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Testing Yeast if Active


I made some pizza dough the other day and it just didn’t rise. That got me wondering if my yeast was still active as the dough just didn’t rise at all. There are several methods for testing or proofing yeast to see if it’s still active. I used the process that eHow outlined to test my yeast.

I bought this yeast bulk and still have a large jar of it. So I followed the following steps to test it for its potency:

  • 1/2 cup of warm water in a measuring cup. Check the temperature to make sure it’s about 110-115F.
  • Stir in 1 teaspoon of sugar and add 2 teaspoons of yeast or packet.

    • Let it sit for 10 minutes. If foam and bubbles form, your yeast is still active. As you can see my yeast didn’t have much activity at 10 minutes but after 20 minutes this was my results.


    Bottom line — I think my yeast is just okay but will proof it again before using it in a recipe. I hope you find this tip useful and use it next time you want to proof your yeast.

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    Recycling Orange Peels into a Cleaner

    Recently I had a friend who shared that she recycles orange peels into this awesome cleaner. You just add some white vinegar to a jar with some orange peels and let it set for about a week or two. Here is my mix with peelings from just one orange and about two cups of vinegar.

    Just shake the jar a few times as it sits and the vinegar begins to absorb the citrus from the orange peelings. The vinegar will turn a tint of orange after about a week or so. You can add it to a spray bottle and use it to clean counters, bathroom surfaces, sinks, toilets, and floors. This homemade cleaner has a wonderful citric smell and leaves everything clean and smelling great.

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    Mountain House Sale

    It is the last week for the 20-25% off sale of Mountain House canned foods at Emergency Essentials. Storing of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods such as Mountain House is an outstanding way to prep and have foods on hand should you not be able to go to the store and buy it.

    These cans are ideal for use in home storage or emergency preparedness. Did you know that they can have a shelf life of up to 25 years? So why not buy some today while they are still on sale and put up a few extra items in your long-term home food pantry. Remember you never know when you may be faced with a situation where you will have to rely on your pantry to feed you and your family. It’s always wise to be prepared.

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    Dryer Lint Makes Great Firestarters

    Using dryer lint for firestarters isn’t a new idea but I just wanted to share a quick post in case you haven’t tried it yourself. I used to just throw my dryer lint out but then I found it has many handy uses one of which is that it burns easily. Just throw the little chunks of lint and into your woodstove or fireplace as you build your fire. I like to place a small ball of lint at the bottom of the wood stove with my newspaper and then place the kindling on top. Then put the match to the lint to light the fire and you will have a blazing fire soon.

    One other useful tip is to save your lint in toilet or paper towel rolls. You shove the lint into the tubes after you clean out your dryer vent. I started doing this recently and it works great to just throw the paper tubes into my woodstove when I make my fire. The lint really is a great firestarter and plus it’s free. Oh and one last idea, if you are out in the woods and need a quick firestarter, check your pockets and get the lint out from the bottom of your pants pockets. Pocket lint works great to start a fire in a pinch.

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    Cayenne Pepper Keeps Pests Away

    I read that cayenne pepper can be helpful at keeping pests away. Apparently mice, squirrels and other pests don’t like the smell of cayenne pepper. I have been having a problem with mice getting in my greenhouse and eating my tender seedling plants so I wanted to give this idea a try.

    I have also read that ants and some other bugs don’t like cayenne pepper either so this may be a good solution to deter them too. I bought a 50 cent bottle of cayenne pepper and have sprinkled it generously all around the greenhouse as shown above. So far it appears to be working. My seedlings haven’t been getting eaten overnight like they had been but lets give it some time to see if this really works.

    It’s been about a week now since I first spread some cayenne pepper around in my greenhouse. The plants have been left alone and it doesn’t appear that anything has been getting in and eating them. So if you have been having problems with mice or other such pests, you might try this useful idea of applying cayenne pepper around the area to repel them.

    Application: Sprinkle the cayenne pepper all around areas where you want to keep the pests away. Especially apply cayenne pepper in holes and openings where the pests are entering. Re-apply every few weeks to keep the strong smell present for the best results.

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    Using Coffee Grounds on Furniture Scratches

    Using old coffee grounds for something useful seems like a great idea. So I set out to find some useful ideas for coffee grounds. As you might guess, there are many suggestions for reusing or recycling coffee grounds. I’m not going to bore you with a list of 50 things that you might try but let me share one useful way to use old coffee grounds.

    First I have read that coffee grounds can be a good fixer for scratches on your furniture. So this was my first test.

    I took some coffee grounds and to see if it would fix my scratched bed frame that we bought 2nd hand. I rubbed some damp coffee grounds along and around the scratches gently. I then wiped off the grounds and cleaned up the surface with a towel. The results were that the scratches were hidden and not so noticeable but there were still there. I then tried the coffee grounds on a darker coffee table that had a few scratches. The results were much better and the minor scratches were nearly gone and not really noticeable at all after applying some recycled coffee grounds on the scratches.

    The bottom line — Using coffee grounds does help hide scratches on wood furniture. It appears the darker furniture scratches are hidden better with an application of old coffee grounds than light-colored furniture. So if you have some scratches on your wooden furniture, give this useful idea a try. You have nothing to lose but some scratches, right?

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