Whether your family is small or big, it is crucial that you know how to cook. There are many benefits to cooking your own food including financial, nutritional and social. You may find handy cooking tips at the largest or the smallest scale as you read the rest of this article.
Make sure to include winter greens in your diet. Right after the first winter frost, broccoli rabe, collards and kale will taste much sweeter than normal. Look for those that have a full color and avoid those veggies that are limp or yellow. Wash your greens carefully before cooking, because they tend to hold quite a bit of soil. Fill a bowl with cool water, and then dunk the greens in the water. Shake them off, and then cleanse with running water until it runs clear.
If you boil your vegetables it can cook out the nutrients. To get the greatest health benefit from vegetables, cook them quickly with methods like steaming or sauteing, or serve them raw.
Optimize your efforts when making your own chicken stock. Plan on preparing a large batch so that the excess can be frozen and used later. Stock is perfect for many dishes like stew, soup, and even casseroles. Simply cool the stock, and then freeze it into Ziploc, heavyweight freezer bags.
Dried and frozen ingredients should never be used over fresh ingredients if you want to get the most out of your cooking. Whenever possible, incorporate fresh ingredients; they enhance the flavor of other ingredients and may even be less expensive.
When measuring sticky substances, try a little cooking oil! Before you measure, you will want to coat the spoon lightly with an oil that doesn’t have much flavor, like canola oil, then the sticky substance you are measuring will glide off much easier, which will reduce the waste and will make clean up easier. Apply this tip with honey or peanut butter too.
It can also be used on other foods, rather than just on meat. A little on seeds or eggs can liven it up. Everyone will ask what you used to make it so good.
The stress of making dinner can be alleviated by prepping certain ingredients the night before. Try chopping all your onions and veggies, making up a sauce or putting the meat in a marinade before going to bed at night. Preparing your meal the next night will be a snap, and much more relaxing.
You should buy your fish and meat that are bone-in. You can stash raw or cooked bones in zippered freezer bags and place them in your freezer until you have enough for a batch of stock.
If you are cooking, it’s a good idea to wash each dish after using it. Put some hot soapy water in a fresh sink on one side and keep clear water you can use as a rinse on the other side. It will be much more effective to wash bowls as soon as you are finished with them, leaving them available for the next task.
After purchasing fruits that are not quite ripe, store them in a plastic bag that is perforated with holes. As the fruits get ripe, they’ll give off ethylene gas. If you put them in a perforated plastic bag, the air can circulate and assure that the gas is retained, keeping the fruit fresh and tasty.
When you can cook for yourself and your family, you will benefit. As you can see, cooking has the ability to make your life better, no matter what kind of food you like. Going to the drive-thru may be convenient here or there, but nothing is better than a home-cooked meal!