Getting rid of Egg smell

Eggs are loved by young and old alike. Eating eggs will cause the odor to linger on which is annoying. At times your hand, the plate or the frying pan also smells of egg even after washing the utensil. If the egg omelet has burnt on the pan, the situation is worse. The entire neighborhood will smell the burnt odor and the smell is bound to stay indoors for a long time. Boiled eggs are good for health. Over boiling eggs in the utensil will leave a foul odor that is difficult to remove with regular washing. This article will give tips on getting rid of egg smell and how to avoid smells in the kitchen.

To remove egg smell from utensils

Lime juice: To remove egg smell out of plates, pots and utensils after cooking and eating, wash them with pure lemon juice. You can also pour the lemon juice onto a cloth and rub it onto the items that are offending your nostrils. Leave them for about 20 minutes and then wash as usual. This technique will completely remove egg stink.

Vinegar: If you are using plastic dishes, you may find that you are having an issue with a lingering smell of eggs after use. Try spraying them with vinegar after you wash them. Leave it on for a few seconds, and then rinse the dishes as usual. This will get rid of the smell without harming your food or your plates.

Baking Soda: Baking soda is a wonderful product to get rid of funky smells, and egg is no exception. Soak the dishes in a solution of baking soda and water to get rid of any leftover egg odor. You need to give a second rinse to remove any lingering baking soda powder prior to usage.

Dry dishes in sunlight.

After regular washing leave the bowl for drying in sunlight for a few hours. This really works to get rid off egg smell. To remove egg smell from hair Remember not to use hot water to wash your hair after application of egg on head. Wash your hair with cold or lukewarm water and rinse with lime juice. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime, filter and spread it over wet hair. This will remove the raw egg smell and you will feel fresh too. Now the next tedious task is getting rid of egg smell from the bathroom. Sprinkle some salt on the tiles and sides of the wall and spray water after 5 mins. This will remove the raw egg smell and make your bathroom smell fresh.

To avoid egg yolk turning gray after boiling

Tip: Remove the boiled eggs from hot water and transfer to a vessel containing cold water. This will avoid color change of the yolk.

How to Remove Grease Stains on Jeans

Grease stains removal is a tough task. This problem is faced by every individual traveling in common vehicles and associated with automobiles. The stain looks shabby and may stain other clothes on contact. Keep the stained clothes segregated while storing and washing too.

The reason for writing this article is to share the experience we went thru’ at home with grease stains on jeans.

Background:

My son studying engineering came back home after his main project at the loco shed. His jeans was having grease stains especially near the knees and thighs and the seating area. He was disheartened as it was his favorite jeans. I was disappointed seeing the large grease stains on his jeans that was purchased a few weeks back. The thought of washing this stained jeans was painful and I postponed the task for around 2 days. I made enquiries with my friends and then I got the solution to the problem.

We washed the grease stain patches with kerosene and lo…after much scrubbing the stain got away. There was a big smile on our faces and we applied regular laundry detergent and dried the jeans. A combined smell of kerosene and fabric softener was disturbing after the jeans was dried. My son who is very particular of odors was not willing to use the jeans.

Now my next mission was to remove the odor from the clothes. We tried with fabric softener, antiseptic solution and finally dipped it in diluted vinegar. After 2 to 3 washes and buckets of water wasted we could get rid of that odor.

It was almost 2 weeks when he could use the jeans again. Then I understood the simple logic that oily substances can be easily broken down by washing up liquid. This method avoids the usage of powerful fabric detergents that could damage the fabric as bleach.

Ingredients required for removing greasy stains:

Use regular dish washing detergent. Odorless solution is best, but if your dish washing detergent is having color never mind, dilute the solution with water prior to application.

White Vinegar: White Vinegar is an ideal ingredient to remove tough grease stains. Added advantage is that the white vinegar will remove detergent after the cleaning process.

Ensure you use safety glasses and rubber gloves while scrubbing the fabric vigorously. Both the ingredients may cause irritation if it gets into the eyes accidentally.

 How to remove stubborn grease stains

The process is relatively simple when compared to the earlier incident I narrated in this article.

• Place the garment and spread the dish washing detergent over the stained area on the jeans.
• Ensure the dish washing detergent solution enters thru’ the fabric. Scrub the area gently, the grease stains starts getting dissolved as dish detergent is good at absorbing grease directly.
• Rinse the detergent with white vinegar.
• Now rinse the entire garment in water and wash normally.
• If the stain is tough, repeated scrubbing with dish washing detergent and white vinegar to completely remove stain. Mostly 2 to 3 repetitions will remove the tough oily stain.

Do a test of your dish washing detergent on a hidden area of the fabric for eg: hand cuff or hem, to make sure that it will not discolor or stain your clothes.

If you do not have time to spare go ahead with Dry cleaning services.

Tips to Keep your Fruits and Vegetables Fresh in Summer

Summer has begun and the availability of fruits and vegetables are in abundance but keeping them fresh for long can be a challenge. Commonly seen issue at every home. Due to time constraints vegetables and fruits are usually bought on the market day or picked from the groceries once a week. Maintaining the quality for a whole week is something each one look forward to. It is observed that the veggies gets crushed or the leaves are bruised, fruits are moldy and you feel sorry for the money that has been wasted.

External heat makes vegetables wilt and lose its freshness. You can try the tips to keep your fruits and vegetables fresh in summer. Extend freshness of veggies in the following ways:

Avoid keeping tomatoes in the refrigerator

Tomatoes are a basic necessity all year round. Keeping them fresh in summer can be difficult. Most of us store tomatoes in the refrigerator. But did you know that keeping tomatoes in cold temperatures inside the refrigerator rids them of their flavor and transforms their texture in a couple of days. The ideal way to store tomatoes is to put them in a bowl lined with a paper towel with the stem portion on top. Basically the portion around the stem is the softest part in a tomato. If this area gets bruised ,it leads to rotting. Temperature is an important parameter to watch out. Room temperature is ideal, keep away from heat sources and direct sunlight. If the consumption is slow then move around the tomatoes in the bowl to avoid bruising. Your tomatoes will remain fresh for a week.

Carefully wrap your leafy greens

Plan for consumption of leafy greens within 1-2 days of purchase to ensure freshness and also you get maximum nutrients out of them. In case you need to store the greens, you can ensure freshness by wrapping the unwashed leaves in a paper towel and storing in the refrigerator. Place leafy greens on top. Do not compress the pack or place other vegetable covers / containers over the green leaves wrap .The paper towel will absorb any excess moisture that adheres to the leaf. Replace the paper towel as excess moisture will make leaves rot quickly.

Give a hot water bath for your strawberries

Come summer and children love strawberries. Berries can go moldy overnight. One way to stop the onset of the fungus is not with pesticides, but by giving your berries a hot bath before storing them. The process known as ‘thermotherapy’ simply involves immersing and swishing berries in in a pot of hot water. The hot water kills off mold spores and keeps them fresher longer. Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries fare best at 125 degrees for 30 seconds. After bathing the berries spread them out on a towel to allow them to breathe and then store.

Freeze your fruits and veggies

If you have purchased larger quantities of fruits and veggies and due to some reason the consumption is not there, you can avoid wastage of the groceries. Simply, chop those ripened fruits and veggies up and freeze them for use on a future occasion. You can freeze items such as bell peppers, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, onions, brinjal, mushrooms, strawberries, blueberries, bananas… and the list goes on! Just make sure you blanch them in hot water before transferring them to cold water. The process is also known as shock treatment. When water is completely drained, these blanched veggies and fruits can be freezed for later use. Blanching neutralizes bacteria present in foods, delaying spoilage.

A few guidelines for storing Veggies and fruits in the refrigerator:

• Do not store fruits and vegetables together.

Fruits that release high levels of ethylene ( the ripening agent) can prematurely ripen and spoil surrounding vegetables.

Storing Vegetables:

• Pack vegetables loosely in the refrigerator. The closer they are, the quicker they will rot.
• Cut the roots end of the coriander leaves. Remove strings / rubber bands and stored in a container lined with paper towel.
• Green chillies will rot faster if the stems are not removed. Remove the stem and place it in a container lined with paper.
• Store Potatoes, Elephant foot(Yam) ,Sweet potatoes, garlic out of the refrigerator.
• Curry leaves (Karyapak ) will remain fresh if stored in a container lined with paper towel. Curry leaves can be washed in cool water prior to storing in the refrigerator.
• Soft herbs and mushrooms should not be washed until just before they are used.

Storing Fruits:

Avocados, tomatoes, mangoes, melons, apples, and pears will continue to ripen if left sitting out on a countertop, while bell peppers, grapes, all citrus, and berries will only deteriorate and should be refrigerated.

Bananas in particular ripen very quickly, and will also speed the ripening of any nearby fruits. Refrigerate ripened bananas. While a banana in the fridge may find a brown or black skin in just a few hours, what lies beyond the peel remains perfectly edible. The cold temperature of a fridge encourages an enzyme found in bananas (polyphenyl oxidase) to polymerise phenols in the banana skin into polyphenols, which in turn blackens the banana skins. However, the cold temperature also keeps the banana from ripening even further keeping the fruit perfect within

Children avoid eating bananas which has a black skin, try out this trick. Thaw it for 2 hrs atleast prior to consumption.

Read on: Best Insect free Storing tips for Rice and Dhals

Watch outs while buying leafy greens:

• First, when buying greens, make sure they are very fresh.
• Look for vibrant dark green leafies that are crisp and full, not wilted or yellowish.
• Tender leafy greens are typically a little sweeter than more mature, aged leaves.
• Go organic when possible. Non-organic leafy vegetables are high in pesticides.

Certain vegetables are worth buying organic, and greens are one of them.

Read Menu planning saves time in the kitchen.