How to clean a flat screen

photo by seanmcgrath
DEAR SARA: How do you clean a flat-screen monitor? I could use glass cleaner on my old glass screen, but what do I use on this one? — Dee, New York
DEAR DEE: I use a microfiber cloth. Flannel works well, too. Dampen the cloth with either water or water diluted with vinegar or isopropyl alcohol. To prevent damage, don’t press hard or spray product directly on the screen.
DEAR SARA: I’ve always felt a bit weirded out by chub packs of meat. They aren’t very common where I live. Many stores don’t carry them at all, so they aren’t the average way of buying ground beef here. I’ve changed a lot of my shopping practices to improve my grocery bill, but I noticed the other day that I still chose not to buy the chub pack. Can you let me know if you’ve ever noticed a quality difference between the prepackaged chubs of ground beef and the ground beef that is packaged at the store on foam trays? When they do go on sale, the price difference is pretty big. But I don’t know anyone who buys chubs, so I don’t know if the meat quality is different. Are there any other concerns with chub packs? Can I just freeze them in the chub, or will it burst in the freezer? — Liz, Canada
DEAR LIZ: I can’t speak from experience on Canadian chub packs, but they’re fine in the United States. Some people tend not to buy the chub packs if they can’t see through the packaging. Fortunately, some have a clear film wrap. But you can consider that many people buy sausage and turkey in printed packaging without hesitation. I’m sure quality varies store to store, but these aren’t your mother’s chub packs. They’ve improved in quality. I haven’t had a bad experience.
They’re labeled like other packaged ground beef, so you can see the fat content. Some are seasoned, too. Other benefits are that the weight is consistent, they don’t leak as easily when partially frozen, you can slice them into patties, and they’re handled less because your store isn’t processing them. You can pop chubs into the freezer without repackaging, and they won’t burst. Since you’re trying to cut back on your food bill, if you see the chub packs on sale but the fat content is higher than you typically buy, you do have a healthier option. You can boil your ground beef into crumbles. Add enough water to cover your ground beef, and boil until the meat is no longer pink. Drain, and use as usual. Or you can fry your ground beef in a skillet, drain the grease, and rinse the crumbles in a strainer under hot water to help remove the higher fat content.
DEAR SARA: What can I do with stale coffee? I cleaned out my mom’s cupboards and found coffee from 1997, and, needless to say, it doesn’t taste very good! Do you know of any tips for using stale coffee? I hate to throw it out. — Pat, Nebraska
DEAR PAT: You can toss it into the garden. Or make a coffee body scrub.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coffee grounds
1/2 cup almond, olive or baby oil
several drops of essential oil for scent
Mix ingredients together, and adjust to the texture you prefer. Apply with your hands. Scrub gently, and rinse. In a previous column, I mentioned uses for spent coffee grounds. You can view it here: www.frugalvillage.com/2008/05/09/somethings-brewing-with-old-coffee-grounds.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!






I use chub pack ground beef all the time and find that there is absolutely no quality difference. It may be ground a bit finer than the store ground meat, but that helps the patties stay together!
I had read that you can use a used dryer sheet, what do you think about that? It was under the premise that you can get the dust off, and I am not sure whatever else.
Leave your response!
Frugal Talk
Garden Talk
Categories
Feed on
Popular topics
Frugal & simple living »
Cut back on products you don’t need
photo by cherryfluff
As a society, we’re fortunate — so much so that we’ve become gluttonous. Wants and needs have become blurred. We’ve become conditioned to believe we need many things. Some people might even think chocolate is a food group. But in all seriousness, we’ve forgotten that we live in the land of options. Modern life is different from basic life. But many of the convenience products we enjoy have …
Frugal Cooking »
Use up evaporated milk
photo by arnold inuyaki
In the back of the pantry, you might find a couple of cans of evaporated milk that are close to expiring. It typically lasts about a year unopened in the pantry and once opened and refrigerated, you have about a week to use it. It’s wonderful when used in mashed or scalloped potatoes, coffee or tea, scrambled eggs, pies or French toast, to a name few.
Here are …
Frugal Home & family »
Safeguard your purse when shopping
photo by Le petit poulailler
With the holidays approaching, there are a lot of people carrying cash and valuables when out shopping. Often, people are dressed up, in a hurry and not paying attention. This offers increased opportunities for thieves, so it’s important to take some precautions. If someone is determined to take your purse or wallet, they will. But you can take steps to decrease the risk and a few …
Question & Answer »
Keep homemade mixes fresh
photo by House of sims
DEAR SARA: I have found several homemade mixes on your forums that I would like to make. If the mixes were stored in a glass jar and exposed to light, would it affect the mix? I am unsure with some of the spices. The reason I ask is because I would like to use glass jars, such as mason jars, and adhere a label. I think …
Reader Frugal Tips »
Use clamp hangers for more than pants
photo by goldberg
Pants hangers have multiple uses in your home. You can use them to clip a printed recipe to keep it off the kitchen counter when preparing it. Simply hang it from the cabinet handle. Or use them to display children’s artwork. The first tip shares a few additional ways to use pant hangers.
MULTIUSE HANGERS: I have a number of clamp-type pants hangers and have found some other …
Recent Comments