Lifestyle | Tips & Techniques

12 Kitchen Hacks You May Not Know

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Sometimes preparing meals and just dealing with food can feel like a bore and a chore – or just plain frustrating! We’ve got the best food hacks to pass down to you to get you in and out of the kitchen fast. Not more drudgery, and dare we say it, some of these hacks are kind of fun. Save money, too. Win-win!

Do you have a kitchen hack we should know about?

Grate Your Butter for Easiest Pie Crust, Ever!

Cream cheese pie crust in pie plate, fluted edge on marble surface-2
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

What? Yes! This is one of our favorite hacks. Freeze sticks of butter before making pie crust, then grate the still frozen butter right into your flour mix. Or, if you are making chocolate chip cookies and need room-temperature butter, simply grate straight out of the fridge, and it will be ready to cream. Try our Gluten-Free Pie Crust. It is THE BEST one out there. Promise.

Freeze Your Cheese!

surprise. what?
Image credit Roman Samborskyi via Shutterstock.

Semi-soft cheeses, like mozzarella, can be hard to grate. Freeze them, then grate! Problem solved. Now try one of our pizzas! How about Sourdough Pizza?

“Faux” Buttermilk to the Rescue!

making buttermilk
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Happens every time. A recipe calls for buttermilk, and it is not something we have in the fridge on a daily basis. We’ve got a quick “faux” buttermilk recipe for you. Easy-peasy.

Removing Kernels from Corn Cob

low FODMAP corn fritters being dipped into salsa
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Place the corn cob on the middle part of a bundt pan while cutting, allowing the pan to catch the kernels. Now you already to make our Corn Fritters!

Cutting Herbs

closeup of low FODMAP pasta primavera on aqua colored plates-2
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Use a pizza cutter for effortlessly chopping herbs. It’s summer! Get those fresh herbs into your cooking! Try Pasta Primavera.

Revive Brown Sugar

low FODMAP Salted Buckwheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies on a dark surface; silver tray showing in corner
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Brown sugar rock hard? It happens. You’ve got choices. Place in a bowl with a few sprinkled of water, cover and microwave for about 15 seconds, or until soft. If you have time, you can put a piece of soft bread, a damp paper towel, or even a slice of apple, in the brown sugar jar, cover and let sit overnight. The moisture will soften the brown sugar; then you’ll be ready for Salted Buckwheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

Hull Those Strawberries

strawberries Ingredient
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Remove the stem of a strawberry quickly by inserting a straw into the tip and pushing it through the other end. TA DA! Done. Time to make Strawberry Salsa!

Maximize Juicing Citrus

Citrus Herb Mojo ingredients with blender in background
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Recipe calling for fresh squeezed lemon juice? Or maybe you just have a hankering for fresh OJ? Microwave lemons, limes, or oranges for 5-10 seconds. Then, roll them back and forth on the counter with your hand applying pressure before cutting to maximize juice extraction with minimal effort. Try our Citrus Mojo sauce. Slather it on everything!

Peel That Kiwi

Kiwis.
Image credit niroworld via Shutterstock.

Peel a kiwi with a spoon by cutting off the ends, sticking the spoon inside against the peel, and circling around until it’s completely peeled. Make our Green Smoothie!

Peeling Avocados

avocado.
phtash via Shutterstock.

Slice the avocado into quarters lengthwise to break away from the pit, then peel back the tip of each section of skin and remove the peel like a banana. Make guac!

Natural Peanut Butter Storage

overhead horizontal image of peanut butter and jelly bars on rack and silver trays
Photo credit: Dédé Wilson from FODMAP Everyday®.

Store jars of natural peanut butter upside down to make stirring easier and avoid the need to stir the oil back in. Wipe the jar well after each use, then try our PB & J Bars!

Water Your Bread

bread. FODMAP FAQs.
sweet marshmallow via Shutterstock.

Another odd trick that really works! If your bread has gone moldy, toss it. But if it is just a tad hard, verging on stale, you can revive it. Stick your loaf of bread right under a streaming faucet; we like room temp water. Aim at the crust, not the exposed cut areas. Get it wetter than you think makes any kind of sense. Pop into a 325°F oven on a sheet pan, or even right on the rack, and heat until crispy outside and soft and tender inside. Money saving – and kind of a magical parlor trick.

18 of the World’s Deadliest Foods: How Many Are You Eating?

poisonous mushrooms.
Nikolay 007 via Shutterstock.

Whether you eat to live, or live to eat, let’s make sure you live to see another day! These are some of the world’s deadliest foods. They can bring on extreme symptoms, ranging from paralysis to seizures, choking and even death, so don’t go tucking these into your lunchbox. Click for 18 of the World’s Deadliest Foods: How Many Are You Eating?

14 Of The Craziest Hacks People Use Mayonnaise For – Even In The Bedroom!

shock.
Prostock-studio via Shutterstock.

After you click through this slide show you will never look at a jar of mayo the same way again. Trust us. Click for 14 Of The Craziest Hacks People Use Mayonnaise For – Even In The Bedroom!

Don’t Fall For These 17 Foods That Pretend To Be Healthy

Coconut oil, liquid at warm room temperature.
Image credit Photoongraphy via Shutterstock.

Have you heard the term “Dr. Google”? That’s when you turn to search engines and the Internet to provide health and medical information – and unless you know how to vet sources, it is a mine field of faulty information. Here are 17 foods that you might have heard are “healthy”, but we have the whole story. PS: the moment a food becomes a trend, research carefully. We’re looking at you bulletproof coffee!

Click for Don’t Fall For These 17 Foods That Pretend To Be Healthy

17 Of The Most Expensive Foods In The World: Would You Pay This Much To Eat Any Of These?

Truffles.
S. Goeijenbier via Shutterstock.

These days our food budget is not going very far, even for everyday foods. And yet, there are still those who seek out extravagant foods, regardless of price. I guess we can live vicariously through these pictures. Maybe someday someone will bestow a 4-pound white truffle upon us, but until then, this will have to suffice.

Click for 17 Of The Most Expensive Foods In The World: Would You Pay This Much To Eat Any Of These?

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