Its pretty early still and I have been up for quiet a while such a surprise since I am finding I am not sleeping that well. I am too addicted to fifty shades of grey lol. However while I was cooking breakfast it occurred to me that I have a few tricks and tips which I have learnt while being a poor student, eating healthy, some of which is also just general industry knowledge so I thought this blog would be dedicated to sharing some of my secrets.
Firstly I know they say you can tell alot about a girl by the contents of her purse, or a guy based on his car but I think the contents of your pantry/fridge gives the most insight into who you are, your lifestyle (student, single), and potentially your knowledge and understanding of food.
Everyone (healthy eating or not), should have the basics, flour (wholemeal, rice etc), oil (olive avocado), vinegar, herbs, seasoning's etc etc. The best thing you can do for your self is actually have a look through your pantry and through out things your not using, anything expired haha, and make a list of things you want to buy/try for next time. Your bound to get a few surprises. I do this a lot and it helps me live a little as I get heaps of new ideas.
Once your done de-clutering take into mind the following
Best tips I have learnt:
- Cook for more then one meal/portion. This saves time and alot of foods can be frozen to reuse. If your a sucker for frozen meals this is a money saver. Just pick a day and you can do a batch cook (I usually wouldn't cook red meat (that will be left in the fridge) If I didn't plan to eat it in the next 3 days and chicken 2). DONT get me wrong you do not have to cook a massive batch of spaghetti perhaps just cook a big packet of mince which could then be used as spaghetti, nachos, lasagne then all you do is cook the extras, and like I said you can freeze it. This leads on to step two
- KEEP leftovers and actually reuse them. This is my biggest strength I honestly think. I usually just turn it into something else. Left over meat into a salad, yoghurt into muffins anything. Or again just freeze it...haha your bound to feel like it again at some point.
- Make your own vinaigrette, its simple whisk vinegar (white wines yum), 1 tsp mustard, salt pepper, with olive oil. You whisk as to create an emulsification which binds the oil and vinegar. Try adding herbs, different mustards, a drop of red wine etc. Other sauces are just as easy
- You can freeze butter.. If you bake only occasionally I recommend this
- Buy herbs fresh and if your not going to use them chop them up finely, and stick in an ice tray fill with water and freeze this makes herb cubes you can easily put into sauces.
- If you want chicken try buying a whole one and breaking it down yourself into segments. You can do something with each bit, crumbed drumsticks, honey glazed wings, poached breast, leftovers can go into a soup and the bones can make stock or be used as a trivet which you place other food on while baking or grilling it provides more flavour and prevents the food sticking to the pan
- If you want to poach eggs, add vinegar to the boiling water, if you break the eggs alot crack them into a ladle first and lower it into the water. Honestly you do not need to swirl the water its a bit of a fib. If the water is hot enough the eggs stay together.
- Another egg tip is they have a longer shelf life in a fridge, but if you don't have room and not sure if they have expired put them into a bowl of cold water if they float then they are expired as there is more air inside the egg.
- Buy freezer bags and zip lock bags, then you can purchase your meat from wholesalers and separate into bags making it easier to defrost.
- If you struggle to drink water, add a cucumber, mint, or a green tea bag and fridge. The flavour infuses the water making it nicer while still being healthy.
- If you take sandwiches to work try placing a damp paper cloth in with them this keeps the bread fresh.
- Buy veges and fruit and cut it before putting it into the fridge. Put it into a bag for easy access and use. Don't do this for fruit and veg that brown fast though e.g bananas, mushrooms
- To make eggplant less bitter try sprinkling salt over it until clear liquid drips off, do this in a strainer then rinse under cold water. Another thing to note is that if you don't cook it for long enough it can leave you with an itchy throat.
- Marinade food then you use less sauce, marinades can be as easy as mustard, oil, herbs, wine. Try different flavours and have a play.
- Use a thermometer when cooking whole chicken and poultry.
- Buy your veges from a market they are fresh and alot cheaper
- Try to use coloured salt for example pink or grey himalayan salt, normal salt is bleached which can not be good for you. Another trick is using a little flaky sea salt it tastes so much more natural on food and way nicer.
- Use a sharp knife when cutting, if you don't you apply more pressure making it harder and worse if you slip.
- Disguise food your kids boyfriend don't really like by adding it to something they do a typical would be broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce, but you can try adding carrots, mushrooms, eggplant to mince, or tomatoes in rich chocolate cake. Another easy is if you make your own juice add a few veges like carrots, beetroot, celery.
- OR you can try making different shapes with your vege cuts, or mixing up the colours to make food look more appealing and yum.
- Try adding texture to food by adding nuts/seeds, grilling something and mashing something else. The contrast makes food more appealing in your mouth. Do this also with sweet and savoury as well it appeals to different taste buds in your mouth.
- use your microwave even chefs will admit that they are useful at times, not every culinary creation needs to be done on a stove/oven. Scrambled eggs work amazing in one.
I think that is it for now but when I think of more I will be sure to add them. I thought I would leave you with a quick healthy breakfast recipe which I love as I am a huge fan of eggs, and I just ate one
Breakfast burrito:
2 eggs/ egg whites if you prefer
1 small tomato chopped fine
1/2 a small onion chopped fine
Garlic if you want
2 cubes frozen spinach (defrosted)
1 small lite tortilla warmed for 30-40sec in a microwave
In a small fry pan/skillet heat a drop oil. Add onion, mushroom, spinach, tomato until warm and parshely cooked then crack in the eggs and make into scramble texture. You do not have to add milk to make it scramble but its up to you. Put into a wrap and fold or roll. If your roll it try wrapping it in tin foil it makes it easier to eat.
extras/adjustments:
1 tsp cottage cheese/ a bit of grated normal cheese/ Milk if you want.
Bacon/ham/ Chilli beans
seasoning: try adding curry powder
herbs: I eat mine with coriander, spring onion and basil.
You feel pretty satisfied after, especially knowing how healthy it is.
bon appétit
P.s If you have food tips please feel free to share.
No comments:
Post a Comment