If you can't stand the idea of using multiple pots and pans for preparing meals because of all the dishwashing that would be required, check out the one-pot recipes below that require minimal cooking equipment and use only five ingredients or less (excluding cooking oil, water, salt, and pepper).
While crockpots are commonly used for making soups and stews or for slow-cooking meats, they are also surprisingly useful for making other foods that you may not associate with a slow cooker, such as brownies, bread, cheesecake, fruit butters, and even yogurt.
Castile soap is named for Castile, Spain, and is traditionally made from locally produced olive oil from the region. In current times, Castile soap refers to a category of soap that is made from 100 percent plant-based oils and does not include chemical detergents, making it a completely natural, biodegradable, and environmental-friendly product.
Not to be confused with Pop Rocks, rock candy, which is large chunks of crystallized sugar, is a wonderfully simple snack in and of itself, and can be used to dissolve in tea or coffee as well as on top of other desserts.
Creating giant, reusable bubbles at home is easy, and it's a fun project for children. Just dump a whole bottle of non-toxic Elmer's Clear School Glue into a bowl, add fine glitter and watercolors (or food coloring), and slowly mix together Sta-Flo Liquid Starch to form a pliable concoction.
This holiday season, get yourself a bunch of mason jars. With a little crafty effort and inexpensive supplies, you can transform an empty glass jar into an endless possibility of DIY gifts catered to your gift recipient's personality and interests.
If you are living in California, you have probably already heard by now that the state is in a severe drought of unprecedented levels. Even if you don't live in a drought-affected area, it is extremely vital for everybody on this planet to conserve water as much as possible.
Got a clogged kitchen sink? Before you reach for the plunger, see if you can fix the problem using Alka-Seltzer tablets and white vinegar.
Want to attract more birds into your backyard for your viewing pleasure? With a simple household objects and bird seeds, you can easily turn your backyard or outdoor balcony into a bustling destination for your neighborhood birds.
Most people know that you can add vegetable peelings and egg shells to your compost heap, but did you know that you can also add nail clippings, human hair and pet hair?
Don't you hate it when the ice cream in your freezer loses its soft, smooth textures and has ice crystals all over its surface? Prevent this from happening by covering the ice cream in the carton with a sheet of plastic wrap before closing the lid tightly.
Need to scrub stubborn mineral deposits from your toilet bowl or leftover food gunk from your oven rack? Use a pumice stone, which will remove hardened material from the surface without leaving behind a scratch.
If the letters on your laptop keyboard are faded or dirty, cover them with strips of washi tape. A high-quality, decorative tape made of rice paper based in Japan, washi tape is an extremely versatile craft tape known for its eye-pleasing decorative patterns and low-adhesive quality that makes it easy to unstick, reposition, and reuse again and again.
Whether it's your credit card, your parents' new zip code, or a new work phone number, number sequences are everywhere. Sometimes it's important to actually remember them instead of always relying on a smartphone or the internet to remind you.
Using black walnuts, boiling water and a lot of time, you can make your own beautiful shades of deep dark brown to black ink for your next drawing, calligraphy, or wood craft project.
Using dry beans and and some scraps of cotton fabric, you can make your own DIY microwavable heat pack which can be used to relieve sore muscles, warm your hands when stepping outside into cold weather, heating up your pillow case on a freezing night, and more.
If you love the creamy flavor of mashed potatoes, but need a healthier option to appease your health-conscious relatives this Thanksgiving, try making mashed cauliflower, mashed celery root, or mashed carrots and parsnips using a food processor and seasonings of your choice.
If your love for Chinese takeout has left you with a pile of unused disposable chopsticks in your kitchen drawer, then you're in luck. In addition to being a very versatile eating utensil for pretty much any cuisine, chopsticks also come in handy for eating Cheetos without getting cheesy dust all over your fingers, pitting cherries, skewering food, stirring drinks, cleaning out dirt from hard-to-reach spaces, and more.
Is your epic snoring ruining your bed partner's sleep at night? The next time you go to bed, consider taping or sewing a tennis ball on the middle of the back of your nightgown or pajamas. Sleeping on the side instead of your back is one effective way to ensure a snore-free night.
To make yourself a tasty meal during a camping trip, all you need are chopped up raw meats and vegetables, glowing embers, and a roll of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Simply place ingredients in a tightly wrapped aluminum foil packet, place on hot embers, and wait until everything inside is fully cooked.
Do you have a lot of stagnant energy in your life right now? Maybe all you need to do is check to make sure the drains are working properly in your kitchen and bathroom. Or place a small fish tank somewhere in your home to attract more wealth and prosperity.
Each year, about 40% of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten and gets thrown away. Become a part of the solution and not the problem by practicing the following simple hacks to make your produce and perishables from the supermarket last for as long as possible.
After you've completely emptied out your coffee can of its coffee beans, put your caffeinated high to good use by getting crafty and productive with the empty vessel that now lies before you.
Bobby pins are great for pinning down flyaway bangs, but they're also great for pushing up the unused gel in a tube of toothpaste, marking the end of a transparent tape roll, opening the plastic seal in food jars, and even removing the pits from ripe cherries or olives.
Wax paper, a moisture-proof paper commonly used in the kitchen to keep food from sticking, can also be used to preserve maple leaves, keep bathroom fixtures spotless, line your refrigerator bins, funnel spices into small spice containers, and make re-corking unfinished wine bottles a cinch.
Whether or not you have a feline companion at home, a bag of cat litter makes for a handy household staple that can help prevent grease fires, add traction to slippery icy steps, remove grease spots, preserve your fresh flowers, and clear algae from your backyard koi pond.
Remember Dan White's "Twinkie defense" in 1979? Well it turns out that the the ability to convert food into glucose is correlated with the ability to control oneself.
Bored of using your bottle of dishwashing soap for just washing dishes? You're in luck. Not surprisingly, the soapy liquid commonly used for removing stubborn food build-up from your eating utensils can also be used as a general cleaner for washing windows, removing clothing and carpet stains, and cleaning your blender without taking it apart. For more unusual uses, dishwashing liquid is surprisingly useful for prepping your nails before a manicure and can even be used to kill fleas.
This coming Friday, November 11th, 2011 is Veterans Day and everybody's celebrating! But only veterans and active military personnel can get the great deals being offered at restaurants and retail outlets across the country. If you need help locating some of those deals, below are all of the nationwide and local deals found across the Web. If you know of any more, share the spots in the comments below!
Remember the glowing pickle? Well, here's another sci-fi food-oddity. Sounds entirely fictitious, but apparently you can make edible lasers.
I can't resist Luxirare's decadent, over the top food tutorials... even when it involves making white chocolate egg molds covered in edible gold leaf and injected with egg nog.
This year's FOOMA International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition had a few robots I wouldn't mind hanging around my kitchen. The sushi-bot's hand is amazing... if only it could make the sushi, not just transport it. Oh well. There's always next year.
Diego Stocco is back (previously, the incredible Music From a Tree). This time Stocco has created the experibass:
From the blog Insanewiches, the cleverly assembled Rubik's Cubewich: "The Rubik’s Cube has confounded us for years. Maybe the sandwich version of this puzzling brain teaser will do the same. The Rubix Cubewich contains cubes of pastrami, kielbasa, pork fat, salami, and two types of cheddar."
"Hi, I am Francis, the host of this show Cooking With Dog," begins every episode of YouTube's favorite Japanese Cooking Show.
Hell, yeah! Play with your food. This android hand is the brainchild of a collaboration including Robo250, the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, the Mattress Factory and MAYA Design, Inc.
I both apologize and I don't apologize. This is quite procedural, and quite amusing. Now. As a keen student of anthropology, I notice that women rarely initiate pranks. How come? Beats me. (End of keen observation.)
Admittedly, we've been quite hot on Kipkay lately, but can you blame us? This guy just keeps rolling out the wild inventions and bold pranks!
Fact: the banana is the perfect food. It is a potassium packed snack, CD scratch remover and a prank device.
Way before $5 gallons of gas and billion dollar bailouts, Kipkay made this gas saving video. Congratulations Kip on winning the 2008 WonderHowTo Recession Survival Award!