#vveggication

1) Tongs can be used to juice a lemon

Using kitchen tongs allows you to get more juice rather than using your hands. You get more juice & your hands aren’t crampy. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

2) Grill your fish on top of a bed of lemons to infuse the fish. This also stops the fish from sticking to the grill. 

I love grilled fish. It’s SO delicious and it’s easy to make. Well, it’s easy when your fish doesn’t stick to the grill. I’d say that this is the most delicious trick to not have your fish stick because the bed of lemons adds such an amazing flavor to the fish. You just slice the lemons and place them on the surface to be cooked. If you’re grilling, you would put them on the grill bars. If you’re baking, you would put them on the baking sheet. If you have portions of fish, just place two lemon slices under each piece. Another great thing about this life hack is that you can cook at the usual temperature. 

3) Put ice cream containers in a zip lock bag and it will stay as soft as when you first opened it! 

Ice cream is a very popular summer treat (you probably already know this) and it can get annoying when your ice cream container feels like a frozen dessert brick. Storing your ice cream containers in a ziplock bag will allow you to scoop it out so much easier, so bye bye dessert brick. Hehe!

4) You can perfectly dice your avocado with a potato masher for guac. 

5) Freeze lemons and water in cupcake tins for large ice cubes. 

I am a big fan of lemon water. It’s super refreshing and it taste really good. It’s a great way to give your water some flavor, but a pitcher full of water and lemon slices needs to be emptied asap. If you don’t, then you’ll have yourself some bitter water. Try freezing lemon slices in ice using a cupcake pan for large lemon infused ice cubes. These will add so much flavor to water and other drinks. You may be thinking, “Valencia, I can do this with a regular ice cube tray why do I need to use a big cupcake tin?” Well, using a cupcake baking sheet lets you get entire lemon slices in your ice cubes and freezes them large enough so that they’ll work in a glass of water or even a pitcher of water. 

6) You can check to see if your avocado is past its prime by peeking at the color underneath the stem. 

When you peak at the color underneath the stem and it’s either yellow or green, that’s good. If you see the color brown, then your avocado is already overripe.

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What You’ll Need:

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1/2 cup of water

microwave safe bowl or container

Directions:

1) Mix the vinegar and water. Microwave for 3 minutes or until water boils.  

2) Let it stand in the microwave for five minutes to let the steam loosen up the gunk and stuff that’s in your microwave.

3) Remove the bowl or container and the microwave turn-table thing.

4) Wipe the inside clean with either a sponge or a paper towel. If your microwave needs some extra loving, dip your sponge or paper towel into the hot vinegar water and press it to the gunk before you thoroughly start to scrub.

Now you have yourself a clean microwave, which is pretty exciting! I hope you guys found this DIY cleaning hack very helpful and if you did give this post a like. I hope you guys are having an awesome day & I’ll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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1) Pizza

We’ve all tried to microwave our leftover pizza and nine times out ten the pizza taste soggy right? If you’re my kind of people and do not like soggy pizza, place the slices on a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment paper to keep the crispy texture of your pizza. Bake it in the oven on 350 degrees for about 3 to 5 minutes.

2) Vegetables

Have leftover roasted vegetables? Well, you can heat those veggies up again in a hot oven to keep them firm and crisp because no one wants mushy veggies right? Spread the vegetables out on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, and bake them at 450 degrees for about 4 to 5 minutes. Now, when you are spreading your veggies out on the baking sheet, make sure they aren’t too close together so they won’t start to steam.

3) Pasta

To reheat pasta leftovers, fill a sauté pan with just enough water to coat the bottom of the pan. Then, add a drizzle of olive oil and drop the pasta in. Next, you are going to place the pan over medium heat and toss it often until the noodles are warmed through. This should take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes.

4) Soups & Stews

We all know it’s soups and stews season. To make sure your soups and stews are heated up evenly and not a mixture of super hot spoonfuls and really really lukewarm bites, gently warm up your soup or stew in a pot over low heat. Be sure to stir occasionally until it’s steamy. Since simmering can cause some of the broth to actually evaporate, add a little extra liquid like broth, stock, or water depending on the recipe so it doesn’t get too thick as it is heating up.

5) Fish

Fish can dry out super easily if it’s reheated at a too high temperature and too fast. To avoid dry fish, wrap your fish in a foil packet with one to two tablespoons of water and a drizzle of oil. Doing this helps the fish retain even more moisture because no wants dry fish. You are going to place the packet on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven on 250 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until it’s heated thoroughly.

That concludes today’s post! I hope you all found these tips super helpful. If you did, be sure to give this post a like and subscribe to the blog if you haven’t done so already! I hope you all are having a great day and I’ll see you all in my next post! Happy Holidays guys :)

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Directions

1) Put your rice on a plate

2) Wet a paper towel and wring it out gently.

3) Place it over your rice and heat it up in the microwave for about a minute.

You can now say bye-bye to cold rice and hello to steamy rice with the help of this easy cooking tip. I hope you all found this cooking tip very helpful! If you did, be sure to give this post a like and make sure you are subscribed to this blog so you won’t miss out on any of my posts. I hope you all are having an awesome day & I’ll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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Fruit  Blackberries, Blueberries, Cantaloupes, Cherries, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Strawberries & Watermelons

Vegetables Avocados, Beets, Bell Peppers, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Chili Peppers, Collards, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green Beans, Lima Beans. Okra, Pattypan Squash, Peas, Radicchio, Radishes, Summer Squash, & Tomatoes

Herbs

Basil, Bay leaves, Borage, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, & Thyme

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Fruit

Bananas, Blood Oranges, Coconuts, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Navel Oranges, Papayas, Passion fruit, Pineapples, Strawberries, Tangerines, Valencia Oranges (hehe!).

Vegetables

Artichokes, Arugula, Asparagus, Avocados, Baby leeks, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Fava beans, Green onions, Green peas, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Radishes, Red potatoes, Rhubarb, Spinach, Sweet onions.

Herbs

Chives, Dill, Garlic Chives, Lemongrass, Mint, Parsley, Thyme.

Massaging kale is super easy to do. What you'll need is a big bowl & of course kale. Next, you are going to peel the kale leaves off of the stem. Then, you're going to cut or pull the kale into bite size pieces. Now, you're going to put the kale into the big bowl. Then, you are going to take the kale into both hands and then "massage" the kale. Make sure you work it with your hands. When you're massaging kale, think of it as you're giving the kale a deep tissue massage or just tossing a salad but with your hands. Haha! Massage the kale for about 2-3 minutes. After a little massaging, you will notice a visible difference in the kale. The leaves will darken & shrink in size.

Now, you know how to massage kale! Massaging kale is an essential step for me when I make kale salads. It really helps will soaking up the flavors of all the ingredients. If you guys found this post very helpful, be sure to give this post a like & share it with others! Now that you know how to massage kale, you can apply everything you've learned to my Kale Raisin Salad recipe. Be sure to tweet me or instagram me pictures of your version of my Kale Raisin Salad because I'd love to know! I hope you guys are having an amazing day & I'll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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