Anyone else discover far more efficient ways to live life since this pause?

[mikehn]

I used to spin the toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like Im cracking a safe.

 

[pryncess527]

Just be sure when freezing in glass you leave a little room for the contents to expand

 

[LuvOrlando]

My meatless meal staple is broccoli and macaroni. Usually with garlic & onion but with dried minced garlic in a pinch. And the guys love a ton of broccoli in that. Always in the cupboard/freezer and a quick meal.

You're so right about the condiments! Salad dressing keeps getting more synthetic and expensive. After making it a few times it gets easy to balance different ingredients. Recently I was forced to make homemade Manwich (sloppy joe). The only extra step was cutting up a bit of peppers and onions. Made it from Chef John's recipe. Better taste. Bye bye canned Now I'm wondering how to make my own chop meat without a grinder. At $6/lb for either ground beef or steak, I'd rather buy the steak and chop it myself. I'm tempted to throw a steak in the Ninja blender, lol.

Salad dressing is the one thing I simply can’t get right - maybe a collection of ones people like on the dis would be nice. I know people will say go look, I know there are tons on the internet but finding them and liking one are very different things.

 

[barkley]

Old cloth diapers make great dust clothes.

another great dust cloth is recycled fleece pj's. i cut the legs into sections (just cut across so they remain loops) so i get 2 sides, flip inside out and get 2 more sides for dusting. also a tip to save on furniture polish as well as to protect your furniture-if you use the spray type like pledge spray it directly onto the dust rag NOT the furniture. a million years ago i worked in a furniture store and learned that the propellant in some of the sprays will, over time eat through the finish on wood furniture.

freezing food-i get the containers at the dollar store (betty crocker seems to be the parent brand). they stack nicely in the freezer and if one breaks it's not like i've spent a fortune on it. i also get baking sheets at the dollar store. i have some nicer, better quality ones i use for cookies but for stuff that ends up staining or scratching up the sheets (like my metal kabob skewers dh uses on the bbq) i just use the dollar store ones and feel no guilt when i end up tossing them after a few months (cheaper than foil pans).

'new normal' hack i've started doing-i used to use the liquid left at the bottom of the clorox/lysol wipes container to wash my sink but now i'm pouring it into a spray bottle when i finish one of the few containers i have left. i've found that about 3 of the costco size individual wipes containers have enough liquid to fill an entire spray bottle-so i get double duty (when wipes get back on the shelves i am going to make sure i get a decent supply and use them sparingly).

Now I'm wondering how to make my own chop meat without a grinder. At $6/lb for either ground beef or steak, I'd rather buy the steak and chop it myself.

if you ask the butcher at any grocery store they will grind or chop up meat for you. before we got a meat grinder attachment for our kitchen aide (great investment) i would snap up roasts on sale and get the butcher to make ground beef, stew meat, fajita cut....if pork roasts were on sale i would have him grind it so i could freeze it in bags and then season it for italian, andouille or breakfast sausage. i've yet to encounter a butcher at any store that won't do this at no charge (just don't take them up on their offer to honor the price of the cut you are getting and swap it out for their prepackaged ground beef or soup meat-those packages will have a higher fat content than the roast will yield, same deal with the pork roasts and bulk plain sausage).

 

[taaren]

We usually go through a 12 pack of paper towels every 6 months ... with the toddler in day care all day and DS in school.
Within the first week of shelter at home with the kids' messes happening all day every day we'd gone through 2 rolls, so I broke out the washcloths and we make paper towels last much longer now. This week I finally have a decent supply laid in again.
My favorite discovery since COVID is I finally got some Debbie Meyer's green boxes. I've been thinking about the green bags for awhile, but since we go to the grocery store less now I needed a way to keep fruit fresh for the kids longer, and a coworker told me to get the green boxes instead. Super happy with them.

If I didnt fry french fries at home or make bacon, i think i could too. I just havent found any good alternatives for grease! (Looking for suggestions if anyone has found a solution that doesnt just eliminate greasy food from my diet ) But it takes me forever to go through a roll.

For bacon I have found it helps to keep a jar to pour the grease into before I put the bacon on the paper towel, then I'm only soaking up whatever grease is actually ON the bacon strips.

For fries, our air fryer makes it so much easier and healthier/tastier too! DH got me the Cuisinart Toaster Oven one last Xmas since we heavily use our toaster oven, but I've heard good feedback from friends that have the basket-style too.

 

[pryncess527]

For bacon I have found it helps to keep a jar to pour the grease into before I put the bacon on the paper towel.

Oh, i have a special container for this purpose, i save it to cook with

 

[NYCgrrl]

You can also use a food processor to chop meat. I only do that when making sausages or quenelles (sort of like fish dumplings made of fine ground protein).
About markets or butcher shops grinding meat? Excellent idea put forth by @barkley. Just be sure you can see the meat being ground. I still remember my grandmother and mother telling the butcher not to use the meat grinder in the back and no they didn't want the pre-ground. The concern is the meat could be switched or extra fat fed into the hopper.
In NYC, land of many small supermarkets (some of you would call them superettes), meat is only sold pre-packaged at many establishments, so you need to seek out a larger supermarket or butcher shop for full service.

Great to hear about glass containers that are freezer proof; news to me and I plan to look further into them. Currently I'm using a similar shape but made of plastic. The shape fits nicely in to coolers and freezers. My set has different coloured tops so I can store by category. Because of limited storage space I store a lot of my bulk cooked sauces, stews, stocks, and soups in either Ziploc bags or vacuum packed via FoodSaver. Not as ecologically sensitive as the glass container though.

This is what my apt chest freezer looks like when full although it obviously needs some straightening out, LOL:



Sorry, no idea how to flip this picture.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Oh, i have a special container for this purpose, i save it to cook with

In my former apartment I kept a mini fridge on it's freezer setting and stored a veritable "ossuary" of animal bones and "pieces" for stocks and fats. No space for the mini fridge here though so I make stocks and such more frequently. Save less fats too.

 

[MrsPete]

Anyone else discover far more efficient ways to live life since this pause?

I don't disagree, but I have two thoughts on the subject:

- Take away the phrase "far more" -- it's too strong a descriptor. Skipping paper towels, for example, is cheaper and more ecologically friendly -- but it's a baby step, not "far more" anything.
- Consider that many of these "more efficient" things require more time; right now most of us have more time on our hands than we usually do. Time is a trade-off.

 

[hsmamato2]

We have found that some gadgets we rarely use during in the past are really appreciated now.
Bread machine - bakes wonderful bread for about 5 cents per loaf (using coconut oil is the key to great bread) (bought 50 lbs of bread flour and yeast from Gordon Foods)
Soda Stream - husband loves his soda water
Air fryer - restaurant quality food super fast
Vitamix - mix frozen berries from Costco with yogurt, spinach, banana and apple is a real treat (makes great java chip frappachinos also)
Waterpik style water flosser - keeps our gums super clean so we don’t have to worry about going to the dentist
Fireplace - getting rid of downed wood from our forest and saving on heating bills
Ice cream maker - our dole whip mix just arrived from Amazon
Bidet - the Luxe Neo bidet we bought for about $60 from Amazon saves us a bundle on TP
Garden supplies - have over a thousand little vegetable plants that are an inch tall so far. This new hobby will replace traveling as a hobby for us this summer.

Our new motto is “Embrace the change!”

I love this list! I'm thinking I may cave and order some of that mix...

 

[hsmamato2]

Remember when a specific ingredient is missing for a recipe that there are many substitutes available again by using your favorite search engine. Earlier this week I found I was almost finished my powdered buttermilk so added a TB of vinegar to a scant cup of milk and had the same product with all it's meat tenderizing tendencies and tangy taste at a much lower cost.

So many possiblities to save money on budget websites w/o giving up on quality.

Thanks for this tip...I had bought some stew meat a while back that proved to be very tough no matter how I prepared it.... I got like 4 packs at the time...I'm going to buttermilk marinate the next batch before cooking!

 

[hsmamato2]

Salad dressing is the one thing I simply can’t get right - maybe a collection of ones people like on the dis would be nice. I know people will say go look, I know there are tons on the internet but finding them and liking one are very different things.

I've found a touch of deep sweet in the base always works.... my fave is a bit of molasses believe it or not. Balsamic vinegar is sweet also... my basic is always 1/3 vinegar,1/3 oil,1/3 water...some sweet base, dried spices and salt..... any combo basically works.

 

[Dole_whip_doll]

Salad dressing is the one thing I simply can’t get right - maybe a collection of ones people like on the dis would be nice. I know people will say go look, I know there are tons on the internet but finding them and liking one are very different things.

I just take a small canning jar and start throwing in a little balsamic, a little vinegar, this or that seasoning. I shake and taste as I go and continue adding—“it needs a bit of this” etc etc—until I get a flavor I like. Problem is that I don’t write down what/how much so i have to completely start over each time.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Old gym socks make great dust rags. Just slip them over your hand and go clean.

 

[DLgal]

Nope, I have been using MORE paper towels than I used to. Reusing cloth or towels is NOT sanitary at all (if you wipe more than one surface with them) and I cannot imagine daily laundering of like 50 washcloths. Nope.

I use paper towels for everything, and since Clorox wipes are in short supply have switched to a disinfectant spray (Lysol) and paper towels for most things I used to use Clorox wipes for. The clorox wipes are basically only used to clean the toilets and bathroom counters as well as light switches and doorknobs. I used to use them in the kitchen too, but not anymore.

I use towels to dry clean hands and dishes only. Luckily I have had no problem finding paper towels locally.

 

[pklein09]

Nope, I have been using MORE paper towels than I used to. Reusing cloth or towels is NOT sanitary at all (if you wipe more than one surface with them) and I cannot imagine daily laundering of like 50 washcloths. Nope.

I go through tea towels and dish cloths daily, but I use them in the kitchen. My bathroom has its own set of cleaning items. At the end of the day, they go into the laundry for an eventual bleach load. I can't imaging going through 50 washcloths in a week let alone in a day.....I don't make that big a mess. Then again, my kids are older and I have 2 dogs that catch any edible pieces that hit the floor.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I go through tea towels and dish cloths daily, but I use them in the kitchen. My bathroom has its own set of cleaning items. At the end of the day, they go into the laundry for an eventual bleach load. I can't imaging going through 50 washcloths in a week let alone in a day.....I don't make that big a mess. Then again, my kids are older and I have 2 dogs that catch any edible pieces that hit the floor.

This. My youngest is 14, so maybe I'd feel differently if I had little kids. But, my teens both like to cook and bake, so there are more kitchen messes due to that--I applaud their efforts, even if there's more to clean up.

I don't know what they did yesterday, but they ended up putting 10-12 beach towels in to be washed. DD16 put them in the washer with soap, I put them in the dryer this morning, and then folded them when they were done. All told, they didn't take more than 5 minutes of my time. I can't imagine how many rolls of paper towels that one incident would have wasted! I guess I don't see the big deal about an extra load or so of laundry each week--it's not like you have to drag the laundry down to the river and beat it with a rock.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Anyone else discover far more efficient ways to live life since this pause?

I discovered that I don't need paper towels, like at all...

I still need them to clean up when the cats have a hairball, or to wipe out the sink when it's really yucky, but I've definitely been using fewer paper towels than before! They're still not easy to get around here, so I'm being extra careful, and I've found I don't miss them nearly as much as I thought I would.

My other time saver has actually been not grocery shopping so much. I used to be a "stop on the way home" sort of shopper, but now I've gotten much better at planning!

 

[OhMari]

I am probably getting 3 weeks for a gallon of gas. Don’t have to drive to work or anywhere else. I did fill up for .97 on Wednesday. Good thing I did, Wisconsin jumped to 1.45 on Friday, but I saw today, it dropped back down to &1.33. Sorry, sarcasm. We put almost 1500 miles a week on our vehicles. Sort of nice not going anywhere.

 

[pklein09]

I am probably getting 3 weeks for a gallon of gas. Don’t have to drive to work or anywhere else. I did fill up for .97 on Wednesday. Good thing I did, Wisconsin jumped to 1.45 on Friday, but I saw today, it dropped back down to &1.33. Sorry, sarcasm. We put almost 1500 miles a week on our vehicles. Sort of nice not going anywhere.

I wondered where gas was below $1/gallon. I'm in Florida, and it's hovering around $1.69/gallon, $1.56 if you belong to BJs. I looked at our budget spreadsheet for April, and we didn't buy any gas for our 3 cars. We just went to the grocery store and back once a week. I just dipped below a half tank, and I thought about filling up but didn't because I didn't have a wipe for the gas pump.