1. Keeping your salad fresh for 4 days (or more). I make a huge salad on Sunday. I make sure all the veggies are dry and if using canned veggies (artichoke hearts, olives, etc) I make sure they are drained. I cut up the ingredients and place them in a big wooden bowl then I cover it with two to three paper towels. Please note: Do not put any dressing on the salad while storing. And now I have a salad for the week which I just portion out into my daily container and take to work.
2. Berries for my morning snack: I take a container of fresh berries for my morning snack. I wash and drain the berries. Line a glass bowl with a paper towel, put the berries in, top the bowl with two paper towels. I find that this keeps the fruit edible and unmoldy for three to four days.
3. Parchment paper is your friend. I use it lots for baking….why use extra grease or have to scrub the cookie sheets when you can line with parchment paper.
4. Trader Joe’s Savory Thin Mini Edamame Crackers make terrific bread crumbs. Just toss them into the food processor and crumble away.
5. As I don’t use any refined sugar I have found “XYLA” and it a terrific product as it replaces sugar in any recipes with 1 to 1 ratio. There is no aftertaste, it is not overly sweet like some sugar substitutes and no one can tell I didn’t bake with refined sugar. You can find XYLA at whole foods or you can go to their web site and order it like I do (https://store.xylitolusa.com). It safe for diabetics as well as those with hypoglycemia.
6. As a replacement for brown sugar I use Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, which I also get on line from Xylitol USA as it is also safe for diabetics and hypoglycemic and has a 1 to 1 replacement ratio.
7. Not all gluten free flours are created equal. I have found that Pamela’s brand of gluten free flours are the best. I use Pamela’s exclusively in all recipes calling for flour.
8. When roasting peppers or cooking bacon it is good to cook extra then store them in a Ziploc in the freezer so you can have it handy when you decide to cook a recipe spur of the moment. And since recipes usually call for only the use of one or two chipotle peppers take the remaining in the can, but 2 per Ziploc and freeze the remaining.