Helpful Hints for the Kitchen

Leftovers

Leftover Rice: Save your leftover rice. You can freeze it in a covered freezer container for up to 6 months.

Brown Sugar: Never worry about finding your brown sugar hard again. Store it in its original box inside your refrigerator. It will stay soft and easy to mix with other dry ingredients.

Sandwich Meat: When deli sandwich meats are on sale, buy extra. Put enough meat for a few days in a freezer bag, and then freeze. To thaw, put in the refrigerator a day before you want to use it. It will taste as fresh as the day you bought it.

Cooking Hints

• If a soup or stew is too salty, add cut raw potatoes. Discard the potatoes after they have cooked because they will have absorbed the salt.

• Store celery and lettuce in paper bags, not plastic. Do not remove the outside leaves and stalks until ready to use.

• If your stew is slightly burned, add milk to take out the bad taste.

• Before opening a package of bacon, roll it. This helps separate the slices and makes them easier to remove individually.

• To retain crispness, drain deep-fried foods on brown paper grocery bags instead of paper towels.

• When possible, slightly warm your dinner plates in the oven before serving to keep the meal warm for longer.

• Thaw frozen meat and poultry in the refrigerator, not on the kitchen counter where bacteria can grow.

• Don’t just keep dental floss in your medicine cabinet. Keep some in the kitchen. It is a great tool. Unflavored dental floss is often better than a knife to cleanly cut many soft foods, including soft cheese, rolled dough, layered cake, and cheesecake.

• To make better French fries, soak freshly cut potatoes in water for 5 minutes, drain, and pat dry before cooking. This removes the excess starch that causes them to clump together and stick to the pan while cooking. For extra crispy fries, lightly dust them with flour before frying.

Removing baked-on food from your baking dishes

Removing cooked-on cheese and other fatty foods

Removing cooked-on rice, pasta, and other starchy foods

Convenience Foods

• Some convenience foods can save you time and money. These include frozen juice concentrate, pancake mix, cake mix, spaghetti sauce, canned soup, and canned fruits and vegetables.

• Other convenience foods are expensive and save little time. These include meat “helpers,” seasoned rice mix, some frozen dinners, coating mix for meat and poultry, and salad dressing.

Getting the Most for Your Food Dollar

Think ahead

• Plan meals and snacks for several days.
• Choose many different types of food.
  • Bread, cereal, rice, pasta, vegetables, and fruit
  • Milk, yogurt, cheese
  • Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts

Plan

• Check for food you have on hand and what you will need.
• Read weekly specials in newspaper ads.
• Clip coupons for items you use.

Prepare

• Write a grocery list.
• Record sale prices next to items on your list.

Get ready

• Take list and coupons to the grocery store.
• Do not shop when you are tired, hungry, or rushed.
• Decide whether to buy a convenience food or one you will make yourself.

At the store

• Stick to your list.
• Compare prices. Store brands and sale items may not always be the best buys.
• Check high and low shelves for cheaper items.

At home

• Handle and store food properly to reduce waste.

For more information, contact your county Extension office. Visit http://www.aces.edu/counties or look in your telephone directory under your county's name to find contact information. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.