Dinner Tonight

Dinner Tonight

Healthy Cooking for a Healthy Texas

Mushrooms

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Mushrooms are a delicious and nutritious addition to any dish! See our tips and resources for confidently using them in cooking!

Whole mushrooms can be an intimidating purchase. Learn how to spot the best produce, and then with a little rinse of cold water, you’re on your way to an impressive dish!

Purchasing:

  • Select mushrooms with a firm, smooth and dry appearance.
  • A closed veil under the cap indicates a delicate flavor. While and open veil and exposed fills mean a richer flavor.

Storing:

  • If you’ve opened the original package, place unwashed mushrooms in a paper bag inside your refrigerator. The paper bag will absorb moisture and allow them to breath, keeping them fresh for 1 week.

Washing:

  • Before using, use a damp paper towel or cloth to wipe away any dirt. Never soak mushrooms as they absorb and hold water easily.

Look at these tasty recipes featuring this delicious veggies!

To learn more, here is a great list by the USDA National Agriculture Library of resources. Click here to check them out!

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Refrigerator Safety

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Organize your refrigerator for safety! Did you know there is a right way to organize your fridge? Check out our tips on where to put what foods for optimal food safety.

Safe refrigerator storage. Top to bottom, ready to eat foods, fully cooked foods, and produce. Raw Seafood fish and eggs. Raw steak. Raw Pork. Raw ground beef. Raw poultry.

This outlines proper food storage for commercial retail establishments, but take a cue and organize your fridge the same!

 

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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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