Kitchen & Cooking Hacks

Tricks of the trade amateurishly cultivated after many years of experimentation through food forward living

Greetings!

As I’ve been focused on what I eat for quite some time, I have accumulated many tips and tricks for simplifying cooking and making being in the kitchen more fun. Please let me know if you use any of these ideas in your kitchen, I’d love to hear how it goes! And, check back every so often as I am forever learning and will continue to add to this list.

1) Keep it simple.

No need to make gourmet meals every night. Save those for Sundays or whenever you have extra time. Recognize what you are good at cooking and discover variations to this. Love making pasta? Experiment with chickpea or veggie pasta and add different vegetables, protein and fresh herbs each time.

Also, if you want to keep this really simple and easy, limit yourself to 5 ingredients at the most in your meal. Protein, vegetable, healthy fat, whole grains, and another plant product.

2) Herbs & Spices

Step up your game by buying fresh herbs or bulking up your spice cabinet. By having more options on hand, you can boost a meal from being super bland to outstanding.

Helpful Hints:

Nothing tastes better than cooking with salt, pepper and a fresh herb.
Buy one new spice for your spice rack each time you go to the grocery store.
If a recipe calls for a fresh herb, don’t skimp. Buy some extra and toss some in to a smoothie throughout the week or in plain dishes you might make later on.
Keep your herbs fresh by trimming the ends and keeping them in a glass of cold water in the fridge, or wrap them in a moist paper towel and store in the keep fresh drawer. Everyone has their own trick to keeping herbs fresh in the fridge!
Fresh herbs really liven up salads. Ever rubbed kale with fresh cilantro? Wowzas.
Check your grocery store’s bulk section for spices. This is an awesome option to try out a little bit of a new spice before you go crazy buying a whole jar. Or for buying a small amount of something that is called for in a recipe.

3) Oils & Vinegars

Great to have multiple on hand for getting creative in the kitchen. The oils that I suggest are:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For literally everything from sauteing veggies to making salad dressings.
Avocado Oil: Same as olive oil - I use EVOO and Avo Oil switched up depending on what dish I’m making and what flavor makes sense with what.
Coconut Oil: Not the best, or healthiest, for everything, but awesome to have if you are making curries, chili or anything of that nature.
Toasted Sesame Oil: For when you want to switch it up and have a different flavor in your salad or lightly cooked veggies.

I like to have different vinegar on hand for when I am making a quick salad dressing, random baking things, or adding a dash to sautéed veggies. Ones I like to have in my pantry include:

Apple Cider Vinegar: Sometimes baking recipes call for a little bit, and it’s awesome to add a dash in drinking water here and there for gut microbiome health.
Red Wine Vinegar: Great for dressings and also adding a dash to cooking veggies to bring out flavors.
Rice Vinegar: Yum for salad dressings or making slaws.

4) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Make veggie broth with your vegetable cuttings.
Use containers you’d usually recycle (hummus, large size yogurt, salsa, pasta sauce, etc.) as tupperware for leftovers or lunch snacks, growing plants in or random storage.
Save your produce bags for lunch snacks and storing your veggie scraps in the freezer for your broth.
Find a local zero waste store, for me it’s Protea Zero Waste, R Planet or Package Free Shop (online), to refill kitchen cleaners or for more kitchen hacks. Shops like this are always posting useful information for the kitchen or home!

5) To Plan or Not To Plan?

Do you make lists or free for all? Recipe follower or nah? Give this some thought as to how it can help improve your kitchen game. Are you over-buying groceries? Making lists can keep things to a minimum. Or, is it possible that you are not using items because they aren’t included on a recipe? Let go of the recipe limitation and branch out - try adding a new ingredient to a recipe that you always make.

6) The absolute best and easiest way to make brown rice, every time.

My favorite kitchen hack of all time I read online somewhere at some point when I realized I was tired of having burnt and sticky brown rice... Make it how you make pasta: Rinse your brown rice. Boil a large pot of water. Add the brown rice and boil for 30 minutes, uncovered. Strain the water and voila - the most perfect brown rice you’ve ever had, every time!

7) Make it a bowl.

Everything is better eaten as a bowl in my eyes. Do you only have a few random things left in your fridge? Cook everything pretty simply with salt and pepper plus a fresh herb and eat it in a bowl with some hot sauce or hummus on top. This is great when you’re cooking for multiple people with different tastes. You can simply cook everything and each person can flavor their bowl with different spices or condiments to their liking.

8) Collect good kitchen items.

No need to rush out to your nearest home goods store and spend a bunch of money, but having good and useful tools will make cooking more enjoyable. You can collect over time. Ask for big ticket items for your birthday or Christmas, and don’t forget that thrift stores have excellent options, too! Oh, you know what would be fun? A kitchen swap with friends! Like a clothing swap but with kitchen items.

9) Use a timer.

There is one on your phone! What an awesome idea to be able to leave the kitchen while something is cooking to do something else and have your timer remind you when something is finished.

10) Make extra when you can.

Cook once, eat twice… or three or four times. When you have the option to make things in large portions, go for it!