Renters, rejoice! There’s a fun way to give your kitchen a little chalkboard love without painting a wall, drilling holes, or spending a lot of money. A trip to the craft store will provide you with the tools for this fun, easy DIY chalkboard, perfect for scribbling grocery lists, menu plans, or notes to your housemates. When my husband and I first moved into our apartment, we discovered something unfortunate about the walls.

Did you acquire an electric or stovetop panini press during the late 1990s craze, only to use it once or twice? Before you think about culling it from your kitchen, consider a few of the ways I use my stovetop model. It’s great for more than just sandwiches, and I find myself pulling it out of the cabinet often. Allow me to tell you about my top five uses for one of my favorite tools!

When it’s cold and wet outside, be on the lookout: That’s the time when ants are on the march towards your kitchen, looking for warmer, sugar-stocked climes to hide out in for the winter. The solution? Make a bottle of this potent natural spray to use on your window and door frames, baseboards, and anywhere else the little critters tend to sneak into your home. There are plenty of ways to prevent ants from taking over indoors.

It’s so very easy to keep acquiring hot sauces until, what do you know, they’re taking up most of the prime refrigerator door real estate. That’s how it goes in my house, anyway, as my chili-head husband seems to add a new one to his collection each week. Here are a few ways I’m planning to get through some of our spicy condiments! 1. A few drops on your morning eggs. If you make it a habit, you’ll be surprised how quickly the bottle is gone. 2.

First thing in the morning, I am nothing without my steaming hot mug of coffee. Truth be told, you’d have to pry it out of my hands to get me to give it up! However, I have a one mug-a-day limit — any more caffeine throughout the day starts messing with my mood and sleep, and the acid isn’t so great for my tummy either. When I want the warm, comforting sensation of a cup of coffee without the acid and caffeine, I reach for one of these four substitutes instead.

Instant oatmeal can be a lifesaver on busy mornings, but it’s also great when you want to throw together a quick dessert! With just two more ingredients, this pantry staple is transformed into a hot, comforting fruit crumble. Read on for easy instructions for this warming weeknight treat for two. One packet of instant oatmeal makes enough crumble topping for two servings of dessert, and you can use any flavor you’ve got in the cupboard.

Mustard is one of those condiments that just seems to improve everything it touches. With a magical combination of acid, salt, and spice all in one cheery yellow spoonful, it’s my go-to for brightening and perking up the flavors in so many savory dishes. When a salad dressing, marinade, or sauce seems to be lacking a little something, mustard is my no-fail secret ingredient. Here are a few of the ways I like to use my most favorite condiment.

I’m always looking for ways to get more produce into my diet. Whether it’s keeping a crudité platter in the fridge, adding cooked carrots to a sweet afternoon snack, or swapping spiraled zucchini for noodles, I’ll use any trick I can to fill my days with lots of vegetables. Here’s my favorite new way to swap out starch for greens in my lunchtime routine — turn a classic sandwich into a salad!

A fridge full of leftovers feels like a blessing some nights, and a guilt trip on others. I don’t always want to eat the same thing for two nights in a row, but I usually can’t bear to let things go to waste. To make a repeat meal feel new again, I’ve come up with a no-fail way to revive yesterday’s dinner: I put it on a pizza.

When it comes to gardening, I have more of a knack for killing plants than producing any kind of successful harvest. As such, it has befallen my husband to take full charge of tending to our summer garden, and his most treasured plant is this enormous, enthusiastic pumpkin vine. Its produce will be of the Halloween carving variety, not so great for eating. Luckily, I’ve still got some plans for its smaller, younger leaves, which as it turns out, are edible and popular in many cuisines.

Have you ever noticed that the nicest kitchen towels have a nifty little loop, perfect for hanging on a kitchen hook? It’s easy to add a loop to any towel yourself, making it that much more functional. Even better, this is a DIY you can knock out in all of a few minutes.

When I was a teenager, my mom picked up a habit that she’s kept ever since — keeping a plate of crudités in the fridge at all times. It’s her favorite way to have a healthy snack on hand, and now it’s mine, too! If I’m rummaging around in the kitchen for a snack, my usual M.O. is to grab whatever’s most convenient.

Summer wedding season is here! It’s time to don your most festive duds, celebrate with friends and loved ones, and hopefully, come out on the other side without having made a drunken spectacle of yourself. It’s far too easy to overdo it at the open bar without a game plan, so I’ve come up with a strategy that helps me avoid ending up under the table. Here are some ground rules for the bar, and five low-alcohol sips to see you through.

Whether you’re making a fancy cocktail garnish, putting together a festive bowl of fruit salad, or serving appetizer-friendly fruit skewers, cutting your watermelon into stars adds a fun element to any summer spread. Here’s our simple method for cutting a whole watermelon down into cute little stars! Cutting watermelon into stars is easy. Once you trim the melon and cut it into slices, all you need is a star-shaped cookie cutter to stamp those stars out.

Cutting up a whole pineapple can seem like a daunting task. With prickly leaves and a tough outer skin, it’s a surprising pick for the international symbol for hospitality. Nonetheless, it’s easy to break down a whole fruit with the method I’ve laid out here! Pineapples are available year-round, but did you know that it’s peak season right now? They’re at their best from March through July, just in time for all of your favorite tropical, warm weather recipes.