Archive for equipment

solutions to household issues

2011/11/05 at 01:00 · Filed under cooking, cooking tips, education, equipment, health, house/kitchen, organic/sustainable, storage, technology, tv/web

here are some practical and cheap advice for fixing many modern day domestic problems.

1. Stained Tupperware
Take a wet cloth and scrub it away with baking soda. Another way to rid the color is to fill the Tupperware with water and drop in denture cleaning tablets, wait twenty or so minutes, and rinse out.

2. A Smelly Coffee Maker
Coffee-acid buildup is normal and can lead to a burnt bean smell that isn’t very pleasant. An easy to way to get rid of it is to pour white vinegar where the water normally goes and run the machine through its normal brewing process with a filter in. Repeat, but this time let the vinegar sit in the chamber for about a half an hour. Run the cycle and then run it twice through with fresh water. It should smell fresh and clean.

3. The Ants Are Attacking!
Grits expand in the ants’ stomachs and kill them. You can also try dried spearmint or peppermint near the spot where they’re coming in your house.

4. White Rings on the Table
Make a paste of salad oil and salt and rub it into the ring that remains on the table. Let it sit for about an hour then wipe off with a cloth. Petroleum jelly, left on for a day, can also work. Another home remedy is a hot, dry iron and a cotton cloth. Fold the cloth over the stains, put the hot iron over the spot, move it around, and after about thirty seconds, the stains should be gone.

5. Dirty Drain or Small Clog
Pour about 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Cover with an upside down cup while it fizzes. Leave for about twenty minutes and flush out with four or so cups of boiling hot water. Your drain will be clean and gunk-free. If the drain is still moving slowly and has a serious clog, instead of a harsh chemical try using your bathroom plunger to loosen up the clog.

6. Mildewed Houseplants
During humid weather or due houseplants can develop powdery mildew, which presents as white dust on leaves. For a simple solution, make a paste of one teaspoon baking soda mixed with several drops of vegetable oil dissolved in about two cups of water. Spray or paint it on the leaves.

7. Out of Baking Powder
If you happen to have baking soda, cornstarch, and cream of tartar, you can make your own baking powder. Mix one tablespoon baking soda, one teaspoon cornstarch, and one and a half tablespoons cream of tartar together. Voila!

8. A Damaged Window Screen
Painting over the spot with clear fingernail polish. Make sure to do both sides (if you can) and use several layers to coat it. Small tears are best because they aren’t as noticeable, so try to catch them early!

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read article by Brie Cadman from Divine Caroline from 2011, April 19: Eight Old-Time Solutions to Modern Domestic Problems

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cooking with cast-iron pan

2011/10/04 at 00:00 · Filed under cooking, cooking tips, education, environmental, equipment, food, health, retail, tv/web

cast-iron skillets conduct heat beautifully, go from stovetop to oven with no problem and last for decades. There are also some great health reasons to cook with cast iron.

  1. You can cook with less oil when you use a cast-iron pan.
    A well-seasoned pan renders it virtually nonstick. To season your cast-iron skillet, cover the bottom of the pan with a thick layer of kosher salt and a half inch of cooking oil, then heat until the oil starts to smoke. Carefully pour the salt and oil into a bowl, then use a ball of paper towels to rub the inside of the pan until it is smooth. To clean cast iron, never use soap. Simply scrub your skillet with a stiff brush and hot water and dry it completely.
  2. Cast iron is a chemical-free alternative to nonstick pans.
    Avoid the harmful chemicals that are found in nonstick pans.
  3. Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron.
    Cast iron pans can leach some iron into your food. Cooking food, especially something acidic like tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet can increase iron content, by as much as 20 times.

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read article by Kerri-Ann Jennings, Associate Nutrition Editor at EatingWell Magazine: 3 health reasons to cook with cast-iron

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comparison shopping on household equipment

2011/10/01 at 00:00 · Filed under cooking, environmental, equipment, food, retail, technology, tv/web

even though two products that cost the same can perform very differently. so it’s helpful to receive tips when comparison shopping:

Comparing Items on Price Alone

Washing machines
Frigidaire Affinity FAFW4011L[W] - vs - Whirlpool WFW9050X[W]

  • The Frigidaire Affinity FAFW4011L[W] was only fair at its chief job, getting clothes clean, but it was excellent at both water and energy efficiency.
  • Whirlpool WFW9050X[W] was very good at cleaning.

Refrigerators
Fisher & Paykel E522B - vs - Whirlpool Gold GX5FHDXV

  • Fisher & Paykel E522B bottom freezer was an energy hog and it was only mediocre at holding a constant temperature in all sections.
  • Whirlpool Gold GX5FHDXV, a bottom freezer that scored an 82, was excellent at energy efficiency and temperature performance and is a CR Best Buy.

Vacuum cleaners
Hoover Zen Whisper SH40080 – vs - Hoover WindTunnel S3670

  • Both were excellent at cleaning bare floors, one of a vacuum’s easier tasks.
  • The bagless Hoover Zen Whisper SH40080 was only fair at the tougher jobs of cleaning carpet and removing pet hair.
  • Hoover WindTunnel S3670, was very good at those tasks.

Buying by Brand Name

Dishwashers
Bosch Evolution 500 SHE55M1[2]UC – vs - Bosch Integra 500 SHX45P0[5]UC

  • Both were excellent at washing and energy efficiency.
  • Bosch Evolution 500 SHE55M1[2]UC costs less.

Dryers
Kenmore 6952[2] – vs - Kenmore 8903[2]

  • The dryer’s main task -drying performance: Kenmore 6952[2] was poor and Kenmore 8903[2] was excellent.
  • The 8903 also has a larger capacity and was quieter.

Assuming a Higher-Price Means Better Performance

Gas ranges
KitchenAid Architect Series KGRS807S[SS] – vs - KitchenAid KDRS505X[SS]

  • KitchenAid KDRS505X[SS], which costs $300 more,  was super at simmering while the Architect Series model was not.
  • They baked and broiled equally well but the Architect has less usable space.

Vacuum cleaners
Dirt Devil Featherlite Bagless M085845 - vs – Dyson DC24 Ball All Floors

  • The Dirt Devil Featherlite Bagless M085845 was excellent at picking up pet hair and very good at cleaning carpet.
  • The Dyson DC24 Ball All Floors had poor airflow for tools and was only fair at pet hair.
  • While the Dyson was quieter and matched the Dirt Devil’s excellent performance on bare floors, cleaning carpets is what separates the two.

Blenders
Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004 blender - vs – DeLonghi 3-in1 DFP-950 ($300)

  • The Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004 blender was also excellent at crushing ice cubes and not so noisy.
  • The DeLonghi 3-in1 DFP-950 scored poorly on the ice crush and icy drink tests and it was noisier than the Ninja.

Kitchen knives
Ginsu Chikara - vs – Culinary Institute of America’s Master Collection Hyde Park

  • Ginsu Chikara knives were excellent at cutting and the handles were comfortable.
  • The knives from the Culinary Institute of America’s Master Collection Hyde Park were very good at cutting and comfort, the handle balance didn’t cut it.

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read article on Yahoo! FInance by Mary H.J. Farrell from Consumer Reports: Three Money-Wasting Mistakes Shoppers Make

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storage on-the-go

2011/09/29 at 01:00 · Filed under education, environmental, equipment, food, health, house/kitchen, retail, storage

i love my new glass containers but they are heavy. it is fine to use around the house but when i go out, i also like to bring take out containers for leftovers.

so, i started looking into safe, light storage containers and i found LunchBots. these 7″ x 5.5″ x 2″ stainless steel containers and lid are super light, wide and deep enough for fit a good amount of food. LunchBots also have a variety of sizes and container dividers to separate food.

the only negative is that they aren’t water tight. most of the time, it doesn’t matter. other than that, these stainless steel containers are great!

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buy stainless steel containers from LunchBots

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7 kitchen tricks

2011/09/13 at 00:00 · Filed under cooking, cooking tips, education, egg, equipment, food, fruit/vegetable-sweet, house/kitchen, tv/web

here are some tricks for fixing common kitchen dilemmas:

  1. How to Open Stubborn Pistachios
    Take one half of a shell, stick it into even the littlest opening of an unopened pistachio, and turn the shell half like a key. The pistachio will pop right open!
  2. How to Easily Remove Egg Shells Dropped into Eggs
    Wet your finger with water before attempting to fish it out.
  3. How to Make Burnt Pots Look New Again
    If you spray pots with oven cleaner and leave them for a couple of hours the grime will wipe right off! Likewise stainless kettles.
  4. How to Refresh Crystallized Honey
    The remaining honey in the jar or bottle that has hardened and crystallized can easily pour out if you let it sit for 15 minutes in boiling water that has cooled for five minutes.
  5. How to Soften Hardened Brown Sugar
    Brown sugar can easily re-moisturize it by placing the open sugar bag in a microwave with a cup of water next to it and zapping it on high for three minutes. Or you can place the sugar in a bowl, cover the sugar with a double layer of wet paper towels, and then cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap and let it stand overnight.
  6. How to Remove Stains from Wooden Cutting Boards
    Try sprinkling the board with salt rubbing it with lemon. For more stubborn stains, try an abrasive antibacterial kitchen cleaner and scouring pad. For the toughest, reach for sandpaper!
  7. How to Salvage Overripe Fruit
    You don’t need to toss your bruised or overripe bananas, peaches, or strawberries. The minute you see your fruit going bad, wash it, slice it, peel it (in the case of bananas) and freeze it in sealable bags. Then you have instant smoothie or pie makings anytime!

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read article on Yahoo! Shine by Kaboodle.com: 7 Kitchen Tricks You Should Know

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kitchen tools you don’t need

2011/08/29 at 00:00 · Filed under cooking, education, equipment, food, house/kitchen, tv/web

there are lots of kitchen gadgets out there, some that look really cool, but which is really necessary and which isn’t? here are 11 items that, according to a chef instructor at Culinary Institute of America, you don’t really need.

  1. Electric Griddle > use a cast iron skillet with a flat bottom
  2. Electric Steamer > simply place a wire mesh strainer or metal colander directly inside your cooking pot filled with water. If your lid won’t fit after placing either inside, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top and seal it around the pot.
  3. Funnel > trim off the bottom section of an empty plastic soda bottle (about 3 inches down from where the neck slopes) and turn it upside down for wet ingredients except hot items. For dry ingredients, create a simple cone shape from parchment or wax paper, holding it in place or taping the sides.
  4. Juice Reamer > simply use a large pair of tongs (about 6- to 8-in long).
  5. Mandoline > use a vegetable peeler. For maximum efficacy and control, find one with a handle that comfortably fits your hand, and (carefully) slice towards the body.
  6. Meat Mallet > go for a small sauté pan (8″ – 9″ pan). Sandwich the meat between two layers of plastic cling wrap and have at it with your makeshift mallet.
  7. Panini Press > a sauté pan + panini + with cast iron skillet or heavy cans on top won’t give you those signature grill lines but it will provide all the toasty, gooey sandwiches you can handle.
  8. Pastry Bag > opt for a zip-top plastic bag that you can toss when done. Add the frosting or filling (about halfway up or less), press it down gently into one bottom corner and twist the leftover bag at top to close it off. Snip the corner off as desired (the higher up you cut, the bigger the line will be) and pipe away.
  9. Roasting Rack > creating a small ring or S-shape “snake” out of rolled foil that’s about 1/2-in thick. Place it in an aluminum roaster pan and then set your bird on top of it. For an even easier option, layer chopped onions, carrots and celery on the bottom of a pan, about 1/2- to 1-in deep, and set your bird on top. It’s just enough room to let the air circulate—with the added benefit of roasted vegetables for later.
  10. Rolling Pin > in its place, wrap a wine bottle with plastic cling wrap and work away as you would with a pin. If you’re working with dough for pie or shortbread cookies, ensure it stays cool by using a full bottle that’s been chilling in the fridge for a bit.
  11. Wok >a large sauté pan preferably one that has a clad bottom and good weight to it, which will “hold the heat nice and high, and disperse it evenly.”

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read article on Yahoo! Shopping by Mandy Major from WomansDay.com: 11 Kitchen Tools You Don’t Really Need

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making the change to glass storage containers

2011/07/31 at 00:00 · Filed under community, cooking, cooking tips, education, environmental, equipment, food, health, house/kitchen, retail, storage

while i had made the change to read the labels and throw out plastics 3, 6 and 7, it really isn’t enough. most plastics contain an organic compound called BPA (Bisphenol A) and when improperly reused again and again, over time the BPA starts to breakdown and is ingested by people. this can cause brain damage not to mention ovarian and breast cancers.

therefore instead of checking to see how much plastic i ingest, i invested in glass storage containers. while plastic containers are lighter and cheaper, glass is easier to clean, doesn’t absorb the smell of food and last a lot longer. there is also a lot of variety in the stores now. some brands you can store in the freezer as well as cook with them in the oven, so they can be used for many purposes! you can choose lids that lock, air tight BPA free lids as well as lids in various colors.

so make the switch for your health, reduce kitchen clutter and have fun doing it with style!

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read article by Shaunna Winchester on Ezine @rticles: Food Storage Containers – Glass Vs Plastic

buy glass storage container:

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crunch on brad’s raw foods

2011/04/22 at 01:00 · Filed under equipment, food, healthy, retail, snacks/appetizers, vegetable/fruit-savory, vegetarian

one  of my gfs started eating raw foods a few months ago and she believes in the healthier diet that she’s now 80% raw. one of her favorite snacks is Brad’s Raw Foods. since she was visiting for the weekend, she brought a variety of Brad’s Raw Chips and Leafy Kale to share.

if you like tortilla chips, you will enjoy these chips! most of them are flavored with extra virgin olive oil, flax seeds, sprouted buckwheat groats, sea salt and spice. some have garlic, scallion, curry, variety of peppers and/or vegan cheese. some are mild while others are HOT. you can enjoy them with hummus, guacamole or dips – just make sure it’s healthy!

touting them is the “world’s healthiest chip,” Brad Gruno created raw chips because he missed the crunch of a good snack since he started a raw diet. using red bell pepper, kale, beet, sweet potato and sun dried tomatoes, he dehydrates the vegetables to crunchy nutritional goodness. it does come at a higher price point so if you can afford it, enjoy!

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learn more about Brad Gruno and the benefits of Brad’s Raw Foods and purchase online or in select grocery stores

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how to prep your chicken

2011/04/15 at 00:00 · Filed under cooking, cooking tips, education, equipment, food, house/kitchen, meat-chicken/turkey, tv/web

i’ve heard from both fronts – wash the chicken and don’t wash the chicken. in a recent article from Gourmet Live, they provide their take on how to prepare chicken.

For the best possible bird, DON’T:

  1. Wash the Chicken
    This may come as a shock to all of you who automatically rinse your poultry just before cooking. It certainly was for me. So what’s the big deal? Cross contamination! Rinsing your chicken is an ideal way to spew nasty pathogens all over your sink and the surrounding area. Rinsing never did get rid of pathogens anyway. Instead, try to get the meat onto the baking pan with as little contact as possible. Then wipe down your counter with hot soapy water or a mixture of hot water and 1 tablespoon liquid bleach.
  2. Use an Old Plastic Cutting Board
    There’s an ongoing controversy about the safety of wood versus plastic boards for cutting raw chicken. As it turns out, old plastic cutting boards must be run through a dishwasher to be sanitized. Wood boards, on the other hand, are equally clean after a hand washing.
  3. Forget to Wash Your Hands
    You can’t be reminded often enough: Wash your hands well and scrub under your nails. Have you noticed that chefs and serious cooks don’t have long nails? And they tend not to wear jewelry, either. Both provide great hiding places for bacteria. That mysterious stomach bug you had could very well have been a case of food poisoning from your own kitchen.
  4. Ignore the Magic Number
    A lot of cooks still aren’t aware that the folks at the USDA dropped the recommended safe temperatures for all cooked poultry five years ago to 165°F. The good news is that this results in juicy, tender meat. (The old temperatures were 180°F for a whole roast bird tested in the thigh, or 170°F for a breast. Both often result in dry-as-cotton meat.)
  5. Pull It Out When it Looks Done
    The best way to know when your chicken has reached the magic number is an instant-read thermometer. “You really can’t tell by looking,” says Diane Van, Manager of the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, who suggests you may want to test your chicken in more than one spot. This is particularly important with a whole roast bird: Test both thighs and the thickest part of the breasts—some of the chickens these days sport boobs big enough to fill a double-D bra.
  6. Pick Your Chicken from the Front of the Shelf
    At the market, look for the most distant sell-by date. This means searching in the back of the stacks because the oldest chicken is usually stuck in front. Don’t be afraid to be a nuisance at the poultry case. (The re-stockers of the chicken shelves at my local market roll their eyes when they see me coming.)
  7. Let Your Chicken Hang Around
    Cook your chicken within two days of buying it. Home fridges are warmer than the ones in stores (which can go as low as 26°F), and tend to be opened often. Keep it any longer and, even if the sell-by date is way in the future, you’ll probably end up tossing it once you open the package to that telltale, hold-your-nose, the-chicken’s-gone-off aroma. Out to the garbage it goes, leaving you scrambling to figure out something else for dinner. Sound familiar?
  8. Throw Out the Scraps
    Once this is ingrained into your routine, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start a long time ago. When you’ve got a decent pile of scraps, parts, skin, and bones, dump them in a pot and make a homemade chicken stock. I just can’t bear to spend money on something that’s not only easy to make but also tastes so much better than anything you can buy.
  9. Trim All the Fats
    The fat police want us to skim and snip every bit of fat from our meat and stocks, but chicken fat has some winning qualities. It is high in palmitoleic acid, which is thought to be an immune booster, and it can also be a source of oleic acid, which is a good thing for cholesterol. Also, poultry fats are low in polyunsaturated fatty acids, making them more stable than other fats at higher heat.
  10. Roast or Broil It
    Isn’t crisp skin and tender, juicy meat what we most yearn for in chicken? But how to reach that double-whammy nirvana? High-heat roasting doesn’t always result in perfect skin, and broiling can dry out the meat. Here’s a chef tip: Pan-roast your chicken.

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read article on Yahoo! Shine from Gourmet Live: Don’t Wash Your Chicken Before You Cook It and 9 Other Surprising Tips

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things you should buy organic

2011/03/22 at 00:00 · Filed under beverage, cooking, cooking tips, education, environmental, equipment, food, fruit/vegetable-sweet, health, healthy, house/kitchen, meat-beef, organic/sustainable, retail, storage, vegetable/fruit-savory

it’s hard to know what items are necessary to buy organic but it’s cost-effective to know since organic items usually cost more so if it really isn’t a benefit, why spend more?

  • MEATS: Beef
  • PRODUCE:
    - Strawberries (and if possible peaches, apples, blueberries, and cherries)
    - Celery
  • BEVERAGES: Milk
  • SNACKS: Popcorn
  • PACKAGED ITEMS: Tomato sauce in glass jar or box
  • FOOD STORAGE:
    - Change from plastic water bottles to unlined stainless steel
    - Change form plastic food-storage containers to glass food-storage containers
  • COOKWARE: Avoid non-stick pans: switch to stainless steel, ceramic, or cast iron cookware.
  • HOME:
    - All-purpose natural home cleaners
    - Yard pesticides

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read article on Health.com: 11 Things You Should Buy Organic

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