Cooking Helps 1-20

Quick Lunches At the bottom!!

Cooking Tips

1.Spray your plasticware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces. No more stains!

2.Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator--it will keep for weeks!

3.Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

4.Poke an egg with a small sewing needle before hard-boiling, and the egg will peel with ease!

5.Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips!

6.Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

7.Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle perfectly shaped pancakes every time.

8.Always spray your barbecue grill with nonstick cooking spray before grilling to avoid sticking!

9.To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes!

10.For easy "meatloaf mixing," combine the ingredients with a potato masher!

11.If you don't have enough batter to fill all cupcake tins, pour 1 tablespoon of water into the unfilled spots. This helps preserve the life of your pans!

12.To easily remove honey from a measuring spoon, first coat the spoon with non-stick cooking spray!

13.Mash and freeze ripe bananas, in one-cup portions, for use in later baking. No wasted bananas (or you can freeze them whole, peeled, in plastic baggies.)

14.To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap & enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove-top--skillet will be much easier to clean now!

15.To aid in washing dishes, add a tablespoon of baking soda to your soapy water--it softens hands while cutting through grease!

16.If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato. It absorbs the excess salt for an instant "fix me up"!

17.Rinse cooked, ground meat with water when draining off the fat. This helps "wash away" even more fat! Use HOT or Warm water so fat won't congeal.

18.Slicing meat when partially frozen makes it easier to get thin slices

19. Substitute half applesauce for the vegetable oil in your bakingrecipes. You'll greatly reduce the fat content! (Example: 1/2 cup vegetable oil =1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup oil)

20.To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; if it rises to the surface,throw it away.

19.Bake or steam bread in a clean coffee can!

20.Add a piece of bread to your boiler to soak up fat drippings from meat

Some Ideas for Quick Lunches

• Little Pizzas--  Slices of bread, toasted on both sides (we toast on cookie sheets in oven--under broiler ... you can toast a lot of bread this way--fast!), top with favorite pizza sauce and cheese, then heat till the cheese melt.  Viola!  Pizza quick!  You can even add pepperoni, or whatever you like.

• Make-Your-Own Pizza with refrigerated biscuits as the crust.  You can spoon spaghetti sauce over them and let kids put on the toppings of their choice.  Sprinkle with cheese and bake.

• Chunky Style soups over noodles or rice.

• Toasted bread or bagel spread with no or low fat cream cheese slice apple and layer on top of each slice of bread or bagel sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and if desired you can drizzle honey on and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

• Toasted cheese sandwiches or steakums on bread w/ melted cheese.

• Tuna fish salad sandwiches

• Fluffernutters (peanut butter w/ marshmallow fluff sandwich)

• Any sandwich served with any soup and a piece of fruit.

• Fast spaghetti:  Brown one pound of ground beef and drain.  Add 1 jar of Ragu or Prego with chunky vegetables. One can of tomato paste,  one can of water, and two 8oz cans flavored tomato sauce. Heat for about 10 minutes. while boiling your pasta.   Serve over pasta.  Add a tossed salad and a piece of fruit and a glass of milk.  Balanced dinner.  Takes about 25 minutes.

• Quicky tuna noodles.  Prepare two packages of macaroni and cheese boxed mixes as directed.  Add a can of tuna and a spoonful of sour cream. OR boil a package of noodles and drain, put back in pan and add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, can of tuna and sour cream if desired.  You can also mix the soup flavors.

• A tortilla with refried beans & cheese----just pop it in the mircrowave and tada!....lunch.  Sometimes, just cheese melts on tortilla or bread works very quickly and maybe a little sprinkle of taco seasoning on top.

• We have Ramen Noodle soup, Toasted cheese sandwiches and other sandwiches made in our sandwich maker.

• I make up burritos, English muffin pizzas made ahead and freeze them so all I have to do is pull them out and put them in the microwave. Also make up a bunch of meatballs and freeze. Use these in Pastaroni (like you can get in cans, but its much better and cheaper to make!)

• There is a book out called Once-A-Month Cooking  by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg.  You could use some of the ideas for lunch too.

• A lot of fast foods are available at the supermarket.... Pizza rolls, bagel bites, fish sticks, mac and cheese.

• Carrot and celery sticks, fruit, applesauce and cottage cheese or other cheeses with crackers.

• Our supermarket sells Udon soup packages in the tofu area - they are actually better than ramen, and an 89 cent package will feed two. You just heat them up in the water with the seasoning, and then just before serving add some veggies or meat leftovers (our favorite are fresh peas, carrots, imitation crab and hard-boiled egg cut in wedges.) Sounds weird, but it's really good!

• Toast Hawaii: On a piece of toast put a slice of ham (bologna will do in a pinch), add a ring of pineapple, fill the little hole in the middle of the pineapple with ketchup, top with a slice of cheese, broil until the cheese is melted.

• Quesadillas: spread two flour tortillas with butter, sprinkle one with grated cheddar cheese, throw the other on top sandwich style, cook in a dry frying pan until the cheese is melted. Serve with hot sauce, sour cream guacamole, or salsa.

• Pigs in a blanket: roll two refrigerator biscuits out thin, wrap around a hot dog, bake until the biscuits are cooked through.  (You can also add a slice of cheese inside the "blanket".)

• Grilled cheese with a twist: Use brie cheese instead of the usual cheddar or Cheese food substitute, serve with sliced pear (this is actually on of those things I get severe cravings for sometimes! :-)

• My kids' favorite soup: leftover mashed potatoes from the night before, add milk until you have a nice consistency, add several slices of cheese until they are melted : Tada, Potato-Cheese soup.  You can also just use canned cheddar cheese soup from Campbell's and add the leftover mashed potatoes to that.

• I also use my sandwich maker a lot (small appliance) - you just take two slices of bread and whatever leftovers you have, and it turns them into nice little triangular sandwich pockets - and since my kids can usually not identify everything in there, they will actually eat stuff that they usually not even look at.

•   Fix one box Mac n' cheese, add one can tuna, OR ham, Or turkey....