Cooking Tips

Don't peel it.. Slice it, while it's still in the skin. Not using the whole avocado? Then better leave the pin in the remaining part to prevent browning.

Learn how to SHARPEN YOUR KNIVES and do it often.. The most dangerous thing your can have in your kitchen is a dull knife. You're more likely to cut yourself because you have to press harder!

Regular exercise can help you reach or maintain a healthy weight. It also cuts stress and helps control blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Get at least 30 minutes a day of aerobics exercise, 5 days a week. Or you can take a 10 minutes walk after every meal.

Store fresh herbs as you would store fresh flowers in a jar of water on your counter-top. Pluck off what you need, change the water daily, and they will last 2 to 3 times longer than they would in the fridge. You'll get the most extra mileage from flat-leaf parsley.

Onions offer a lot of support for skin-related problems by helping regenerate damaged skin. To use it, first take onion extract (or blended onion pieces) and apply it to the scarred areas. This extract helps improve collagen production wherever it is applied, significantly improving the appearance of scars.

When you're not sure what to do with an exotic veggie, roast it! Everything from sunchokes to rutabaga tastes great tossed with a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cooked in the oven at 400 degrees F until tender.

If you ever burn your hand or fingers while cooking, from the fire, the oil or the hot water, cover them with white flour for a period of time until pain is relieved. This will help in curing the burns.

Avoid messy stains and get a pomegranate arils faster by slicing it in half, then submerging it in a bowl of water. The seeds will sink while the pith floats, making them easy to separate.

Replace the Bread Crumbs (used as a topping) in your pasta dishes with finely Chopped Nuts for extra flavor and a shot of protein. You can try Almonds, for example, on top of the Bechamel sauce for a delicious white pasta!

Add a pinch of BAKING SODA.. It speeds browning and cuts cooking time practically in half!

Chopping nuts can be unwieldy, they shoot across the counter. For that reason: - Place the nuts in a heavy-duty freezer bag. - Place the bag on a hard, flat surface. - Smooth the nuts into an even layer. - Use a rolling pin or other similar object to crush them, it will take a few whacks, depending on how fine you want the end product to be.

Did you know that Okra can protect you from depression, anxiety and stress? Okra seeds are considered one of the richest plant parts in protein and amino acids and mainly in "Tryptophan". Studies has shown that taking this amino acid in foods helps in increasing neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin and adrenaline. That's why Okra plays a key role in preventing depression, anxiety, stress and sadness.

You must be careful when chopping an onion and leaving it for use the next day: it will become toxic without feeling, as it will carry a lot of toxic bacteria that may cause infections in the stomach because of the negative discharge, which will result in food poisoning.

When you suffer from any acidity or heartburn, chew some almonds for immediate relief!

If your elbows and knees appear dark, simply rub them with half a lemon piece. It's like magic!

1/2 kg of BERRIES can wash the liver and clean it from toxins, every 6 months.

Try to get at least 30% of your total calories from protein. People who do this loose twice as much weight as people who ate less than 15% of their calories from protein. WHY? Because your body burns the most calories when digesting protein.

Spinach is high in alpha-lipoic acid, which helps lowering triglycerides up to 60%.

Coriander is useful for people with high cholesterol and triglycerides levels. Studies show that coriander seeds, more than the leaves, contributes to the reduction of triglycerides and cholesterol levels. It also raises the level of good cholesterol HDL. This is due to the increased production of bile in the liver, as well as the increase of the breakdown of the cholesterol to other compounds, which reduces its level in the blood.

Every 35 days, your skin replaces itself and your body makes new cells from the blood you eat. What you eat literally becomes you. You have a choice in what you're made of..

It is always recommended to toast the nuts in a dry pan or in the oven before crushing it. It will make the flavor so much bigger and richer.

When adding ground spices to bread or cake batter, cream the spices with the butter and sugar instead of adding them with the other dry ingredients. The fat in the butter helps disperse the flavors of the spices for a much more intense taste.

Usually smaller than lemons, limes are oval or round in shape with green flesh and skin. They can be either sweet or sour depending on the variety. Limes contain: - Vitamin C (promoting immunity) - Vitamin A (important for eyesight) - Vitamin E (fighting disease-causing free radicals) - Vitamin K (helping with blood clotting and bone health) - 8 B Vitamins (metabolizing the nutrients in foods): Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate and Pantothenic Acid.

The secret to making a great cocktail is all in the ice.. Use filtered water so the ice doesn't impart any off flavors to the drink, and go big. The larger the ice chunk, the less you'll water down your drink.