Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Choose one mug to be your Designated Mug I Use For Coffee Every Morning. I have a tendency to not wash dishes unless I need them to use right now, so mugs are one of those things that I will shove to the side while washing the dishes I have fewer of, like my one cutting board (I used to have three, whatever happened to the other two?) I only drink coffee once a day, but somehow, whenever I finally get around to washing all of the dishes, there are at least a dozen dirty mugs sitting there. (I suspect that dirty mugs may breed on counters. There certainly always seem to be too many of them to fit in the cupboard once I finally get them clean.)

So, the last time I got all the mugs clean, I chose one to be my DMIUFCEM. As soon as I am done my morning coffee, I wash the DMIUFCEM, so it will be clean and ready for the next day. Haha, just kidding. The next morning, while my coffee is brewing, I search the house for where I left the DMIUFCEM, and wash it out when I find it. It just had coffee in it less than a day ago, and it's about to have coffee in it again, so a quick rinse will usually suffice.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Start a Casserole Club. One night a week, you make two casseroles for dinner, and bring one to a friend. And one night a week, you don't have to make dinner, because a friend will be bringing a casserole to you. It's so simple and brilliant (if I do say so myself). My Casserole Club makes sure that my family gets at least two proper dinners every week: One that someone else cooked for us, and one that I had to cook because I was cooking for someone else (which somehow is a much more effective motivator than just cooking for my family).

For full Casserole Club details, see my other blog.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Plan a play date on your birthday, so the house has to be clean. Then go out for dinner on your birthday, so your house can stay clean for one whole day. It's like giving a birthday present to yourself.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

I don't have a dishwasher so I do all my dishes with a brush and soap. That's a lot of brushing and soaping, and in particular, I get sick of picking up that bottle of soap over and over to squirt it on stuff (liberally!). So I make a little puddle of soap at the back of the sink, next to the faucet and just dip the brush in it over and over. Works great. Also sets a great example for my 3-year-old who likes to squirt soap, glue, mustard and anything else that can be squeezed out.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

If you have a toddler who is always getting into the trash, try turning your trash can around so the lid opens towards the wall.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

What do you do when you're cleaning out the fridge, and you have to dispose of items that are semi-liquid/semi-solid (like soups and stews and spoiled milk)? You can't put them in the trash, or it might leak, and you can't put them down the drain, or it might get blocked up (unless you have a garbage disposal, in which case, ignore this tip).

Put a strainer/colander in the sink, and dump all the soups, etc. into the strainer. The liquids will drip through and go down the drain, and the solids will stay behind, to be thrown in the trash. If you want to be really thorough, run some hot water over the solid gunk to dislodge any sticky liquid or jellified broth before dumping it all in the trash.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Coffee.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

When you're making your morning coffee, make an extra cup for your afternoon iced coffee. Put it directly in a tall drinking glass (so you don't need to dirty another dish later) and stick it in the fridge. If you take sugar in your coffee, add it now, while the coffee is still hot and the sugar will dissolve. Then, when you have a hankering for iced coffee later in the day, all you have to do is add the milk!

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

If there is something in the kitchen that you need to remember to do before bed, like moving the hot broth that is cooling on the counter into the fridge, leave the kitchen light on. Then, when you're on your way to bed, you'll have to go back into the kitchen to turn off the light, and you're more likely to remember the broth if you have to walk past it.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

If you use browned butter to grease your casseroles, it is tastier, and also, the telltale black flecks stick to your pan so you can tell if you've scrubbed all of it or not. You won't miss a spot!

(Submitted by Shreyas)