How to videos Archives | Page 8 of 12

How Much Chicken?

November 7, 2016 by Dinner Tonight

When you have a recipe that needs cooked, deboned chicken, how much chicken do you need to buy and cook? Avoid buying too little or too much with these helpful tips.

One cup cubed or shredded chicken:

1 cup of cubed or shredded chicken is about 5 ¼ ounces of cooked, deboned chicken.
1 cup of cubed or shredded chicken is also about 1 boiled chicken breast.

Using a whole chicken:

When using a whole chicken, 1 pound of uncooked chicken is about 1 cup of cooked, deboned chicken. For example, a 2 ½ to 3 pound whole chicken, or fryer, will produce about 2 to 3 cups of cooked, cubed chicken.

Using a rotisserie chicken:

You can also purchase a rotisserie chicken to use in your recipe. The average rotisserie chicken is about 2 pounds. The whole chicken will make about 3 cups of chicken- this is about 2 cups of white meat and 1 cups of dark meat. White meat comes from the chicken breast and wings. Dark meat comes from the thighs and drumsticks.

Download this infographic as a PDF or a picture.

(Information from: http://www2.ca.uky.edu/poultryprofitability/Cheeps_and_Chirps/Trivia_question_chicken_wings.pdf)

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How to Make Pumpkin Puree

October 31, 2016 by Dinner Tonight

During October and even November, pumpkins seem to be a staple: pumpkin patches, jack-o’-lanterns, and pumpkin pie. With all that pumpkin, what else can you do with it? You can make your own pumpkin puree!

Choosing the Perfect Pork

October 17, 2016 by Dinner Tonight

Confused at the meat counter as to what type of pork to choose, or what it should look like? Follow these simple steps to choose the perfect pork!

Select pork just before you check out at the grocery store. It is important that pork stay as cold as possible.
Look for cuts with a small amount of fat over the outside. The meat should be firm and pink in color.
Once selected, put the pork in disposable plastic bags to avoid any leakage that could contaminate other foods in your grocery cart.
Take pork home immediately and refrigerate it to 40 degrees. Use the pork within 2 to 3 days or freeze.

Safe Minimum Internal Temperature for popular cuts of Pork

Pork cooking temperatures are the final step in a perfectly juicy, tender cut of meat. Pork today is very lean, making it important to not overcook and follow the recommended pork cooking temperature. The safe internal pork cooking temperature for fresh cuts is 145° F.

Download this how-to as an infographic PDF or image!

Here is a helpful chart from Path to the Plate on the cuts of pork.

Check out our whole collection of pork recipes!

Cooking Dry Beans

October 12, 2016 by Dinner Tonight

In addition to using canned beans, you can cook dry beans at homes. This is budget-friendly way to add beans to your favorite salad, soup or side dish. Cooking your beans at home can add variety to your beans by using different spices to flavor them. Find out what you need by watching this video from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Quick Steps:

Remove debris
Soak
1. Overnight – place a pot in room temperature water. Make sure to leave room in the pot as the beans will expand!
2. Boil – Bring a pot of water with the beans to a boil, remove from the heat and let soak for 1 – 2 hours.
Discard water and rinse beans.
Cook
1. Cover the beans with fresh water – about 6 cups per pound of beans.
2. Add seasonings but hold off on salt and acidic foods until end of cooking.
3. Add a quarter teaspoon of oil to keep water from foaming.
4. Partially cover and simmer until done. Time will depend on type of bean.

Learn more from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics here.

Reducing Sodium in Canned Beans

October 10, 2016 by Dinner Tonight

Canned vegetables and beans are a great way to include cheap nutrient-dense foods to your eating pattern. However, many people think they are bad. Why is this?

Sodium! Many canned foods have sodium in them because it helps preserve the food for the shelf. In just a couple of steps, you can reduce the sodium of your canned beans (and other canned vegetables). The best way to reduce the sodium is to:

rinse the beans for about 10 seconds under lukewarm water¹ and then
drain the beans for about 2 minutes¹

Even though you are reducing sodium, other vitamins and minerals are not lost during rinsing and draining!² So go ahead and buy the canned beans from your local grocery store if you are short time!

1. Jones JB, Mount JR. Sodium reduction in canned bean varieties by draining and rinsing. Presented at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting; June 6–10, 2009; Anaheim, CA. 2009.

2. Haytowitz DB. Effect of draining and rinsing on the sodium and water soluble vitamin content of canned vegetables. Nutrient Data Lab, USDA-ARS-BHNRC; FASEB Journal, 25:609.3, 2011.