Tips and Tricks for Cooking at Home

If you knew the key to saving more money and staying healthy, and it only took a few changes to your life to do it, wouldn't you want to try? You might be surprised to learn your kitchen is actually a goldmine.

Americans spend nearly 50 percent of their food budget eating out, according to the National Restaurant Association. If you don't think you spend this much, take a couple of weeks and save all your receipts. Then go through and add up the money spent at restaurants, drive-throughs or coffee pit-stops. You might be surprised to see how much you actually spend.

Financial costs aren't the only problem. The cost to your health is another major concern. More than 30 percent of American adults are obese, reports the American Heart Association. People who are obese can contract many illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and other chronic health conditions.

Go back to the receipts you saved and pick one out. Think about why you went out on this particular day. What was going on? Why did you choose to go out to eat? Thinking about the "why" can help you learn to change your behavior.

"Two people with children tend to find that they are so busy, they end up making the same thing over and over and over, or they aren't eating healthy and end up eating out three to four times a week," said Chef Shirle' Hale-Koslowski. Chef Shirle' is an affordable personal chef based in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and runs Four Corners Cuisine, (fourcornerscuisine.com); she has spent nearly a decade helping people who don't have time to cook by going to homes and cooking enough meals for two weeks.

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"Many people who want to eat better don't know how," she explained. After spending time with many clients who are fed up with the drain on their budget caused by eating out, as well as health concerns, Shirle' has a lot of advice for a beginning cook. She's even helped a family of carbophobic vegetarians who don't like vegetables. (She mostly cooks them beans.)

Now, if you're ready to cut way down on eating out, you need a new plan, namely, cooking for yourself and your family. Start by determining what kinds of cuisine you and your family prefer, for example, Italian or Indian. Then, find out what kinds of ingredients your family doesn't like. A common food dislike is onions. Solve this problem by using alternative flavorings, like onion granules or powders, or replace it with garlic or another ingredient as appropriate.

Try Something New
But one important thing to do as you learn to cook at home is to try new things. This can be difficult if you have never liked something, but chances are, you can trace your dislike back to a memory of a bad meal associated with the ingredient. For example, many people believe they won't like beets, but they're thinking of pickled beets in a can, ala 1950s-style. Try cooking an ingredient you don't like in a different way from how you associate with it. One of Shirle's most popular dishes is an easy and delicious honey roasted beet recipe, which you can find at the end of this article.

If there are kids in your family, it can be a challenge to get them to try new recipes and new foods. Chef Shirle' has seen many families whose children follow the behavior of the adults in the family. Without ever having tried something, the children believe they won't like it because their parents don't. Keep this in mind when trying new things with them. You can also make it a game by having them pick out a recipe or an ingredient never tried, which gives them a little control over the process.

Freeze It
Shirle' recommends one of her tactics as a way for busy cooks to handle meals. It is possible to cook everything for up to a week or longer in advance, perhaps on the day the shopping is done. Make what you cook stretch by doubling the amount; for example, if you are cooking for four, make enough for eight and then freeze leftovers.

If you spend just three hours a week cooking, you can freeze almost everything you make. When you need it later in the week, just put it in the oven or microwave it. There are techniques to cooking and freezing, however, in making sure the food still tastes great after being frozen. The thing to remember, Shirle' said, is moisture content. A chicken breast cooked and put into the freezer without any kind of moisture will dry out when warmed up. Add some sauce, then freeze the meat, and it will be juicy and delicious.

Another trick Shirle' suggests is undercooking everything a bit so when it is reheated, it finishes cooking and tastes great, even after emerging from the freezer. Consider doing this with pasta, which will be mushy if you fully cook it, freeze it and reheat it. Meat will also do better if you try undercooking it.

When freezing meat, you can give it a quick sear in a pan, add the sauce, allow it to cool, and freeze it. Then, on the day you plan to eat it, remove it from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw during the day. Finally, when you're ready to serve it, reheat it in the microwave or the oven. Consider freezing food in glass dishes so you can put them right in the oven. Be sure to use freezer bags or proper packaging material and also labeling the food with dates will help with the organization of your freezer, too.

Keep It On Hand
Plan ahead by having some staples in your pantry on hand. Get a well-rounded collection of spices. If you buy in bulk from spice bins available at some of the specialty grocery stores, you can save some money. Having vinegar, soy sauce, breadcrumbs (or Japanese panko crumbs), along with varieties of rice and pasta, can be very useful around the kitchen as well.

Shirle' also recommends having lemons on hand for zesting. Lemon zest is the yellow part of the peel, which has a citrus flavor - the bitterness comes from the white part, so be careful to avoid that. A lemon zester is a tool to help you capture the yellow part of the peel, but you can also use a vegetable peeler, sharp knife or a cheese grater for grated peel.

Shirle' adds lemon zest to a lot of her dishes, and thinks it adds flavor as well as salt does. In fact, she said, "If I was stranded on a desert island, I'd want a lemon zester."

Using these tactics, you can cut way down on your food budget, because buying groceries is significantly cheaper than ordering out. Plus, it puts you in control of your health and what you're eating. You may begin to save so much money that you won't want to eat out at all.

Honey Roasted Beets
by Chef Shirle' Koslowski

4 med. beets, peeled and cut into 8 wedges each
1 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. olive oil
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350

Place all the ingredients in a bowl, toss well making sure to coat the beets.
Pour into a casserole dish that has been sprayed with oil.
Cover dish with lid or tin foil.
Roast for 20-30 minutes until fork tender.

Serve as a side with your favorite meats or fish.

Serves 6