I would like to think of myself as fairly adept in the kitchen. I have all the spices I need and a fridge stocked with food I think will feed my family over the course of a few days with ease and absolutely no stress. Mind you, as I wrote earlier, this is how I would like to think of myself. In reality, when looking head on at the prospect of putting a meal together for my family, I find myself wondering why I didn’t have more simple hacks in my toolkit to make the process easier. During the frenzy of cooking and preparation, I usually look frantically in my cookbook for simple tips to make my life easier but to no avail. Imagine my surprise when I found more than a handful of kitchen hacks designed to make me look like a pro. It is my responsibility to pay these forward in the hopes that your meal time prep and general cooking know-how is a bit more polished.An onion will help avoid forming blisters when you apply it on the burn.
Coffee grounds will help your plants such as tomatoes grow faster.
You do not have to throw out your honey when it crystallizes and hardens. Put it in hot boiling water till it becomes runny again. Avoid putting the jar in the fridge and keep it away from moisture.
Pour a table spoon of flour to your potatoes while cooking.The outside of the vegetable will get hard and crunchy.
For those extra pancakes, simply store them flat in airtight plastic bags. Microwave at 30 seconds increments to warm up during the week. This applies to waffles and crêpes.
These bowls are great for bake mixing, dressings, salad making and even for your movie popcorn.
When you boil potatoes and pasta, let the water cool. Pour the water (sans pasta and potatoes) it in your potted plants. Your plants will love the extra nutrients in the water.
Keep your bananas together until ready to eat. If you separate them, they will turn brown faster.
If you like eating the hot peppers but cannot take the heat. Cut the pepper in half, removing all the seeds. Rub salt on the insides, let the salt soak for five minutes try taking a bite again.
You may look weird but rub your eye with your hair. Yes, it does work.
When your meal is just not tasting the way you expected, a pinch of salt can take it from blah to wow.
It will beautifully grind whole herbs and spices.
Clean your coffee grinder with vodka. This will ensure the herbs and coffee beans will not blend or cross-contaminate.
Lemon juice and vinegar will make your meal absolutely delish.
Despite what the recipe states, you don’t have to flip your vegetables. Put your bakeware in the oven while it is in pre-heating mode. This will be enough to cook the food from the bottom. This however, does not apply to cookies.
Take half a lime with the skin and literally suck it. The pain from the hot spice will subside.
Corn starch is not just for baking. Fries, calamari and anything breaded with corn starch will be that much more crispy.
No worries, put your herbs in an ice tray and pour oil to freeze. Garlic is not recommended to freeze with oil, unless it will be used within a week.
Simply freeze your cheese for about 30 minutes prior to grating it.
Add baking soda to the top of the meat for five minutes. Let rest and remove after five minutes.
Pepper juice burn is not fun. But rubbing it with kosher salt and lime juice will usually do the trick to ease the discomfort.
Ginger is not one of the easy roots to cut up. Instead use a spoon and scrape away.
Take a tomato and slice it with a knife, letting gravity cut the first half. If it cuts, your knife is in perfect, sharp condition.
Slice your avocado with the skin still on it. Not only will it be easier to remove, you wont lose so much of the meaty vegetable scooping it up.
Make sure you don’t throw away that little bit of wine left in your bottle. Pour it in to an ice cube tray, freeze and use it for cooking later.
