I scored my Instant Pot DUO80 8 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure and Slow Cooker on Amazon during Prime Day. After I received it, I sat on it for a good while until I opened the box, thinking of how to get started with it. Even though I have a traditional stove-top pressure cooker and cook with it on a regular basis, I felt hesitant, … [Read more...]
Adjusting pan size for small batch baking
Sometimes I bake cake for the kids for snack time at school. It's only 4 at home and I don't eat cake. Therefore, when I bake a full pan size cake with a batch of cake recipe, kids got tired of eating the same cake day after day. And the cake goes stale after few days.In order to avoid this, I bake cakes using half the recipe that would only go … [Read more...]
How to evenly oil sliced vegetables and leafy greens
I love baking my own vegetables and leafy greens to make veggie chips such as baked kale chips. For a long time I had hard time evenly oiling and seasoning them. Some parts would be dry and stale, some parts would be too salty. Below is a simple way to evenly oil and season all the pieces with the just the right amount of seasoning. You can season … [Read more...]
Packing hot school lunches and keeping them warm
I try to pack school lunches for kids as much as I can. However, recently I've given up, having to throw away so many untouched foods, half eaten or even barely eaten sandwiches. I let the kids eat school’s cafeteria lunch instead of spending all that time to think, prepare and see all that wasted food.The school cafeteria lunch menu this … [Read more...]
How to prevent sliced apple / pear from turning brown
If you put sliced apples and pears in your children's lunch boxes, and your children do not want to eat them, because they turn brown until lunch time, you have 3 options:Put a whole apple or pear instead of sliced apple. Slice the fruit neatly (using apple slicer might help) and put it back together with a rubber band. Rub apples with a … [Read more...]
Organizing herb, spice and seed bottles
We use herbs, spices and seeds a lot, and we use a lot of them. I also dry my own herbs from the garden during the summer to use all year round. So we had so many different types and sizes of bottles and ziploc bags filled with dry mint, oregano and parsley. Then within all that disorganized crowd we cannot find what we are looking for and go to … [Read more...]
How to prevent milk from boiling over
I - try to - make my own homemade yogurt as much as possible. I have to boil the milk first, in order to do that. However, since I neither have the patience nor the attention span to keep an eye on the stove, the milk has a high risk to boil over. Spilled milk on a stove is pain to clean up so I use this trick to prevent it from boiling over.I … [Read more...]
How to quickly defrost frozen meat without microwave
I've listed what kind of foods and dishes that I prepare and freeze in case of emergencies in my "The foods and dishes that every practical mama keep in their freezer" post. I freeze a lot of meat patties, meat balls, poultry and fish for last minute lunch/dinner prep.When you freeze meat, any kind, the safest and healthiest way to unfreeze or … [Read more...]
Product Review: Apple Slicer
You might think I am lazy, when you take a look at the picture of this post. First, yes, I am a bit lazy. In truth, I had thought this product was a lazy-man's-work as well, when I had first seen it. I had thought, can't people use knives to slice an apple anymore?However, I have been using this slicer every single day, sometimes more than once … [Read more...]
Make your own homemade pre-packed waffle and pancake mix
I like to serve different breakfast options to kids during the week. Weekends are pancake and waffle days. If the kids aren't extremely hungry or I haven't decided to sleep in, kids prepare their own pancakes and waffles under my observation - from far away. The recipe is taped to the cabinet door. They know where the ingredients are. They measure … [Read more...]
Prepare ahead
After my regular visit to my doctor, at the checkout I saw this really neat list on the cubicle wall. It was called "101 ways to cope with stress". I think it wasn't only for stress. It was more of a "Oprah got together with Martha Stewart and made a to do list" kind of list.You can find the whole list here. And don't just sneak peek and … [Read more...]
Practical solutions and ideas with a pair of scissors
Easy grab hole/ window for teabags. If you are a tea fan, like I am, you know how hard it is to get teabags out of the stacked boxes in the kitchen cabinets. The boxes clutter, fall down, just drive you crazy.I figured this trick actually from a Stash tea box. You just cut a half circle at the bottom. Then sort the tea boxes vertically, side by … [Read more...]
How to de-seed a pomegranate
Deseed pomegranate without making a mess Winter time is fresh pomegranate and pomegranate juice time. The hardest part is to cut and de-seed them. There is an easier way to cut and de-seed pomegranates. Instructions: 1. Before starting, make sure you are wearing an apron. Even though this method prevents the pomegranate from splattering juice … [Read more...]
How to quickly peel potato skin
This is another video in Japanese, showinh how to quickly peel potato skin after boiling them.Make a cut around the potato before boiling. Prepare a bowl on cold water, preferably with ice. Put the boiled potatoes in to cold water immediately after boiling and wait for 10 seconds. Finally, take the skin off like a boss.It is very … [Read more...]