life
5 THINGS
How Cool Is That? 5 THINGS ICE CUBES ARE GOOD FOR.
BY PEG GILL
CHANCES ARE, YOU’VE USED A LOT OF ICE CUBES THIS SUMMER! After all, they work wintery wonders when it comes to keeping our favorite beverages frosty and cold. They can also help ease ache-y injuries. (Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to slide into second during that company softball game.) But those chilly little cubes have lots of other handy uses. Here are five:
Mask the taste of medicine.
Skim fat off soup or stew.
No matter how hard manufacturers try, orange- and cherry-fla-
Nobody likes that unappetizing layer of fat that accumulates on
vored children’s medicines still have that medicine-y taste, and
top of soup or stew. To remove it, simply fill a metal ladle with
kids don’t like it. Next time you need to give your child medicine,
ice cubes and skim the bottom of the ladle over the top of the
have them suck on an ice cube first. It’ll numb their taste buds.
liquid in the pot. Fat will collect on the bottom of the ladle.
Help make reheated rice nice.
Get wrinkles out of clothes.
Don’t let your leftover rice dry out when you microwave it. Put the
Put two or three ice cubes in the dryer along with one or two
rice in a microwaveable bowl with an ice cube on top of it. The cube
pieces of clothing and set it on the hottest setting. The ice will
will melt as the rice heats up, adding much-needed moisture.
melt and turn to steam, getting the wrinkles out. You only have to set the dryer for about 10 minutes or so for it to work.
Keep your pet’s water cold & filled Pets tend to get super thirsty during hot weather, and adding a few ice cubes to their water dish will keep the water nice and cold, and also help keep it filled longer by replenishing the supply as the cubes melt.
Bonus tip: Sprinkle salt on the ice in your cooler. It’ll help it stay frozen for a lot longer.