There are probably very few people in the world who don’t like any form of cheese. We may have our preferences, with some preferring gourmet Swiss cheese or fermented blue cheese over cheddar cheese slices. However, you’d usually find that even lactose-intolerant folks are dying to get a cheesy experience that won’t play havoc with their health.
Even with all the different types of cheese, one would think that there are just a few uses of it, right? We eat cheese as a snack, as an accompaniment to crackers, in a cheese sauce, or sprinkle it on our meals. Still, there are quite a few uses of cheese that we may never have thought of.
There’s no end to the creativity of humankind, so let’s take a look at some surprising uses of cheese from different places:
Photo Ops
With the social media culture taking over everywhere, it’s no wonder that people are now posing with all kinds of cheese. There are even some cheese sculptures in certain areas, whereas the cheese dishes in some restaurants are good enough to put on Instagram.
If we use the word cheese as a hashtag, we can probably find many interesting photos of this favorite food all over the internet. On places like Pinterest, we might even find some strange DIYs for cheese. we’ll cover at least one example below.
Cheese Candles
That’s right; DIY enthusiasts are now going a step further and making cheese wedges have a little wick on top. Fortunately, this isn’t a waste of perfectly good cheese, as the project only makes use of the wax paper that the cheese is wrapped in.
If you want to have a savory birthday cake for someone who doesn’t like cake much, this tip could really come in handy. Simply get them a wheel or loaf of their favorite cheese, which should be wrapped in wax paper. Anything with wax can be used as a candle.
All you have to do is thread a wick through the paper with the cheese still inside. Light the wick on top, and you have a readymade birthday cake without much hassle. In case your friend is a huge fan of cheese, you might want to consider gifting them an actual candle that looks like a wedge of cheese.
This one might do:
Making Chips
There are many ways to eat cheese—you can shred, slice, melt, or cube it for a delicious experience every time. However, many people might not think about making actual chips from cheese.
You can easily make your own Parmesan chips from just the cheese and a few herbs for flavor. Add in some spices and vegetables as well, and you’ll have a healthy, low-carb, keto-friendly snack without compromising on satisfaction.
Simply shape some grated Parmesan in rounds, around two inches in diameter, on a baking tray. You can grease the tray with healthy oil, butter, or parchment paper. Sprinkle your seasonings over the top, and bake the rounds for around ten minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
If this seems like too much hassle, you can always splurge on some ready-made packaged Parmesan chips. There are several varieties available online, but
you might want to check these out as a start:
Hiding Pet Medication
It’s always a bother getting your pet to take medication. If you’re one of these pet owners, you might have all but given up. Dogs and cats usually have a very strong sense of smell, so they’re quite adept at detecting medication in their food and snacks.
Cheese can come to the rescue again here. Since they have quite a strong taste and smell, cheeseballs might do the trick. You can also make the cheeseballs at home, which would allow you to control the ingredients and fat intake. In order to get the desired taste without using up too much of your precious cheese, go for some cheese powder.
You can buy quite a lot of it online:
Treatment for Health Issues
If someone has rosacea, using a poultice made of cottage cheese and pineapple could relieve the symptoms. Again, this sounds quite strange, but it’s been recommended by famous skincare specialists. Even the famous show, Dr. Oz, has recommended this procedure.
Rosacea is a condition where your face gets flushed and our pores get quite large. It can cause inflammation, acne, rashes, coarse skin, and several other unsightly issues. In order to cool down these symptoms, cottage cheese provides a cooling effect along with the other ingredients.
All you have to do is take a cup of full-fat cottage cheese and mix it with a quarter cup of pineapple. For easy mixing, you might want to mince the pineapple first. Apply the mask on your face, and drape a cloth soaked in green tea on top.
Cottage cheese has a lot of milk fat, which will instantly work to heal and moisturize the skin. The bromelain in the pineapple will heal the redness, while green tea is a natural way to soothe the skin as well as the eyes.
There’s also no harm in trying out the cottage cheese and pineapple combination as a delicious snack. There are some ready to eat varieties available,so
check them out:
Fixing Skin
While cottage cheese can be sued to fox irritated skin, cream cheese can come in handy for dry skin. Food bloggers and beauty enthusiasts have tried out this method and claimed that it’s quite effective. It might be a bit messy, but every kind of beauty requires a little effort. All you have to do is apply some cream cheese right on your skin and let it dry, just like a mud mask.
You can also mix in some honey and sugar into your favorite cream cheese. This would create a natural moisturizing face scrub. The sugar will provide a gentle exfoliation. Of course, some people would prefer eating the combination.
You can get some great cream cheese online these days, so why not get started here:
Cheese Carving
Some cheeses might be crumbly or creamy, but other kinds have a solid, almost rubbery texture. This, along with its soft and malleable features, makes cheese quite a popular medium for sculpting. You might actually be able to take this up as a hobby, and display your creations in state fairs.
Some might make this a profession as well, as many people are demanding new and interesting sculptures for their events. If you can have an ice sculpture and a chocolate fountain, why not a cheese sculpture that can both admire and eat?
Conclusion
There are definitely several uses of cheese out there, but most people’s favorite choice would still be to eat it up! Fortunately, there are quite a few flavors of cheese dip, pasta recipes, and other meals that you can make with all kinds of cheese. If you really want to take your love of cheese to the next level, the ideas above will come in handy.