Hints from Heloise
Dear Heloise: Since I live alone and don’t have to cook much, I eat a lot of frozen (healthy) meals. I save the plastic containers a er I clean them and use them as various storage containers in my bathroom and home o ce. ey are great for lipstick and makeup brushes, and they can be stored in drawers or cupboards and easily keep the counters and desktops clear. -- Caroline Reid, Bakers eld, California
LIQUOR SUBSTITUTES
Dear Readers: You might occasionally come across a recipe that calls for liquor. If you do not have any on hand, here are a few things you can substitute it for instead: -- Nonalcoholic beer or wine may be used in its place. -- For fruity dessert recipes, you can o en substitute liquor with the juice of apples, oranges, pineapple and possibly lemon. -- You can also try adding a few drops of rum or brandy extract to water, to equal the amount needed in your recipe. -- Heloise
NO MICE
Dear Heloise: In your column, I have read several “cures” for mice in the home. When we were building our home, my brother-in-law told me to get steel wool and, while using a screwdriver, to push it around all the pipes or any other kind of hole. We built our home in 1977 and have never seen a mouse. -- Pa ie Shinn, Huntsville, Arkansas
CONDIMENT SQUEEZE BO LES
Dear Heloise: I’m 67 and have read you and your mom’s column everyday since I was a little girl. My husband loves it, too. We o en buy the super large bottles of detergent and fabric so ener at our local big-box store, but they’re hard for me to manage when doing laundry. So, I purchased condiment squeeze bottles for each product. Now they’re so much easier to use. ey weigh much less, and I can control the amount of liquid I need. Plus, the bottles don’t need a reffill very often. -- F., in Colorado
SECRET FAMILY PASSWORD
Dear Heloise: We have a secret family password, so when the kidnapping scam happened to us, we asked the caller for the password. ey immediately hung up a er incorrectly guessing! Also, this is a good idea for children to use if they’re ever approached by an unknown person. -- Kay Krausman, via email
SHOWER WATER
Dear Heloise: Like Jim R., from Houston, I also save the cold water that runs rst in the shower as I wait for the warm water to arrive. I also use this water to ush the toilet. -- Richard Evans, in Houston
GREASY HANDS
Dear Heloise: My husband and our three boys love to restore cars, so they usually come into the house with hands covered in dark grease and dirt. ey would wash their hands with a heavy-duty cleaner, but it stripped all the natural oil from their skin and never really worked too well.
A friend of mine suggested using mayonnaise, and it worked even be er than most other cleaners. It’s cheap and easy to use, and we always have a jar of it in the refrigerator.
P.S. I love reading your column in our local newspaper! -- D.C., in Las Vegas
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise@ Heloise.com. I can’t answer your le er personally but will use the best hints received in my column.