By Sarah Hunt, AZFB Communications Intern
Have you ever cooked a meal with one of your parents or grandparents and they showed you a cool trick or shortcut you didn’t know before? Well today we have a whole page full of them for you, courtesy of Southwest Family Citrus!
- Fresh lemon juice will remove onion scent from hands.
- To save money, pour all leftover vegetables and water in which they are cooked into a freezer container. When full, add tomato juice (or broth) and seasoning to create a “free” soup.
- Instant potatoes are a good stew thickener.
- Three large stalks of celery, chopped and added to about two cups of beans (navy, brown, pinto, etc.) will make them easier to digest.
- When cooking vegetables that grow above ground, the rule of thumb is to boil them without a cover.
- A lump of sugar added to water when cooking greens helps vegetables retain their fresh color.
- Never soak vegetables after slicing; they will lose much of their nutritional value.
- Fresh vegetables require little seasoning or cooking. If the vegetable is old, dress it up with sauces or seasoning.
- To cut down on odors when cooking cabbage, cauliflower, etc., add a little vinegar to the cooking water.
- To avoid tears when cutting onions, try cutting them under cold running water or briefly placing them in the freezer before cutting.
- Perk up soggy lettuce by soaking it in a mixture of lemon juice and cold water.
- Vinegar can remove spots caused by tomatoes. Soak up the spot with vinegar and wash as usual.
- Egg shells can be easily removed from hard-boiled eggs if they are quickly rinsed in cold water after they are boiled. Also, add a drop of food coloring to help tell the cooked eggs apart from the raw ones in your refrigerator.
- Keep bean sprouts and jicama fresh and crisp up to five days by submerging them in a container of water, then refrigerating them.
- Your fruit salads will look perfect when you use an egg slicer to make perfect slices of strawberries, kiwis, or bananas.
Find more cooking tips on Fill Your Plate’s blog!