Oh, the humble potato..the SPUD – how I love thee.  Taties get a bad rap these days, don’t they?  All those carbs…  Booooo, I say.

However, I shall tell ye now, I LOVE potatoes and nothing will ever change me.

Anyway, I digress.

Potatoes aren’t just little earthy bricks of carbs, no, they are also incredibly useful for around the compound.  Here’s 9 ways how:

1. Is your stew/casserole too salty?

Pop some raw, cut-up potato, drop in stew and leave for a few minutes.  Remove pieces; the stew/casserole should be less salty

2. To freshen up tired eyes (yes please),

Pop raw potato slices on your closed eyes (closed eyes – that could be a problem. If I could close my eyes I’d just take a nap.  Anyway…).

3.  To relieve sting from a minor burn

Chop up a piece of raw potato into tiny pieces, mix with a little tap water and apply to burn.

4.  To remove beetroot stains from your hands.

Rub stain with a cut, raw potato.

5.  Breathe new life into battered old shoes

..by rubbing a cut potato on them prior to polishing (polishing shoes..haven’t done that in a while)

6. Give life to Geraniums

Make a hole in a potato, stick a geranium stem inside and plant the whole thing.

7. Bring new shine to the Family Silver.

If you happen to be boiling a big pot of taties, save the water!  Pop all your cutlery in the water. Soak for an hour, rinse and rub down.  Good as new.

8. Keep your Potato peels and turn them into chippies:

Coat potato peels with a little lemon juice and olive oil. Spread the peels in an even layer on a baking sheet and cook at 200 degC, giving them a shuffle, until golden brown and yummy looking(10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Another recipe here for home made hot chips.

9. Skin Joojj

Rub the juice of a raw potato into your skin, leave on for half a minute then rinse off and voila!  refreshed skin.

Do you use potatoes for things?  What?  Do you love potatoes?