Food Hacks Features
How To: The Secret to Making Deliciously Soft Cookies Is Cake Mix
This is the easiest cookie batch you'll ever bake, I promise. And no, take-and-bake cookie dough doesn't count. With this recipe, it'll take you less than 20 minutes to go from your sad, cookie-less life to cookies in your absolute favorite flavor... of cake.
Halloween Food Hacks: How to Make Shrunken Heads Out of Apples & Potatoes
A great Halloween party depends on the right spooky ambience. Having some shrunken heads in strategic locations is an easy, fun way to get your guests in the right (frightened) frame of mind, and they require items you can easily find in your kitchen or at the local grocery store.
Ingredients 101: How to Salt Your Food Like the Pros
In order to make your food taste good, your favorite restaurant is most likely using way more salt than you think they are (among other pro secrets). Which is why when you ask just about any professional cook what the biggest problem with most home-cooked meals are, they almost always answer that they're "undersalted" or "underseasoned." (In cooking lingo, to "season" food means to salt it.)
How To: 12 More Delicious Reasons to Dust Off Your Waffle Maker
Your waffle maker might just be the most underutilized tool in your kitchen. This one appliance can make bacon, eggs, hash browns, cupcakes, falafel, mac and cheese, and cinnamon rolls much more quickly and with less mess than traditional methods. Plus, the results all come out waffle-shaped—what's not to love?
How To: Take Your Brownies to the Next Level with Add-Ins & Toppings
The decadent, chewy, fresh-from-the-oven brownie is a classic American dessert. US History Scene states that the first brownies ever made were a result of socialite Bertha Potter Palmer's request of her chef at Chicago's Palmer House Hotel in 1893 "to create a dessert that could be tucked into a box lunch for ladies to eat while attending the Columbian Exposition."
How To: Make Hasselback Potatoes (& Other Amazing Baked Spuds)
Potatoes are one of cheapest, most nutritious whole foods that you can make and eat. Is it any wonder you can find budget-friendly, low-fat potatoes in every cuisine in the world?
How To: The Tricks to Making Boxed Mac & Cheese Even Better
For foods that encompass both tastiness and convenience, it's hard to beat boxed mac and cheese. Mac and cheese in a box takes 15 minutes to make, dirties only one dish, requires no skill, costs only two bucks, and is, despite all of the above, wildly delicious. Yet it can get even more delicious just by adding a few more ingredients.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Bone Marrow, the Food That Tastes a Lot Better Than It Sounds
I was a vegetarian from age 6 until age 23. When I started eating meat again for the first time in 17 years, most people I knew (including me) expected me to be pretty conservative about it: chicken breasts, hot dogs, and all the other "basic" meats that everyone loves.
How To: Make Instant 'Aged' Bourbon Out of the Cheap Stuff
Step aside, vodka—whiskey will soon be the best-selling hard liquor in the United States. The whiskey renaissance has been largely attributed to the current trend for locally- and artisan-produced goods. Local whiskey distilleries are rapidly increasing in number across the nation while bars in every state are including the old-fashioned cocktail on their menus in an attempt to capitalize on the trend (which we can probably thank Mad Men for).
How To: The Easiest, Best Way to Keep Soft Herbs Fresh for Months
There are a lot of reasons for wanting to make sure your herbs last a long time. Maybe you know that your grocery store won't have decent parsley in the winter. Maybe you're taking a last-minute trip and don't want to throw away your perfect batch of basil. Or perhaps you're simply like me, and buy a dozen different herbs at the farmer's market, only to remember that you can't make it through all of them before they go bad.
News: 13 Delicious Egg-in-the-Hole Remixes You Gotta Try
Okay, so you've read our guide on how to make the perfect poached egg. Maybe you've also read our tutorials on making great hard-boiled eggs and even scrambled hard-boiled eggs. Now comes the question: what's next?
Prebiotics & Probiotics: What Foods Have Them & Why You Need More in Your Diet
Just what are probiotics and why are they so good for you? Probiotics are "viable microorganisms" that can confer lots and lots of health benefits if they reach your intestine while they're alive. You may have heard them described as "friendly bacteria."
How To: Turn Boring Ol' Cauliflower into Delicious Pizza Crust, Chips, & Fried 'Rice'
Many of you have heard of "ricing" cauliflower. If you haven't, you're missing out making this one-note vegetable into a variety of main and side dishes. The ricing process is so simple, fast, and easy that even the most novice cook can swing this. One you complete this prep step, you will have an ingredient so versatile that you can easily fool your kids into eating their veggies without them ever knowing it.
How To: For Perfect Sunny-Side Up Eggs Every Time, Whisk Them (Seriously)
Don't Miss: How to Make Perfect Poached Eggs, Every Single Time
How To: Make Whiskey Ball Ice Without a Mold
If there's a better way to impress your friends than with cocktails, I don't know what it is. Some nice glasses, quality spirits, and a recipe that doesn't involve pre-made margarita mix, and you'll automatically look suave. However, the most overlooked cocktail accoutrement (and the coolest, in both senses) is the ice.
How To: Skip the Canned Crap—Microwave Your Own Pumpkin Purée Instead
Maybe you decided to make your own pumpkin pureé because of all the buzz about canned pumpkin actually being squash (which, by the way, is a load of bull: it's made with ugly pumpkins, but pumpkins nonetheless). Or maybe you just wanted to be that person that proudly proclaims that they made everything from scratch for their Thanksgiving feast this year (ahem, me).
How To: Lasagna Soup, Plus Other Yummy Ways to Use Lasagna Noodles
Lasagna, that layered, creamy baked pasta dish, is a lovely comfort food that's great for a crowd. But if you've ever made it, then you know you're usually left with some leftover lasagna noodles. (Although that's always better than the frustration of running out of the noodles while you're still making a traditional lasagna.) Still, what do you do when you're still left with a bowlful of the wide ribbons?
How To: Why Opened Wine Doesn't Last Long (& How to Change That)
Bad news, guys. The shelf life for liquor leftovers does not apply to your two-buck chuck. While an opened bottle of your favorite whiskey will stay respectable for ages thanks to its high ABV (which makes it inhospitable to outside elements), an opened bottle of merlot will sour quickly. However, it turns out that red and white wines have different life spans once they're opened—for reasons which we'll cover below.
How To: Make the World's Easiest Salad Dressing (No Seeding or Peeling Necessary)
In my family, if a food could be made instead of bought, it was made. It wasn't until I went to college and started eating dorm food that I tasted the store-bought versions of many kitchen staples. I quickly learned that there is an enormous quality difference between homemade dressing and the kind that comes in a bottle at the supermarket.
How To: 10 Food Hacks for Making Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Every Time
Everyone and his mother (and grandmother) has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that he swears is the absolute best recipe, guaranteed to produce a chocolate chip cookie so good it will make you weep with joy. The problem with that is that everyone—relatives included—has a different idea of exactly what constitutes a perfect chocolate chip cookie.
How To: These Easy Hacks Transform Trader Joe's Frozen Foods into Gourmet Feasts
If you have a local Trader Joe's, you know first-hand how enchanting the frozen aisles are—almost every item offers the promise of a delicious meal or dessert. (We're always tempted to open the package and eat the cookie butter cheesecake, stat.)
How To: Remove Seeds from a Pomegranate Like a Boss
Despite its deliciousness, the pomegranate is one of the hardest fruits to eat. Once you cut it open, the seeds are stuck behind a bitter-tasting white membrane, and trying to pull them out with your fingers just results in a huge mess.
How To: Revolutionize Your Coffee Game with These Cold Brew Hacks
Summer is right around the corner, which means it's time to switch from perfect hot coffee to perfect cold coffee. A nice icy glass of cold coffee is wildly refreshing and just plain delicious. In my opinion, it's the key to enjoying any sunny day (warning: if you don't already drink cold coffee, you may find yourself drinking four or five glasses a day very quickly).
How To: Make Disneyland's Famous Dole Whip at Home Using Only 2 Ingredients
A visit to Disneyland is not complete without a trip to the Tiki Juice Bar where the famous Dole Whip soft serve dessert resides. These golden swirls of frozen pineapple-y goodness are an essential part of any magical visit.
How To: Could This Clever Trick Really Keep Bacon from Shrinking?
Part of the reason bacon tastes so good is because of its high fat content, but that also means that it shrinks significantly when you cook it. How much it shrinks depends on how fatty it is and what method you use to cook it. Bacon cooked on the stovetop shrinks quite a bit more than bacon that's baked in the oven. DIY blog Franalan tested a Pinterest tip that claimed rinsing bacon under cold water before cooking it could reduce the shrinkage by up to 50 percent. Yes, we just wrote about how...
How To: 10 Extreme Hot Dog Hacks That Make Ketchup & Mustard Obsolete
We've always loved a good summertime hot dog, placed lovingly in a soft simple bun with ample ketchup and mustard. But after eating hot dogs this way and this way alone for the majority of our lives, we grew tired of the same old thing.
How To: 5 Easy Velveeta-Free Cheese Dips for Your Super Bowl Party
Personally, I think Velveeta is pretty gross. Nothing about its texture, flavor, or color resembles real cheese. But your taste in cheese isn't the important part—what matters is having something good to eat while you watch the game.
How To: Stop Drinking Sports Drinks & Start Spitting Them Out Instead
Whether you're a serious, sweating athlete or just need to recover after a night of drinking, chances are you've replenished your body's fluids with a sports drink at some point. Those electrolytes aren't the only thing entering your systems, though. Sports drinks are sugary, sweet, and loaded with calories—but there's a way you can still recharge your body without ingesting the unhealthy additives.
News: Turn Your Dining Room into a Restaurant with These Copycat Chain Favorites
I recently wrote about fast food fakeouts you can make at home, but people cannot live off fast food alone. Sometimes you need to step up your game a little and enjoy the fare at a popular chain restaurant with a bit more variety to its menu.
How To: The Easiest Way to Prep, Peel, & Cube a Butternut Squash for Your Favorite Fall Recipes
Fall is the season of obnoxious food trends. You can't go out to eat or to the grocery store without seeing something pumpkin spice- or candy corn-flavored. Less annoying, but equally prevalent is the butternut squash. For the next several months, we will be pelted with recipes for butternut squash soup, butternut squash risotto, stuffed butternut squash... and the list goes on. Butternut squash is everywhere. But how many people actually know how to prep the stuff?
How To: Make Homemade Nutella (That's Better Than the Real Stuff)
It is a universal truth that Nutella is the nectar of the gods. It takes the already delicious (e.g., sandwiches, cupcakes, or even bacon), and turns it into something magical. Everyone also knows homemade is always better. So if you're looking to step up your baking game, follow these instructions from Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio and make your very own Nutella!
How To: 10 Cookout Tricks That'll Make You a Seasoned Grill Master
Barbecue season: it's the perfect time to play with fire, produce your best burger ever (until next year, that is), and find even more ways to make beer a part of your daily life. However, even a grilling badass occasionally gets stumped by minor BBQ problems. No worries: We've got solutions!
How To: Kill Your Cold Naturally with These 5 Common Ingredients
Uh-oh: you wake up one morning with the telltale signs that you are coming down with something. Your throat is sore, you can barely breathe out of your nose, and you have a nagging cough.
How To: Make This Spicy Korean Pork Stew with Only 3 Ingredients (And Almost No Effort)
You either love kimchi or you hate it, but for those of us who love it, its salty, briny, spicy crunch is the stuff of life. Honestly, if you're not eating it regularly, you should start, since it's being studied for an amazing list of health benefits, including anti-cancer, anti-aging, and antioxidant properties; obesity and high cholesterol prevention; and promotion of immunity and skin health. The beauty of kimchi is manifold:
How To: Get Your Master Griller's License with These BBQ Tips
We love standing around a barbecue with an icy cold beverage in hand, enjoying the delicious smell of smoky food and chit-chatting with pals. Grilling season — it's our favorite time of the year.
How To: 5 Baking Substitutions Every Home Cook Should Know
Few things in life are as relaxing and enjoyable as baking. When I'm having a bad day, I make cookies. When I'm stressed out, I bake a cake. When I have a free Sunday with nothing to do but listen to music and drink coffee, I bake a tart or a batch of cupcakes.
How To: Cut a Pineapple - Quick and Easy Way
Do you want to learn how to cut a pineapple the quick and easy way. This video will show you how easy this is to do.
News: Use Blood for Pancakes, Sausages, Desserts & More
Cooking with animal blood is as old as civilization itself. I promise that your ancient ancestors, no matter where you're from, didn't have the luxury of throwing away any part of the animal, including the very lifeblood that used to run through it. Animal blood, along with everything but the skin, would invariably end up in the stew.
How To: When You Can't Sleep, Eat This
Being able to sleep deeply and fully is one of the foundations for real health. When you go without it, you feel subhuman and incapable of dealing with the world—just ask a student who's had to pull an all-nighter or the parents of a newborn. In fact, many studies have shown that lack of sleep or irregular sleep is linked to acne, weight gain, and depression.
How To: Food Hacks from Our Facebook Fans
We're always looking for great food hacks to help us become better cooks who can create delicious food with less waste, fuss, and hassle. You never know where the next good tip will come from, so we've all learned to keep our eyes and ears wide open.