Tips & Tricks for Making the Kitch Your…

Whaaaaaat?

Let’s face it…as much as I admired them as a knobby-kneed pigtail-wearing little squirt, I will NEVER be the Disney Princess type…well, unless somebody comes up with a pirate princess or something! Hmm, that’s now there’s an interesting visual.

Anywho…ADD moments aside, it looks we have some real meal-prepping MACHINES out there! I’m just happy to join in and I hope that this marvelous motivation keeps playing out or I may have to resort to sparklifying all my foodie pics in order to distract you guys from my laziness! ๐Ÿ˜‰

And speaking of sparkles…

Rainbow Salsa Title

I’m willing to bet this BRIGHT bowl of deliciousness is to thank for my SPARK of energy in the kitchen this weekend. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Like I said, I was going for just plain ol’ peach salsa, until I had the GENIUS idea to add ย bloobs (not to be confused with chicken titties). Then, once I saw all that color, it only made sense to add the fresh corn I’d almost forgotten about been saving for a special occasion.

Which brings me to my FIRST kitchen trick:ย 

Ever try to cut corn off the cob and basically find yourself transported to World War P (as in produce) where kernels are popping off in the air like wildfire? Well, I have a way to keep you safe from that friendly fire…

How To Easily Remove Corn from the Cob!

โ™ซย I like big BUNDTS and I cannot lie!ย โ™ซ

Wait, wtf? I mean, yeah…so anyway…do yourself a favor and grab a bundt (OR if you have company in the kitch and can also grab a BUTT but I’ll warn you that doing so may delay your meal-prepping efforts…just promise me you’ll remember to turn off the stove first! ;)). Omg, ADD…staaaaaaaap! Ok, so grab a bundt PAN, stick your cob in the hole…ahhhh!

Must…resist…urge…to…make…obscene…comments! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Using a very sharp knife, shave the corn kernels off in a downward motion and watch in sheer delight as all those babies fall exactly where you want them too…then giggle over the fact that you’ve got a corn cob up your BUNDT! ๐Ÿ˜‰

As for my NEXT trick…

For all you pickle lovers out there like me who may or may not be quite intimidated by the whole canning process, I HAVE the answer…

Fridge Pickles

Next time you finish up a jar of pickles, do NOT pour out that sweet beautiful brine! Instead, slice up a cucumber (or an onion, or a BEET, or anything else your picklin’ heart desires!), pop those slices in said jar, twist on the lid, and dance your way to the fridge knowing that come tomorrow…

Fridge Pickles Jar

You’ll be tickled PICKLED pink!

And while we’re getting down with our produce and proving to ourselves that we did NOT overdo it at the farmer’s market last weekend, how about we turn our attention to some beautifulย to-MAY-toes?

Tomatoes with Seeds

If you stare at this picture long enough, they kinda start to look like alien faces. But I have a quick fix for that bit of paranoia…

Tomatoes without Seeds

Take a teaspoon and pluck out all their eyes seeds! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Seriously, until a quick Google search, I wasn’t really sure what the best way to seed a tomato was…it couldn’t be easier!ย Do that about 39576 times…ok, so maybe it was only like six…throw them in a pot with an onion the size of a cantaloupe, a few other things and you get THIS:

Homemade Marinara - Chunky

Behold, my very FIRST…completely HO-made…pahhhhhhsta sauce!

I’ve made my own sauce a few times from canned tomatoes and tomato paste and of course, “doctored up” more than a few mediocre jarred varieties, but this was my first time EVER making it completely from scratch…and I couldn’t believe how easy it was! Basically, I just eye-balled everything and added more seasoning as I went according to taste. After it was done cooking, I decided to put my immersion blender to good use and that chunky pot got a little makeover (and a bit of food styling ;))…

Homemade Marinara Sauce

And came out as a thin and sexy CREAMY sauce!

I haven’t quite decided what I’m going to do with it yet…fulfill my original plan to make some sort of eggplant lasagna, freeze it, or go to the store, buy two loaves of garlic bread, and go to town, but I’ll be sure to keep ya posted! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Super Simple Pasta Sauce

By:ย Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1.5 hours

Keywords: saute stovetop dairy-free vegetarian vegan tomatoes Italian summer

Ingredients (5 cups)

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cups diced onion
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 8 oz can of tomato paste (optional for thickening)

Instructions

1. Set a deep pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil and allow to come to temperature.
2. Once hot, add onions and garlic and saute until tender.
3. Reduce temperature to low, add the remaining ingredients, cover and allow to simmer for 1-1.5 hours.
4. If a creamier sauce is desired, use an immersion blender to liquify.
5. Add to your favorite pasta dish or as a pizza sauce OR allow to cool completely before transferring to bowls/jars and freezing for later use.

Powered by Recipage

Oh, and another thing that was so super easy I could KICK myself for not doing sooner…cooking the wheat berries that have been in my pantry for over TWO FRICKIN’ YEARS!ย Seriously, after 10 minutes of oven toasting and 30 minutes of hot tub action, they went from this…

Wheat Berries - Uncooked

To this!

Wheat Berries - Cooked

Just let me warn you that when you have wheat berries cooking, pasta sauce simmering, and eggs boiling, it’s of MAJOR importance to pay attention to which burners are which…

Pot Holder Burn

Because here it is two days later, my house STILL smells like burnt tires, and I’m pretty sure my risk for lung cancer has increased ten percent! I swear, I will NEVER learn!ย ๐Ÿ˜‰

It’s a small price to pay though when a foodie’s on a mission.

Grains

The “Clean Out the Kitchen Collections” mission! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Sadly, that isn’t even ALL the grains I’ve been hoarding collecting over the past few years, but I’m being all official and stuff and announcing it on the blog! Mark my words…I WILL make a dent in this collection before the end of the year!

Annnnd, thanks to my ADD, I’ve made this post even LONGER than yesterday! With that, I’m over and OUT!

Any tips or tricks to share with the class?

Who wants to join me with a little end of the year resolution?
Accountability people…ACCOUNTABILITY! ๐Ÿ˜‰

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28 Responses to Tips & Tricks for Making the Kitch Your…

  1. Haha love that you are cleaning / eating your way through your pantry. I’ve got cans and cans of baked beans but I don’t like the chances of me actually getting into them anytime soon ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Love your ho…me made pasta sauce!

  2. Good tricks girly ๐Ÿ™‚ You show that kitchen (and those grains) whose boss! Crack that whip

  3. I am LOVING these tricks, especially the pickle one! I can’t wait to try it!

  4. Okay, that corn on the cob/bundt trick is genius. My only beef with it is the fact that eating the corn straight off the cob and getting the kernels stuck in your teeth is half the experience! Buuuuut if we -have- to keep things classy, I guess we can do it your way ๐Ÿ˜›

    My best kitchen tip would probably be to store jars of natural nut butters upside down to prevent the oil separation nonsense. As much as I love busting out the new jars, I HATE having to stir them… talk about a messy arm workout. But storing them upside down helps minimize that… its magically wonderful ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. I LOVE Israeli couscous! Feel free to send my way if you can’t use it… ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I’ve never tried it before! I was just intrigued by the name, the fact that it was in whole wheat, and that I found it at Big Lots for like three bucks! Lol

  6. Just pinned that pasta sauce. Looks delicious! I always buy a million things (health food stores will get ya!) at the grocery store and never end up using them either. You’ve inspired me to put a dent in my pantry, too ๐Ÿ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      That’s awesome…we can do this! And YOU’VE helped me not feel so bad about accruing so much stuff! Haha!

  7. Haha when it comes to humour, this post is just my style ๐Ÿ˜‰ And I love the corn cob trick! I always eat mine right off the cob, but Eric always cuts the kernels off of his (force of habit as a braces-wearing teenager, I assume) aaaaaand then we have to clean the counter because there’s kernels everywhere.

    And I’ve never actually tried making wheat berries at home! I actually only have grain and cornmeal at home as grain sources, so I think I should get on that ๐Ÿ˜‰

  8. Lisa says:

    Whattt. These tricks are awesome and I’m totally trying them out soon! Especially this pickle trick. I like that one a lot.
    I absolutely hate corn straight off the cob – unless it’s cut off, which is usually too much work for myself… so I may actually be able to eat corn more often using that trick.
    Kind of excited.

  9. The pickle trick is awesome!!! I bet that would be awesome with carrots… or any veggie!

    My trick: you can freeze anything. Avocados, bananas, onions… ever apples. Anything.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh God, you should SEE my freezer! They had a mega sale on bananas one day last year at Sam’s (50 CENTS per bunch!) and I’m STILL eating those things! haha! Damn, I should have frozen the apples I had in the fridge before I left this weekend…hopefully they’re still okay when I get back from my trip! :-/ And so far, I’ve tried the pickle trick with onions and beets and it’s worked great!

  10. Emily says:

    These are actually SO helpful for me! Especially the tomato trick. I’ve been dying for a good, easy way to seed a tomato. Thank you!

    And I’m gonna try pickling some cabbage that way! Yeee!

  11. You are filthy and I love it.

    An extra tip when dealing with removing corn from the cob: after you scraped off the kernels, run the back of your knife down the length of the cob slowly and deliberately….where was I? Oh, the cob, yes. This actually removes the corn juice, which is where most of the flavor is…hooray for corn juice, fresh from the cob.

    Great tip(s). ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Hahahahaha! And what’s even worse? I did a double take with the last part of your comment…I thought you said “great TITS”! ๐Ÿ˜†

  12. I feel many of your posts should start with a warning lol- but I love it haha!

    That is so creative with the bundt cake corn trick- never thought of that. I don’t really have any unique tricks but if you’d ever like an upper body workout, clean a George Foreman grill. You do ‘face pulls’ when you do the first clean, then you do 1 armed rows when you scrub each little bit’ then after washing it 1000 times, you do bent over rows shaking the damn thing dry.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Hahaha! Glad I haven’t scared you away yet!

      And seriously, love the “workout”! Oh god, I do NOT miss my Foreman grill AT ALL! I ditched it a few years ago and opted for a grill/frying pan…so much easier since I can just plop the whole thing in the sink!

  13. Um, THANK YOU for showing me how to seed a tomato. I’ve been doing it in the most inefficient way possible for the past few years haha. I don’t know why I never thought of your way!

    One of my favourite kitchen tips is to grate cold butter into the flour when making biscuits and pie crusts rather than trying to cut it with a pastry cutter!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh wow! That’s a GREAT idea! Especially since I broke my pastry cutter the last time I was using it! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ

  14. I like simple. And tomatoes. I have made a plan to make real dinnery food more now so yeah, I’m diggin your sauce ๐Ÿ™‚ It’s pasta timeee.

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  17. Okay, so I think I got a lot from this post. I’m going to shove a corn cob up my bundt, shave it clean, then lap up the thick and creamy sauce? Yeah?

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