Ninja Cooking Skills

[baymule]

If you have a recipe calling for buttermilk, but you don't have any, measure out some sweet milk, add a tablespoon of vinegar. Let it set a few minutes, stir it and substitute it for the buttermilk.

You must use baking soda with sour milk.

 

[baymule]

For the days you work outside all day (like in the garden) and when you come in and don't want to cook a big meal......make bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. Or cook a LOT the day before so you can have leftovers.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Your crockpot is your friend! And, I use my toaster oven as much as possible instead of firing up the big oven.

 

[lcertuche]

That is some super Ninja skills! Yeah, let's keep it going.

Prepare all you can on the weekend. Cut up all your produce for instance when you bring it in the house (from garden or store) and package.

Grill a big mess of meat e.g. chicken breast and you can slice the leftovers for salads.

Leftovers are great. Left over fried potatoes make a great frittata for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Leftover mashed potatoes for potato salad, shepherd pie, potato cakes or even in your yeast bread. Leftover chili makes a tamale pie, Cincinnati chili (chili with spaghetti), chili dogs, chili fries, chili burgers, added to rice for burrito stuffing.

 

[Hinotori]

When cutting up your butchered meat, freeze it for an hour or so (depending on thickness) before you go to slice it into steaks. It's much easier to cut when stiff but not fully frozen.

Always work with sharp knives. Less pressure and brute force is needed so you're much less likely to cut yourself.

 

[Britesea]

If your baking powder has been in the cabinet for a while, check it before you use it in your cakes or quick breads to make sure it is still good: put a small amount in a cup and add hot water to it; if it foams up, it's still good.

You can make fresh baking powder by mixing 2parts Cream of Tartar to 1part of Baking Soda. The beauty of this is that both of these ingredients have an extremely long shelf life (more like a half-life, lol) as opposed to Baking Powder which has a shelf life of about a year.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I make bread a lot, but I didn't like the way my bread machine bread turned out so I make it by hand/with my kitchenaid mixer. I make WAY too much bread! I like baking a lot more than I like cooking meals. I slice it and freeze it for toast.

 

[SustainableAg]

One of my kitchen hacks is using ice cube trays. I will freeze citrus zest to use in baked goods, pesto, homemade butter when I only have a small quantity, and lemon wedges to add to my water.

If you set homemade cookie dough in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes before baking, the batter won't spread as thin in the oven. This will make for thicker, moister cookies. Of course, this depends on your recipe as well.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

One thing I do often is that I use applesauce in baking recipes instead of oil or butter. It works great for breads, pancakes, cakes, etc.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I like that, grating the butter!

I am not a ninja chef. I'll enjoy reading this though!