What Have You Been Embarrassed to Discover Is Really Easy?

When I bought my house, I discovered a lot of things I could do that I didn't want to spend money on. Switching out a toilet, changing doorknobs, installing window treatments, recaulking tubs, painting, etc. I am still mostly box when it comes to food though. I really don't like to cook. :)

Really, frosting is just butter and sugar? I didn't know that!

So so easy -- guacamole. It's so easy it is ridiculous. One Hass avocado, a spoon to scoop it out, a fork to mash it in a bowl, lime juice (a good squeeze of half a lime oughta do it) and you are done.

Wanna get fancy? OK, throw some cilantro and parsley into it. Fancier? Garlic, tomato, chopped. Fanciest? Add a handful of chopped mango.

Not sure if this applies but for me, my great discovery is cutting fresh herbs. I used to chase then around the cutting board with a large knife and it took a while to get them uniformly sized.

My great discovery is you put the herbs in a mug and use kitchen shears. Just keep cutting until they are as finely chopped as you need. They stay contained in the cup and its easy to clean up.

Putting together a swing set. I am really very handy, but when I pulled the instructions to the kids new swing set out, my jaw hit the floor! Totally overwhelming!! The directions spread out into a 6x8 paper!!

BUT... I rolled my sleeves up, popped on my iPod, and 4 hours later... perfection :)

Ditto you...I make homemade Mac N Cheese, Pancakes, Waffles...

Other easy: salad dressings and marinades and soups.

No one likes frosting in our home, even the homemade kind. It's just too sweet for us. So I mix a carton of Cool Whip with one Yoplait Yogurt, any flavor....super easy and super delish....and really tasty with fruit.

making candy: peanut brittle takes about 30 minutes
carmels take a littel longer only because I reduce apple cider for flavoring
this year I am going to attempt peppermint patties...

pumpkin pies from real pumpkins

I normally bake from scratch but I just started making candy in the last year or two...I prefer to bake from scratch because I feel like I actually made it, if it came out of a box I feel like I may as well have bought it from a bakery...

Pecan pie was always such a mystery to me and I avoided it even tho it was my husbands favorite. I had the idea you had to make that pudding like gel and I had no idea how, and didnt own a candy thermometer. Well duuh, one day I bought a whole set of cook books and one was filled with nothing but pie recipes. Sure enough, I flipped thru and saw pecan pie and read how its done. Ummm, you mix eggs, karo syrup, sugar and butter,,,, pour it in the pie crust and bake. well heck, even I can do that,, and I do, quite often too!
Also, having a baby was a scary thought to me for years. As a teen I thought NO WAY, Im not gonna have kids and hurt like they say it does and I was petrified while in labor the first time. (no drugs, nothing but breathing), The first hour or so it wasnt too bad but I was certain it was going to get really horrible. Then a couple pushes,, and he just popped out! And I thought,gosh that was easy,,, and wish I could have done it several times, but only had the 2 kids. She was even easier.

Making pumpkin and banana bread.

This year I discovered how easy it was to take the pumpkins that were sitting on my front porch and turn them into something that I could actually use in my baking. I took our 4 pumpkins and turned them into 35 cups of pumpkin puree that I can use to make anything that calls for pumpkin! It was so easy---cut the pumpkin, bake it until tender, then pull the shell of and mash it with the potato masher and your done!
J.--SAHM of 7

Pie! I never used to make my own pie crust... OMG it's SO easy, will never again buy one from the store. I make them in a food processor and it literally takes less than 3 minutes. It's almost faster than unpacking the store-bought one...

boilded eggs and scrambled eggs I see people buy. Really?!

Cheesecake! Its really easy to make, and taste better. Just follow the receipt in the box of cream cheese from Philies cream cheese. Sooo easy, now my 9 yr old know how to make it. LOL

Mixing butter, flour and milk to make a basic white sauce and going from there. I never buy jarred white sauce.

Now with the pies and such, can someone come over and show me how easy it is? All still sounds hard. :)

I just have to say, this is too cute!

So, because my husband is handyman illiterate, I've come to find how easy it is to tighten things around the house. Not only easy, but incredibly important!

So every so often I grab my universal screwdriver and Allan key and tighten cupboards and my dining room table and chairs. Something I NEVER thought to do but now it's my job and it helps keep things safe and moving!

What a great question!

I make home made sofrito. Its a base that you start all your meals off with. You can use whatever you like, but I use traditional spanish ingredients, onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes and cilantro. Throw it all in a blender and blend until its the consistancy of a slushy. It keeps in the refridgerator, in a mason jar, for months. Sautee 1/4 - 1/2 cup in olive oil for a minute or two, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the vegetables are warmed, then throw in whatever meat, potatoes or rice and broth/water. Great for stews, soups, beans and caserole dishes. It cuts your prep time down to almost nothing and its so flavorful.

I also always make guacamole and whipped cream from scratch too.

Have a great day!
R.

Great cookies! I always followed the directions (or so I thought) and they were dull and dry. I asked a friend if I could come over when she was baking. OMG, she barely mixed the dry ingredients in and she was done. I had been over mixing for years. Of course the cookbook said "Don't overmix." But really, if I had known I was overmixing, I would have stopped years ago! Now I know that means "barely incorporate".

And I love the other answers. As someone else said, I thought pecan pie was going to be difficult, until my sister brought the fixings to my house to bake before dinner. Duh!

Thanks for this great question.

Now if I would only try to bake bread. :)

Pasta sauce. Most ingredients are pantry items and it doesn't need hours of simmering.

Popovers!

Plus, making yeast bread and pizza dough from scratch, although time-consuming, was not hard + turned out great the very first time!

I also used to be quite handy around the apartment before I got married. I put together a weight bench and a heavy set of bookcases -- figured out how to move them without hurting myself after they were put together. Now, I let the husband do it.

Pie and cheese cake.

For the time and money it takes to make a home made one compaired to making a store boughten one. Its just as easy and doesn't make much difference in time... but makes a huge difference in taste and money.

Butter. I got really excited when I made butter from the left over fresh whipped cream at Thanksgiving.

Me too with the biscuits! Just made them the other day for the first time. SO easy and SO much better from scratch!