CORRECT YOUR RECIPE MISTAKES WITH THESE TIPS AND HINTS
Want to cook fish but don't like the stinky smell in your home afterwards? All you need do is add a couple tablespoons lemon juice to your oil before heating it, and the odor goes away after cooking fish.
When you are making tuna croquettes, salmon patties, or crabcakes, add some lemon juice to your recipe so the fish won't smell so much.
No oil? Use applesauce in your recipe as an oil substitute.
Need to color rice yellow? Add 1/2 tsp. turmeric to your water and mix before adding your rice. Result will be a beautiful yellow rice.
Leftover cooked rice? Add some frozen English peas, and diced onions for a rice pilaf. Or add some scrambled eggs and diced green onions for fried rice.
Recipe too sweet? Add a little vinegar or lemon juice and mix well.
Recipe too salty? Add a little sugar and vinegar and mix well.
Soup too salty? Add a raw potato and let it cook to absorb saltiness. Or add some shredded cabbage like in a bag of coleslaw mix to the pot and cook for a few more minutes.
Too much grease in a recipe? Add a lettuce leaf to absorb the grease or add a slice of bread, then remove either before serving.
Fried foods should always be drained on white paper towels to absorb grease before serving. Replate the foods just before serving them to your guests.
Sticky rice? Rinse with warm water and add some lemon juice to it, mixing well.
Eggs curdling in your recipe? Temper them before adding them to a recipe by adding a small amount of the hot liquid to the eggs and whisking them until blended.
Want a shiny finish for your pies, biscuits, or pastry? Beat an egg with 1 Tbsp. water, then brush over the top before baking. Sprinkle with some sugar if desired.
Need some caramel quick? To an empty skillet, add 1 or 2 cups white sugar. Cook over medium heat until sugar melts and turns amber while stirring well. Do not let it burn! Add 1 Tbsp. milk and butter per cup sugar used and whisk.
Lumpy gravy or sauce? Use an immersion blender, regular blender on high speed, food processor, or simply strain to get rid of lumps.
Soup, sauce, gravy too thin? Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water. Add while boiling and stirring. Repeat if necessary until you get the desired thickness you want.
Cornstarch cannot be added directly to anything hot or it will just make a globbed mess. Always dissolve cornstarch completely in cold water before adding to anything. It makes a wonderful thickener when added to any boiling liquids.
Never boil milk. Just heat it until the edges begin to form bubbles.
Sprinkle in some instant potatoes to a sauce that is too thin to thicken it to the right consistency.
Are your mashed potatoes lumpy? Never use cold milk or butter. Heat both before adding to your potatoes and mashing them.
Need a tea bag for all that loose tea you bought? Make your own using a coffee filter, fold down, then staple it closed.
Breath smells like garlic or onion? Chew on a coffee bean or sprig of parsley. Take some chlorophyll or activated charcoal tablets after eating.
Hands smell like fish, garlic, or onions? Rinse hands under cold tapwater while rubbing them with a large stainless steel spoon. You can purchase a small piece of stainless steel that is sold for this purpose.
Need a thickener? Make a roux by combining 2 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cooking it for a minute. Add 1 cup water, and whisk well until your recipe is thickened.
To make a gravy, add equal parts of butter and flour to form a roux in a skillet over medium heat. Then add the liquid of your choice, usually, cream, milk, water, or wine. Keep stirring constantly until gravy is as thick as you want.
Hard brown sugar? Place in paper bag and microwave for a few seconds. To keep brown sugar from getting hard, add a piece of white bread or a slice of apple to the box after opening.
Extremely hard brown sugar? Place chunks in food processor and process on high.
Need to reduce calories in a recipe? Save by using cooking oil sprays. One second of spray equals seven calories.
Want flavored coffees or teas? Use extracts in your regular coffee or teas. One capful per cup is usually plenty. Adjust according to your preferences or the strength of the extracts, i.e. peppermint or cinnamon.
Enjoy flavored dairy products but find them too expensive? Make your own by adding extracts to milk. Just remember lemon juice will curdle milk.
Want to make cappucino or lattes? Froth the heated milk with an immersion blender.
Need buttermilk? Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice to 1 cup milk. Stir. Within minutes you will have buttermilk.
Need a lighter flour or cornmeal? Add 1 tsp. baking powder for each cup flour or cornmeal in your recipe. Mix this together before adding to your recipe.
No baking powder? Make your own by combining equal parts of baking soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch.
Is your juice too sour? Add a bit of salt to make it taste sweeter.
To bring out the sweetness of watermelon or cantalope, sprinkle on some salt.
Need to make your milk stay fresh longer? Add a pinch of salt to make it last longer.
No milk? Mix same amount nonfat dry milk powder or canned evaporated milk into your recipe.
Cheese turns moldy? You can make cheese last a lot longer by rubbing it with butter and placing it in a zipped plastic bag.
Have to use tougher, cheaper cuts of meats because you cannot afford better cuts? It's ok, just add a couple tablespoons of vinegar to the water you boil the meat in to make them fork tender. Or you can boil the meat in black tea which will also make your meat fork tender.
Tired of onions making you cry when you chop them? Put them in the freezer 30 minutes before you chop them, and no more tears. It also works by storing onions in the refrigerator in plastic bags.
Limp lettuce or vegetables? Soak them in ice water for about 15 minutes and they should be crisp again.
No honey? Substitute 1-1/4 cups sugar dissolved in 1 cup water.
Need to stop eating sugar? Use Splenda.
Recipe calls for alcohol, and you don't drink? Just add an appropriate color grape juice instead. Or you can use an extract such as brandy or rum.
Need chicken stock? Use 1 or 2 chicken bouillion cubes dissolved in one cup hot water.
Buy a product called Croydon House Chicken Soup Powder. It really does taste like homemade chicken broth.
Need beef stock? Use 1 or 2 beef bouillion cubes dissolved in one cup hot water.
No tomato juice or tomato sauce? Combine 1/2 cup ketchup in 1/2 cup water and mix well for a substitute.
Need a darker gravy? Add 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce. Use a product called Gravy Master. Add some brown food color.
No chocolate? Use cocoa powder.
Want chocolate to taste much richer? Add 1 tsp. instant coffee to recipe.
Add some chocolate and instant coffee to your next batch of homemade chili, and taste the richness difference.
Did your melted chocolate seize up? Add 1 or 2 Tbsp. oil, stirring well.
Burned a recipe? Scoop out the top part into another dish, without getting any of the burned part, and it should be okay to eat.
You can disguise a burned flavor in foods with peanut butter. Just mix a couple tablespoons peanut butter into the dish, and see if it helps.
Cooked beets, red onions, or red cabbage seem to be fading in color? Just add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or white vinegar to the cooking pan and watch them come back to life again.
To perk up canned vegetables flavor, just add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice to them while heating them. The lemon juice makes them taste fresher.
Does your brocolli taste too bland? Add 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds to the cooking water.
Do your cooked greens taste too bland? Add 1 tsp. minced garlic to the cooking water to perk them up. Just before eating, add some hot sauce to them, and they will taste better than you have ever eaten them.
Try adding some culinary lavender sprinkled into your foods for added flavor. Especially good in cooked spinach, or mixed into applesauce.
Do your artichokes taste too bland? Add 1/3 tsp. fennel seeds to your cooking water before you cook the artichokes, and the taste should be much better. Fennel seeds have a licorice taste.
Always add some lemon juice to your water before cooking the artichokes.
Is your cauliflower or potatoes turning dark? Add 1 tsp. white vinegar or lemon juice to the cooking water to turn them white again.
Asparagus spears tends to lose their sweetness the older they get. Add 1 Tbsp. sugar to the water with 1/4 tsp. salt to retain their color while cooking. Asparagus has very few calories. It is also a diuretic food.
Try cooking beets in pomegranate juice or grenadine syrup for a wonderful flavor.
Try drinking more water each day, and see if you do not feel better. Divide your weight by two and that is the number ounces water your body needs daily as a minimum. For every 8 oz. caffeine drink you consume you should add another 12 oz. of water to offset the harm the caffeine is doing to your body.
Use pure cold-pressed sesame oil internally and externally to keep healthy.
Use extra virgin coconut oil in your cooking and baking. Use it on your bread instead of butter. Tastes great and will help you lose weight and aches and pains go away. Take just 4 Tbsp. a day and see and feel the difference in your body fast. Try frying your eggs in coconut oil for a taste treat.
If your eggplant begins to discolor while it is cooking, just add a small amount of salt to the water.
Popcorn kernels won't pop? Soak them in warm water for 3 or 4 minutes before trying to pop them again. Store your popcorn in the freezer and every kernel should pop.
Too salty soup? You can either add a potato, some tomatoes, or some brown sugar to soak up the excess salt.
Burned the stew? Remove the unburned part to another pot with a wooden spoon. Add some onions to remove any burned flavor that remains.
Burned the rice? Carefully remove the unburned rice from the pot to another pot. Add more water and lay on top of the rice a piece of white loaf bread. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes, then discard the bread. The rice should be okay now.
Want your cooked veal to be nice and white? Soak it in whole milk in the refrigerator overnight before cooking it.
Want easy-to-peel tomatoes? Soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes and the skins just pull right off.
If your cakes have all the ingredients sunk to the bottom of the pan, all you need to do, is coat all the ingredients with flour before adding them to the cake mix ingredients.
Soggy crackers or chips? Reheat them for 3 minutes at 350 degrees on a shiny piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet to crisp them again.
Are your nuts turning rancid? Toast them in a skillet for a few minutes and they should taste okay again. You need to store your nuts in a plastic bag in the freezer, and use as needed, to keep them from turning rancid.
Milk or cream getting sour? Add a pinch of baking soda to it and it should last another couple days.
Bananas ripening too fast? Make sure you don't keep them near apples or tomatoes because they give off ethylene gas which makes the bananas ripen much faster. Regardless how well you wrap bananas, if you place them in the refrigerator, they will turn black. Some say they are good for a month this way, but the taste is definitely not as good.
To ripen a green banana fast, place it in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato and close the bag.
Got some overripe bananas? Don't throw them away. Mash them, and add a teaspoon lemon or lime juice to keep them from turning brown, then store in plastic zippered bags in the freezer in one cup portions. When you want to bake muffins or banana nut bread you will always have ripe mashed bananas on hand. Frozen bananas are not as tasty as fresh ones are.
Peel a banana and wrap it in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer to make a smoothie. Just pop a whole frozen banana in the blender with some milk, yogurt, and honey, and liquify ingredients. Extra fruit can be added for various flavors.
If your celery stalks are starting to look stale, cut off the root ends (the white base sections,) then stand all the stalks in a container of water, and store in the refrigerator for a few hours to make them crunchy again.
Wrap stalks of celery in aluminum foil and store them in the refrigerator, and they will keep for weeks.
When making boiled eggs, to prevent the eggshells from cracking, add a splash of white vinegar to the water before boiling them, or just add a pinch of salt to the water. Bring the water to a full boil with the eggs in it, then turn off the heat. Cover the pot. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Then remove eggs and peel them under cold water for perfectly boiled eggs.
If you need to measure syrup, honey, molasses, or anything that is sticky or clingy, spray the measuring cup or spoon with a neutral canned oil cooking spray first so the sticky ingredients will release easily.
By spraying any plastic container with cooking spray before you add tomato products or spaghetti sauce, it will not stain your plastic ware.
Place an apple in your bag of potatoes to keep the eyes from sprouting.
Make your potatoes and onions or any root-type vegetables last longer and keep them from sprouting by hanging them in a dark place using an old pair of clean pantyhose. Fill the leg parts with the vegetables, then tie a knot in between each. Hang them from a nail or hook at the waist part. When you need to use one, simply use your scissors and cut it off the stocking.
Stinky odors? Dip a hand towel into vinegar and wring it out. Twirl it around over your head to remove stinky odors in your home.
Burn candles to remove stinky tobacco smoke odors.
Need sharper kitchen scissors? Fold several layers of aluminum foil and cut through them with your dull scissors. It should sharpen them.
You can do the same thing using Brillo or S.O.S. soap pads.
Got spiders? Put 2 Tbsp. coconut oil into one cup warm water in a spray bottle, and spray all corners or where they would be to get rid of them.
Got ants? Ants will not cross a white chalk line. They also hate cucumber peelings.
Got mice? Plug up any holes in and around kitchen and bathroom pipes and electrical connections with S.O.S. or Brillo Soap Pads. Mice hate steel wool and won't go near it. Keep sticks of peppermint gum on your cabinet shelves as mice hate the smell of peppermint and won't go near it. You can hang knee high stockings full of mothballs up underneath your house and mice won't come near your home. Or just toss some cottonballs saturated with peppermint oil up under the house and that will do the same thing but smell much nicer, because the smell of mothballs will come up into your house.
Got roaches? Just put 2 Tbsp. hot sauce in one cup water in a spray bottle and spray wherever they crawl to get rid of them for good. If you think they are coming from a neightbor's house, just buy several bottles of cayenne pepper and sprinkle it between your house and the neighbors on all sides for no more traveling bugs.