Food Lush

Reader Help: Surviving a Kitchen Remodel

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Elissa

Boy is it hard to pick a favorite Food Lush post--there has been so much amazing stuff written here. But the recipe I have probably made the most since learning about it here is Jonna's enchilada casserole--it's delicious, flexible, and easy! My favorite post of my own (perhaps for nostalgic reasons, as my baby is now 18 months old) is this one about eating while pregnant.

***

In a couple of weeks we are embarking on a renovation of our kitchen. We're not moving any walls, but the current space will be totally gutted and everything is going to be replaced.

As eager as I am to say goodbye to the hideous faux-brick floor, the stained butcher block counter, and the cabinets that give off splinters, I am dreading living without a kitchen for a month. Who better to give me some tips to keep us fed than all of you?

We will have a refrigerator, microwave, and toaster oven set up in our dining room during the remodel. I know we will eat out more than usual and do plenty of take out, and I am also planning to stock up on frozen meals that I can stash in our chest freezer. For those of you who have been through this, what did you end up eating the most? Should I invest in a slow-cooker (I had been toying with the idea of getting one anyway)? And what frozen meals do you like the best (there's only so much mac n' cheese one family can eat)?

Finally, I want to thank all of you for reading, commenting, and making Food Lush such a great online community. I have loved being a part of this. The end of Food Lush has motivated me to find a new place to write online, and my sisters and I have started a food blog called Harts in the Kitchen. I hope you'll check it out and visit me there--we'll be writing about all kinds of food-related things, and I'll be sure to post the "after" pictures of our kitchen once it's finished.

Estimating portion sizes

by Elsha

Now that I'm finally getting back into my healthier eating habits (10 days of vacation was basically 10 days of fast food) I'm remembering how important portion sizes are. I try to be aware of my portions, but measuring everything is a giant pain. Fortunately, I found this handy (ha!) little guide to estimating portion sizes using your hands! 

According to the website the portions are based on average-sized female hands. I'm a big fan of seeing portions represented like this because I can translate that onto my plate. Tell me a serving of meat is 3-4 oz and I have no idea what that means. Tell me a serving of meat is about the size of my palm and I'm all set! 

What do you do to keep track of your portion sizes?

Clever Christmas Food-Related Ideas

Tara C.

I recently came across this compilation of 38 Clever Christmas Food Hacks That Will Make Your Life So Much Easier and thought I would highlight some of my favorites here. You've probably seen some of these on Pinterest before, but some were new to me.

Personally, I will probably try the simplest ideas that require little to no effort. If they don't work, so what? For example, putting ice cream in a plastic bag to keep it from getting too hard:

(photo from: fullpunch.com)

Or for your smaller ornaments, try storing them in egg cartons.

(photo from: toostinkincute.blogspot.com)

We don't eat Pringles, but now I'm going to be on the look out for food containers that I can re-purpose for gifting baked goods.

(photo from: momsbyheart.net)

Using condiment bottles for cookie icing looks like a great way to minimize the mess.

(photo from: bakeat350.blogspot.com)

So, those are some simple ideas. I have to disagree with the title, which suggests that all of these ideas will make your life easier. Some of these ideas don't look easy to me at all. But I guess if you're going to choose one time of year to fuss over the details of your food, it's probably Christmas. For me, the following ideas fall into the category of Things I Think Are Adorable But Will Probably Not Attempt Because I Know Myself to Have The Attention Span of a Flea.

Take, for instance, these tiny elf donuts made from Cheerios. (The Buzzfeed list calls them elf cookies, but they are clearly donuts, right?) Maybe I'm just a sucker for wee little foods, but I think they are precious. I am actually quite fascinated by all the teeny dollhouse-sized foods pictured in this post.

(photo from: unconfidentialcook.com)

Likewise, this tiny strand of Christmas lights made from candy is adorable, but probably requires patience beyond that which I possess. But is your gingerbread house feeling under-dressed? How great would it look with these little lights? Or wouldn't this look great on a cake or cupcake?

(photo from: hungryhappenings.com)

And, finally, I would love to try one of these gingerbread men jello shots. I may need to have a party just so I have an excuse to make these. Unless Wednesday night is an excuse to make gingerbread men jello shots?

(photo from: thatssomichelle.com)

Pizza Under the Broiler: The Best Pizza I Have Ever Made

by Jess M

I have long been making my own pizza at home, making my own crust and occasionally my own sauce. But then I cooked it like I thought everyone did: put it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. And it was fine. It was good and tasty. But it wasn’t anything particularly special. It still wasn’t quite worth going to the trouble to make instead of sending my husband to stop for pizza on his way home.

So I started reading about what makes pizza really good. And after good ingredients, the key to really great pizza is high, high heat. That’s why pizzas cooked in commercial ovens or wood-burning ovens are so good: they have been cooked at extremely high heat. And unfortunately our home ovens usually top out at about 500 degrees. So with this article from Serious Eats as my guide, I started toying around with my pizza cooking method.

Here is what I do:

• Start with a homemade crust, I like this simple one from Smitten Kitchen, but any will do. Roll out your crust and have your sauce and toppings ready, once you get started the pizza will cook very very quickly, in under 5 minutes.
• You’ll need a cast iron pan. I use a cast iron pizza pan (I have this one from Lodge Logic), but you can also use a 12-inch frying pan. Put the pan on the stove and heat it over high heat for 10-20 minutes, until it starts to smoke. Turn off the burner, and turn the broiler in your oven on high. 
• Then, very carefully, lay your rolled-out dough on top of the hot pan and follow with your sauce and toppings. As you put on the sauce and cheese, the bottom of the crust has already started cooking. With the best oven mitts you have, put the pizza into the oven as close to the broiler element as possible and shut the door.
• After 45 seconds to 1 minute, open the oven and rotate your pizza 180 degrees. Cook for another 45 seconds to 1 minute and then check on it. If it’s not quite ready, check on it in 20-30 second increments, it will cook and also burn fast. When it’s crispy and bubbly and starting to brown on the tops of the cheese bubbles, you know it’s done.

Have you tried broiling your pizza? Or tried any other high heat methods?

Kitchen Trick: An Easy Way To Store Rice, Quinoa, and Other Grains with Instructions

by Caitlin

You cut open the bag of rice and as you scramble with your other hand to grab the measuring cup you stupidly left just out of reach, you try to keep the bag level but it starts wobbling and some spills out. You finally get the cup and try to pour the rice into it without it sprinkling all over the counter and floor. Which is silly, really, as you know you'll inevitably be sweeping up rice later, after it's stabbed the bottom of your feet on the way to the stove. When it's all over you're left with an open, partially used bag that you stuff into a ziploc, or tie a rubber band around, only to repeat the whole process next time. 

Sound familiar?

Allow me to help. 

I would also like to state for the record that I did not even get this idea from Pinterest, the appeal of which I'm still uncertain about. I'm pretty sure I got it from my Mom. You can be certain I didn't get it from Pinterest because it doesn't involve any chalkboard paint or burlap, although it does involve a mason jar, though that's not strictly necessary.

It's right up there with my saute pan draining tip, which is another trick I didn't come up with on my own. And as with that previous tip, it's not rocket science, and I feel certain others must know about it, yet I feel I'd be doing a disservice not to share it with you.

So:

Photo by me. I hope you appreciate the time I took to Pinterest-up this picture, what with the clutter of a mixing bowl, Lowe's coupon, mesh bag of limes, and the hand lotion lurking in the distance. 

Tear, cut, or otherwise remove the instructions from your bag of rice/quinoa/whatever. Pour contents of the bag into a handy container (I always have extra mason jars lying around my house leftover from canning, but you can use whatever you've got. Tupperware works.), and throw in the instructions. Voila. Display on your counter for that extra Pinterest-y touch. 

Next time you go to cook your grains, you can dip your measuring cup right in the container, while performing nary a circus act. Victory!

How do you store your grains? Are you obsessed with Pinterest? If so, please help me understand why. 

Kitchen Conquest: Stuffed Shells

By Ariel

When I first started cooking there were a bunch of dishes I really wanted to tackle but was always too intimidated. My biggest fear was stuffed pasta: shells and manacotti to be specific.  We ate a lot of lasagna growing up but I wanted to expand my horizons.

(Instagram makes everything look better! Photo by me)

You know what? This is actually incredibly easy thanks to a trick I read years and years ago on Kraftfoods.com. Spoon whatever you plan to stuff your pasta with into a ziplock bag, seal the bag, and then snip a small hole in one of the bottom corners. BAM! Instant disposable pastry bag.

This is probably old news to most people, but it was one of the biggest cooking discoveries of my life. My favorite stuffed shells are made with a 50/50 mix of ground sirloin and sweet sausage, ricotta cheese and freshly grated parmesan and asiago cheese. Simple and delicious, and easy to stuff! I usually stuff my pasta with the pasta uncooked and cover with pasta sauce overnight.  Once you're ready to cook it the next day the pasta is al dente and ready to go, no boiling needed!

What are your favorite kitchen tips and tricks? What is your biggest kitchen accomplishment?

Kitchen Tip: Fresh Ginger

by Maura

I often avoid recipes that include specialty ingredients, like fresh herbs and fresh ginger, because I cannot buy small amounts economically. Although this is not what you would call a first world problem, I am always looking for ways to extend the life of my ingredients and increase the number of recipes in my repetoire. 

{image credit: wikihow.com}

A few days ago I was watching the Food Network and Melissa D'Arabian's show, Ten Dollar Dinners. She was making a recipe that called for fresh ginger and gave a tip that I see myself using. Ms. D'Arabian suggested keeping peeled, fresh ginger in the freezer and taking it out when you need it for a recipe. She said that it is actually even easier to grate with a microplane grater when it is frozen. What a great idea! I don't usually watch this show, but I am glad I was tuned in when she shared this helpful tip.

Do you have any tips for storing infrequently used ingredients? Have you heard about a particularly good tip lately? 

Massage Your Kale

by Elissa

Okay, so I know this sounds weird, but it turns out that massaging raw kale with a little bit of olive oil completely changes the texture and makes kale salads much easier to eat.

I learned this trick from Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times: he describes how a quick massage transforms tough, fibrous kale into silky leaves. Lately I've been using dinosaur (aka Tuscan) kale for salads. After the massage treatment, I add some lemon juice and grated pecorino cheese--delicious!

Kitchen Tip: An Easier Way to Drain Your Sautee Pan

by Caitlin

What I'm about to share with you is by no means revolutionary, and, hell, I didn't even think of it myself. It came to me as so many of my greatest food discoveries do: from my husband. It's just that it's so easy and so obvious I wonder why I didn't think of it before. I can't keep a tip like this to myself, even if I am the last person to know about it.

The thing is, I hate when a recipe instructs you to cook your sausage/ground beef/what have you and drain the liquid. It's messy, it's gross, and I don't want my drain clogged with grease. If I try to put a lid on the pan to hold the goods back while whatever undesirable liquid falls out, I inevitably end up with a facefull of beefy, greasy, steam (a beef facial! refreshing!) and/or a half a sink full of deciously browned sausage.

Over the weekend, my husband was making dinner. Which, can I just interject here for a minute (yes, I can) and say that after a Friday off of work filled with shopping and mani/pedis, my girlfriend and I (Hi Laur!) came back to the house and had dinner made for us and THAT is living, my friends. Marry a chef, if you can, and have a friend who also occasionally has Fridays in the summer off, and be sure you both enjoy doing wicked stereotypically girly things. That's my advice. You're welcome.

So Zach was making dinner, and dinner was some delicious, perfect, homemade Friday night pizza. As with Chinese food, there is a dearth of good pizza around us and Zach's perfected his from-scratch recipe. This particular time he was making pies with peppers, onions (for the love of god, sautee them both before you put them on your pizza!), and hot italian sausage. The sausage was crumbled in the pan out of the skins, and Zach was having me brown it while I drank my beer (hard work). He also wanted me to drain it and when I grumbled (because BEEF FACIAL) he showed me his trick.

Set a smallish colander over a smallish bowl, and let the colander do all the work. We do this for pasta, why didn't I think of it for everything else?

Sorry about that greasy spatula, but at least there are no beef facials. And aren't you glad we got all that grease out of there? Now your pizza is practically health food! An additional bonus is that it's also a lot easier to dispose of your grease by pouring it directly in your jar or can or whathaveyou, rather than trying to drain a full pan AND aim for a tiny little jar.

So there you have it! A trick I might be the last one to know about.

Also, I'm filing this under M for Mmmm Meat, but I love vegetarian fare (as I hope you know by now) and I think this would work well for a million other things, meat or not. COLANDERS FOR EVERYONE! (Oprah voice.)

Did you know this trick? Am I the last one?

Spice Intervention

By Ariel

Hello. My name is Ariel and I am addicted to spices.

It has come to the point where my cabinet shelves just are not enough room anymore. I need more space. I tried to talk my husband into knocking down a wall or two to extend the kitchen, but something about "support beams" and other such nonsense will keep that idea at bay for awhile. Exhibit A:

That happens to be the bottom from a case of beer. We're very high-tech around here. I also have this that I recieved as a wedding gift:

Not to mention what didn't fit in either storage space.  I need an intervention.  Preferably a stylish and functional one. I really like the Etsy find Nora wrote about a couple years ago, but I need more space. My running favorite is along the lines of Nora's solution, only bigger. I found this little DIY beauty on thekitchn.com and I love the versatility of the space. I could add, subtract, rename, paint, anything I wanted to a sheet metal base and get the perk of having funntional kitchen wall art. We have been warned that light is a no-no for spices, but I honestly blow through most of mine so fast that 6 months really isn't a bad deadline for me. I can still keep my less-oft used spices in the cupboard in a much more manageable environment.

Another option I really like is just adding racks to my vertical space, like so:

(Photo from organizeyourstuffnow)

You know what? I better go with both.

Has anyone had any experience with this whole magnetic trend? I love the idea, I just wonder if I'm just courting a spicy mess on the floor (ba dum bum). Can you ring in how well it works, how it holds up, ease of assembly? Any tricks and tips are greatly appreciated!