15 Kitchen And Cooking Hints

Here are some of my favorite kitchen and cooking hints that will make your life even easier and your food taste even better.

1. Never soak veggies and fruit for more than a couple minutes, since some vitamins are soluble in water and will get lost in the liquid, rather than go into your body.

2. When you get home from the grocery store, wash your fruit and vegetables right away. Watch this little video we made on how to do this: Grandmother's How to Clean Fruit & Vegetables Video

3. Prepare your salads right before you want to eat them. They taste the freshest. Also, do not pour salad dressing on the entire salad unless you know it is going to get eaten. This way it can be kept in the fridge if it does not get all gobbled up.

4. When boiling veggies, make sure the water is really hot before you put the vegetables in. Lower heat to a simmer, cover them tightly and cook for 6-8 minutes tops for most veggies so they do not get mushy.

5. Save any water used in cooking vegetables to make soups and gravies. This will give you the most nutrition and the most flavour. You can store in a canning jar in the fridge until needed.

6. Store your food in glass storing bowls with lids, rather than plastic ones. They will last longer and plastic has a sneaky way of leeching harmful substances into food.

7. When making fruit or vegetable gelatin salads, add 1 teaspoon of pure apple cider vinegar will keep the salad from going runny after it is unmolded.

8. If you have to crack a coconut, heat for a few minutes ahead of time in a pot of water, which will make it easier to crack and peel.

9. To remove the bitterness from cooked cranberries, add an apple slice while cooking.

10. Use a vegetable brush to remove the hairs from corn on the cob.

11. When grinding dried fruits in a food processor, first dip them in cold water which will make them less sticky.

12. Keep fresh fish on ice, rather than ice water.

13. For each cleanup bake with parchment paper. If the paper does not get too sticky and dirty, you can give it a rinse and use it again. Parchment paper can also be used as a dish scrubber all bunched up, when in a pinch.

14. If you buy meat in large packaging, freeze it first into the perfect sizes for your families meal.

15. Do not use salt to marinate meat as it will draw out the moisture from the meat and make it dry and chewy. Add salt just prior to cooking or later to season.

Do you have any great kitchen and cooking hints to share?

With love,

Grandmother's Kitchen