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6 Casserole Cooking Hacks You Have To Try

Casseroles are the best thing ever. They are super yummy, the preparation time for casseroles aren’t too time-consuming, and they make leftovers. As long as you have a microwave, you are set to go. Like the famous “What am I/What are we going to have for dinner?” question is solved for the next several days. CASSEROLES FOR THE WIN. Hahaha! In today’s post, I’m going to be sharing 6 Casserole Cooking Hacks You Have To Try. All of these casserole cooking hacks will definitely help you in the kitchen and I’m super excited to share them with you all. Without further ado, let’s get into today’s post!

1) Swap white rice for brown rice or even quinoa. 

If you swap white rice for brown rice or even quinoa, you’ll be adding a little more protein & fiber to your casserole dishes. Gotta get that protein and fiber yo! 

2) When you make one casserole, double the ingredients amount and freeze the extras in tins. 

This way if you want another casserole, all you have to do is pop it out of the freezer, heat it in the oven, and you’re good to go!  Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!

3) When you take your casserole out of the freezer, let it fully defrost for 30-60 minutes before putting it in your oven to reheat. 

If you put the casserole in the oven without letting it fully defrost, you’re in for an overcooked casserole. Plus, you lose both the nutrients and the flavor of the casserole. Without flavor in a casserole, you basically have a dish filled with nothing. Flavor is key. Haha! Once defrosted, bake it at 350 degrees covered. 

4) When you’re making a casserole with pasta in it or a baked pasta dish, make sure you undercook the pasta. 

Undercooking the pasta at the beginning will prevent the pasta from overcooking in the oven and when it’s cooling down. Nobody wants overcooked, flimsy pasta, right? Right. To avoid overcooked, flimsy pasta, reduce the suggested boiling time for your pasta by approximately 2-4 minutes. 

5) Replace lasagna noodle with eggplant slices to have more veggies in your diet. 

6) Bringing a casserole to a holiday gathering/potluck and need to keep your casserole warm? Try this!

Put three kitchen towels in the bottom of a basket, place the casserole dish inside of the basket, and wrap it with additional towels if you need to. 

I hope that you guys found this 6 Casserole Cooking Hacks You Have To Try post super helpful! If you did, don’t forget to push that like button and be sure to subscribe by signing up on the sidebar or by clicking here to join the Vegaholics fam. We have a pretty good time over here. My question for you guys is what’s your favorite casserole? My favorite casserole is my mom’s broccoli & “cheese” casserole that’s super delicious! I did a Thanksgiving Dinner Roundup post last Thanksgiving, so click here if you want to see what my mom’s casserole looks like. I’m sorry that I’ve been a little MIA on the blog lately. Life happens guys. I recently got a puppy, so between that, school work, midterms, etc I’ve been super, super busy. Anyway, I hope that you guys are having a superb day & I’ll see you in my next post! Bye :) 

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Summer Kitchen Hacks

Summer is literally days away from officially being here! We all know that summer means a lot of cook outs and social gatherings. In honor of summer, I wanted to help you out a bit & share some summer kitchen hacks that will come in handy when you are cooking during the summer and help make everything easier. If you like this post and find it to be helpful, be sure to give this post a like & subscribe to blog if you haven’t done so already. In the comments below, tell me what your favorite kitchen hack is from today’s post and if you have any personal kitchen hacks of your own share them as well. Without further ado, let’s get right into the hacks: 

1) Tongs can be used to juice a lemon

Using kitchen tongs allows you to get more juice rather than using your hands. You get more juice & your hands aren’t crampy. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

2) Grill your fish on top of a bed of lemons to infuse the fish. This also stops the fish from sticking to the grill. 

I love grilled fish. It’s SO delicious and it’s easy to make. Well, it’s easy when your fish doesn’t stick to the grill. I’d say that this is the most delicious trick to not have your fish stick because the bed of lemons adds such an amazing flavor to the fish. You just slice the lemons and place them on the surface to be cooked. If you’re grilling, you would put them on the grill bars. If you’re baking, you would put them on the baking sheet. If you have portions of fish, just place two lemon slices under each piece. Another great thing about this life hack is that you can cook at the usual temperature. 

3) Put ice cream containers in a zip lock bag and it will stay as soft as when you first opened it! 

Ice cream is a very popular summer treat (you probably already know this) and it can get annoying when your ice cream container feels like a frozen dessert brick. Storing your ice cream containers in a ziplock bag will allow you to scoop it out so much easier, so bye bye dessert brick. Hehe!

4) You can perfectly dice your avocado with a potato masher for guac. 

5) Freeze lemons and water in cupcake tins for large ice cubes. 

I am a big fan of lemon water. It’s super refreshing and it taste really good. It’s a great way to give your water some flavor, but a pitcher full of water and lemon slices needs to be emptied asap. If you don’t, then you’ll have yourself some bitter water. Try freezing lemon slices in ice using a cupcake pan for large lemon infused ice cubes. These will add so much flavor to water and other drinks. You may be thinking, “Valencia, I can do this with a regular ice cube tray why do I need to use a big cupcake tin?” Well, using a cupcake baking sheet lets you get entire lemon slices in your ice cubes and freezes them large enough so that they’ll work in a glass of water or even a pitcher of water. 

6) You can check to see if your avocado is past its prime by peeking at the color underneath the stem. 

When you peak at the color underneath the stem and it’s either yellow or green, that’s good. If you see the color brown, then your avocado is already overripe.

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DIY Cleaning Hack: How To Thoroughly Clean Your Microwave

Microwaves go through a lot. We always rely on them to heat up our food, so the least we can do is give them a nice cleanse every now and then right? Right. Haha! In today’s post, I’m going to be showing you guys this DIY cleaning hack that will help you thoroughly clean your microwave. 

If you enjoy today’s post and want to see more posts like this, tell me in the comments below. Also, make sure you are subscribed to the blog to make sure you don’t miss out on any new posts. Here are the before and after pictures:

As you can see, this steam cleaning hack is completely legit and I absolutely LOVE it! 

What You’ll Need:

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1/2 cup of water

microwave safe bowl or container

Directions:

1) Mix the vinegar and water. Microwave for 3 minutes or until water boils.  

2) Let it stand in the microwave for five minutes to let the steam loosen up the gunk and stuff that’s in your microwave.

3) Remove the bowl or container and the microwave turn-table thing.

4) Wipe the inside clean with either a sponge or a paper towel. If your microwave needs some extra loving, dip your sponge or paper towel into the hot vinegar water and press it to the gunk before you thoroughly start to scrub.

Now you have yourself a clean microwave, which is pretty exciting! I hope you guys found this DIY cleaning hack very helpful and if you did give this post a like. I hope you guys are having an awesome day & I’ll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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The Ultimate Guide To Reheating Leftovers

Have you ever had it where your leftovers never taste as good as they did the night before? I know I have and it’s not a fun moment at all. Nope. Nada. It’s actually a really frustrating/sad moment. This could be happening to you because well...you may be reheating your leftovers wrong. You know I got your back vegaholics! Today, I’m going to be showing you how to make your leftovers taste like you just whipped them up in your kitchen.

1) Pizza

We’ve all tried to microwave our leftover pizza and nine times out ten the pizza taste soggy right? If you’re my kind of people and do not like soggy pizza, place the slices on a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment paper to keep the crispy texture of your pizza. Bake it in the oven on 350 degrees for about 3 to 5 minutes.

2) Vegetables

Have leftover roasted vegetables? Well, you can heat those veggies up again in a hot oven to keep them firm and crisp because no one wants mushy veggies right? Spread the vegetables out on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, and bake them at 450 degrees for about 4 to 5 minutes. Now, when you are spreading your veggies out on the baking sheet, make sure they aren’t too close together so they won’t start to steam.

3) Pasta

To reheat pasta leftovers, fill a sauté pan with just enough water to coat the bottom of the pan. Then, add a drizzle of olive oil and drop the pasta in. Next, you are going to place the pan over medium heat and toss it often until the noodles are warmed through. This should take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes.

4) Soups & Stews

We all know it’s soups and stews season. To make sure your soups and stews are heated up evenly and not a mixture of super hot spoonfuls and really really lukewarm bites, gently warm up your soup or stew in a pot over low heat. Be sure to stir occasionally until it’s steamy. Since simmering can cause some of the broth to actually evaporate, add a little extra liquid like broth, stock, or water depending on the recipe so it doesn’t get too thick as it is heating up.

5) Fish

Fish can dry out super easily if it’s reheated at a too high temperature and too fast. To avoid dry fish, wrap your fish in a foil packet with one to two tablespoons of water and a drizzle of oil. Doing this helps the fish retain even more moisture because no wants dry fish. You are going to place the packet on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven on 250 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until it’s heated thoroughly.

That concludes today’s post! I hope you all found these tips super helpful. If you did, be sure to give this post a like and subscribe to the blog if you haven’t done so already! I hope you all are having a great day and I’ll see you all in my next post! Happy Holidays guys :)

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How To Reheat Rice Perfectly

Ever had it where you were reheating a rice dish & your rice was still cold after reheating it? Have you had it where your rice was not heated evenly after you reheated it? I’ve dealt with both of these problems before and it’s not fun. #GotColdRice and #TheStruggleWasReal. Haha! In today’s post, I’m going to be sharing an awesome cooking hack that will help you reheat your rice perfectly. 

Directions

1) Put your rice on a plate

2) Wet a paper towel and wring it out gently.

3) Place it over your rice and heat it up in the microwave for about a minute.

You can now say bye-bye to cold rice and hello to steamy rice with the help of this easy cooking tip. I hope you all found this cooking tip very helpful! If you did, be sure to give this post a like and make sure you are subscribed to this blog so you won’t miss out on any of my posts. I hope you all are having an awesome day & I’ll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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What’s In Season? Summer Edition

Hey Vegaholics! We are now leaving Spring and entering Summer which means you get a NEW What’s In Season? post from moí. Today, I’m going to be showing you all what’s in season during the summer. If you use this guide and find it helpful, be sure to let me know on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram using the hashtags #SummerWithVal & #WhatsInSeason.

What’s In Season? Summer Edition (June-August)

Fruit  Blackberries, Blueberries, Cantaloupes, Cherries, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Strawberries & Watermelons

Vegetables Avocados, Beets, Bell Peppers, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Chili Peppers, Collards, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green Beans, Lima Beans. Okra, Pattypan Squash, Peas, Radicchio, Radishes, Summer Squash, & Tomatoes

Herbs

Basil, Bay leaves, Borage, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, & Thyme

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What's In Season? Spring Edition

Hey Vegaholics! It’s March already. Gosh, I feel like this year is going by so fast already. Since it’s March, you guys know what that means……it’s a NEW SEASON. A new season means a NEW What’s In Season? post from yours truly. Today, I’m going to be showing you all what’s in season during the spring.

What’s In Season? Spring Edition (March-May) 

Fruit

Bananas, Blood Oranges, Coconuts, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Navel Oranges, Papayas, Passion fruit, Pineapples, Strawberries, Tangerines, Valencia Oranges (hehe!).

Vegetables

Artichokes, Arugula, Asparagus, Avocados, Baby leeks, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Fava beans, Green onions, Green peas, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Radishes, Red potatoes, Rhubarb, Spinach, Sweet onions.

Herbs

Chives, Dill, Garlic Chives, Lemongrass, Mint, Parsley, Thyme.

That’s it for this season’s “What’s In Season?” guide. I hope you all enjoy these "What’s In Season?" guides & find them helpful. If you do enjoy them, be sure to give this post a big like & leave a comment below. If you use this season’s seasonal guide, be sure to tweet me using the hashtags #LifeOfAVegaholic & #VVeggication. I hope you all are having a great day & I’ll see you all in my next post. Bye guys :)

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How To Massage Kale

Have you ever come across a recipe that tells you to "massage kale" and you get this puzzled look on your face? You are definitely not alone my friend. Everyone has gone through this! Massaging Kale is a very important step especially when making salads that transforms the kale from being rough to being nice & tender.

Now I know you're thinking, well How Do You Massage Kale?

Massaging kale is super easy to do. What you'll need is a big bowl & of course kale. Next, you are going to peel the kale leaves off of the stem. Then, you're going to cut or pull the kale into bite size pieces. Now, you're going to put the kale into the big bowl. Then, you are going to take the kale into both hands and then "massage" the kale. Make sure you work it with your hands. When you're massaging kale, think of it as you're giving the kale a deep tissue massage or just tossing a salad but with your hands. Haha! Massage the kale for about 2-3 minutes. After a little massaging, you will notice a visible difference in the kale. The leaves will darken & shrink in size.

Now, you know how to massage kale! Massaging kale is an essential step for me when I make kale salads. It really helps will soaking up the flavors of all the ingredients. If you guys found this post very helpful, be sure to give this post a like & share it with others! Now that you know how to massage kale, you can apply everything you've learned to my Kale Raisin Salad recipe. Be sure to tweet me or instagram me pictures of your version of my Kale Raisin Salad because I'd love to know! I hope you guys are having an amazing day & I'll see you all in my next post! Bye guys :)

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