Wake the Lakes “Life Hacks for the Week” 10-23-2023

Hacks That Can Make You Feel Like a Cooking Pro:
–Squish a pound of hamburger meat onto a baking tray and cut it into equally sized squares like you would cut brownies. You will have equally proportioned meatballs in seconds.
–Cut celery and place it in water for storage. It lasts longer and stays crispy this way.
–Always refrigerate leftover pizza in a Ziploc bag, not the original box. It keeps the crust and cheese from drying out, and your pizza will come out tasting as fresh as it was when you put it in there.
–Freeze your soups, stews, and chilis in muffin tins for easy portion options and storage. Immediately after they have frozen, pop the leftover soups, stews or chilis from the muffin tin into a zip lock bag and continue to store in the freezer for perfect size proportions.
–If you plan on adding berries to your cake mix, toss those berries in flour before sprinkling them into the cake batter to keep them from all sinking to the bottom while they’re baking.
–When you want a grilled cheese sandwich but you’re out of bread… toaster quesadilla. Take four quesadillas and wrap around four slices of cheese. Place two together in each toaster slot and toast away. But, monitor closely for potential burning of the product.
–Here’s a recommendation for storing strawberries. Strawberries kept in a glass Mason jar store better and last longer, typically, than strawberries kept in a plastic container.
–Crinkle your foil before making chicken nuggets, frozen potatoes, etc. in an oven. It makes for easy flipping and helps the food to not get stuck.
–A ramen packet makes awesome popcorn seasoning! Mix the powder with some melted butter or margarine and then toss with the popcorn. Add chili powder for an extra kick.
–Use a waffle maker to make the perfect golden hash browns with minimal effort and clean up, or fancy grilled cheese sandwiches.