up Avocado Ripening

When avocados are unripe, they can take about two to five days to ripen.

The good news is that you can ripen your avocados faster – within a day or two using this kitchen hack.

• Put the unripe avocados in a paper bag.
• Place a ripe banana, apple, or kiwi fruit into the paper bag. These fruits produce ethylene, a gas that speeds up the ripening of the avocados.
• Close the paper bag. The closed bag traps the ethylene gas, thus speeding up the ripening process.
• Store the paper bag at room temperature.

Some of the avocados could be ripe after 24 hours.

12. Prevent Peeled Potatoes From Changing Color

When you peel potatoes, they start to change color gradually. This is called oxidization and happens because you’ve removed the skin. The potatoes are now exposed to air.

You can prevent peeled potatoes from changing color using this simple, traditional, kitchen hack.

• Put clean, cool water in a bowl.
• Peel the potatoes and put them inside the bowl of water.
• Ensure all the potatoes are completely submerged in the water. The water slows down the oxidization process.

You can store the potatoes this way for even a day with minimal discoloration.

13. Microwave Cleaning Hack

Cleaning the microwave can be an uphill task, especially when grime has stuck on.

You can use this kitchen hack to clean even the dirtiest microwave.

• Mix half a cup of water and half a cup of white vinegar in a microwave-safe container.
• Place the container in the microwave.
• Turn on the microwave and allow the mixture to boil (the microwave’s window should steam up). The steam from the vinegar and water mixture loosens all the grime in the microwave.
• Open the microwave and wipe the interior using a microfiber cloth or sponge.
• The microwave will be sparkling clean.

NB: You can add a few slices of lemon to the water instead of vinegar. The steam from the lemon and water solution also helps to loosen the grime.

14. Blender Cleaning Hack

Do you dread cleaning the blender as much as I do? Don’t worry. Here’s a simple blender-cleaning hack.

• Fill your dirty blender with warm water.
• Add a few drops of dish soap to the water.
• Switch on the blender and leave it on for about 30 seconds. This process cleans the blender thoroughly.
• Pour out the water and rinse the blender. It should be sparkling clean.

15. Remove Odors and Stains From The Chopping Board

As I mentioned in my post about kitchen hygiene mistakes you could be making and how to avoid them, it’s most likely your chopping board has stains and a funny odor. The stains and odor are from the different food items you chop on the board.

It’s important to remove the stains to keep your chopping board in good condition. Also, removing the odor is essential as it can transfer to food.

Here’s a simple hack to help you remove odors and stains from the chopping board.

• Sprinkle sea salt on the top side of the chopping board.
• Cut a lemon and use it to scrub the chopping board. The combination of salt and lemon removes odors and stains naturally.
• Do the same to the bottom side of the chopping board.
• Rinse the chopping board. The odor and stains should be gone.

16. Clean Greasy Kitchen Surfaces Easily

Some parts of the kitchen can become very greasy. These include kitchen cabinets and stainless steel surfaces.

Here’s a kitchen hack to help you clean greasy kitchen surfaces easily.

• Put equal parts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle.
• Add some dish soap to the mixture.
• Shake the bottle and mix well.
• Spray the mixture on greasy cabinets and greasy surfaces.
• Use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe the mixture from the surfaces. The mixture has grease-cutting power and thus gives the surfaces a streak-free shine

17. Removing Discoloration From The Bottom Of Your Electric Kettle

Your electric kettle gets discolored at the bottom due to the chemicals in the water. The discoloration makes the kettle look unsightly. The buildup can also affect the taste of the water you boil.

You can get rid of the discoloration of your electric kettle using this simple kitchen hack.

• Fill the electric kettle with 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar.
  Boil the mixture.
• Allow it to stand overnight so that the mixture can perform its magic. The vinegar breaks down the mineral buildup in the kettle and leaves it sparkling clean.
• Pour out the mixture from the kettle.
• Fill the kettle again with water and boil. This removes any lingering smell of vinegar and makes the kettle ready to use again.

Conclusion

There you have it. You can use these simple kitchen hacks to make your life easier and more enjoyable. I hope you’ll use one of these hacks today. Please post your feedback below. Cheers!

Also read: 10 awesome self-care tips for moms; give yourself some TLC – you deserve it.