Healthy Kitchen Hacks #3
Healthy Kitchen Hacks is a 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 a snap.
We're having so much fun with this new Healthy Kitchen Hacks weekly series (posted each Wednesday) - thanks for all positive feedback and for sharing some of your tricks, too.
If you missed them, here are our first two posts:
Healthy Kitchen Hacks #1
Healthy Kitchen Hacks #2
And now, here are my favorite Healthy Kitchen Hacks that I've (Deanna) tried out in the past week:
1) How To Get Rid of Garlic Smell From Your Hands
via Stephanie @Recipe Renovator
Being Italian-American, I cook with garlic almost daily. I joke that it's in my blood, so aside from garlic breath, I've never consciously tried to get rid of that garlic smell from my hands. I've heard about this trick - rinsing with soap & water and then rubbing hands on metal (like your kitchen tap) - but have never tried it.
Until now and holy cow, it works like a charm! Here's a quick video showing the method.
2) Save That Empty Peanut Butter Jar For Overnight Oats
via Danika (guest blogger) @The Scoop on Nutrition
We got through a lot of peanut butter in this house even with just 3 people. My go-to brand is Trader Joe's creamy salted - I always have an emergency jar in the back of the pantry.
The first time I tried this empty peanut butter jar trick, I made these PB&J Overnight Oats. And it continues to be the only overnight oats recipe I make because I love it that much. ( My one ingredient swap: I use ground flaxseed for chia seeds.)
3) How to Make Homemade Taco Bowls
via Emily @Emily Bites
I've always been a soft taco kind of gal (soft fish tacos for the win with Lean Green Bean's Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas) but more recently, I've bought hard taco shells (Trader Joe's of course) and Mia (my 7 year old) loved them.
So, I saw this hack from Emily on using a muffin tin to create mini taco bowls (baked not fried!) Another big hit at dinner time for us - and here are some ideas for taco salad fillings:
Tomato Soup Sloppy Joes,
Loaded Veggie Nachos
Avocado, Bean Chipotle Cheddar Tacos
4) How to Make a Lighter Grilled Cheese Ultra-Cheesy & Melty
Serena has several tips & tricks on How to Make Healthier Grilled Cheese including a technique she learned via Cooking Light using a combo of lighter cheddar (Cabot's our fav!), cream cheese and a dab of mayo. This oozy, gooey sammie sure hits the spot - especially with a bowl of soup during these endless winter months....
5) How to Revive Stale Bread
via Sara Moulton on The Rachael Ray Show
And if you are craving that grilled cheese but your baguette is a bit stale, check out this trick from Sara Moulton. A little water, foil and a 5 minute oven can bring that hunk of bread back to edible life. (Credit goes to Linda @Giggles, Gobbles & Gulps and Colleen @Souffle Bombay for posting this video on their Facebook pages where I discovered it - thanks gals!)
Would you try any of these hacks? Any healthy kitchen or healthy living shortcuts to share? Shoot us an email (ddaly@teaspooncomm.com or sball@teaspooncomm.com ) or share below and we'll try them out.
YAY for the garlic tip- I actually started using garlic powder more because I could never get the garlic smell off my hands (and because of laziness).... I've seen the taco bowl trick before but I've never tried it, thanks for reminding me!
YAY - garlic tip really works - as does those taco bowls (that was a fun one to do 🙂
Is it weird if I say I have three almost-empty nut butter jars waiting to be turned into overnight oats?
Not weird at all - in fact, I wish I had 3 almost empty to jars to use right now 🙂
Overnight oats are my favorite, I think I tend to plow through my nut butter jars even quicker now so I can make them! That grilled cheese looks fantastic. Will definitely be putting these hacks to good use! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I loved that overnight oats recipe and then kind of forgot about that recipe for awhile - researching for this post brought it back into the breakfast rotation.
Wow, I love that trick on how to revive stale bread! This is such a fu and useful post!
I was digging that one too 🙂
I am so loving this series! That stale bread revival trick is awesome! Tweeting now 🙂
Thanks much Sonali - the stale bread one was a fun one to try out 🙂
Every tip (every week) is something I've asked myself at least once... Thanks for saving the day again!
I'm so glad - hopefully you can put them to use soon 🙂
I MUST try the garlic trick! Seriously the worst!
YOu'll be amazed at how well it works 🙂
Ooo, I'd heard of the stale bread trick but all the other ones are new to me! I'm especially enthusiastic about overnight oats in the PB jar. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Fun series! I have heard the garlic trick but never remember to try it! Next time. And I remember reading about the grilled cheese in my Cooking Light and thinking it sounded so good!
I love the peanut butter jar idea! I never have enough jars to make the oats in but this would work nicely 🙂
thanks for the tortilla love!
Thank you for the good ideas! I love the taco bowls; will be using this tip. And I've got some stale bread I'm going to bring to life later!