Cooking is usually considered as a therapeutic and enjoyable activity. But for a lot of people it is just a daily chore. Especially for those who are working individuals as they have to rush through the day and barely get time to cook and prep their meals. But regardless of whether cooking is a hobby for you or a chore or even if you’re a part of the culinary industry, everybody enjoys and even has some hacks to make the whole process of making a meal easier. Popularly known as ‘food hacks’, these are clever hacks and tips to cook conveniently and even reduce the cooking time as well as try out new simple recipes that are quick to make. Right from chopping the ingredients to boiling and cooking them, these are a few hacks that will make life easier for you.
- We All Scream For Ice-Cream:
Don’t have an ice cream maker? Well, we have an easy, affordable and super delicious hack to make ice cream at home and what’s more? The recipes here are both vegetarian and vegan. For the vegetarian recipe, you’ll need whipped cream, condensed milk and dark chocolate. Heat the dark chocolate with condensed milk and set aside to cool once melted. In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks. Mix the whipped cream with the melted condensed milk and chocolate mixture and freeze for at least 4-6 hours. The vegan recipe is super simple and delectable as well. All you need is bananas, peanut butter and cocoa powder. Freeze the bananas and then blend them with peanut butter and cocoa powder and freeze again for 1-2 hours and enjoy!
- When Life Gives You Lemons…:
Generally, when removing the lemon juice, we cut the lemon into halves and just squeeze the juice. But this technique won’t actually give you all the juice from the lemon. Instead, roll the lemon before cutting them for 5-10 seconds on a flat surface, and then cut and squeeze the lemon and this way, you can get a lot more juice from it.
- DO NUT WASTE:
When extracting milk from almonds don’t throw the pulp from the almonds; instead, dry them and then use it as almond flour for later use to make goodies like macaroons etc.
- Cake By The Ocean:
….Or the kitchen counter? Out of eggs but still craving a spongy cake? Here’s a perfect solution for you! Make any homemade or store bought cake mix spongy without eggs by just replacing eggs with soda. You can add Cola flavoured sodas in chocolate cakes, flavourless soda for a basic sponge or you could even mix and match the flavour of sodas with the flavour of cake depending on your preferences. The choices are endless.
- Just Beat It:
Or Dont. Another way to avoid eggs in baked goodies is replacing egg whites with aquafaba. Aquafaba is nothing but the water that comes in a can of beans. It is the perfect substitute for egg whites to indulge in treats such as meringues and you needn’t worry about your dish tasting of beans as the flavour goes away once it is baked.
- Tastes So Grape:
Freeze fresh grapes in the freezer as it intensifies the taste of sugar in the fruit and gives the feeling of enjoying a popsicle and is perfect for a low calorie yet satisfying ice candy like treat.
- Fry Me A River:
What to do when hunger pangs hit you and make you hangry? Dont fret and just make a super quick and delicious snack using just bread and cheese. Take a slice of bread, place a cheese single on top and add a small amount of mozzarella in the middle and season it with some salt, pepper and herbs of your choice. Carefully roll these slices and then fry them to enjoy these easy cheesy sticks.
- Ice Ice Baby:
Tired of bending your spoon while trying to scoop out ice cream out of a freezer? Here’s a hack that will not melt your ice cream but still keep it soft as when you first open it. Just store your ice cream in a sealable bag and enjoy devouring soft, creamy ice cream every single time.
- Wave Me Up:
Don’t throw out herbs that start to wilt, instead, place these leftover herbs between two paper towels and microwave them for a minute or so and get instant dry herbs that retain their colour as well as their flavour.
- Shake It Up:
Whip up your heavy cream in a jar using this 3 ingredient method. Use a cup of heavy cream, a teaspoon of vanilla along with a teaspoon of icing sugar and just shake the jar for 1-2 minutes and voila instant whipped cream! Serve it with your favourite sweet treats and enjoy!
(As Compiled By Prerna Mistry)
