Top 10 Green Kitchen Tips You Must Know About! {Mommy Tips}

Posted by Angela V / Published on May 31, 2012

Top 10 Green Kitchen Tips!

We are next sharing our Top 10 super helpful kitchen tips that you must hear about. We have personally tested each one and they have worked wonders for us! Here they are:

Use Vinegar to Clean your Electric Kettle: Boil a mixture of half water and half vinegar inside of the kettle and then rinse. You will have no more calcium buildup on the heating element! Easy!

Check to See How Fresh your Eggs Are: Just place the eggs in about three-four inches of cool water with a pinch of salt. Any eggs that float are past their fresh stage and the ones that stay on the bottom are fresh.

Stop Crying when Peeling your Onions: Using a knife, cut a cone out of the bottom of your onion (right where the roots come out). The diameter of the cone hast to be around a third of the diameter of the entire onion for it to work, and about 1/3 deep. Throw the cone piece away and continue chopping it up without any crying. The piece you cut first contains the glands that make you cry when chopping an onion.

Get Rid of the Odor on your Hands after Chopping Garlic: Just rub your hands on a stainless steel surface or stainless steel knife. The stainless steel absorbs the odor! Cool right?

Keep your Bananas Fresh for Longer: Store bananas separately and away from other fruits instead of in a bunch. Bananas release gases that causes other fruits and other bananas to ripen quickly.

Keep your Lemons Fresh for Up to 2 Months: Store them in a bowl of cold water in the fridge to keep them fresh for longer.

Keep Cheese from Getting Dry/Hard: Just cut off enough for immediate use and spread the remaining portion with a very thin film of butter, then put it in a cool place. You are keeping air out and preventing the cheese from drying out.

Clean your Coffee and Tea Pots with Baking Soda: Wash your coffee maker and tea pot in a solution of 1/4 cup of baking soda in 1 quart of warm water. No more stains or bitter taste.

Get Food Stains Off Your Fingers with Potatoes: Slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

Soften Hardened Brown Sugar: Place a slice of apple in the hardened brown sugar to soften it back up.

Do YOU have any more kitchen tips that you want to share with us?

We would love to hear about them!

Cleaning Tips

46 comments »

46 Responses to “Top 10 Green Kitchen Tips You Must Know About! {Mommy Tips}”

Rachel N — May 31, 2012 @ 12:35 pm (#
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Never knew that about bananas! Great tip.

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Debbie P — May 31, 2012 @ 12:39 pm (#
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I love using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. I have never tried apple with brown sugar, but I sometimes put a fresh piece of bread with it, or with hard puffed wheat squares, and they soften right up. I am definately going to try the onion tip, as I ALWAYS cry! Thanks for sharing these tips.

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Shirley — May 31, 2012 @ 2:43 pm (#
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These are amazing tips! I have to try some of them out.

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Elva Roberts — May 31, 2012 @ 3:22 pm (#
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May 31-I am willing to try boiling water and vinegar in my kettle. I was putting both in the kettle and waiting for the inside to be cleaned. Didn’t happen. I guess I thought it workied like bleach. So I get to add another step. Thank you.-el03ro

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TiffanyD — May 31, 2012 @ 3:46 pm (#
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Awesome tips!!! thank you

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Simona — May 31, 2012 @ 6:15 pm (#
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I really needed to know about the lemon trick. Ours aren’t staying that fresh and be buy them by the bagful to drink with water!

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Cassie Bailey-Harig — May 31, 2012 @ 8:29 pm (#
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Vinegar is a wonderful cleaner! And the best part is how cheap it is!

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Megan — May 31, 2012 @ 9:34 pm (#
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So smart! I hate the powder gunk left in my kettle!

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Elva Roberts — June 1, 2012 @ 12:34 pm (#
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June 1-that test for freshness of eggs is really cool(no pun intended.) It is so simple but could save you from putting an “off ” egg in your baking or in an omelette. Thanks for this Tip.-el03ro

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Janice Dye-Szucs — June 2, 2012 @ 9:45 am (#
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Well I learned something new about keeping my lemons in a bowl of cold water in the fridge. Thanks!

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Elva Roberts — June 2, 2012 @ 9:51 am (#
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June 2- Thank you for this tip for peeling onions. I had never heard of this tip before and You may be sure I will try it. It will surely come in handy when cutting up a supply of onions for any dish!-el03ro

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Elva Roberts — June 2, 2012 @ 9:54 am (#
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June 2- Thank you for this tip for peeling onions. I had never heard of this tip before and You may be sure I will try it. It will surely come in handy when cutting up a supply of onions for any dish!-I keep saying I learn something new almost every day in my Blog adventures and I love the lessons.-el03ro

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Clifford Perkins — June 2, 2012 @ 2:17 pm (#
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These tips are really useful and much appreciated. I especially will use the lemon tip and your tip for keeping cheese from getting hard, never knew this…thanks for sharing your knowledge.

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Ginny rutherford — June 2, 2012 @ 10:30 pm (#
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Some I have heard of (& used – cleaning a kettle, stainless steel vs garlic – both amazing!) some I will be trying. Thanks for the tips!!

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Brianna L. — June 3, 2012 @ 2:01 am (#
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I love this. Most are new to me. I’m in the process of deep cleaning my house to start child care in my home. I’m going to be trying some of these in the next week.

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Elva Roberts — June 4, 2012 @ 10:12 am (#
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June 4–I have a problem keeping my lemons fresh. I had never heard your tip before about keeping them in cold water in a bowl in a frig. You may be sure I will be using this tip as well as the others I have commented on previously. Thank You.-elj03ro

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Elva Roberts — June 4, 2012 @ 10:13 am (#
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June 4–I have a problem keeping my lemons fresh. I had never heard your tip before about keeping them in cold water in a bowl in a frig. You may be sure I will be using this tip as well as the others I have commented on previously. Thank You.-el03ro

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Amanda Miehle — June 4, 2012 @ 7:02 pm (#
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Those are awesome tips! Especially the ones about the onions and the bananas. I always dread chopping onions, but I put them in everything! Definitely good to know.

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Brooke — June 4, 2012 @ 7:26 pm (#
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great tips! I am a green blogger (stop by my site) and this is great to share

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Tanya — June 4, 2012 @ 7:27 pm (#
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Great tips!

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Jen M — June 4, 2012 @ 7:40 pm (#
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“The stainless steel absorbs the odor! ” – wow, gotta try this!

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Lili Garcia — June 8, 2012 @ 10:18 pm (#
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Great tips! I will def try them

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Maggie — June 10, 2012 @ 4:36 pm (#
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An oldie but a goodie: Put a slice of bread in with rock-hard brown sugar to soften it!

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Elva Roberts — June 11, 2012 @ 10:34 am (#
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June 11–My husband used to grow lots of Potatoes but I never knew cut potatoes could be used to get rid of stains on one’s hands. Thank you for this tip. I will try it out.–el03ro

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kelly — June 15, 2012 @ 7:54 am (#
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LOVE these tips! Especially the good or bad egg floating tip. Thank you!

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Jill M — June 19, 2012 @ 7:55 am (#
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These are crazy helpful tips. I especially like the one about how to tell if your eggs are fresh.

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Hope Schaitkin — June 19, 2012 @ 11:01 am (#
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Awesome tips. You should write more about how to be energy efficient in the kitchen, I think that would be really helpful. But I’m definitely going to try the one about the bananas. Check out my green kitchen tips here: http://site.thegreenlifeonline.org/tag/green-in-the-kitchen/

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Aundrea Lauzon — June 21, 2012 @ 1:16 pm (#
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I love the tip about cleaning my tea/coffee pots with baking soda. Thanks. Mine are filthy and need a BIG cleaning!

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Jaimee Mcallister — June 22, 2012 @ 7:56 am (#
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I loved reading this blog, lol, Im glad your giveaways have a ‘comment on non giveaway post’, otherwise i might not have discovered this treasure of a post. Will be very useful to remember around the house

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Deb Dorrington — June 28, 2012 @ 4:54 pm (#
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Your tips are great, really like the fresh egg tip which I didn’t know.. You have a such a super blog, always enjoy visiting, always learn something or am entertained…thanks!

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- Angela at OneSmileyMonkey — July 1st, 2012 @ 10:13 am
  
  Thank you so much Deb
  
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Dandi D — August 3, 2012 @ 6:47 am (#
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Thanks for the tips. These are great!

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amy v — September 2, 2012 @ 7:09 pm (#
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great tips!! i didn’t know that the onion glands are the cause of making me cry! i’m going to try these. i read somewhere that after you chop onion or garlic to rub your hands with sea salt and rinse and the smell should be gone…i’ve done that and it works!

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Carole Ingram — November 12, 2012 @ 2:13 pm (#
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I had no idea that you could store your lemons in a bowl of water to keep them fresher longer! Cool tips!

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Brianne — November 16, 2012 @ 12:09 am (#
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The tip about the onion sounds interesting, I will have to try it. My eyes don’t just water when I cut an onion, they burn, and for a long time afterwards.

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Sarah — December 4, 2012 @ 12:40 pm (#
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I love these tips! My partner also taught me that rolling citrus fruits on the counter before you juice them makes them easier to hand juice

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lexi — December 12, 2012 @ 7:59 am (#
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I have never heard of the onion tip, I’ll have to try that.

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Keara B. — December 16, 2012 @ 12:21 pm (#
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You have the best tips! I rarely cook with onions because my eyes are so sensitive- I am going to try your tip right away. My hubby loves onions and will thank you.

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Sarah Hayes — January 4, 2013 @ 4:52 pm (#
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Thats good to knw about getting food stains of your hands. these are great tips

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Stephanie LaPlante — January 15, 2013 @ 4:39 pm (#
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I’m trying that onion tip. I totally cry.

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Emilia T — January 21, 2013 @ 2:12 pm (#
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I forgot about the potatoe trick. My grandma from the old country did this

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Janet W. — January 26, 2013 @ 2:39 am (#
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Those are great tips!! I didn’t know the trick to keeping a lemon longer!

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Michelle Chow — April 7, 2013 @ 4:07 pm (#
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Hello, OSM. Love these tips the only I had heard before was #10 all of the others I had never heard or read before. Very cool post, thank you One Smiley Monkey.

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Vesper — May 13, 2013 @ 7:42 am (#
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a nearly kitchen tip is – if you cut an onion in half (horizontal) and put it in a newly painted room the onion will absorb the paint odours

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- Angela V — May 13th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
  
  Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
  
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Erika B — May 20, 2013 @ 12:10 pm (#
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Wow, just wow!! I think my life in the kitchen just got a lot easier! Heard of a few of these tips, but I love the egg one as well as the onion and garlic tips. Saving this to share with family and friends !!

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