*Make Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream Ahead of Time *Cook Fish Straight From Freezer *Red and Green Peppermint Play Dough for Holidays*
[Disclosure: I attended an event sponsored by Wild Alaska Seafood during FNCE, but I’ve been a lover of Alaska salmon since I was a girl, when took a family vacation to Seattle and tasted that beautiful pink fish!]
It’s time for another round of Healthy Kitchen Hacks. These are the top healthy shortcuts and timesavers that I’ve personally tested out in my kitchen this past week.
Here’s hoping they will help you save a few minutes in the kitchen…and have fun while trying out these tricks.
How to Cook Fish from Frozen
via Wild Alaska Seafood
This is a true time-saver. By cooking fish straight from frozen you carve off hours of defrosting time. I pulled fish from my freezer – and 15 minutes later, I was serving it.
Chefs tested seven different cooking techniques to cook fish straight from frozen including steaming, roasted, poaching and grilling. I tried the poaching and roasting methods and they actually could have been even quicker! My pieces of wild salmon were thinner than those used in the detailed instructions (and videos) on the Alaska Seafood site; so next time I’ll cook them even less time.
Since my fish fillets are about 5/8-inch thick, I will roast them only 8-10 minutes total in the oven. For poaching fish, I will cook about 3 minutes in the poaching liquid on the stove, then rested off the heat about 4-5 minutes.
Red and Green Peppermint Play Dough for the Holidays
via Holley @Holley Grainger Nutrition
What fun my little girl and I had pouring and mixing and stirring up Holley’s easy recipe for homemade play dough. Holley and her daughters made Pumpkin Pie Play Dough for fall, but it’s only two days after Halloween and my 4-year-old daughter is already on to all things red and green and peppermint scented!
The best part about this recipe (besides Holley’s helpful instructions about adding color and scents) was that my little girl got to add the flour herself when she found the Play Dough getting sticky from several minutes of use with holiday cookie cutters. She loved being able to add something without me telling her to do so.
Make Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream Ahead of Time
via America’s Test Kitchen Radio
Just in time for topping holiday pies, America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) shared a tip for keeping whipped cream light and fluffy for up to a day. I tested their tip on my favorite Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream and it was perfectly billowy for two days. In this podcast, ATK testers explained how they added to softly whipped cream:
- 1/2 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin dissolved into 1 1/2 tablespoon of warm water
I added the same measurements to Deanna’s Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream recipe right after combining the milk, Greek yogurt and mascarpone (you could use cream cheese instead of mascarpone). Then I whipped everything for about 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer.
Not only did the Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream last in its fluffy state, but the gelatin made the whipped cream look extra-shiny, almost like stiff meringue. Make Greek Yogurt Whipped Cream ahead of time for pie + 4 more #HealthyKitchenHacks via @TspCurry Click To Tweet
Would you try any of these hacks? Do you have any healthy kitchen or healthy living shortcuts to share? Shoot us an email (or share in comments below and we’ll try them out.)
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious
Wednesday 2nd of November 2016
So interesting about cooking the fish straight from the freezer - never would have thought that would come out well. Can't wait to try! And love the pic of your daughter making play dough - so much fun!
Serena Ball
Thursday 3rd of November 2016
I didn't know you could cook fish straight from frozen either Jessica. It's so fun to go to FNCE to learn new info. Thanks for the sweet note on my daughter! (: