Kitchen/cooking tips

A friend emailed me some great kitchen/cooking tips. I added some tips of my own (and some comments). Here they are:

Eat bananas the easy way
Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little strings off of it. That's how the primates do it. (My husband does this sometimes.)

Ripe bananas
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster. (I like mine ripe so I won't be pulling mine apart.)

Storing cheese
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Frying ground beef
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. (We don't even use ground beef but this is a great tip to share!)

Rich eggs
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

Brownies, only better
For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Garlic
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Heating leftover pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to medium-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.

Easy deviled eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip-seal plastic bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up, mixing thoroughly. Cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expand your cake frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Warming refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster. (My husband always does this.)

Sticky stuff in the measuring cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Clean stains off the counters
Use baking soda to clean stains (red juice, etc.) off of the kitchen countertops.

Mopping the floor
Use vinegar and water to mop the kitchen floor and you'll find your floor has never been so clean. Just run a sink about half-full of water and add a cup of vinegar or so. It's safe to use on all floor types.

Scrubbers
Throw away your disgusting kitchen sponges and scrubbers and recycle instead! Use the mesh bags that produce like onions and apples come in. Place a wash rag inside and scrub your pots, etc. The stiff ones that onions come in work best for tough jobs. After a few uses, discard and get another one.

Stretch your coffee
Keep the leftover coffee grounds from the last time you made a pot of coffee and use them again! Just add half the amount of coffee grounds you normally use to the leftover grounds and brew as normal. (If you use two scoops, just add one scoop of grounds to the leftover grounds. You can use leftover grounds at least once and I've done it twice.) The coffee tastes just fine.