Skip to Content

Today, let’s explore a variety of creative ways to make use of cooked rice in some of my favorite leftover rice recipes. What to do with leftover rice is something I ask myself all the time. We order Chinese, Indian and Thai takeout often and always have an extra container of cooked rice when we …

Read More about Leftover Rice Recipes – What to Do With Leftover Rice

Let’s have a look at cooking with bay leaves. These little green leaves pack quite a punch when it comes to adding flavor and aroma to your recipes. Bay leaves are commonly used in soups and stews, sauces, and marinades, where they simmer alongside other ingredients. Whole bay leaves are most commonly used due to …

Read More about Cooking with Bay Leaves – Using Bay Leaves in Recipes

Chinese Five Spice Powder is often called for in Chinese recipes but can sometimes be hard to find at the store or you may have run out of it. No problem!  Make your own recipe at home. The popular spice uses a mixture of popular winter spices and is super easy to prepare. Keep reading to …

Read More about Chinese Five Spice Recipe – Easily Make Your Own Seasoning

Learning how to devein shrimp is a necessary cooking tip for those who love to cook with shrimp. It’s the final step to make sure that your finished dish looks clean and restaurant quality. Sometimes, this task may have been done for you by the retailer where you purchased the shrimp. Other times, you will …

Read More about How to Devein Shrimp – Tips for Cleaning Shrimp

These basics will help you learn how to grill like a pro. Included are my top 25 grilling tips to make sure that your next barbecue is something your friends will rave about. It’s that time of the year again. One only has to be outside around 6 pm to smell the aroma of someone …

Read More about How to Grill Like a Pro – 25 Grilling Tips for Summer Barbecues

A few months back, I starting seeing a Florida avocado – a  larger green skin avocado in my local supermarket called a “Slimcado.” It was marketed as having 35% fewer calories and 50% less fat than a Hass avocado. For those people who count calories or are concerned with fat intake, this Florida light green …

Read More about Florida Avocado – with Light Green Skin – Slimcado Facts and Nutrition

These cooking tips for perfect hard boiled eggs will make sure that your eggs are perfectly cooked and that they will peel easily, every time. I love hard boiled eggs. They are great to use in egg salad sandwiches, make a perfect snack or party appetizer with a hint of salt, and are wonderful when …

Read More about How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs That Peel Easily Every Time

These 20 creative uses for extra large silicone ice cube trays show that they are not just for making ice! If you eat and drink out much, you may have noticed a new trend that has taken over the food and drink industry. The ice cubes are getting larger and larger. Large ice cubes are …

Read More about 20 Creative Uses for Silicone Ice Cube Trays – How to Use Ice Cube Trays

This recipe shows how to make a tamarind paste substitute at home with just four common ingredients. Tamarind paste is a product that is often called for in Thai cooking. It is also something that the average cook does not normally stock. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links …

Read More about Tamarind Paste Substitute – Make a Copycat Recipe at Home

How are your fudge making skills?  Do you end up with foolproof fudge that forms nice little parcels, or do you find it a challenge?  These cooking tips for making perfect fudge,F will give you wonderful results every time from now on. It’s hard to believe, after a summer of gardening, that the beginning of …

Read More about Foolproof Fudge Tips – Secrets for Making Perfect Fudge, Every Time

Thanksgiving will soon be here and for many of us, that means pies will be featured on the dessert menu. These pie crust decorating ideas will take your Thanksgiving pies to a whole new level. Homemade pies have never looked as appealing as these beautiful and easy pie crust designs. With stenciled pie crust tops, …

Read More about Pie Crust Decorating Ideas – Awesome Pie Crust Designs to Wow a Crowd

An antipasto platter is a delicious combination of cheeses, vegetables and meats, usually served with good wines. It’s a great way to start an evening with friends and is very easy to put together. The holidays are filled with opportunities to gather with friends. What better way to start a party than with an antipasto …

Read More about Antipasto Platter Tips – 14 Ideas for the Perfect Antipasti Platter

Breakfast just got more fun with this playful idea for making eggs.  If you are like me, you will have a whole host of cookie cutters that you rarely use.  Put them to a creative use by making cookie cutter eggs. Breakfast is considered by many to be the most important meal of the day. …

Read More about Cookie Cutter Eggs – How to Make Egg Molds in Fun Shapes

Do you wonder what to do with that large lump of hard brown sugar? These easy tips for softening brown sugar will have it soft and usable in no time at all. Here are 6 of my best tips to make brown sugar soft again, and suggestions for how to store it for a longer …

Read More about Softening Brown Sugar – 6 Easy Ways to Soften Hard Brown Sugar

Peeling Garlic is one of those chores that makes you say “oh no! All those tiny things again?”  But it does not have to be hard.  This easy way to peel garlic cooking trick will peel an entire head of garlic in just seconds. I once saw an idea similar to this used on the …

Read More about Easy Way to Peel Garlic – Peel a Whole Head of Garlic in Just Seconds!

From making eggs with cookie cutters to whipping cream with a whisk and storing ginger in vodka, these 11 genius food hacks will make life in the kitchen more fun and cooking easier, too. Getting great food on the table doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Just take advantage of these simple DIY food …

Read More about Food Hacks That Really Work – 11 Kitchen Shortcuts – Cooking Tips

One of my favorite vegetables is fresh corn on the cob.  And one of my least favorite vegetables is corn on the cob with a lot of silk remnants sticking to it. Cooking corn in the microwave is the easy way to get silk-free corn every time! These easy tips show how easy it is …

Read More about Cooking Corn in the Microwave – Silk Free Corn on The Cob – No Shucking

A single coconut will give you 3 or 4 cups cups of fresh, flaked coconut.  But now you have the problem of storing fresh coconut. How do you keep that delightful, flaky bit of goodness in a state that will stay edible for as long as possible? This tutorial shows tips for storing fresh coconut …

Read More about Storing Fresh Coconut – How to Purchase, Open and Use Coconut Meat

This guide to shallots vs onions will answer not only this question but will also show how shallots are different from other onion types. There are many onion varieties so it’s easy to get confused about them. A common question that I get asked is “are shallots and onions the same?” Shallots are somewhat of a trendy vegetable …

Read More about Shallots vs Onions – What is the Difference? and How to Use Them

A steamer basket is a great way to cook a single vegetable or several of them at once by cooking them over boiling water. But to do this correctly, you need to have a good idea of vegetable steaming times. One of the joys of summer is cooking fresh vegetables from my vegetable garden.  The …

Read More about Vegetable Steaming Times – 4 Ways to Steam Veggies

Many recipes call for shallots – a member of the onion family. But what can you do if you don’t have time to shop, or can’t find shallots for your recipe?  Use these shallot substitutes, instead! Shallots are a small bulb like plant with a taste that is somewhere between garlic and onion. The flavor …

Read More about Shallot Substitutes – Replacements to Use if You Don’t Have Time to Shop

Shallots are starting to be seen in grocery stores more and often lately. What are shallots? Like onions and garlic, shallots are a member of the allium family. They are a cold hardy vegetable and, like onions, are easy to grow. Their flavor is richer and sweeter and they are very versatile in recipes. This …

Read More about 15 Tested Tips for Using, Storing and Growing Shallots

A silicone baking mat can take high heat and replace parchment paper for baking & food preparation. I like to use them in lots of unusual ways in my kitchen. You can use them for cookies, of course, but there are lots of other creative Silpat baking mat uses, as well. With a silicone baking …

Read More about Silicone Baking Mat Uses – Tips for Using Silpat Baking Mats

Crock Pots are a huge help in the kitchen. They make meal prep a cinch and give a wonderful aroma as the meal cooks, almost by itself.  But be sure to avoid these slow cooker mistakes. If you open the lid, fill pot too full or add ingredients in the wrong order, you may end …

Read More about Slow Cooker Mistakes – 15 Crock Pot Blunders and Solutions

There are many healthy kitchen swaps that you can use all year round for weight loss success. Implementing these food swaps will make sure that those extra pounds won’t find themselves on your thighs and rear next year.  For many of us, the start of the year means making a New Year’s resolution to lose …

Read More about Healthy Kitchen Swaps – Food Swaps for Weight Loss Success