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Cooking Tips # 3

Source of Recipe

Various Sources
Bacon: When cutting up bacon for frying, freeze it first and it will cut like a dream. Lou Held, OH

Boiling Eggs: If you put a lot of salt in the water the eggs will shell perfect every time. Janet Stallinhs, TN

Bread Crumbs: Need Italian seasoned breadcrumbs? Toast old bread (center of loaf or the ends). Leave for a few minutes to get hard then tear in little pieces in blender. Add garlic powder, oregano, and onion powder, any other seasoning you want and blend till crumbed. Put in freezer bag. It's keeps for up to 6 months. Toni Katrtinecz, TN

Buttermilk: If you are out of Buttermilk, in a glass measuring cup, try mixing 1 tablespoon of regular vinegar and add fresh milk (low-fat or whole milk) to equal 1 cup of your made up buttermilk. Minnie, TX
or
Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice per 1 cup of milk (regular or low-fat) to make buttermilk. Steve Carroll

Cake: To make a cake lower in cholesterol (whether is homemade or from a box mix), simply use egg substitute or egg whites instead of whole eggs, and applesauce instead of vegetable oil. The cake will still be delicious and it's better for you. Applesauce is especially good in spice cake and carrot cake. S. Friel, MO

Cake Moistener: To make your homemade cake moister, use about a half-cup of sour cream (or less) along with it. You don't taste it at all, it just makes it super moist, but watch out; moist cakes tend to fall apart easier. Mandy, KY

Chopping Food Safely: When chopping vegetables or meat, lay a damp towel under the cutting board to prevent it from sliding around. Karla, IN.

Onions: When slicing an onion, to avoid tears, try holding a piece of white bread in your mouth while slicing, it prevents tears every time! Billie, KY
or
When chopping onion, you will have fewer tears if you put your chopping board under the exhaust fan on your stove or light a candle and place it near the cutting board. Sara R., WY
or
Before slicing onions, place the onion in the freezer for half hour. This will keep the onion from smelling and burning your eyes. Mandi, AR
or
To prevent tears when cutting an onion, cut the root end off last. Becky Ellison, MS

Cookies: Refrigerate cookie dough prior to baking to prevent the cookies from spreading and going flat.

Corn on the Cob: When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness. When boiling corn on the cob, add enough milk to just cloud the water. This keeps the corn from sticking to your teeth. Leeann, WA

Cornbread: When making cornbread by the mix, if I'm out of milk I substitute powdered coffee creamer and water instead. This also works with pancake mix. Pat, TX

Deviled Eggs: Instead of spooning the filling into the eggs, which is time consuming and messy, fill a zip lock bag with the filling, cut the corner off and then squeeze onto the eggs. No mess, no fuss; when you’re done, toss it in the garbage. You can use it with cake icing to decorate cookies and cakes too. Stacy Reed, AL

Dough: When rolling out pie dough, biscuits, etc., dampen counter top and then cover it with plastic wrap. Dampening it will prevent the plastic from moving and when you're finished; you can just roll up the plastic wrap and throw it away. No mess! Faith, OH

Fish: After cleaning fish that has scales, soak fish in water with little vinegar (about 2 capful in half sink of water). This will get rid of the slime and the fishy smell. Proceed with seasoning. Gayle

Egg Salad: When making egg salad use a potato masher instead of a knife to mash/cut up the eggs. It is a lot faster and less messy. Julie Alm, MI

Pop-Corn: To assure all grains will pop store popcorn in refrigerator prior to popping. Rick, AK.

Gravy: When making thickening for gravy, use half flour and half cornstarch. Your gravy will not lump. Evelyn Evans, IA

Ground Beef: Don't rush around when you need ground meat for dinner. Cook up a large batch when it is on sale and put it (drained) in zip lock bags, in the freezer. When you need it in a hurry, a little or a lot, just break it into sections or use more than one bag. Linda LeMaire, Biloxi, MS

Graham Cracker Crust: When making graham cracker pie crusts crush the crackers using a rolling pin in a Ziploc bag. Add melted butter and sugar to the bag and then close. You can work the ingredients together in the bag without having to wash another bowl or get your hands dirty. Kelly, NE

Hamburgers or Meatballs: Keep your hands wet with water and the meat won't stick to your hands. Makes for much easier cleanup. Kim, WA

Hamburger Patties: Use an upside down (or lip side up) sour cream or cottage cheese lid under a sheet of wax paper to make hamburger patties. The edges of the lid help keep the patty round and when cooked, they are about the size of the hamburger bun. You can still make them as thick or as thin as you like, but they will be bun sized. Heather, IA

Hard Boiled Eggs: If you have hard-boiled eggs and get them mixed up with your fresh eggs, just spin them like a top. The hard-boiled eggs will spin and the fresh ones won't. Brad Goulet, WA
Shake salt in water when boiling eggs. If they crack, they will not spill into the water. Arleen Emison, TN

Hot Pepper Burn: Apply olive oil and you will have no burning feeling. Suman, SC

Ice Cubes: If you need to make ice in short period of time, fill ice tray cubes with warm water. The warm water freezes at much faster rate then if you filled them with cold water.
Trina Berrian, SC

Lasagna: Soak lasagna noodles in cold water for 15 minutes. After all other ingredients are ready to assemble, remove noodles and pat dry with paper towels. This softens the noodles somewhat and reduces the cooking time for the lasagna to half. Marsha Montgomery, TX

Leftovers: Keep two large plastic ice cream buckets in the freezer, one for leftover poultry and cornbread and one for leftover roast beef and vegetables (such as corn, carrots, etc). When full, make cornbread dressing with the first and homemade soup with the second. Small piece of onion or celery can go into either container. Claire LeMoine, LA

Lettuce: When cleaning lettuce, turn head of lettuce upside down and hit core against counter or table and then pull core out. Run water thru head of lettuce to wash thoroughly and then turn upside down again to drain. Never use metal knife on lettuce, this will turn lettuce brown. Using a plastic knife to shred or cut lettuce will keep the lettuce looking fresher.

Non-Sticking Noodles: When cooking pasta, put a cap full of vegetable oil in the water before adding the pasta. Your noodles won’t stick together. Deanna, TX.

Oil substitute: When a cake recipe calls for margarine or oil, you can use applesauce as a substitute. It works great and less calories. Taffy Ponvelle

Onion Hands: Do you have onion smell on your hands after cutting one? Use the metal part of the knife and rub your hands with it while under running water. Rob, MS

Pasta: To stop pasta (and potatoes) from boiling over, put a little oil in the pot. This saves time watching the food while cooking and no mess on stove. Carolyn Jackson, TN

Pasta: Place a small amount of vegetable oil or margarine in the water in which you cook starchy foods such as rice, potatoes, and pasta. This keeps the water from foaming up and boiling over.
Barb, MN

Peanut Butter Cookies: To make the criss-cross pattern, instead of using fork tines, use a potato masher. It's easier to handle and one print will go the width of the cookie. Sandra Glover, MS
Potatoes: To keep potatoes from boiling over, place a wooden spoon across the top of the pan. Tami, MO

Raw Egg Clean Up: If you drop a raw egg, simply pour salt on it, this makes it is easier to clean up. Gloria Snyder

Rice Krispy Treats: To spread these bars easily into the pan after preparing, run your hands under cold tap water for a few seconds. Wipe excess water off your hands, and press the rice crispy mixture into the pan. Repeat cold water if necessary. Melinda, IA

Clogged Salt Shaker: Place about a tablespoon of uncooked rice in shaker then fill the rest of the way with salt. The rice will absorb the moisture and keep the shaker from clogging. Karen, KY

Sauce: If you put too much salt in a sauce, drop in a potato while the sauce is simmering and it will absorb much of the salt.

Soup: Don't throw away the bones from that chicken you had last night, boil the bones with a little chopped up onion and celery (don't forget the leaves) salt and pepper to taste. You have a great chicken stock for soup, veggies and rice.
Robin, GA.

Stop Boiling Over Pots: To keep pots from boiling over when you boil potatoes or pasta, just spray pot with Pam first. Your stovetop will thank you. Nancy E Hess

Time Saver: Work full-time? Here's a real time saver. When you do cook, cook a lot. Then freeze the leftovers in small containers. Makes it easy to just throw a single serving into the microwave when you don't have the time to cook. Pam McClung

Tupperware: To keep tomato stains out of your plastic bowls (or Tupperware) when storing tomato-based dishes (such as spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.), spray bowls first with cooking spray. Cheryl Missouri