My husband's and my daily schedules are constantly changing. Frankly, it's complete chaos sometimes, so I can't plan to have elaborate dinners on the table at six o'clock every day. And by the time we actually get to eating in the evening, we've become so hungry that our moods have taken a nosedive.
Rice is one of those incredibly versatile pantry essentials that you can make in bulk and then freeze for later use in a quick meal during the week. It keeps well in the fridge and freezer, and there are an endless number of ways that it can be used once thawed—from rice bowls and salads to stir-fry dishes.
"You can even eat the dishes," claims the song "The Candy Man Can" from 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The idea of edible cups, even back then, grabbed my attention—any kid would much prefer to eat her dish instead of clean it afterward, of course!
I recently wrote about fast food fakeouts you can make at home, but people cannot live off fast food alone. Sometimes you need to step up your game a little and enjoy the fare at a popular chain restaurant with a bit more variety to its menu.
The thought of peeling tomatoes for pasta sauces and soups has long been an overwhelming idea for us, one we often steer clear from when reading recipes or searching out new dishes to create. Even the methods that are supposed to speed up the peeling process (like roasting, poaching, and freezing) are more work than not.
Cookbook author, celebrity chef, television personality, and former White House nuclear policy analyst Ina Garten is familiar to many as the queen of foolproof cooking. Also known as the Barefoot Contessa, Ina hones in on techniques and tips that make time in the kitchen far less intimidating to folks of all skill sets. We've rounded up 8 of Ina's most useful cooking tips to help you out—from dinner parties to everyday cooking. Her philosophy is that it's always easier than you think!
If you have a local Trader Joe's, you know first-hand how enchanting the frozen aisles are—almost every item offers the promise of a delicious meal or dessert. (We're always tempted to open the package and eat the cookie butter cheesecake, stat.)
It seems like everything old is new again these days where food is concerned, and that includes the recent renaissance of babka. The name of this rich, rolled yeast bread, with roots in both the Jewish and non-Semitic Eastern European communities, means "little grandmother" in Ukrainian, Russian, and Yiddish.
Oven space is scarce on that fated fourth Thursday of November. Even if you can find a spare space for pumpkin pie on the bottom shelf, you risk turkey drippings overflowing from above and ruining your beautiful dessert — not to mention a burnt crust from different temperature requirements. The bottom line is: oven real estate is valuable, and it's tough to multitask cooking for Thanksgiving when every dish requires baking or roasting.
The balanced and refreshing taste of a cocktail should always entice you into another sip. You'll know you're drinking something of quality when no specific ingredient, including booze, dominates its taste. A great cocktail can even mirror a great meal by exhibiting flavors like fruit, smoke, and herbs. And adding these flavors while making cocktails at home isn't hard at all.
Your waffle maker might just be the most underutilized tool in your kitchen. This one appliance can make bacon, eggs, hash browns, cupcakes, falafel, mac and cheese, and cinnamon rolls much more quickly and with less mess than traditional methods. Plus, the results all come out waffle-shaped—what's not to love?
Bad news, guys. The shelf life for liquor leftovers does not apply to your two-buck chuck. While an opened bottle of your favorite whiskey will stay respectable for ages thanks to its high ABV (which makes it inhospitable to outside elements), an opened bottle of merlot will sour quickly. However, it turns out that red and white wines have different life spans once they're opened—for reasons which we'll cover below.
"The best season for food is the worst season for cooking." These words, spoken by food blogger Dave Klopfenstein of Dave's Kitchen, couldn't be more true.
Last week, I showed you why your refrigerator is one of the best tools in the kitchen when it comes to saving money and preserving food at its tastiest. But did you know your freezer is another underutilized ally in the cooking game?
Even the most seasoned cook is always looking for ways to make cooking easier and cleaning up after meal prep a breeze. There are a million and one tricks and tips out there to simplify your kitchen routines, but some of them are more valuable than others.
Ironing is a serious chore: hot, unpleasant, and frustrating all in one, but necessary if you don't want to look like you crawled out of bed just before work. While you might only turn to your flatiron when faced with wrinkled clothing, this little appliance packs the power to tackle even greater challenges—and here are our 10 favorites.
There's nothing in this life that we love more than making one ingredient or one food tool do multiple things. It saves money! It saves time! It makes us look smart at cocktail parties!
The ability to make a meal for yourself used to be one of those life skills you had to learn or otherwise you would starve, but the rise of convenience foods, takeout, and other aspects of modern living have made it entirely possible to be a grown person and not know what to do in the kitchen.
A few years ago I went hog-wild trying to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle. I didn't succeed, but the experiment taught me that we throw away things we could—and should—be using more.
Are you one of those people that waits until the last minute to come up with a costume for Halloween? Unless you're a makeup artist, have a ton of money, or are ultra-crafty, coming up with a good Halloween costume is always a low-priority task. That is, until it's Halloween and you're having a panic attack.
The paper towel is a wondrous invention. It allows cooks to wipe up really gross stuff without having to constantly do laundry and drain fried foods so they're crunchy and crispy instead of oily and heavy. But did you know that your humble paper towel has several other uses besides the obvious ones? Read on to find out these essential hacks.
Instant ramen has been popular in the States for decades, and restaurants that serve the real thing in any variety you can imagine have been popping up everywhere in the last few years. But you don't have to go out or cook all day to have a gourmet ramen experience.
You might think that you have your microwave all figured out, but chances are you don't know all of its secrets. Some microwave tricks are truly hidden; obscure information nowhere to be seen in the user manuals. Other tricks are hiding in plain sight, often overlooked or tossed to the curb because a microwave oven is so simple that instructions aren't needed, right?
Is your fridge getting out of control? Can't identify that raunchy smell that has invaded your ice box? Can't find your ketchup? The best way to alleviate these problems is by organization. Organizing and keeping your fridge tidy is the best way to go, but it could be hard in a roommate situation where one said roommate will never give a damn. Nonetheless… chill out! Use these helpful tips to get your refrigerator organized.
I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that drove this point home even deeper was the number of people asking me for advice on what they could do to prepare for the possibility that we are hit by one of the resultant tsunamis. Many thoughts raced through my mind, and...
The perfect way to get rid of leftovers! Start with some corned beef and potatoes, then add in chopped onions, peppers or whatever else suits your fancy! Add some salt, pepper and Worchestershire sauce. Traditionally served with either eggs or boiled cabbage. Make a traditional Irish corned beef hash.
Pork and applesauce go together like oil and vinegar. It just works. Watch this video to learn how to make a delicious pork loin that's been brined and rubbed with delicious spices. The combination of the salty brine solution and spice rub, will result in a flavorful, juicy pork dish that no one can resist.
Stop buying your mustard at the store and learn how to make your own homemade mustard, red onion mustard to be specific. This red onion mustard is a really nice accompaniment with grilled meats and smoked seafood and meats. Watch the video recipe now. This is super easy.
I saw this on the Food Network and tried it out. We loved it. It is a great way to use leftovers and with the holidays upon us, I know you'll want to try it. I think it was Jamie Oliver who presented it although I couldn't find it on the website. It was described as a common thing done in the UK as the evening meal after a Sunday lunch. It is great with leftover turkey, dressing, and potatoes and gravy. The name comes from the sounds that it makes when it cooks. When you put the patties in th...
Louisa Kasdon shows you how to prepare her signature beef brisket. Traditionally a main dish for Hannukah, this dish is so delicious we believe you won't confine it to the holidays. These easy-to-follow instructions will make you a brisket pro in no time. And it'll turn your family and friends into brisket fanatics.
Six. It's the magical number for marinara sauce. A great sauce doesn't need a huge list of ingredients, only a handful, and six ingredients are all it takes to make Christine and Carla Pallotta's marinara. The nebo ristorante chef/owners' recipe makes a large batch of vibrant tomato sauce which is a great idea. Use what you need and the rest will freeze perfectly for up to 3 months. That way you'll always have a hearty red sauce available when you've got a craving for the Pallotta sisters' 5-...
Sautéing, or pan frying, starts with cooking in butter or oil and ends with crispy vegetables. Stir-frying is another cooking method that yields flavorful vegetables and juicy meats from fresh foods or leftovers. You can sauté in a pan and stir-fry using a wok or a skillet. Watch this instructional video for some helpful tips or stir frying or sauteing meats and vegetables. Sauté (pan fry) and stir-fry food.
After the turkey is carved and the leftover meat is refrigerated, don't get rid of the remaining carcass and bones just yet. You can make some delicious turkey stock with them. Just add them to a big pot of carrots, celery, onion, and water — then simmer.
We've covered a variety of life perks, short cuts, and cheats (35 to be exact), but what about your health? Neatorama has compiled a list of "tricks" to staying healthy and keeping off the pounds.
The microwave has an extraordinary number of uses that goes above and beyond reheating your cold leftovers from last night's dinner. For food-related uses, the microwave can also make your lemons more squeezable for maximum juice output, roast garlic heads, decrystallize hardened honey, dry up fresh herbs, and more.
WonderHowTo is made up niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects.
It's not too late to carve yourself the perfect pumpkin for Halloween. This year, be fully equipped with the know-how on picking out the right pumpkin from the local pumpkin patch, having the right carving tools, tracing a stencil onto the pumpkin before carving, and keeping your pumpkin looking as fresh as possible in time for the night of October 31st. Boo-ya.
While running through a bag miscellaneous leftovers from the 4th of July, I came up upon a stash of firecrackers that had eluded me every previous time I had gone through the bag. I started setting them off and grew tired of them quite quickly, so I thought of creative ways of setting them off. I decided to bury one underground with only the fuse exposed and set it off. It blew all the dirt on top away, but for some strange reason, all the smoke stayed. I quickly pulled out my camera and took...
It turns out that the silver crinkly material traditionally used for wrapping leftovers and making funny hats to block out messages from extraterrestrial beings is pretty darn useful for a number of other random but handy tasks, such as sharpening your scissors and keeping bugs away from your vegetable garden. What can aluminum foil not do? Seriously.
You just baked a yummy cake, but who can eat it all? If you're lucky, you don't have a gang of family members gobbling up your leftovers—it's just you and one delicious slice a day for the rest of the week. But you don't want your cake getting stale on you. The secret is all in the way you slice it—and a spare apple doesn't hurt, either.
