easy kitchen tips Archives - Page 4 of 21 - One Hundred Dollars a Month

How to Clean a BBQ Grill

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 15, 2014 · 1 Comment

I love BBQ season. The grill is like my summer crock pot. I love it. It doesn’t heat up the house, and it’s super simple to throw some marinated chicken and veggies onto the grill and have a meal in under 30 minutes.

I don’t know about you, but after a winter of sitting idle, my grill always needs a little cleaning. If you have never really cleaned your grill before, here’s a couple of super simple steps to clean and maintain it and make sure your food doesn’t stick when you barbecue.

You’ll need:

Cooking Oil
A Small Bowl
Paper Towels {only 1 or 2}
Grill Brush
Long Tongs

First, heat the grill. It’s way easier to clean this way, because it loosens all of those stuck on particles. I usually let it warm up for 10-15 minutes before I start.

Once your grill is nice and hot, grab your grill brush and start scraping the burnt food from the grill. {You can use wadded up aluminum foil if you don’t have a grill brush–but it doesn’t work quite as well.} It’s best to scrape your grill each time you use it to avoid having to really put some elbow grease into it.

Now, put your cooking oil in your small bowl. Dip a folded up paper towel into the bowl, using your tongs. Allow the paper towel to become completely saturated with the oil. Then, {still using the tongs} rub the oiled paper towel all over the grate, giving it a really nice shine and nonstick coating. Finally, allow the oil to sit under the heat for another 10 minutes or so before you add any food to the grill.

That’s it. Easy, right?

Happy Barbecue Season,

Mavis

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How to Freeze Eggs

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 13, 2014 · 5 Comments

Now that the chickens are producing like mad again I decided to try and freeze some of their eggs. Did you know that you can freeze eggs. Well, as long as you freeze them properly, you can freeze them for up to 4 months! How cool is that?

Here’s some freezing basics, if you want to give it a whirl:

Whole Eggs

To freeze whole eggs, crack them into a big bowl, blend them up, and then transfer the blended eggs into an airtight container and freeze.

Egg Yolks Only

Egg yolks can get too gelatinous to work with if you don’t store them right, so to freeze them, you need to take an extra step. Beat 1/8 of tsp. of salt or 1 1/2 tsp. sugar or corn syrup per 1/4 cup of yolks into the mixture before transferring to an airtight container and freezing.

Egg Whites

Break and separate the eggs. Pour the whites into an airtight container and freeze. If you need to be able to measure whites out more easily, try freezing them individually in ice cube trays, then moving them into an airtight container.

Hard Boiled Egg Yolks

While they aren’t tasty just on their own, hard boiled egg yolks can be frozen and then used in soups and/or as salad toppings. Just hard boil the eggs, remove the yolks from the whites and place them into an airtight container.

When it is time to use the eggs, here’s a quick guideline on quantities:

2 Tbsp. thawed egg whites = 1 large fresh egg white
1 Tbsp. thawed egg yolk = 1 large fresh yolk
3 Tbsp. thawed whole egg mixture = 1 large fresh egg

Do you freeze your eggs? Would you be willing to try it?

~Mavis

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How to Color Shredded Coconut

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 2, 2014 · 2 Comments

Colored shredded coconut makes awesome bird’s nests for Easter themed crafts. It kind of makes me want to try to make a completely edible Easter basket. How cool would that be? 😉

You’ll Need:

Shredded Coconut
Water
Food Coloring
Paper Towels
Bowls
Paper Plates
Spatula

Directions:

First, put water in the bowls. How much water totally depends on how much coconut you will be coloring. You don’t need a ton, though, just enough to soak the coconut through, not enough to give it a full water bath. Add 2-3 drops of food coloring to the water. Add the coconut and press it down with the spatula, so it soaks up all the water and color. Allow it to sit for a bit, until you are satisfied with the color.

Then, put 2 or 3 paper towels over the top of the bowl. On top of the paper towels, place the paper plate. Now, gently turn the bowl over, like you are removing a cake from a pan. The water and coconut should flip over onto the paper towels and paper plate. Now, just leave it there to dry completely.

Here’s to an edible Easter,

Mavis

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How to Infuse Oils for Cooking

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By Mavis Butterfield on April 1, 2014 · 1 Comment

I love getting emails from my readers, especially when they ask questions I know lots of people might be interested in. Recently, Michele asked me how to infuse oils for more flavorful cooking, etc. She wrote:

Hi Mavis!

I love your site and check in daily and comment. I’m working on a garden and having failures and successes. My best success is Basil (I have massive plants about 3ft high & wide I don’t know what to do with) along with other herbs and Serrano Peppers (Texas heat has great hot peppers).

I wanted to ask if you have ever tried to infuse olive oil with peppers or herbs and how you did that. I searched online and see that they say to keep in the fridge, but I know you can buy it infused and leave on counters. I have more herbs and peppers than I know what to do with right now and thought of infusing some oils for cooking. Do you have suggestions?

It’s actually pretty simple to infuse oils for cooking. And no, they don’t necessarily have to be refrigerated {I’ll get to that in a minute}. To start, you’ll need some mason jars, a nice quality oil {Zoe is my favorite}, herbs, spices, peppers, garlic, etc. {whatever combination floats your boat} and a sunny location.

Start by washing and COMPLETELY drying all of your herbs. Moisture is the enemy here, because it promotes mold and bacterial growth. So, if you don’t want to store your oils in the refrigerator, it is best to dehydrate your herbs, peppers, etc. first. Fresh taste best, but they also make it so the oils don’t last as long, so fresh will need to be stored in the fridge.

If you want to speed up the flavor infusing process, you can heat the oil and herbs, garlic, spices, etc. in a pan on LOW heat for about five minutes first.

Put the herbs, spices, etc. into a clean mason jar. Pour oil over the top of the herbs. {If you heated your herbs in the oil, pour the whole mixture into the jar.} Put on the lid, and store in a sunny location for about a week–this will allow the flavor to infuse into the oil.

After a week, open the jar and taste the oil. If you are satisfied with the flavor, the infusing is done. If not, put the lid back on and let it sit a bit longer.

When the flavor is satisfactory, grab a fine mesh sieve and pour the infused oil into a clean glass bottle. If you like the look of the herbs and you dried them first, you can keep them in the oil. Otherwise, you will want to strain them out, to prevent them from growing mold. If you used fresh herbs, you can always add a sprig of dried herbs to your final bottle for the look of it.

I hope this helped, Michele. And, as always, if YOU have any tips on infusing oils, let me know in the comments below.

~Mavis

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