Dinner Tonight

Dinner Tonight

Healthy Cooking for a Healthy Texas

Cooking Vegetables

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Tips for Cooking your Vegetables Cooking vegetables like broccoli doesn’t have to be hard or boring. Try roasting your vegetables by tossing them with a small amount of olive oil, seasoning with herbs, and roasting in the oven between 325 F and 375 F. Below are a few more tips on cooking vegetables.

To maximize vegetable quality, always cook vegetables just in time (batch cook) to serve. To maintain safety, cook all vegetables to at least 140° F (MN Food Code). Cooked vegetables are best when they are held less than 20 minutes.

Cooking with Fresh Vegetables

Maintaining Nutrients:

  • Cook vegetables in the smallest amount of liquid possible.
  • Cook vegetables in the shortest amount of time for the desired tenderness.
  • Cook most vegetables with a lid.
  • For vegetables that have a skin, scrub well and cook with the skin on whenever possible. If the vegetable must be peeled, peel as thinly as possible.
  • When cutting vegetables, use a sharp blade and cut in the largest pieces that are desirable for the recipe. Pieces should be uniform to allow for even cooking.
  • Follow the recipe or directions for cooking a vegetable.
  • Cook vegetables just in time to serve.

Source:

Minnesota State Extension

Check out our steps for healthy fruits and vegetables from the store to your table. 

How to be sneaky with vegetables.

And how to keep your fruits and vegetables fresh for as long as possible. 

 

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soup food safety

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One of the leading causes of food-borne illness is the failure to properly cool foods.

To prevent bacterial growth, it’s important to cool food rapidly so it reaches as fast as possible the safe refrigerator-storage temperature of 40° F or below. The soup must cool from 140° to 70° F in 2 hours and from 70° to 40° F in no more than four hours.

Use one of the following methods to keep soup cool and safe!

  • Use Shallow Pans
    • The smaller the portions, the quicker the cool down. Divide large batches into small containers, no deeper than 3 inches. Stir to help with the chill down.
  • Use and Ice Water Bath
    • An ice water bath helps decrease the food temperature quickly. Fill a large container or clean sink with ice and a small amount of water. Place the pot of soup or storage container filled with soup into the ice bath. Stir the soup to help release heat.

 

There are a few ways to pack your soup. Learn some savvy ways to carry and contain your soup to where you need to go.

The most economical and popular forms to contain and transport your soup is to use a glass canning jar or a thermos container.  Glass canning jars are ideal if you plan to reheat your soup, especially in a microwave. ( Always read your container label to know if it’s safe to microwave.)  If you ‘don’t intend to reheat your soup, then a thermos container would be ideal.  These types of containers keep liquids warm or cold for long periods of time.

Source:

FoodSafety.gov

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Cookie Making Tips

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Cookies are little bites of happiness that bring the family together and are a favorite holiday treat! Keep the cookie making safe at your household with these simple food safety tips:

  • Wash counter tops and hands before preparing your recipe. Use only clean utensils such as mixing bowls, baking pans and measuring spoons.
  • Wash your hands again after handling raw eggs.
  • Do not eat raw cookie dough which contains raw eggs, including licking the spoon. Bacteria can be present in raw eggs. Salmonella is one example of bacteria sometimes found in raw eggs.
  • All purpose flour has been the target of a recent recall due to contamination with E. coli. Again, to avoid getting sick, do not eat raw cookie dough.
  • If you want your cookies to taste fresh longer than a few days, freeze them until you are ready to use them. Package your cookies in freezer quality bags, containers, etc. to preserve the quality of the cookies. Label and date the cookies so you know what is in each package. For specific information on freezing baked good, check out the Michigan State University Extension news article: “It’s not too early to make holiday baked goods”.
  • Do not prepare baked goods when you are sick. Save the holiday baking until you are feeling better to avoid spreading germs to others.

 

Content originally from Michigan State Extension

 

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Chocolate

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Chocolate is made from cacao beans; the beans are crushed up and ground to make a powder.  The powder is formed into a smooth liquid paste called chocolate liqueur (despite name, does not contain alcohol) it contains about 53% cocoa butter.  Learn more about some of the most common types we use.

The shelf life of chocolate is shorter if it is not stored properly.  Chocolate has a “best before date” and not an expiration date.  Because of this distinction, you may safely use it even after the best before date has ended, but always remember to practice food safety and enjoy before their shelf life has expired.

 

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