Cooking Tips To Make Life Easier

It is found that these days when people plan to lose weight or shed extra kilos from their body, they search for healthy cooking tips. They search for milk shakes or fruit juice recipes. They also search for any other diet cooking tips which can be easily prepared.

There are few basic diet cooking tips which one can learn quite easily to prepare in the kitchen. It is observed that with the ever-increasing work pressure it has almost become a necessity to learn few great healthy cooking tips.

Here are mentioned a handful of nutritious cooking tips that will not only save your money but also your time.

• Boiled Eggs- While you are boiling eggs, add salt and vinegar to it. This will retain the nutrients and also won't let the shell crack.


• Bacon- You must make sure that you run cold water over bacon so that it doesn't shrink before frying.


• Salads – Always remember that when you are making salads, cut your lettuce into wedges instead of tearing them up just to save little time.


• Unripe fruits and vegetables - Put your ripening fruit and vegetables in a brown paper bag and place it inside a dark cupboard or box for a few days.


• Pancakes – They are liked by almost everybody. To make them browner in a short span of time, add a little amount of sugar to them.


• Sauces - To prepare any sauce quickly, make use of condensed cream soups such as cream of chicken, mushroom, and tomato. These will surely help in preparing fast and easy sauces.


• Tenderization- You can make use of vinegar as a meat tenderizer. Just add a tablespoon of vinegar while you are boiling meat for stews.


• Frozen vegetables – Wash your frozen vegetables with warm water so that they don't stick together.


• Corn – Always place your corn directly into boiling water, and don't add salt to it. If by chance you overcook it, the corn will lose its natural taste.


• Cheese – It is advised that always freeze the cheese before grating it. This will make the cheese shred much thinner and easier.


• Spaghetti sauce - Just add a little bicarbonate soda to lower the acidic taste of the tomatoes in your spaghetti sauce.


• Salted Peanuts – Wrap the salted peanuts in a damp cloth to get rid of the salt. This process will help enhance your health.

As you would have noticed, there are numerous tips for making healthy food. The above mentioned points are just few tips. With a little bit of creativity and imagination, you can come up with plenty of tips which can be quite useful for your family's health. The tips which you make use of should be in accordance with your cooking needs.

So, if it is your first day in the kitchen and you have no idea where to start, follow the above mentioned tips for guaranteed success. It is often observed that a haphazard way of cooking can only delay meals and you will be stuck in the kitchen for a long time. It's very important that you prepare quicker and easy-to-prepare meals that will be not only healthy but will also successfully please your family’s taste buds.

Sicilian Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti


• 4 tablespoons olive oil


• 3 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1 (2 ounce) can anchovy fillets, chopped


• 1 cup fine bread crumbs


• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley


• ground black pepper to taste


• 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  

  Directions

  
  
  
  
  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
  
  
  2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic and anchovies to cook for about 2 minutes; stir constantly.
  
  
  3. Stir in breadcrumbs and turn off heat. Add parsley and black ground pepper; mix together.
  
  
  4. Toss anchovy sauce with hot pasta and sprinkle with cheese; serve.

Yet Another Hamburger Goulash Recipe

"Goulash" comes from the Hungarian word that means "cattlemen" or "herdsmen." In Slovakia it means "mishmash." Either meaning gives people an accurate description of what this meal is comprised of.

This is a recipe is yet another variation on goulash. If one were to search the term "beef goulash recipes" on the Internet, literally dozens of different recipes will come up. This recipe is not necessarily the best one out there, but it is quite good for many reasons.

First of all, it is a meal in and of itself - maybe add a slice of French bread or garlic bread on the side if one chooses to go that route. However, this meal is already high in carbohydrates, so a low carb side dish may be in order.

Second, this meal takes little time to prepare, as it can be ready in less than half an hour. This is a great meal to prepare on a weeknight when time is a bit of a crunch after work, school or soccer practice.

Finally, this meal is a money saver. It is inexpensive to make, allowing money-conscious cooks a great way to feed their families for the tough economic times we live in today.

Ingredients For Hamburger Goulash

• 1½ pounds of ground beef


• one medium yellow onion, diced


• 2½ cups of elbow macaroni


• 1 - 28 ounce can of stewed tomatoes (do not drain)


• 1 - 14½ ounce can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)


• one 14½ ounce can of tomato sauce


• salt, pepper, garlic powder


• Worcestershire sauce to taste

Instructions

1. Put macaroni into a pot of boiling water - let boil until macaroni is tender and then drain in a colander.


2. While macaroni is cooking, cook the ground beef and diced onion in a large skillet until onion is tender and hamburger is no longer pink (garlic powder to season). Drain the mixture.


3. Put the meat and the remaining ingredients into the pot that held the macaroni. Heat the mixture until it is just to boiling.


4. Remove pot from heat and add the macaroni. Stir all of the ingredients together until all is mixed together well. Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Serve and enjoy!

Tips for Hamburger Goulash

• To make spicy, add a small can of green chili peppers to the mix when adding the tomatoes.


• Potatoes can be used instead of macaroni. This will make the goulash in more traditional Hungarian variety.


• Another Hungarian variation would be to add paprika along with the other spices and/or ground lamb instead of hamburger.


• A large green or red bell pepper can also enhance the flavor. Cook the pepper with the meat and onion mixture.


• A favorite cheese can be added as a topping.


• In Step #3, mixing in a can of beans (black, pinto, or another favorite) will add to the flavor.


• For a vegetarian dish, use beans instead of hamburger. In Step #2 above, omit the hamburger and saute the onions in butter, margarine or oil. Proceed to step #3.

As mentioned earlier, this isn't the only goulash recipe out there and may not be the best one available. But people cannot go wrong with this recipe if time is an issue or if money is tight. Enjoy!