Life Hacks That Actually Work

Get Everything Warm

You've been there. You heat up some leftover dinner in the microwave, but the middle is cold. What do you do? The easiest hack is to make sure that the meal is pushed to the edge of the plate. Whether it's mac and cheese, pasta, rice, or even bigger dishes like chicken and vegetables, a sandwich, etc, always make sure the food is on the edge of the plate! Deconstruct the meal if you have to, it's worth it.

The More You Know

With the water running at about half throttle, drop in orange or lemon peels. Run the disposer for five seconds. Citric acid from the peels softens crusty waste and attacks smelly bacteria. Give the acid about 15 minutes to do its work.
This hint will save you from wasting wrapping paper each time you bring it out of storage. Rather than sticking a piece of tape along the loose edge, cut an empty toilet paper tube lengthwise and wrap it around a roll of wrapping paper. Cinch it up and secure the sleeve with a piece of tape.
If you forget to bring that butter up to room temp in advance, it’s OK. You can soften butter quickly. The easiest way is to cut butter into cubes and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes.
To make it easy to stow and reuse plastic bags, make a dispenser from a discarded 2-liter soda bottle. Cut off the top and bottom with a razor knife. Then screw the dispenser to a cabinet door or closet wall (or attach with hook-and-loop tape).

Post originally appeared on Upbeat News.