Tips Galore...

These are the tips collected from all over the internet!
5 a day guaranteed A great way of getting kids to get their 5 portions of fruit and veg a day is to make kabobs! Simply chop up chunks of fruit and veg, and let the kids make their own by sliding the chunks onto wooden skewers. They have great fun msking their own food and experimenting with different colours and patterns, and as it's a finger food, they will enjoy eating it too. Foods to try are Cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, apple, satsuma, banana, grapes....the list is endless and they have such fun experimenting that they dont think twice when it comes to eating them. 

A snack your picky kid might enjoy One of the few things my almost 3-year-old will eat is baby carrots and Kraft/Seven Seas Green Goddess brand dressing as a dip. She will actually eat just about any veggie as long as she has this dressing. I love it myself- it's very refreshing, like cucumber Ranch :) 

• Adding herbs/seasonings If you are like me and don't necessarily measure (the "guesstimate method" :-) ) when adding herbs/seasonings to a dish try this safety tip. Instead of just pouring the herbs directly into the pot and risking overkill or pouring them into your hand, use the top from the herb jar. Pour the desired amount into the lid and then into the pot. That way if you get too much you can return it to the jar, it hasn't gotten oils from your hands on it and you haven't over-seasoned the dish. 
• Afternoon meals Often - in a typical Medditeranean fashion - we will invite our dinner guests over for a two o'clock meal...instead of a usual six or seven o'clock feast. This is much better with young children because later at night they tend to be more tired and harder to handle. An afternoon meal can replace lunch and dinner and allow your guests to maybe stay a little bit longer but without having to try to put the children down to sleep or leaving after only a couple of hours.
• Aloha Pudding 1 box vanilla,lemon or banana flavored pudding. 1 sugar cube. 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Soak sugar cube in lemon juice for 1 hour, make packaged pudding. Put sugar cube in pudding and light with lighter to watch the pudding flambe. KIds will be amazed that they can eat the pudding after flame is out. 
• Another use for spaghetti noodles Instead of using a toothpick to check if a cake is done, an uncooked spaghetti noodle will do the task just fine.
• BETTER THAN BISCUITS... Scones. If you have never made scones, they are TOO easy, so try it. 2/3 cup of self-rising flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons butter, 1 egg, 6 tablespoons milk. Mix with hands and put the ball of dough on a floured surface. Make into a circle about 1/2 inch thick, then cut into 6 triangles, cook on greased griddle for 5 minutes each side, OR put them in the oven for about 9 minutes.....if you like, brush tops with egg whites......also if you want them sweeter, sprinkle sugar on top of egg whites. Better than biscuits and easier!!!!!! You hardly have to handle the dough at all... Try it, you'll like it. 
• Bread Shapes To help my 3 year old learn his shapes, I simply cut all his bread food (toast, sandwiches, etc) into shapes. Yes, it takes longer to cut a circle out of a piece of toast, but now he will tell me which shape he wants and he can identify them, too. His friends love this and will often ask to eat a "triangle" when the come to our house. He's learned his shapes without a struggle. 
• Bug-Free Flour Keep bugs out of your flour and such by putting a bayleaf in the canister or sack. It works like a charm. 
• Burned on food in pots and pans For pots and pans that have food badly burned on to the surface, soak overnight, or a brief period with dish washing machine powdered detergent. In the morning, the pans can be wiped out. I've used this trick in my restaurant. 
• Butternut Squash Wash butternut squash and wrap in foil and bake whole in the oven at 350 for one hour or until done. Unwrap, cut in two pieces and scoop out seeds and salt and pepper to taste.
• Buying Bagged Apples When I buy bagged Granny Smith apples, I count apples. Most times there are only 10 - 11 apples in a bag of Granny Smiths. But sometimes, when I count, I can actually get about 14 apples in a bag. Yes they are smaller, but who really needs an apple the size of a softball and weighs 1/2 lb each. 
• Cake Tester I use a piece of uncooked spaghetti to test cakes for doneness...My mother used to use a piece of straw from a broom...but this is a lot more sanitary and much easier...
• camping? coals for cooking Pinecones are nature’s instant cooking fire. Just toss a handful in the campfire and in minutes they are glowing just right for making biscuits pancakes, cornbread, baked spuds, etc. 
• Cereal squares To add some variety and colour to the every day plain old rice crispie squares - try adding another type of cereal such as frootloops to it. 
• cook burgers faster To make burgers in a hurry for the well-done set, poke a hole in the center of each one when shaping. The heat will get to the middle faster and the holes will disappear as the burgers cook. 
• Cookies like Grandma who has time to make home-baked cookies whenever you feel like it? Now we all can, try this tip. It worked for us. One day mix your cookie dough. (I actually use the cookie pouch mix, and do several patches of the same kind at once.) Instead of baking, roll-out portion sized balls and freeze on a cookie sheet. Do not allow the dough balls to press together, you want them to be seperate. After they are frozen, transfer them to an air-tight container and freeze until ready to use. You can then take out as many or as little as needed. Why pay more for ready to bake cookie doughs? 
• Cooking meat When you need to flour or cover meats with crumbs, use a pair of plastic gloves(I bought an extra pair of hand washing type). It keeps your hands and nails clean and the gloves can be used again and again. This is also more sanitary. 
• Cooking Substitutions How many times have you been cooking or baking and the recipe calls for something you don't have?? Instead of running to the market, here are some subs: 1 square of unsweetened chocolate=3 Tbsp cocoa plus 1 Tbsp shortening. ( melt shortening in microwave, add cocoa and stir) 1 whole egg= 2 egg yolks or 1 Tbsp soy flour 1 cup of sour milk or buttermilk= 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar plus milk to make 1 cup 
• Cooking w/ too much salt? If you add a bit too much salt in your meal clean a raw potato and drop into your meal the potato will absorb the salt.
• cooking while camping When cooking on a grill over an open fire, support the grill on 4 big cans of water. As the food cooks, you will also be making hot water for coffee and dishwashing.  
• Cracking Egg Shells To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling. 
• Creamy Shrimp Casserole combine in buttered casserole dish: 1 pound cooked shrimp tails removed 1 jar alfredo sauce 8-12 oz 4 oz sliced fresh mushrooms red and green pepper chopped 1 small summer squash sliced 6 oz frozen spinach thawed and dried 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese Bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Crispy Bread Crust Have you every wanted a crispy golden bread crust? Before placing the bread dough in the oven, Pour olive oil in your palm then rub the bread like your massaging your friend's shoulders. Make certain the oil is rubbed all over even underneath. Bake the bread at 400 degrees Fahreheit for the last 10 minutes of baking until you see a golden color. Nothing like crispy crust and a soft moist inside. Spread the butter on the bread and enjoy! 
• Curly Bacon To keep bacon from curling, dip it in cold water before putting it in the fry pan. 
• did your bread dry up? Turn stale bread into croutons by rubbing with garlic and then cubing. 
• Draining Grease from Meat I have always hated draining grease from my pans when cooking hamburger or other meats and still not getting it all by using a spoon. So we save our squeez-it containers. It sucks up the grease in no time. You do need to be careful though not to squeeze hot grease on you. 
• Easier Measuring When I am baking cookies or candies that require extract, I measure using a baby medicine dropper. It is less messy, and if you measure all the ingredients out before mixing, it will not leak all over. I also use it for when a recipe calls for 1-2 teaspoons of water. 
• Easy pizza cutting board (and no mess!) The cardboard that comes under the frozen pizzas most people throw away I've seen, when I go to their houses. Keep it, and when you pull the pizza out of the oven, put it on that cardboard! It's the perfect size for it. You don't have to worry about cleaning it after and you don't have to worry about cutting or ruining it with any metal objects. (IE: knife, pizza cutter)
• Easy Barbecued Chicken I buy boneless skinless chicken breasts when they're on sale. Wash and wrap individually in foil packets. Freeze in dated ziploc bags. When you want to barbeque but have nothing thawed, just grab as many packets that you need and cook them(right out of the freezer over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes. You'll have the most tender, juiciest chicken ever. 
•  Easy Casserole-Ready Chicken Whenever drumsticks are on sale at the market, I buy several packs. I just put them in the crock pot overnight, or while I'm at work. I then let them cool in the fridge & discard the bones. Then I separate into separate freezer bags, enough for one casserole per bag & store them in the freezer. Then I can fix up a great meal in no time. This is much cheaper than boneless breast meat, as most casseroles & soups are just as good with the dark meat. 
• Easy Clean-ups Stock up on aluminum foil. Cover any pan going into the oven with foil for easy clean-up. Cover plates or serving plattters with foil for easy clean-up before placing anything messy or greasy like hamburgers or BBQ ribs. This will save you alot of time doing dishes and scrubbing pots and pans. 
• Easy Cutting While I am making french toast or pancakes, and I am preparing them on the children's plates while the next batch is grilling, I will put the butter on the french toast or pancake then cut them with a pizza cutter. You zip right through them. For cutting pork chops, steak, etc. I will use scissors. I have one just for cutting meat. Now that my kids are a little older they can cut their own meat-they always go for the scissors. I have to admit it too, I use the scissors myself. There are other foods that you can use a pizza cutter for-grilled cheese works too. Use your imagination. Thanks- Happy Cutting 
• Easy PB &J To avoid trying to spread a glob of jelly or sticky peanut butter on a piece of bread and make a few holes in the bread, I simply take a bowl and stir my PB and J together before I spread it on the bread. I have an extra bowl to wash, but the sandwich is easy to make, and no globs of jelly fall out when my toddlers try to eat their favorite meal. 
• Easy to pour Syup I always buy the large bottle of syrup from Sam's or Costco and to keep the kids from pouring the whole bottle at once on the pancakes I cut a small triangle hole in the Plastic seal so that only a small amount will come out at a time. It works great!!! 
• Easy Way To Brown Ground Beef Whenever I cook something that calls for ground beef or sausage, I just put it in my microwave container with the strainer lid on it. I just mix it around to check for doneness after about 5 minutes. Then I cook it for 5 more, depending on amount of meat. When finished, just drain the fat through the lid. To cut the fat even more, just rinse water over the meat & drain again. Works great! 
• Eating Vegetables My 8 year old son has a thing about eating vegetables...He don't! I starting hiding vegetables in about everthing. I put carrots through the blender and mix some into hamburgers, I buy chunky spagetti sauce (garden variety) and put the whole thing in the blender! He doesn't even notice it!!! I have gotten him to eat carrot sticks all the time. I give him a little peanut butter to dip them in, he loves it and he usually asks for more carrot sticks! 
• Eating Vegetables I became so tired of the constant battle with my 7 and 9 year old over eating vegetables that I came up with a plan that would satisfy all of us. Whenever I cook a casserole or one-dish meal (anything with a sauce like chicken pot pie, etc) I puree'1 or 2 cans of veg*all in the blender and then add it to the meal. It's adds a wonderful flavor and the boys get their veggies and usually ask for seconds!! I know I haven't won the vegetable war yet--but I feel like I've won this battle! 
• Eazy Clean Broiler Pan To make it eazy to clean broiler pan, put a small amount of water in the bottom of pan. It stops the grease from smoking and it makes cleaning a snap. 

• Egg Salad To cut up eggs for egg salad, try using your pastry cutter. It is easy and clean-up is quick. 
• End The Spagetti Sauce Blues My tip is simple. After working as a daycare provider for some time now, I have found the secret to cleaning up Spagetti sauce from your pots, pans and children. Simply use low fat sauce. It cuts down on that nasty grease that stains! It makes cleaning up a BREEZE!!!! 
• Fast Nutrition Being cold season, I was going through alot of chicken noodle soup. I finally made my own chicken noodle soup and chicken and dumplings one night, double batch. I froze the whole thing and now when the children get sick, I just pop it in the microwave. Withing 5 minutes they have a heartier chicken noodle soup and everyone is happy. 
• Fine Taco Meat When cooking hamburger for tacos use a pastry blender to chop in fine pieces. It is quick and easy and no mess. The meat goes farther when the pieces are small. 
• Flavored oatmeal Have you ever wondered what to do with the couple of plain packages of oatmeal that are leftover out of the "variety" box of instant oatmeal you get your children? I simply add a tablespoon or two of whatever jam or jelly I have on hand to the cooked oatmeal and I have an instant flavored bowl. My 3 year old especially likes apricot with strawberry a close second. 
• food for baby soak almond overnight , grind ,make a paste and mix in baby's cerelac it is very good for brain 

• Honey in the Cup Before putting honey in your measuring cups, spray them down with cooking spray. This will help the honey come right out and you won't have to scrub to remove the residue! 
• Hot Soup For Lunch When my daughter was too young for nuggets or burgers, a trip to the mall became easier when I packed hot soup in a thermos. Just heat the soup then pour into the thermos and a few hours later it will be good to feed right out of the thermos. Don't forget the spoon! 
• How to make meatloaf more flavorful. When I cook my meatloaf I put 3 pieces of bacon in the bottom of my pan. This tip makes the meatloaf taste really good. I also cook my meatloaf in a perforated pan that drains all of the grease out of it. I also use left over bread ends to make my bread crumbs. I chop them up in my food processor. This is a very good tip because it saves me from having to buy the store bought breadcrumbs. 
• How to Reduce gas in your beans. Put Baking Soda in your beans when you are cooking them. It is a great antiacid. 
• Is that dish microwave-safe? Heat a mug of water and the empty dish on high for 1 minute. The water will be warm. If the dish is warm too, it's not 
• Jello Cups For picky kids. My son only liked Jello out of Jello cups in the store. The Jello cups are dishwasher safe and can be used over and over again. Now he thinks hes getting the real Jello instead I make it at home and just put it in the cups cover w/plastic wrap and stick in the fridge. They are also perfect size for fruit, crackers, and other snacks. 
• keep a fishing hole from freezing over Keep a fishing hole in the ice from freezing over by pouring enough olive oil or glycerin on the water to from a this film. It is good for days. 
• keep boiled eggs from cracking To keep shells from cracking when you boil eggs, pierce them first with a pin at the round end. 
• keep milk from scortching To help keep milk from scorching, add a little sugar to the pan. Don’t stir. 
• Keep Tomatoes Fresh Keep your tomatoes fresh longer by storing them with their stems down instead of up. Submitted By: (Added: 14-Aug-2000 Hits: 0 Rating: 9.00 Votes: 2) Rate It
• keeping veggies fresh To keep celery, fresh parsely and spring green onions fresh, make a bag for them using the new "Press and Seal Wrap". Make sure all edges of the "bag" is sealed tightly. Veggies will keep fresh in this "bag" in the fridge for weeks and will look as fresh as the day you put them there. Submitted By: Deloris Griffith(Added: 27-Jun-2004 Hits: 0 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It
• Kim's Cooking Tip When cooking a stew,soup or something that has veggies in it....put the veggies that take the longest to cook in first.For example..if you have a mixture of onions,potatoes,peppers,and tomatoes...you would put the potatoes and peppers in first...followed by the onions and tomatoes because it takes potatoes a long time to cook:-) 
• Kool-Aide Frosting Kool-Aide is a good way to color and flavor your frostings. Just pour your favorite kool-aide packet into any white frosting and you have a colorful, tasty cookie or cake topper. It's even good on graham crackers. Lemon-lime frosting on lemon cake? How about raspberry poke cake with black cherry frosting? 
• Less Mess Jello My little guy is three, and absolutely loves jello. But his lack of coordination often made eating it very messy. Watching him struggle one day, I saw that the jello would fall off the spoon with every scoop as he tried to spoon it out along the sides of the bowl. My solution, a tall narrow container, so he spoons staight upwards instead of tipping the spoon. Further I use empty small peanut butter containers, they are the perfect size for a package of jello crystals, no measuring required. They hold up well to the boiling water,and they take up little space in the fridge. But best of all the screw top lid makes the jello easily packed in a picnic lunch. 
• Less stress in meal preparations If you are the one preparing the Christmas meal this year - I recommend you start it 3 to 4 days ahead. Many holiday dishes can be made ahead of time and if you do one a day - all you need to make on the day itself might be the meat (Turkey). I usually cook a mashed potatoe casserole a day ahead. Cranberry sauce 2 days ahead. Stuffing can be prepared 3 days ahead. Dessert - 4 days ahead. The key is to choose the types of recipes that KEEP...and then list out the days of the week and what you will make each day
•  Lighter Cookies Use powdered sugar instead of flour when rolling and cutting cookies. 
• Limit Your Easter Egg Cracks To avoid cracked eggs for dying add 1-2 Tbsp. of white vinegar to a pot of cold water and then place the eggs in the pot before bringing water to a slow boil. 
• lost stuff in the lake? To help find articles lost in water, put a flashlight in a fruit jar, secure lid tightly and lower into the water. 
• Love the taste of butter but hate the price? In our house we eat only butter not margarine and had reverted to cutting the butter with a veggie peeler to get it of the block evenly until this. I put one cup of butter or two sticks with 3/4 cup of canola oil in my blender. I blend untill smooth. I pour it into a rubbermaid container and viola - whipped butter. It is so easy to spread and the butter taste is there. Lunchtime Made Easier I babysit during the day for kids 6 months to 3 years and lunchtime has been made easier with this discovery. On soup days instead of using regular saltine crackers I use the small oyster crackers.I put about a handful of crackers in the bowl first and the soup on top of these. The kids eat their soup a lot better and there is less of a mess from having to crumble the saltines
• Measuring sticky stuff? When measuring corn syrup, honey or molasses, rinse the measuring cup or spoon with hot water first. They should slide out without sticking. 
• Measuring Tip To measure shortening, peanut butter, or anything sticky, line your measuring cup with a big piece of plastic wrap. Just pull out plastic wrap, scrape in to bowl, throw out...No mess! 
• Meat and Seasoning Season your meat before you put it in the freezer. Saves time. I don't know about the barbeque sauce; I'm talking about salt or Mrs. Dash or meat tenderizers. 
• Meat Marinade 1 cup of beer or half a cup of white wine & half a cup of water 1-2 cloves of garlic chopped up 1-3 bay leaves salt add as desired marinate meat overnight. I use this marinate for chicken, ribs, pork meat, beef. 
• Meat Substitute As a Vegetarian, I love to find ways to cook without using Ground Beef for recipes, such as Chili, Tacos, Spaghetti Sauce, etc.,so I use Morningstar Veggie Crumbles. I have been using it for sometime and it is a great sub. My son also loves their Veggie Strips. 
• Moister Cookies When rolling cookie dough into balls, moisten your hands every now and then in water, then roll. This eliminates the need for extra flour from your hands going into the recipe, thereby giving you moister cookies! 
• My husband will never know When we grill chicken and have left-overs I take the meat off the bone and put it in my food processor add cut celery , mayo, mustard or BBQ sauce and waaalaaa ... chicken salad or BBQ chicken salad all of this because my husband doesn't eat leftovers "the same meal twice"
• Need to Ripen Your Bananas? If your bananas aren't ripe enough to eat or use for bread, just put them into a brown paper bag in a dark place and they will take no time at all to ripen up.  
• no bread crumbs? When you are out of breadcrumbs, use crushed pretzels or onion-flavored chips. 
• no corn syrup? No corn syrup? Use a cup of sugar plus a quarter cup water to equal 1 cup syrup. 

• No Greasy Meat for Me I have decided that my children do not need all the grease left in ground beef. After the meat is brown. I put it in a collander and rinse with water. Then I put it back in the pan that I have just rinsed all the grease out and add a few spices. Let it simmer for about five minutes. You can't taste the difference, and you have now taken a good amount of grease out of your meat-notbto mention made red meat a bit healthier. 
• No More Jelly Jars Take your jelly from the jar and place it in a ketchup-like bottle (any squeeze bottle will do!). This will make it easy to dispense on bread. It will also keep down on the sticky knives to clean. 
• No Stick Meatloaf Simply place a few slices of bacon in the bottom of your glass or tin meatloaf pan before patting the meatloaf mixture inside. The bacon will cook underneath the meatloaf and will grease the pan at the same time for a no-stick mess and easy removal. Also gives a nice aroma and flavor to your meal. 
• Not just Ice Cubes Why not freeze cookie dough or brownie mix or even pancake mix in a ice cube tray and just pop one out when your only feeling like making one or two cookies or one pancake. 
• Onion Scented Hands After cutting onions no doubt your hands smell like, well, onions. Get rid of the smell by washing under warm water while rubbing them with a stainless steal spoon. 
• Onion smell on hands Stainless steel and water thing really works well for onion and garlic smell on hands. 
• Perfect Pancakes Use a meat baster to measure out and make the perfect pancakes you've always dreamed of. Just squeeze the batter out of the baster on to the griddle. 
• Pizza Cutter for a Knife Instead of using a knife or fork to cut things up such as pancakes, chicken patties, spaghetti and hot dogs, try using a pizza cutter! It is quick, and less messy, especially with the stickier things like pancakes & syrup! The pizza cutter can be used to cut virtually anything! 
• Pizza Cutter Uses For small children, use a pizza cutter to cut pancakes, waffles, French toast, cold cuts, bread or almost anything into small, bite size pieces. Its quick and easy. 
• Pour Away Do you want to save sauces, gravies or the like, but can't stand the mess it makes putting it in a ziploc bag? Well, all you need to do is put the bag into a cup or shallow bowl, large enough to spread open the bag. Then just ladle or pour your sauce or gravy into the bag. When done, pull out the bag and zip shut. No more messy bag openings!! Press out the air to store flat and keep fresh in refrigerator or freezer. 
• Preventing eggs from cracking Not only does adding some salt to the water prevent cracking but a little white vinegar added to the water also works. I use this more often because it actually works better. 
• Punch Bowl Cake 1 box Twinkies 1 Jar Cherries 1 tub Cool Whip 1 can crush pinapple 1 Punch Bowl or Larg Mixing Bowl Take the twinkies out of the box and wraper and crumble them save 1 twinkie for the top. Pour in 1/2 jar of cherries do not add too much juice, drain the pinapple and put in the whole can mix; then add the rest of the cherries (Save one for the top). Add whipped cream crumble the extra twinkie on top put a glob of cool whip on top of that and add a cherry and chill for about 30 min and serve. 
• quick steamed veggies For mommies and daddies who want a quick but healthy meal, try steamed veggies. Simply put carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. in a plastic baggie. Add a couple tbsps. water with your favorite seasoning and microwave for a couple of minutes. Be sure leave a small opening in the seal to allow steam to escape. When opening, be very careful of the steam. Adjust microwave times for the texture of the veggies. 
• Quick Sunday Meal For a home cooked Sunday meal, you don't have to miss church & slave over a hot stove. Our crock pot & bread maker are life savers on Sundays, and just about every other day. I just put a roast (any kind of meat will do) with a little onion soup mix in the crock pot along with potatoes, carrots, peppers, etc. I cook this on high for about 4 hours. Then get your bread started in the machine, and set the timer. When you get home, you'll have a hot meal. This quick meal only takes me about 20-30 minutes to throw together. Easy clean-up too! 
• Remove Onion Smell from Hands To get the onion smell off your hands, simply wet them and gently rub them in salt. Then rinse and wash as usual. 
•  Removing Burnt-On Food To remove burnt-on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove top - the skillet will be much easier to clean. 
• Rice Krispies Made Easy Hate those sticky hands. Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan or out.
• Safe Cooking with Baby I use my Pampered Chef Chopper to chop up hot dogs for my 11-month-old...as she gets more teeth, I do fewer chops. It takes less time then slicing the hot dog and quartering the pieces! Also, I don't have to worry about my daughter choking on a big piece - they are all chopped up to just the right size. 
• Save Those Onions Prevent onions from sprouting by wrapping each one in foil. This generally will keep them firm for quite some time. If onions start to become soft, but aren't spoiled, chop them and freeze in plastic bags. 
• Save your butter wrapper! Whenever you use butter or margarine, save the wrapper and place it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. When you need to butter a pan and can't use cooking spray, simply wipe the wrapper across the pan and then discard it. Works great and saves money! 
• Saving Your Tupperware and Plastic Containers Before zapping that caserole or spagetti in the microwave, just spray your tupperware, or plastic containers, with Pam spray then put it in and microwave away with out any worry, and you will save your containers from any stains or wear and tear for years to come! 
• scaling fish easily If fish have been out of water for some time, scale them easily by first dipping them in boiling water
• short one egg? If a recipe calls for several eggs and you are short one, use a teaspoon of cornstarch as a substitute for the missing egg. 
• Sick of Cleaning Out Greasy Measuring Cups When you measure butter, crisco, peanut butter or anything else hard to clean in a measuring cup, put plastic wrap in the cup first. You will still have an exact measurement and you can just pull out the plastic wrap to find a clean measuring cup. Another great use for the plastic wrap is to grease the pan. Once you have dumped the measured amount in your recipe, you can use the crisco or butter that is left on the plastic wrap to grease the pan. These tips make for a faster clean-up time and you won't waste the leftover! 
• Sick of Hard Tomatoes? If you have a problem with always having hard tomatoes, it is probably because you are putting them in the refridgerator. Keep your tomatoes turned upside-down in a basket on the counter and they will be much softer for serving and last longer. 
• Skillet Stuck-on Food When foods get stuck to the bottom or sides of the skillet you cooked them in, fill the skillet with water and a couple drops of dishwashing soap. Heat the water on the stove to a boil and the food should peel right off. 
• Skinning garlic The skin of a garlic clove will slip off more easily if you soak it in hot water a few seconds. 
• Slippery fruit My children always had a hard time picking up bananas and other slippery fruit so I coat them with crushed graham crackers or animal crackers or bran, whatever is on hand and they can pick them up with ease. It was also great for my second child who hated to eat anything slippery! 
• Smell of Citrus Take an orange or lemon "anything with a peel" cut it in half dig out the fruit and pour about 1/4 of a cup of salt into the rind. Set on top of fridge or any place out of reach of children.. the salt will pull the fragrance out and fill your house up with your favorite citrus scent. 
• Smelly Onion Hands- No More! To get rid of that awful smell on your hands after chopping onions, just grab anything made of stainless steel (a spoon, spatula, measuring cup, etc.) While holding the item, run your hand under cool running water. Within seconds, smell is gone. Honest
•  Soft Cookies To keep home baked cookies soft, place them in a air tight container after they cool and put a half slice of bread in the the container. The cookies will stay soft and moist. 
• Solve the Burned Rice Problem If you have ever burned rice while cooking it, here is a tried and true method to eliminate that smokey taste from the rice. Take a small glass, approximately 4 oz., you want to be able to fit it inside the pot that the rice was cooked in. Place the rice in the center of the pot of rice, pushing it in until only the bottom of the glass shows through the rice. Place the cover back on the pot and let it sit for ten - fifteen minutes, depending on how much rice you have prepared. The glass absorbs the smoke from the rice, and although you may still smell the smoke there will be no burned flavor to your rice. 
• spagetti sauce with hidden extras I am an Australian mother to 6 kids. One of our family favourites for dinner is spagetti bolognaise. I cook it in bulk (10lbs of ground beef), add lots of pureed tomatoes, onions (finely diced), garlic and oregano and then stretch it with about 2lbs red lentils and 3lbs grated carrots. The lentils and carrots turn into mush as you cook it and the kids don't even know they are eating 'health food'. I freeze it in family sized portions so that when we are busy I just need to cook the pasta while the sauce defrosts in the microwave. Serve with grated cheese. 
• Splattering Oil To keep you frying pan oil from splattering, add a little salt to the cold oil before you place the pan on the heat. 
• Sprouting onions I hate when you don't use all your onions fast enough and they start to sprout. To avoid this, place an apple in the bag along with the onions and they will last a lot longer. 
• Stain Remover For Hands Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.
• steaming or using a double broiler? Put 3-4 marbles in the bottom of a double broiler. If you forget to check the water level and it boils away, the rattling of the marbles will remind you to add more. 
• Stop Curling Bacon To keep bacon from curling, dip it in cold water before frying. 
• Stop the Hassle of Deciding What to Fix for Dinner I often found myself worrying about what to fix for dinner each evening that was not only healthy but something different than we had the night before. So, I decided to take 30 minutes each Saturday while my infant takes a nap to set with my cookbooks and grocery list and make a meal plan for the week. Not only does this help me save money at the grocery store by buying only what I need, but it helps me organize my coupons so I get the best use of them and of my money. It also helps my husband and I use the menu as a tool for working together as a team to get supper cooked, especially when our baby is having a fussy night. 
• storage Save your shower caps from hotels or buy some in the dollar stores and cover your left over food in any dish that it will cover. Keeps fresh and can see thru it. Can be washed to use again. 
• Storing Koolaid packets Use an empty diapers wipe container to store your kool aid packets. No more packets found 3 months later in the back of the cabinet. Be sure to wash the wipes container well to remove any perfume smell. 
• Strecthing It Out This is kinda two tips in one a have a 5 person family and my children lover hamburger helper the problem one box isn't enough and two is too much. The only one eating the leftovers is me so instead of making two I would add a little bit more noddles a kid friendly kind, of course! And just make enough for dinner. Not only is it cheaper but it is just as tasty another tip if you ever run out of the handy hambuger helper you can substitute mac and cheese With a pound of ground beef for the cheeseburger helper . the kids will never know. 
• Sub sandwich oil this is a cheap way of making a oil for your own homemade subs. We made this and took it to a concert with all our own sub ingredients and it was great. 1/2 cup balsmic vinagar 1 cup virgin olive oil 1 TBLS italian seasoning 1 teasp black pepper 1 TBLS garlic powder Mix all togather in a bottle or something (we used a clean Pepsi bottle) Let sit in fridge over night so the flavor has a chance to blend 
• Sunny Scented-Seafood We all love cooking our favorite seafood dish, provided we love seafood. I know I do! Only I can do without the lingering odor that often hangs around, long after the little delacasies are gone. Everything from mussels to mild Mahi-Mahi, my little invention is a real gem in the oven. A quick fool proof way to eliminate "seafood after glow "is: take 1 large foil sheet and put 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange wrapped inside. Poke holes with tines of a fork 4 x,s. Place packet in oven safe pan with seafood and smell the citrus wonderland not the heavy fishy smell that usually accompanies our fine seafood friends.Don,t skin the fruit only the salmon... 
• Tear-Proof Your Onions Keep tears away while chopping onions by first running the onion with it's skin under warm water. 

  

• Thawing Out Seafood I accidently discovered this when I was desperate to quickly thaw some shrimp. I placed the frozen shrimp in a bowl of cold water. They were unfrozen within 15 minutes and looked better than thawing them overnight in the refrigerator. Since then I have used this method to thaw all kinds of seafood. Submitted By: W. Sprinkle(Added: 4-Sep-2000 Hits: 0 Rating: 10.00 Votes: 1) Rate It
• Time Saver for Dinner Buy ground beef in bulk when it's on sale. Put it all in a large stock pot with a lid. Cook on low to med heat, stirring often until cooked well. Drain and cool. Fill sandwich bags with the cooked meat and twist-tie shut. Freeze individually, then toss all in a labeled and dated ziploc bag. Whenever dinner calls for a pound of ground beef (casseroles, taco's, etc.), grab a bag-or two if needed. Submitted By: mrscadillac(Added: 5-Oct-2001 Hits: 0 Rating: 10.00 Votes: 3) Rate It
• Tomato Stains To prevent tomato sauce from staining your tupperware, spray the container with cooking spray before placing the food inside. Submitted By: (Added: 13-Aug-2000 Hits: 0 Rating: 10.00 Votes: 1) Rate It
• Toothpaste on Burns I have tried this with the last 2 small burns I received while cooking. Rubbing toothpaste on a burn really helps keep it from burning and I have also noticed it heals up super fast and NEVER bubbles up. I was amazed at how wonderful it works. You cover the entire burn area with the toothpaste and keep it on there for 12 to 24 hours and when you wash it off, it is almost completely GONE! Try it, it REALLY works. Submitted By: Michelle Elzaim(Added: 23-Aug-2001 Hits: 0 Rating: 4.75 Votes: 4) Rate It
• Use Post-Heating to Finish Baking Instead of pre-heating my oven for baking I use post-heating. When baking a cake that calls for 25 minutes of bake time, I don't pre-heat the oven. I turn on the oven as I'm placing the cake in and set the timer for 20 minutes. When the time is up, I turn the oven off, set the timer for an additional 5 minutes and let the post-heat finish baking the cake. Do not open the oven door during this time as this allows the post-heat to escape. When the 5 minutes are up take a look through the window and the cake should be done. However, if it looks like it needs more "browning" then let it sit for a few more minutes. This works great during the hot summer months to minimize the amount of time the oven is on. The few minutes you are not using the oven is also a frugal way to save on your heating and cooling bills. 
• Using Leftover Steak - Like There Will Be Any! Sometimes we grill steak that is just too much to finish at that meal. Reheating a nicely done steak the next day ruins it, but I hate to waste that lovely beef! So, I came up with a delicious way to use the steak, and put together another meal. It's called Steak'N'Bacon. You will need: Bacon - 1/4 to 1/2 pound, cut into 3rds One garlic clove, chopped (or to taste) Canned potatoes - sliced Leftover steak, cut into bite-sized pieces Saute the bacon in a large, covered skillet until about half done. Do not drain! Add the garlic and the steak, and continue cooking over medium heat until the bacon is almost done, and the steak is hot. Add the sliced potatoes (as many cans as you need), stir, reduce heat and cover. Let it all sort of meld together for a while (10 minutes to 1 hour, just check it occasionally so it doesn't burn). Before serving, drain (if necessary) and serve with a green salad and rolls. This is really delicious! My husband always grills extra steak now, and asks for Steak'N'Bacon the next night. 
• Veggies on the sly I have a two year old who would not eat any veggies at all so my husband and I tried giving her vegitarian burgers, any brand will do just fine. We did them just like any hambugers with cheese on a toasted bun. My husband even started to bake them so they'd be less greasy. It has been great she's getting plenty of veggies and she thinks it is a treat. 
• Wax Paper We eat alot of cereal at my house. I save the wax paper out of them. I clean them real good. Now, I don't have to buy wax paper any more. 
• What's for dinner blues! Let's face it. I could spend hours each day trying to decide what to make for dinner, not to mention all the other times we eat during the day! So, I've gone a little nuts and created a menu plan for the indecisive eater. I devised a weekly menu plan. Each day has a planned breakfast,lunch, snack and a dinner theme. For example; on Tuesday we have oatmeal for breakfast, PB&J sandwiches for lunch, assorted crackers for snack, and the dinner theme is "Somethin's Fishy". I gave each dinner theme a nifty name for the fun of it. The menu gives me enough information to keep the decision making to a minimum, but enough flexibility to accomodate for our 6 person family. I enjoy not gettin stuck in a "spaghetti-every-night" rut, and so do my kids! 
• Why buy Pam Spray? Instead of spending $3-4 for commercail cooking sprays at the store try making your own. Really simple: buy a spray bottle ( at the grocery store etc.) and pour some vegetable oil or whatever kind of oil you prefer to use. Make sure to label the bottle. 
• You want one thing your husband wants another... When you go to put your groceries away and you have your meat out, do a variety pack that way you can pick which meat you want and the rest of your family can pick what they want:D 
• Your Kid Can Eat Broccoli Too My 4 year old son had his first finger prick and we learned that he was iron deficient. He is a big milk drinker and milk can inhibit the absorbtion of iron into the system. To correct this problem he must eat more iron rich foods. Broccoli is a great source, and whats best is tomato sauce covers the taste of broccoli! So I puree broccoli and pour it into our spagetti sauce and the kids never know. 
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