Simple Foods You've Never Made

[Anonymous]

A turkey.

[Anonymous]

a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't like them, so whenever my kids want them, I make DH do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't like them, so whenever my kids want them, I make DH do it.

Best way to make a good ol' greasy grilled cheese is to grill both sides of the bread. Slather room temp butter on both sides of 2 slices of bread, grill on a flat top or in a pan, flip over and construct sandwich with American cheese and flip until both outer sides of the sanwich are golden and crispy. Mmmmmm!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard boiled eggs:

Bring water to a boil, lower eggs in with a spoon, boil for 12 minutes then drain and run cold water over them for a minute or two

No, no. Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and run cold water over before peeling. The most perfect creamy egg yolks ever! And no yucky green ring!

Well this is how I make them and they never have a green ring and they are always perfectly cooked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard boiled eggs:

Bring water to a boil, lower eggs in with a spoon, boil for 12 minutes then drain and run cold water over them for a minute or two

No, no. Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and run cold water over before peeling. The most perfect creamy egg yolks ever! And no yucky green ring!

Well this is how I make them and they never have a green ring and they are always perfectly cooked

A new poster here--it's Much easier to put the eggs in before boiling. You never get a cracked egg this way. And they peel more easily. I used to do it the other way around, but I was converted. You should try it.

[Anonymous]

salad dressing - my step mom makes it from scratch and I think it's just too much work (and oil)
chicken noodle soup - I like Progresso's
hot chocolate - I prefer the mixes b/c they're smooth

[Anonymous]

baked whole fish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:salad dressing - my step mom makes it from scratch and I think it's just too much work (and oil)

For whatever it is worth, I started making my own salad dressing a couple years ago and now I can't stand the bottled stuff. Olive oil, lemon, mustard and I'm good to go. I also think I use a LOT less oil than you would find in the bottle. My ratio is close to 50/50 and I think bottles have at least 2/3 oil.

But I am totally with you on the hot chocolate thing.

[Anonymous]

A new poster here--it's Much easier to put the eggs in before boiling. You never get a cracked egg this way. And they peel more easily. I used to do it the other way around, but I was converted. You should try it.

There are entire articles, web pages, etc. just dedicated to boiling eggs.

One thing I've learned is that the older the egg, the easier it is to peel. As eggs "age" the insides become compressed. You know that little divet that you get at the bottom of the egg? That gets bigger the older the egg is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't like them, so whenever my kids want them, I make DH do it.

Best way to make a good ol' greasy grilled cheese is to grill both sides of the bread. Slather room temp butter on both sides of 2 slices of bread, grill on a flat top or in a pan, flip over and construct sandwich with American cheese and flip until both outer sides of the sanwich are golden and crispy. Mmmmmm!

Yep, this is what DH does. I'm told they're good.

I've also never made eggs over easy (I think that's the kind, with the runny yolk), which is a shame because I LOVE them. Anyone have any good hints for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't like them, so whenever my kids want them, I make DH do it.

Best way to make a good ol' greasy grilled cheese is to grill both sides of the bread. Slather room temp butter on both sides of 2 slices of bread, grill on a flat top or in a pan, flip over and construct sandwich with American cheese and flip until both outer sides of the sanwich are golden and crispy. Mmmmmm!

Yep, this is what DH does. I'm told they're good.

I've also never made eggs over easy (I think that's the kind, with the runny yolk), which is a shame because I LOVE them. Anyone have any good hints for that?

Oooh, I DO have a good hint! Well, the main thing is not to overcook them. The second thing is to be able to flip the eggs without them breaking, but while keeping them undercooked enough to be runny.

So here's my trick. I crack the eggs into a non-stick pan with a little melted butter over medium heat or higher (most people would suggest a lower heat than this but I love it when the edges are really browned-just be careful not to overcook). I take a pot cover and place it over the pan for just a few seconds (less than a minute). What this does is steam the top side of the egg a bit. If you have a clear lid you can see this happening. It creates a film like coating over the egg. It's not a film, it just looks like that. It's just that the top side is ever so slightly being cooked. Then when you're ready to flip the egg over (using as wide of a spatula as you can find) the top side isn't as fragile.

[Anonymous]

Boiling eggs: If you add salt at the end of the boiling time the eggs will be easy peal.

[Anonymous]

my problem is the shell almost always sticks to the eggs when peeling making it a mess

[Anonymous]

brown rice (non-instant)

a ham

fried chicken

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A real pie crust. Other than grahm cracker.

A real pie crust is easy to make and once you taste the big difference you will never go back. Get The Baker's Dozen cookbook and they will walk you through it step by step. Hardly any ingredients required: flour, butter, a little sugar, and water.