Great plan for decluttering kitchen
Dear Readers: Here are some decluttering hints for the family meeting place in your home — your kitchen:
First, go to your cupboards, one at a time, and clear out everything. Wash and dry the shelves. Throw out chipped mugs and duplicate items, such as wine-bottle openers, potato peelers, etc.
If your spices are more than two years old, throw them out. Check shelf-life dates on packaged foods, and if it’s old, it’s out!
Gadgets — if it’s used only once a year (or never), give it to a charity.
Get clutter off your kitchen counter. It’ll be easier to keep clean, won’t look so messy and will free up counter space. All cleaning supplies go out of sight.
As a rule, “clean as you go.” When cooking, clean up as you prepare a meal, put spices away and get dirty dishes out of the sink, and your kitchen will always look tidy. — Heloise
Dear Readers:
If you like guacamole, you have Florida to thank. The first avocado tree in the United States was planted in 1833, in Florida.
Do you want fries with that? Potatoes are grown in nearly every state, but Idaho is the largest producer of potatoes, harvesting 12 billion pounds annually.
Oregon can safely say that 99 percent of all hazelnuts in the U.S. are grown in the Willamette Valley.
The first cultivation of rice in America happened in 1685 in Charleston, South Carolina, earning the state the nickname “The Rice State.”
— Heloise
Dear Heloise: Years ago, you printed a baked chicken recipe that my family absolutely loved. I’ve lost the recipe. Can you please reprint it? — Susan B. in Orlando
Susan, I’d be glad to reprint it. This is a quick and easy recipe for a tasty chicken dinner:
1 chicken, cut up, or the equivalent in parts
1 (8-ounce) bottle nonfat (or regular) Italian salad dressing
1 medium onion, peeled, sliced into pieces
4 medium potatoes, sliced (peeled or not) into bite-size pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray. Place the chicken in the casserole and cover with Italian dressing. Top with onions and potatoes. Bake for about one hour or until done.
Use your imagination with this recipe. You can add bite-size carrots, sliced celery or mushrooms, or whatever you’d like! — Heloise
Dear Readers: Every year, more than 300,000 people are hospitalized from something they ate, and some die. It’s so important to make certain that all fresh food is cleaned properly, and if in doubt, throw it out! Some of the most common foods for foodborne illnesses are: leafy greens eggs tuna oysters potatoes cheese ice cream
— Heloise