17 new of 68 responses total.
No, not opening lids- chewing cords. I used to joke that my Sasha was a great mouse hunter- except the mice she killed were connected to computers. Part of the problem is also that we don't have a great refrigerator- it's very damp. So things like lettuce, onions and tomatoes (well they're okay) go bad more quickly than they should. Getting a new fridge means arguing with the landlord. As it is we buy 4 tomatos and they go bad before we eat them all. Usually it's because we're lazy and get the 'bag' salad and that almost always goes bad before we eat it all. Like I said, poor planning in terms of what meals will be eaten in the coming week and shopping accordingly.
Do you keep your vegetables in the plastic bags they come in? That raises the humidity a LOT. Take them out and keep in the vegetable bin (crisper) or even an open colander. I have never heard of a refrigerator being too humid. The self-defrosting ones have the opposite problem, they dry things out. If you are used to those, but have a non-self-defrosting one, get used to taking things out of bags. Jim asks if you are putting uncovered foods in there, which will evaporate and increase the humidity.
The problem seems to be the freezer automatic defroster- it drips into the fridge. I actually keep a small bowl in there to catch the condesation, it gets emptied every few days or so. So that would be where the humidity comes from. Sadly our fridge really is a joke and while we try to put the veggies in some other container and in the crisper they just don't stay crisp.
It sounds like the tube from the freezer to the area below the refrigerator, which is supposed to drain the melted ice, is clogged, so the water drips onto the inside of the refrigerator. It is fairly simple to unclog them with a pipecleaner or maybe a coat hanger. This is not condensation collecting, but melted freezer ice. We have at least one free refrigerator in good condition that was thrown out because it had a clog in the drain line. If you cannot figure out how to unclog, I will ask Jim for more details, but I think it is up near the freezer, assuming it is a one-door model. My crisper is badly designed and rots things because it has no drain/ventilation holes near the bottom, where the humidity tends to be highest because cold air sinks.
I'll look at it when I get home- but it is a two door (the freezer has a separate door from the main fridge).
Is the lower compartment also self-defrosting?
No idea. I'll have to find out.
If it is, look for a drain tube and clean it out with pipecleaner. Or make sure you are not putting uncovered foods in there, which do increase the humidity and cause condensation.
resp:47 I need to find out about getting some more wheat. We ground some wheat in a blender for flour once and we got bread that was sort of like cracked wheat bread. We've usually been buying bread at a bakery outlet- about 3 for $1 or 3 for $2... I am sure you'll tell me that bread machine bread is ultimately cheaper. As for sandwich stuffs, I agree with Anne-- it is tough getting a lot of veggies and the like to keep. Right now, we've had good success with tuna sandwiches-- we use a recipe that uses onions, pickles, and dillweed. I could add romaine quite easily. On the subject of used items-- those are much harder to come by here, even harder to find places to fix cheaply-- I would love to have someone like you guys to fix our poor little vacuum cleaner that just dies everytime I turn it on and run it through 2-3 rooms.
Re: #60- is the vacuum overheating? Mine was doing that. The Beau figured out a way to open it up and clean the filter (it's still not that great of a vacuum, but it never really was to begin with. ;) ). Back to the sandwich thing- not being a vegetarian, getting decent meat fillings can be annoying. Gotta be careful it's not overly processed, etc.,
Bread machine bread consists of whatever you choose to make it from. 3 for $1 bread is probably the white puffy stuff with no taste or texture or fiber. Check the vacuum cleaner for threads wound around the roller. Why take sandwiches at all? You can bring other things in containers and eat with spoon or fork. Cook extra the day before.
I hate to sound like I'm purposefully trying to be difficult however... Keeping items fresh during the day while in their containers can also be an issue. Keeping items cold or warming them up so that they don't go bad. Which, come to think of it, is also a reason taking sandwichs can be difficult. It can be very difficult when you don't have a schedule that's totally of your choosing.
Do you work some place that has an employee refrigerator? You can take a small insulated bag with a coldpack in it to keep things cold. Hard cheese can be left at room temperature for a long time without spoiling. So can uncut fruits, which includes tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers.
Well I work someplace with an employee fridge now, but I haven't always.
In the (distant past?) when I packed lunches for myself, I routinely made a week's worth of sandwiches and froze them, so that on a weekday morning I only pulled out a sandwich or two from the freezer and added a piece of fruit or vegetable. The sandwiches were mostly peanut butter, and one of our cats was fond of peanut butter, so he expected his share.
Why did you freeze peanut butter? It keeps pretty well at room temperature. I used to put apple slices in my peanut butter sandwiches. To upset people at school, I would also add just about anything else that stuck, including green beans (cooked) or cranberry sauce. The carrot tops were not very good.
resp:61 Julie (I should start calling her Ms. Fix-it now) figured it out. She said the brush roller had too much hair on it and couldn't spin. Took off the hair-- problem fixed. i.e. resp:62-- exactly. resp:62 au contraire, it's reasonably tasty, and reasonably fibered (usually just 2 g though :/ ) I guess it's time to start workin' that bread machine...
You have several choices: