When our homes are threatened by a storm, the last thing on our minds is food. But when the storm passes that last thing we want to be greeted by a refrigerator full of rotting items!
Now you can save yourself a massive headache deciding what stays and what goes. That’s because one woman has a simple trick that can save you hundreds after a storm, or even while you are gone on a vacation.
Sheila Pulanco Russell is the wonderful genius who came up with this simple idea. All you’ll need is a mug, a quarter (although any coin will work) and some tap water!
“For those of you that are evacuating from the coast, I just heard a great tip.
It’s called the ‘One Cup Tip.’
You put a cup of water in your freezer. Freeze it solid and then put a quarter on top of it and leave it in your freezer.”
It may seem confusing, but there’s an important reason to do this before leaving your home for a voluntary or mandatory evacuation or even when away from home for a length of time.
Sheila explains exactly how this works in her viral Facebook post.
“When you come back after you’ve been evacuated you can tell if your food went completely bad and just re-froze, or if it stayed frozen while you were gone.
If the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup that means all the food defrosted and you should throw it out.
But if the quarter is either on the top or in the middle of the cup then your food may still be ok.
It would also be a great idea to leave this in your freezer all the time and if you lose power for any reason you will have this tip to fall back on. If you don’t feel good about your food, just throw it out.
The main thing is for all to be safe.”
Now you’ll have an easy way to tell if you’ve lost power and the items in your refrigerator have perished, or if your home escaped this frustrating food disaster.
Be sure to pass this helpful quarter trick to your friends and loved ones, it’s always better to be prepared if a storm arises or if the power goes off unknowingly while you are on vacation. Everyone should benefit from this cheap, but very effective tip!
