Tips – Page 2 – in thriver words

Check The Recipe Twice

Before you begin cooking, pretend you’re Santa and check the recipe twice. My grandmother taught me to read all recipes before I start cooking, but when I have to purchase ingredients, once isn’t always enough.

Asian mother and daughter looking at recipe on laptop while preparing salad.

This week I have an assigned appetizer to prepare for a party. It’s not a Cooking2Thrive recipe or even one from my family stash. It’s something I’ve never prepared before. Without any idea how the dish tastes, and a prescribed expectation, I feel more compelled to avoid substitutions if possible.

Okay, in truth I’m always open to substitutions. I’m just trying to deliver what the party organizer is expecting. But I know me, so I can’t realistically assert I won’t have some last-minute inspiration I have to follow. Nonetheless, I plan to begin with the ingredients and amounts listed in the recipe she provided.

Gathering ingredients is one reason to check a recipe twice, but not the only one. I store my serving dishes in a less than airtight built-in china cabinet. (Pretty sure outside air leaks in through the ancient corners.) That means I have to choose and wash my serving dishes before I can use them.

I may even need to wash the baking dish I’ll use since those are stored in various locations and used with varying frequency. Checking the recipe helps me choose the dishes, tools, and serving utensils I need. Collecting and cleaning those in advance helps me stay on schedule the day of an event.

This week, I also have company coming so I want to minimize the time my party dish takes away from our time to do other things. Reading the recipe again lets me assess whether there are pieces of it I can prepare in advance without affecting the quality of the end product.

I this case, I’m making roasted garlic caprese dip. The thing that takes the most oven time is roasting the garlic and shallots. I can easily do this the day before, rewarm while I roast the tomatoes, and reduce the day of event time by 40 minutes. That’s 40 minutes my guests and I can spend in our favorite neighborhood bookstore.

Prepping some items in advance is a practice that can reduce stress any time you’re entertaining. I have chili in the freezer that I’ll thaw to serve my out-of-town guests. I’m going to add beans. They’re dried so they have to be soaked and cooked in advance as well. I’ll need to allow an overnight soak and about an hour for cooking. If you have an instant pot, you’ll need less time.

This morning, I’m checking the dip recipe against the ingredients in my shopping cart. I’ll check it again to make a timeline. And I’ll check it a third time when I gather my baking and serving dishes.

At the end of the week, I’ll be prepared to finish my dish in minimal time so I can enjoy my guests. All in all, I’ll most likely read the recipe four times. That’s just me. If the recipe is familiar, I’d be tempted to skip all but one, but experience tells me it’s good to check the recipe twice.

Time for Reflection

As December begins, we can create the time for reflection. The holidays are a great time to slow down, reflect on how things have gone, and determine some things we’d like to improve next year. Instead, we may get caught in a frenzy of holiday activities that keeps us running ourselves ragged. With a little effort now, you can prevent an avalanche of tasks that keep you from having time to reflect when you get a few days off.

Make a list and finish your shopping. If you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, finish it now. Today is Cyber Monday and a great time to find a discount. This task will go faster and remain more budget friendly if you make a list and stick to it.

Start wrapping immediately. You don’t have to wrap all the gifts in one day but start soon after you purchase them. Take an hour or two each night while you’re watching TV to wrap your gifts. You can make this task go faster by getting the children to help.

Cut decorations down to the essential. Use a lighted wreath on the door in place of strands of lights on the house. Hang stockings and decorate one tree, but forego garland, extra candles, Christmas villages, and extra trees.

Prepare the guest room. If you have people coming to stay, go ahead and locate the extra blankets and pillows. Locate the blowup beds. Change the linens or put them with the temporary mattresses to save time later.

Create a general menu. Once you have a sense of the items you want to serve, create a backward timeline that allows for bundling tasks, prepping, and/or freezing in advance.

Premix pancakes, waffles, biscuits, rolls, or cinnamon rolls. When you must avoid wheat or other grains, you can’t always pick up a mix or prepared product at the last minute. Instead of waiting until guests start arriving, premix the dry ingredients for baked goods you plan to make. Put the mixes in clearly labelled containers and print out, or bookmark, the recipes so you can finish them quickly.

Carefully choose parties. How many times have you attended some event that drains you? Perhaps you can forego some of the usual events in favor of greater investment in the ones that are meaningful.

Mix your friends. I had a friend who religiously refused to mix groups of friends. Ironically, most of us knew each other. When we gathered for his memorial party, it was easy to see how silly the rule had been. Minimize the number of days you’re busy by inviting groups you might not normally pair. You may discover they mesh wonderfully. If not, you’ll probably get an interesting story!

Practice mindfulness. If you hurry through the holidays or busy yourself to avoid bad memories or trauma triggers, this is a great time to ground and breathe.

Ditch regret. Some of us spend time and energy punishing ourselves for the things we regret. Spending time reflecting summons all those demons adding fuel to the flame. This is time and energy wasted. We all do things we regret. We can’t undo them. The best we can do is learn and do better next time.

Reflection is both a time to learn from mistakes and a time to revel in all the good, serendipitous, heartwarming things this year brought us. Fully embracing the good bolsters us for any difficulty we may face next year. Reflection is an excellent ingredient in the recipe for fortitude.

Gluten-Free Friendsgiving

Help your gluten-sensitive friends out with a gluten-free Friendsgiving. Using slight alterations, you can keep a traditional menu while making it safe for your gluten-sensitive friends. Here are some quick tips and tricks.

Overhead view of table with rolls, pumpkin pie, roll plates, hands, and maple leaves.

Make cornbread stuffing instead of bread stuffing. Cornbread stuffing is more common than bread stuffing in the South so this substitution is not a total break from tradition. Be sure not to add wheat flour to the cornbread or use a GF cornbread mix.

Use gluten-free soup in green bean casserole. You can make the soup or purchase a canned gluten-free version. Top the casserole with crushed potato chips or potato stix to add the crunch you’d normally get from French fried onions.

Leave off the bread crumbs. If another casserole calls for bread crumbs, substitute gluten-free ones, potato chips, potato stix, or cheese (if appropriate).

Offer vinegar and oil with salad. In addition to your favorite bottled dressing, include vinegar and oil as a safe gluten-free option.

Serve gravy on the side. If you don’t want to worry with gluten-free gravy, just serve it on the side rather than atop the food.

Use corn starch to thicken. Gravy and pie filling can be thickened with corn starch rather than flour and you probably already have some in your pantry. In reality, many pie filling recipes won’t have to be altered. And if you don’t want to use corn starch in gravy, get some sweet white sorghum flour to substitute for wheat flour.

Buy gluten-free dinner rolls. Truth is, most of us who are gluten-free are used to being flexible. You don’t have to have rolls available, but you can find yeast rolls on the Katz website https://katzglutenfree.com/ or at stores like Natural Grocers if you want to put some on the table.

Purchase a pre-made gluten-free pie crust. Don’t worry about buying gluten-free flour and making pie crust. There are several brands and several kinds of pre-made crusts available including cookie and graham cracker-like versions.

Make banana pudding. Desserts don’t get much easier than banana pudding. Use instant vanilla pudding, (check the label for safe ingredients) substitute heavy whipping cream for half the milk, layer the pudding and banana with gluten-free vanilla wafers or animal cookies. Boom – delicious dessert in minutes. If you want it to look fancier, you can always add some whipped cream on top.

Take a photo of the label. If you aren’t sure how to spot things that contain gluten when you’re reading a label, just take a photo of the label before you leave home with your dish so you can share it later if someone asks about ingredients.

Friendsgiving is about enjoying connections and expressing gratitude. Luckily, you don’t have to spend tons of extra time in the kitchen. Make these easy adjustments and enjoy your party!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Soup it Up and Save

Cold weather is time to soup it up and save! Not only is soup warm and comforting, it’s a great way to cut down food waste. With the high cost of food, it feels painful to even waste a morsel. If you’re not in the habit of making soup, we have a few tips to keep it delicious, nutritious, and budget friendly.

Three gold soups in small white bowls sitting on whitewashed board. Hand garnishing middle bowl.

Save vegetables

You may be in the habit of throwing away veggie waste, but some of it can be saved to add nutrition to soup.

Here are some commonly discarded items you can use.

Woody stems of asparagus
Mushroom stems
Misshapen ends of bell pepper
Outer leaves of brussels sprouts
Celery leaves
Carrot tops
Beet greens
Large broccoli stems
Cauliflower stems and leaves
Large stems from greens like chard or collard
Greens that are beginning to wilt
Stems of herbs

Save meat or poultry

If you’re wanting to create a flavorful broth, you can save fatty trimmings from chicken, beef, or pork to add to your pot.

You can also add leftover meat to soups and stews. Just chop and place in the pot for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Save broth and pot likker

Save broth left from cooking beans, peas, greens, or potatoes. This can be used as a base for your soup or for additional flavor.

Save Time

It’s not necessary to chop veggies like broccoli stems or celery tops into bite-size pieces. You can use items to flavor the soup then remove them before serving.

Use a slow cooker. Soups are best when they have a chance to slowly simmer. That doesn’t mean you have to be home to enjoy the aroma. Throw everything in a slow cooker and go away. You’ll have a flavorful broth and tender meat when you return. Any vegetables that are too done for your taste can be removed with a slotted spoon. You can then transfer your soup into a pan, bring to a boil, add frozen vegetables, and cook for five minutes before serving.

Start with boxed chicken broth, beef broth, or vegetable broth. You don’t have to cook from scratch to make a delicious, hearty soup. Begin with store-bought broth, strained tomatoes, tomato juice, or canned pumpkin. Make potato soup using mashed potatoes from the store. With sufficient herbs, spices, and vegetables you can dilute these bases with generous amounts of water, milk, or cream to create a flavorful soup.

When there’s no time to simmer, use the microwave, boxed broth, rotisserie chicken, and frozen vegetables. Or make a quick tomato soup using strained tomatoes, and Italian spices. Add a few leftover meatballs for more umph.

Change it up

Soups are versatile and easy to change with minor adjustment. Rev up basic chicken soup with a bit of coconut oil, curry powder, honey, and frozen English peas.

Add a peeled, thinly sliced sweet potato to chicken soup. Allow it to break down and thicken the soup.

Consider seasoning soup with fresh grated nutmeg, ginger root, turmeric root, cilantro, pesto, bay leaves, lemon, lime, honey, maple syrup, or balsamic vinegar.

Add some milk or cream to tomato soup. Top soup with a pat of butter for added richness.

Serve a cold soup when least expected as long as there’s a cozy fire to warm the room.

Add rice, noodles, or lentils to give the soup a new feel.

With winter approaching, upcoming holiday gifts to buy, and high grocery prices, there couldn’t be a better time to soup it up and save!