helping you cook better, smarter, faster
One of the top New Year’s resolutions is always to eat healthier. And yet one look at the USA population in particular and you know we’re not doing that. We can’t improve unless we know WHY this happens. So, let’s look at what’s keeping us from eating our best.
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With only 5 hours in Epcot, and SO many wonderful foods I wanted to try, I did my best speed walking. I made it quickly to each location AND partially worked off all the food I was eating! Here’s the rest of the goodies from my “World Food Festival” adventure!
Continue reading “The “World Food Festival” Adventure (Part 2)”
It’s time to start the parade of incredible food from Disney’s Epcot this year. Sometimes trying new things can be a little scary, but if you have the opportunity (and have other safe foods handy just in case) plan trying loads of flavors with a food adventure to Epcot’s World Food Festival.
Continue reading “The “World Food Festival” Adventure (Part 1)”
You found chicken on sale and bought a lot. Now what? Let’s get a good deal of it cooked (see how here) and shredded so you have an easy shortcut to chicken salad, soups, or even a casserole. But what’s the best way to shred cooked chicken?
There are several options now…including a popular hack that didn’t work quite as well for me as I’d hoped. I’ll break them all down here (AND tell you my favorite) and you can decide what works for your situation.
Anyone can chop chicken meat…no super duper tools or skills required. A good chef’s knife will get the job done. And if you’re dealing with cooked chicken that has cooled off completely or has been refrigerated, this is really your only option…and it will be end up in chunks. But that’s okay. There are times you just don’t have the bandwidth to do it all at once.
If it’s cooled enough to handle, you can certainly pull it into threads by hand. This is the way my mom always did it. I am very sensitive to heat so I was looking for another option.
Maybe you’ve seen the hack to shred chicken with a standing mixer. Well, I don’t have one, but I decided to try my hand mixer. This one has to be done while the chicken is still hot so the fibers of the meat are easily separated.
Put the cooked chicken upside down in your deepest bowl (I started with my chicken breasts right side up and didn’t get very far), dig the beaters in a little bit, and go on low. It took a little work for me to get it all done…maybe starting with smaller chunks would be better. (Never put your hand in the bowl while the mixer is running!)
But here’s what happens eventually…Yep, I sprayed chicken all over the counter. And these are just the biggest pieces…the ones I could actually see flying in the video (see my Instagram reel here). There were LOTS of tiny bits of chicken as well. I’m still finding them stuck on the items that sit on my counter all the time!
My favorite method for shredding remains pulsing it in the food processor. Break the breasts into 2 or 3 chunks after cooling just a couple of minutes, then load in the processor and pulse a few times. Be careful not to put in too much at one time.
If you end up with a couple of pieces still too big, empty out the part that is to your liking, and put those pieces in with the next batch, till all is done.
Once all the meat is chopped, spread it out on a baking sheet and fully cool before freezing it or using it in a cold chicken salad. You don’t want condensation either creating from the temperature difference causing freezer burn OR making your salad soggy.
I freeze mine in 2 or 3 cups worth in quart freezer bags. Most recipes requiring pre-cooked chicken call for these amounts. Most chicken salads call for 1 pound or 3 cups meat.
Let me know which method you use to shred your chicken. And share this tip to save everyone some hassle and clean up!
Ah, Thanksgiving…2 days worth of cooking for about 30 minutes of eating time. And then there’s leftovers. How do you keep serving the same things again and again without getting complaints? Here’s an idea…get creative with those Thanksgiving leftovers and make Thanksgiving Pizza!
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Ever see a kitchen hack that makes you wonder if it works? I do all the time, and I try to test ‘em so I can let you know things that will make your life easier. This time it’s storing berries in glass jars and YES, it works!
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The bounty of summer and fall produce raised outdoors locally will soon be done in Tennessee. You may be wondering how to take advantage of the last fresh veggies to start preparing for winter…read on!
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There was a time when coupons were the way to go when trying to save more on the grocery bill. In fact, extreme couponing almost amounted to a competition sport for some ladies. But these days, with the decline of newspapers and thus paper coupons, are there more ways to save on groceries?
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You’ve surely noticed that prices on everything are going up and groceries certainly aren’t any different. It’s a challenge to make the old paycheck stretch to fit the new pricing. Maybe you’ve always been aware that your store has sales each week, but now you really need to know how to reap the savings of grocery sales. (Sorry this is a long one…you might just wanna bookmark it for when you need it)
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Ever forgotten an ingredient, only to find it once it was past usefulness? Into the trash it goes! Or opened a can and only used a very small portion of what was inside? Again, waste…not only the ingredient but the hard-earned money you spent on it. Ever thought about freezing food in ice cube trays?
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