Category: Kitchen

Recipes and kitchen tips.

Dishwasher Repair – Fix it Yourself & Save Hundreds
Fix & DiY · Feature · Fix · Hacks & Tips · Kitchen · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure

Dishwasher Repair – Fix it Yourself & Save Hundreds

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Budget Buster Fix plus cool trivia!

Check out how we repaired this dishwasher that had a wash cycle that would not work. Try this low to no cost solution before spending money on a repair man or springing for a new dishwasher. It is very simple and no special tools or skills are required. Definitely worth a try!

Please use safety precautions when working with electrical equipment. Turn off ciruit breaker before starting project.

We highly recommend having WD-40 on hand as part of your home repair tool kit. It literally has thousands of uses. This product was developed for the aircraft industry as a way to repel water or Water Displacement. It took forty attempts to find the right formula hence WD-40. Press the yellow button to see what WD-40 fans use it for.

2000+ USES for WD-40


      Prices subject to change. As participants in affiliate programs, we may earn small commissions on products and services linked in our blog/website. There is NO additional cost to you however it gives us a boost and allows us to continue to provide you with easy link access to items we use. We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Cricut affiliate program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to products and service of affiliated sites.

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Fresh Pineapple – Yum!
Kitchen · Feature · Hacks & Tips · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure

Fresh Pineapple – Yum!

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Do you love fresh pineapple but are put off because preparing it looks well scary? That is exactly how we felt before we found this handy tool. We were apprehensive when we purchased it as we had not had any luck with other tools. To our delight, this one does a bang up job in no time! It cores and cuts a impressive spiral all at the same time.

Pineapples are loaded with vitamin C. Not only are you getting a yummy treat but one that is good for you too! So Soak Up the Sun! Don’t forget the second video!

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Now your pineapple is cut into a pretty spiral! But you are frugal and it looks like there is some sweet pineapple left on the rind. Watch this second video to see how simple it is to filet these tasty tidbits.

More from our kitchen

Fix Your Oven Yourself & Save Hundreds $$$
Fix & DiY · Fix · Hacks & Tips · Kitchen · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure

Fix Your Oven Yourself & Save Hundreds $$$

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Did your electric oven stop working?

     Check to see if the element is cracked or broken. Then watch this video and be amazed how simple and inexpensive it is to replace the element and fix your oven.

   You could pay hundreds to replace the oven, a couple hundred for a repairman OR do-it- yourself for much less. Ours cost was under $20.

Watch the how to video the figure out the part number you will need.
Oven Elements

      Prices subject to change. As participants in affiliate programs, we may earn small commissions on products and services linked in our blog/website. There is NO additional cost to you however it gives us a boost and allows us to continue to provide you with easy link access to items we use. We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Cricut affiliate program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to products and service of affiliated sites.

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Hacks & Tips · Fix & DiY · Kitchen · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure · Maintain · Masks · Other Crafts · Projects

Bar None Hand Soap or Body Wash Saves Money

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   Hand soap can be expensive and body washes are even more. Lets us show you how to inexpensively make your own very simply using a bar of soap.

   For hand soap, we suggest a soap that makes you feel extra clean yet is gentle on your hands. Your hands do so much for you so here’s a way to take card of them.

   In the shower a wet bar of soap can turn yucky so many of us turn to the pricey body wash. Follow our video and you can have the best of both worlds. Select a favorite bar soap with a great scent and skin quenching characteristics and Wow! you just extended the life of your soap bar and eliminated the mess.

Hacks & Tips · Kitchen · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure

Clean up Yucky Coffee and Tea Stains with this How to Video

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Coffee and tea stains make your cups look yucky. MainelyDiY explores and compares 4 non-toxic cleaning techniques for effectiveness and ease. So clean up with MainelyDiy.com in this how to video. You will also learn how to have a sparkling clean coffee pot!

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Santa’s Sweet Sleigh
MainelyDIY Full Disclosure · Christmas · Holiday · Kitchen · Other Crafts · Paper Crafts

Santa’s Sweet Sleigh

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Santa’s sleigh has become one sweet ride with this yummy craft made from candy bars and candy canes. These sweet sleds are great gifts for office co-workers, teachers, hair dressers or any person you want to feel special. Of course the kids lover them too.
They are easy to make and since they come together quite quickly you can make some extras just to have on hand for that last minute gift giving. It is also a sweet way to use paper scraps. Only problem is that they are almost too cute to eat.
Hacks & Tips · Kitchen · MainelyDIY Full Disclosure

Try our Tempting Leftover Turkey Recipe

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Looking for a quick and easy way to finish up that leftover Thanksgiving Turkey? Then try turkey tacos. Just cut up turkey into small pieces. Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a fry pan. We recommend a cast iron pan. Add then turkey and some taco seasoning and heat through. Stuff your taco shells with warmed turkey and your favorite fixings. We like to add shredded cheese to the taco shells first and the add the warmed meat and it melts the cheese just a little bit.

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Gift Guide for Coffee Lovers
MainelyDIY Full Disclosure · Christmas · Hacks & Tips · Holiday · Kitchen · Special Occassions

Gift Guide for Coffee Lovers

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Our top pick for coffee lovers is a cold brewing system.  We’ll spotlight a couple different specific brewers so you can match the features to your gift recipient.

Cold brew is all the rage today and with good reason.  Not only is it better for your health it tastes better. When you make it home, it is better for your wallet.

Let’s start with the health benefit.  Cold brew coffee is way less acidic than hot brew.  More than 50% less acidic!  This is great news for anyone who has acid reflux or a sensitive tummy.  It also means less acid on your teeth.  Why it less acidic?  High heat releases the acid from the coffee grounds and into your drink.

The high heat also releases that bitter flavor into your coffee.  In contrast, cold brewing slowly extracts the flavors and natural sweetness of the grounds.  You might even find yourself add less sweetener to your cup of Joe. Think of it as slowly steady process that brings out a smooth rich flavor instead of a heat forced process which brings out acid and bitterness. So, won’t the cold brewed coffee become acidic and bitter when reheated?  Nope, because the coffee grounds are now out of the equation.

When you make coffee at home, you’ll save a ton of money.  Let’s say you buy 5 cups a week of plain coffee for $1.90 each.  That adds up to nearly $500 in a year.  The cost to make the same amount of coffee at home is about $20.  That is a savings of 96%.  And if your paying for fancy coffee that savings only goes up.

Another plus to making coffee at home is that you will know exactly what’s in it.  It is shocking how much hidden sugar is in those fancy coffees.  We had a friend measure by teaspoon the amount of sugar that was in her purchased medium coffee.  It was nearly half a cup!  When she tried one of our cold brews with the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of sugar (some from milk), she was more than happy with the sweetness. 

Now for our thoughts on gifts for your favorite coffee lover. Click on pictures for more information.

Our favorite cold brewer is the Flip Brew by Zing Anything.  As the name implies, you can brew just about anything in it. All you do is add your favorite coffee grounds into the filter basket and screw the basket into cover.  Add room temperature water (or cool water) to the pitcher and screw the cover on.  Now you flip it and leave it or 12 to 24 hours.  Once brewed you flip it over, unscrew to remove filter basket.  Make sure to rinse any grounds from the cover and screw the cover back on.  Refrigerate what you don’t use.  To use the coffee, twist the handle on the cover and you can easily pour out the coffee you want into your cup to be heated in the microwave.  We like this one because it is super easy to brew, has an easy pour storage pitcher, and uses regular coffee grounds.

Another common method involves making a coffee concentrate. Basically, you insert a dampened filter into a plugged container, then you add a layers of coarse ground coffee and layers of gently added water.  After the grounds have steeped for 12 to 24 hours, the plug in pulled from the bottom and the coffee concentrate drains into the storage container.  To make coffee, you dilute the concentrate with water and/or milk, typically 3 parts water/milk a to 1 part concentrate.  This lets you adjust the strength to your taste.   Because it is a concentrate, it will last awhile and lengthen the time between brews.

We have a Toddy brewing system and have some thoughts on it.  The storage container has a tight stopper which keep the coffee fresh.  The storage container is glass and is quite thin.  Because of its size and shape it can be difficult to pour.  When making the brew, you first install a cork in the brewing portion which needs to be removed for draining the concentrate. That is not the easiest thing to do without making a mess.  The system requires coarse ground coffee.  Using a regular grind means you need to replace the reusable filter more often as it gets clogged with coffee grounds.

If we decide to replace our Toddy system, we’d look at trying this one from OXO. The OXO uses a “Rainmaker” to evenly distribute the water eliminating the layering of grounds and water.  The brewing part has its own stand.  There is a lever to drain the concentrate which means no more messy pulling of the cork plug. And no small part to lose!  However, the lever may malfunction over time. The carafe has measurements on it which is a nice feature.

If you decide you’d to gift a hot coffee maker, we suggest something like this one by Tru. We really like ours. It is compact, has a reusable filter basket yet also accepts k-cups. It works nicely for the tea drinker too.  Perfect for small apartments, families with different schedules, dorms, and RV camping.

And finally, our pick for a travel mug.  We’ve used this for years.  You have to work at it to spill it and it keeps things hot or cold all day.

Check out our cold brew coffee videos at Fancy Iced coffeeFancy Iced coffee Click on pictures for more information.

      Prices subject to change. As participants in affiliate programs, we may earn small commissions on products and services linked in our blog/website. There is NO additional cost to you however it gives us a boost and allows us to continue to provide you with easy link access to items we use. We are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Cricut affiliate program. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to products and service of affiliated sites.