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Healthy Kitchen Hacks #15

Healthy Kitchen Hacks #15

Healthy Kitchen Hacks is a bi-weekly series on Teaspoon of Spice. We share fellow bloggers’ and our own favorite cooking shortcuts, kitchen tricks and “aha” ideas for making healthy meals and healthy living a snap.

With the end of the school year upon us, I’m grasping at every #HealthyKitchenHack I can to shorten my kitchen time.

So, here’s what I found: I saved 15 minutes using the hack for shredding four cooked chicken breasts quick. When making eight ooey-gooey grilled cheese sandwiches, I shaved off about 30 minutes. (Now I have an extra half hour to search for more hacks!)

Let me know if you try a #HealthyKitchenHack – or have more hacks on these topics – please share in comments below!

1) How to Shred Chicken in 1 Minute
Via Sarah @BombshellBling

#HealthyKitchenHacks: How to Shred Chicken in 1 Minute

I timed it. Shredding a chicken breast using 2 forks took 4 minutes. Shredding one chicken breast using my Kitchen Aid stand mixer took about 1 minute.

This recipe from TheKitchn to poach chicken breasts produces flavorful tender chicken vs. tasteless water-poached chicken.

Try it out: 15-Minute Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

2) How to Make Crushed Red Pepper
Via Shawnda @ConfectionsOfAFoodieBride

#HealthyKitchenHacks : DIY Crushed Red Pepper

Thanks to this quick trick for DIY Crushed Red Pepper, those red and green hot peppers at the bottom of my fridge have new life. I just crisp them up in the oven and grind in the mini-food processor.

The result? Real red pepper taste with a real kick of spice – much better than flat flavors from a jar.

Try it out: Pepper Jack Cornbread Crackers

3) DIY Chart for Customized Spice Blends
Via @CookSmarts

#HealthyKitchenHacks : How to Make Curry Powder

I love this handy reference sheet showing the spice blends for chili powder, Chinese 5 Spice, Cajun spice, herbs de Provence and more.

I can never can remember what’s in curry powder. (I hate to admit it, because it’s my Twitter handle @tspcurry) But thanks to this chart, I customized my curry powder to include more cumin and less crushed red red pepper.

The chart is also great for flavor inspiration with food pairings, since I’m always asking: How should I spice up fish?

Try it out: Curried Deviled Eggs

4) The Easy Way to Chop Onions (after 6 months of testing!)
Via Jeanette Cooperman at St. Louis Magazine and Anne Cori at Kitchen Conservatory

#HealthyKitchenHacks : Easiest Way To Chop Onions

I was skeptical of this trick. But I shouldn’t have been; after all it originally came from Anne Cori, owner of a culinary school, who’s been instructing home cooks for over 30 years. She first demonstrated this trick to me 6 months ago – and I’ve been testing it ever since.The easy way to cut an onion:

  1. Slice the whole onion in half lengthwise
  2. Take one half and make one horizontal slice until just before the root.
  3. Make vertical slices with the knife pointing to the root.
  4. Dice.

Try it out: One Pot Chicken with Olives & Mushrooms

5) Ooey-Gooey Grilled Cheese in the Oven
Via Alan Henry @LifeHacker and @CooksCountry

#HealthyKitchenHacks : Ooey Gooey Grilled Cheese for a Crowd

Here’s a great hack for summer when throngs of relatives or your children’s hungry friends descend upon your kitchen.

Now, this isn’t practical for two sandwiches. But instead of flipping three or more sandwiches at the stove, it only takes 5 minutes in the oven to make EIGHT grilled cheese sandwiches that are ooey-gooey on the inside and nice and crispy on the outside. (If you want the golden brown toasted look, butter them.)

The original grilled cheese post comes from CooksCountry and the oven-grilled-cheese pin from LifeHacker – both techniques vary from what I ended up doing: Bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes between two preheated baking sheets in a preheated 350-degree oven.

Try it out: How to Make Healthy Grilled Cheese

Would you try any of these hacks? Any healthy kitchen or healthy living shortcuts to share? Shoot us an email (ddaly (at) teaspooncomm.com or sball (at) teaspooncomm.com) or share below and we’ll try them out.

clara

Saturday 30th of May 2015

I love the grilled cheese idea so the next time I have a house full of grandkids I will give it a try. :)

Serena Ball

Saturday 30th of May 2015

It's awesome for 8...you might have to make 2 trays! (:

Melanie @ Nutritious Eats

Wednesday 27th of May 2015

I've done the chicken before which is such a great trick, but never heard of the grilled cheese. I am so trying that!!!

Serena Ball

Thursday 28th of May 2015

Melanie - I think I've been living under a rock...because I'd never heard of the chicken trick. But man. It works so great. Just ate the leftovers tonight and the chicken is so evenly shredded - plus I can customize to make smaller pieces for my toddler and larger ones for my 10 year old!

Jessica @ Nutritioulicious

Wednesday 27th of May 2015

Need to try the shredding chicken hack! And that is the only way I chop onions. It's how I learned when I took cooking classes in my nutrition program. I've tried to get my husband on board, but he won't listen!

Serena Ball

Thursday 28th of May 2015

You must have had an awesome cooking class teacher Jessica! I chopped onions the same (inefficient) way for like decades...and now: I'm switching things up. Give your husband another decade. (:

Heather Mason @Nutty Nutrition

Wednesday 27th of May 2015

cool! Next time I'm making grilled cheese for a crowd I'm totally using the oven!

Serena Ball

Thursday 28th of May 2015

Let us know how it turns out and thanks so much for visiting Heather!

Comments are closed.