Cooking tips

Today I got an email that I want to share with you. The title read: "A few more cooking tips".
Here they come:

Adding garlic

If a recipe calls for adding vegetables to a pan with hot oil, make sure to add the garlic last. This way the flavor of the garlic will be preserved and it won't turn bitter.

Chopping parsley

This works for parsley as well as any leafed herb. Divide unchopped parsley into portions and put them into small plastic bags. Inflate the bags a bit and tie a knot. Then freeze.

When you want to use it, just take out one of the bags and punch a hole. Now roll the parsley between your fingers and sprinkle on your food. The parsley will crumble and you don't need to chop it!

Oven baked potatoes

This tip is great if you're not a fan of microwaves, like me.
Put potato chunks in a big bowl and add boiling water. Cover the bowl with a plate and 'cook' the potatoes for 10-15 minutes. Then pop them into the oven. This shortens the baking time tremendously!

By Michaela Kobyakov

Apple sauce

Replace oil in a cake recipe with apple sauce, same amounts. This greatly reduces the calories without reducing flavor.

Mashed potatoes

For light, airy mashed potatoes add baking powder to the cooking water. One teaspoon for every kg potatoes. This doesn't affect the flavor, but it 'blows up' the potatoes which makes for airy mash.

Clear soup

To get rid of all kinds of small floating things in clear soup, add raw egg white to boiling soup. The egg white sets and attracts and absorbs all small floating parts. Then it's easy to scoop up and voila, clear soup.

Whipping cream

When you want to add sugar to whipping cream, make sure to add it only at the end, after the cream has formed. This way, the cream will rise even more.

















Do you have any good tips to share?

Smooth mornings with kids

Mornings are not my favorite time of the day. It's not easy to get everybody up, dressed, and ready for school and work and it usually involves a lot of stress. In order to help make this time of the day run smoothly, I've compiled a list of tips.


Prepare ahead

Do as much as possible the evening before. This includes bathing, laying out clothes, preparing lunch, and placing everything that we need for the day by the door so we won't forget to take them.

By Jocilyn Pope

Go to sleep on time

Most people need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night. Some even more. So set yourself a decent bedtime, and actually stick to it. Waking up will be so much easier in the morning!

By Zvone Lavric

Wake up before the rest

If you have a bunch of kids, you might need to oversee their every move in the morning, from the moment they wake up until you're out of the house. Which means that you have to be ready before the kids wake up. So you get up before everybody else to shower and get dressed, and even have a cup of coffee if you need to. Only then wake up the brady bunch.

By Patryk Specjal

Music


I heard an expert on TV say once that you should put on classical music in the morning. Apparently this has a calming effect on kids and your mornings are more likely to be smooth sailing.





Take your time


I don't mean that you should sit around and read the paper. Rather, schedule extra time to get ready in the morning, especially with kids. Add another 10 minutes to the time you think it takes for everyone to get ready.  This way, you should be able to make sure to get out of the house on time.


What is your morning strategy?