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Friday, April 22, 2022

Five Tips for the Kitchen, and a bonus tip should you break your wrist...

I love kitchen tips! Why? Because we're all busy and anything that makes cooking easier is a very good find, in my opinion. Plus completing prep work in the kitchen faster and easier is perfect for every busy cook! And it doesn't seem to matter how long you have been cooking, a good tip is just that a good tip! I hope you find a couple from this list offered today.


1. A simple yeast dough "glaze" to add shine and a crispy crust to your homemade bread. 

Combine the following ingredients in a small saucepan.
1 1/4 c cold water, a dash of salt, 1 T cornstarch.

Bring the ingredients to a boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool.

Use a pastry brush to "paint" the tops and sides of the dough ready to be baked.




Store the leftover cooked glaze in a small jar with a screw-top lid, in the refrigerator for future use. 

This bread dough glaze is great for all bread baking, including Whole Wheat and Honey Bread!



2. When you buy a large block of cheese, take a moment to mark it in 4oz sections, with a permanent marker. When you need 1 cup grated cheese, cut off and grate one section, for 2 cups cheese, cut and grate 2 sections. So much easier than measuring grated cheese. 



3. The next time you make meatloaf, divide the mixture into 4 miniature loaf pans (approximately 2 1/2X4 1/2 inches) and bake. Adjust the baking time as needed. Not only will the meatloaf cook in less time, but these mini loaves are also easy to store in the freezer. Smaller loaves freeze better than larger pieces/loaves.  

This tip is a delicious reason to try the meatloaf recipe from 72 Market Street!


4. The easiest way to remove excess fat from chicken is with scissors. Yep, plain old stainless steel scissors from the office supply section of your favorite department store. They do a great job. Plus they go right into the dishwasher when you are done with them!


They are much thinner than standard kitchen shears. So you can trim off more fat and leave the meat behind. 


The above photos are the results of this technique for boneless and skinless chicken thighs. But this process works for any meat with excess fat.




5. When you need a pan of cornbread for stuffing, use a flat rimmed sheet pan (like a jelly roll pan), it cooks quickly and you simply crumble it back into the pan when cool enough to handle and oven toast to your preference. There is nothing better than homemade cornbread stuffing!

And the bonus...

I took a bad fall on the ice a couple of winters ago and broke my left wrist.  While I felt fortunate it was my left wrist and not my right one, I still had to learn to do practically everything one-handed! 

Learning how to get dressed was a bit of a challenge, but I did come up with this easy solution for getting into my blue jeans! 

Tie a large rubber band around the outside edge of the top button loop, then hook the two loops over the button. To easily slip your jeans up or down over your hips, simply unzip your jeans and tug them up or down. I found that tugging on one side and then the other worked pretty good!



The rubber band stretches much like an elastic waistband and you can (usually) get dressed or use the facilities, on your own. without assistance. Independence from a rubber band, who would have thought it could be so simple...

It has not been a perfect solution, but then again, a broken or sprained wrist never is!


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Would you like to comment?

  1. I really like the tips here. Some I already do like the scissors for cutting the fat off chicken. Using a rubber band when you have a broken wrist will be good if that ever happens (hopefully that never happens).

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  2. brilliant tips! Love the jeans rubber band tip! hehehe def a keeper

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  3. What great tips especially the glaze and marking the cheese! I make meatloaf like that trum my chicken the same way as you out. Cool jean button hack!

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  4. I love all these kitchen tips, and had to laugh at the rubber band for jeans tip (although glad to see that it works). The one I really like was the bread glaze. Most of the time I have used an egg/butter mix. These seems like a great thing to try and will do it the next time I bake bread. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Bread bakers love to make beautiful bread, the glaze is nice for that and cost effective. That rubber band trick saved me! I am proud to say I managed to learn to do every one of my chores and personal care one handed with the exception of washing my hair (which was below my waist in length) and shaping bread dough into loaves!

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  5. lots of good tips here melynda. i love using scissors in the kitchen for so many things. very handy.

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  6. I had to see what your bonus tip was because I'm going to have surgery soon that will have me in a wrist brace for 6 weeks! Visiting you from the anything goes linky.

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    1. Lauren, best of luck with the surgery, and thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!

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  7. These are useful tips to save time, money, and effort. Thanks for sharing.
    Carol
    www.scribblingboomer.com

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  8. Great tips!
    Thanks for sharing at the Making a Home - Homemaking Linky at Linda's Lunacy!

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  9. Useful tips! Broken bones are no fun. I fell on ice once too. Took about 3 months to heal properly. Hope your wrist healed with no problems. Thanks so much for linking up at the Unlimited Link Party 76. Pinned.

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    1. My wrist is healed, not as strong as before, but it works and that is what counts! Except for toes (they are always in the way!) this was my first broken bone...

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  10. I have to confess that I’ve used the rubber and trick when I was pregnant. I’ve implemented it again with my muffin top meno tummy! Not happy about that.
    Thanks for sharing these tips at the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop!

    Laurie

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  11. Oh no! Sorry to hear about your wrist.

    Thanks for sharing your handy tips with us at Weekend Cooking!

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    1. You know it was a challenge, but also a good lesson in versatility and learning new ways to do things! Thanks for stopping by, have a great week ahead!

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  12. Great tips. I recently had some surgery and ended up with some complications that I had not anticipated. I had to learn some creative ways to do things, too. Live and learn. :)

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    1. I agree, who would have thought a "puddle" would be an ice rink! Hope you are all back to OK and doing well.

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