I have not always used much thought in the kitchen. But in the times that I have, I’ve learned a lot of things . I’ve made a list of them to which I will be adding more either when I learn them, or remember them.
Tips, Tricks, Miscellanea
Mugs are totally bowls with handles. Bring them everywhere where you would like to walk while enjoying cereal.
Check out how your most obsessive compulsive friend loads the dishwasher and put on your learning cap.
Freeze things frozen!
Freeze your cut green onions (in a bottle!) instead of throwing away 9/10 of the bunch.
Freeze pasta sauce.
Freeze tomato paste.
Freeze rice.
Freeze soup stock. Freeze soups.
Freeze sliced cheese.
Freeze bread and bagels when you find them on sale.
Eating teflon is ok. Don’t worry about it so much. (Source)
Eating Healthfully
Different oils have different proportions of fats. The good (monounsaturated, polyunsaturated), the bad (saturated), and the ugly (trans fat). Different oils also have different smoke points, the temperature at which certain fats may change into other fats. Consult smarter people than yourself to find out which are best to use for your purposes. Here is a fat comparison chart and a list of cooking oil smoke points.
Baking:
Use applesauce for oil. Works especially well in bran-y muffins and granola.
Use non-fat yogurt for butter. I’ve had great success with this blueberry muffin recipe.
Use diet soda for eggs in brownies or cake.
Bake on parchment paper rather than on greased pans.
Replace fries with baked potato (or yam or squash) fries, using sprayed oil on your baking sheet.
Get a basket and bike to the grocery store!
Storage
Small pantry? No pantry? Store tupperware in your freezer or refrigerator.
Store everything big or ugly in your oven.
Re-use tiny cups from to-go foods in your packed lunch. Perhaps salad dressing, granola for yogurt, nutella for pretzels, hummus for veggies, dipping sauces for fries/nuggets/dumplings, one piece of popcorn for a practical joke.
Reduce Consumption/Waste
Cloth napkins are cute and making them is just about the easiest thing you will ever sew.
Reuseable grocery bags and produce bags. (I made these!)
Bring utensils out into the world. They’re very adventurous.
Understand that their is a hierarchy in the benefit of the three r’s. Recycle (good), re-use (better), reduce (best!).
Your neighbors probably have a clove of garlic, or a lemon, or will refuse your requests nicely if they are as awesome as mine.
Give your neighbors things that you may have made too much of so they may think that you’re awesome too.
Saving Money
Using coupons with seriousness and play the grocery/drug store game. Refer to the huge online presences that makes this sooooo easy for you. Like Hip2Save, Money Saving Mom and north Texas based Saving With Shellie.
Processed foods are rarely worth their regular price. The cost is a sum of the ingredients and preservatives, manufacturing, packaging and marketing. While processing food takes place on huge scale where materials are bought in bulk and labor is automated and can be done efficiently, I think it’s often the case that you finally pay for both the processing and the nutritionally viable part of the product.
