Cooking Tips for a fast-paced life.

Buy the best you can afford.

Great ingredients do not need to be doctored up. They taste amazing with a
few ingredients and simple preparation.

Keep It Simple Silly.

The KISS method is a great philosophy in the kitchen as it is in life.
Beautiful, delicious, and nutritious food does not have to be complicated.
Chances are, the more complicated it gets, the less nutrient-dense it will
be. Make a game out of paring down your favorite recipes to five
ingredients or less and as few steps as possible.

Organization is key.

Have a place for everything and keep everything in it's place. This cuts
down on prep time and stress when you are preparing food.

Keep an ongoing shopping list. Utilize great tools such as the iPhone app
called "Grocery Cart", so that you are not trying to remember everything
while you are running around the grocery store after work, on your way to
the gym, or with hungry kids hanging on to your waist.

Plan your menu for the week. This simplifies shopping and prep work and
takes one less element of stress out of your daily routine.

Make cooking easy.

If you have time to walk your free range chickens every morning then God
Love Ya! Most of us have limited time for cooking. Be on the look-out for
time-saving tips on food prep. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Wash all produce as soon as you get home. Place a damp paper towel over
the food item after you have cleaned and prepped it, then place the
produce in a plastic bag. This will last all week and maybe even up to two
weeks if the produce is from a local source.

2. Pre-cut all salad items and place them in air tight containers. Next
time you want a salad, just reach in for your tub of salad stuff and build
one in seconds.

3. Don't cut or wash your greens. Just tear them and dump them right into
the pot of boiling water. The hot water will kill any germs and the
agitation from the water will remove any dirt or sand. Boil them for a
minute and then drain. Don't let the water turn green. You want the color
in the greens not the water.

Note: Add the greens with spices and other veggies to a bowl of whole
wheat noodles. Pour the stock from the boiled greens over it for a nice
broth.

4. Don't cry over your onions. There's no need to peel and wash, slice and
dice, and cry anymore. Take small onions and dump them in the boiling
water with the greens and let them boil till they soften. When done,
simply squeeze out the onion (like roasted garlic). Easy-breezy.

5. Pummel your garlic. Slice off the tips of a head of garlic and with a
wide-edged knife lay the flat side of the knife over the garlic and give a
nice firm pound with your fist. All the cloves will separate. Then slice
the two ends off each clove. Again, lay the flat side of the blade over
the clove and give it another firm whack with your fist to remove the
skin. Now lay the flat blade over the peeled clove and whack it hard with
your fist. This time the garlic will be pulverized and now all you have to
do is slice the cloves length-wise.

6. Pre-cook your meals ahead of time and in bulk. Package them in
portion-sized containers and freeze. Planning ahead on this one can give
you a lot of variety with very little time in the kitchen.

7. Buy pre-made foods. Hey, if it means you are eating healthier meals
then do it. Bags of pre-cut, washed, organic salad mix from the market are
a lot simpler and easier to manage than multiple heads of lettuce that all
need preparation before even being put into a salad. This is a great way
to add healthier options to your meal on the fly.

8. Soup in a box! There are delicious organic soups sold in cardboard
containers. Add a salad or a sandwich and you've got a quick, tasty, and
satisfying lunch in minutes.