One of the things I love most about the internet and Pinterest specifically is the dissemination of information with such speed and ease. I have learned TONS of things and I thought it would be fun to do a post on what I have recently learned about cooking and lunch boxes and the like.
One of my favorite new “tricks” is the hasselback potato. The kids love sweet potatoes but I don’t always remember to chuck them in the oven as soon as I should. This is an easy trick to get them to the table in short order. You just take the potato and cut it into thin slices almost all the way to the bottom, like in the photo. Then you can bake or nuke it. I usually nuke it and since you’ve given it thinner flesh and more surface area, it cooks really fast. The kids love it too because it’s pre-cut and we just sprinkle it with a little salt for them. If you do it in the oven, you can spray it with a little EVOO and then it gets nice and crispy. mmmmmm
We have been using this apple trick for Tabby’s snacks at school with much success. You just cut up your apple, leaving the core intact (this is how I cut up an apple anyhow) and then instead of storing the apple slices in a baggie or something, you just rubberband the whole apple together as though it were never cut up. I find the wider bands work the best and the ones that come on a bunch of asparagus are perfect. Keeps the apple fresh and nearly free from browning.
Tabby is a huge fan of kiwi fruit, but I never liked to buy them because they’d languish in the produce basket until they rotted because I hated peeling them for her to eat. Recently though, I ran across the idea of eating them with a spoon much as one would with a grape fruit (only no sectioning). We tried it at lunchtime this weekend and it was a HUGE success. Tabby could easily scoop out the kiwi fruit after I’d halved it, no problem at all. Ben couldn’t do it as well himself, but even When I had to do it for him, it was far easier and less time-consuming than peeling one of the little buggers. I’m glad to have another option for Tabby’s lunch box too.
Another thing I’ve learned to do on the internets is bake bacon. I have never been a fan of tediously standing over a frying pan and making batch after batch of bacon. It takes forever, makes a huge mess and honestly, I’m a bit afraid of popping grease. This is so easy though – you just heat the oven to 400, line a cookie sheet with foil and then lay out your bacon on it. The bacon shrinks a bit and you can go super close and have no problems. Then you bake it for 10-15 minutes and you get some very nicely cooked bacon without any hassle. It works wonders for group breakfasts.
You know the best tip I’ve learned on Pinterest? Shredding chicken in my Kitchen Aid mixer. 30 seconds with the paddle attachment, and it’s perfect. I want to try the apple thing, though. I’ve always halved my kiwi and eaten them that way. Glad it works for Tabby!
I haven’t tried the chicken thing yet, but it does sound easy! Some day soon when I need some chicken. It does seem silly I’d never thought to eat a kiwi that way – we have avocados like that all the time. I think I’ve most often used them in a fruit salad which necessitates the cutting up nonsense. T is thrilled though – now she gets kiwi whenever they’re available.