Tired Of Take-Out? Check Out These Simple Cooking Tips!

The ability to cook like a pro is a skill that will serve you well in life. Food prepared in your own kitchen is healthier, more tasty and lighter on your wallet.

If you are working on creating more home-cooked meals, try the library for cookbooks that offer a variety of easy recipes that will be fun to prepare. Pick a few simple, interesting recipes and work up to more elaborate dishes as your skills increase.

If you are going to make a stir-fry dish, slice the meat on the bias, as thinly as possible. This may take some patience and it can be a bit time-consuming. When the meat is partially frozen, slice it diagonally across the grain at a 45 degree angle.

If you put your meat in the freezer to make it a little hard, it will be easier to cut into thin strips. Certain dishes require thin strips of beef, chicken or pork. With meat that is somewhat frozen, the fibers tend not to stretch or tear as much when they are sliced, making for much cleaner cuts. Though before cooking the meat strips, make sure you let them thaw completely. This allows for even cooking.

To make your French fries crisper, try leaving the raw potatoes in some cold water for half an hour before you fry them. The fibers of raw cut potatoes that have been soaked in cold water prior to hitting the deep fryer, are stronger and can handle the heat better without breakage.

To maintain nutrients and color in your vegetables, quickly steam them until just crisp-tender. Vegetables that are slowly and thoroughly cooked, are less tasty and nutritious than vegetables that are cooked briefly. These cooking techniques make the vegetables more healthy overall. Cooking better vegetables is all about cooking them for the least amount of time possible.

Have you ever had a hard time figuring out the grilling time of your meat? It is recommended that you use a reliable meat thermometer to ensure proper cooking inside the meat; a digital thermometer would give you very accurate readings. If you have a thick slice of meat, one that is more than 1.5 inches in thickness, you may want to close the lid of the grill to have the meat cook faster.

Use these tips to brush up on your cooking skills and to learn new ways to make homemade meals. As you gain experience through practice, you'll realize how cost effective and delicious it can be to cook at home. And one of the best things about cooking your own food is you control things like fat, sugar and salt, so you family eats healthier. Cooking is fun, nutritious and delicious. Dig in!