Tuesday Tips: quick substitutions for Italian Dishes

(yeah, I know it's not Tuesday. It's been a busy week)

Arborio Rice (1 cup) = 1 cup of short grain or brown

Balsamic Vinegar (1 Tbsp) = 1tbsp cider or red wine vinegar plus 1/2tsp sugar

1Tbsp fresh herbs = 1tsp dried herbs, crushed

1 Clove Garlic = 1/2tsp mince garlic or 1/8tsp garlic powder

1 cup Half and Half/Light Cream = 1tbsp melted butter plus 1 cup of whole milk

Now, for those new to fresh garlic, remember, you buy garlic in a "head", the clove is each part that you pull apart from the head.

clove:

Tuesday Tips

Still sick. 1 week and 1 day. My tip should probably be for me to start downing vitamin C a little more often!

My Tuesday Tip this week has to do with making sure that your oven temperature is correct. Sounds simple enough, but many people do not realize that their oven temps can easily be off 10-25 degrees, which is why your cakes and casseroles tend to be a bit under or over done. This can kill the desire to cook for anyone.

EHow has a great article that outlines the steps to test your oven here. And if you don't want to go the easy way and just add or subtract the extra degrees each time you cook, they also have helpful steps to adjust the settings, here, as well.

Crossing my fingers that I feel up to making chicken and dumplings tomorrow.

Tuesday Tips

If you are looking for recipes, but don't want to invest in new cookbooks, where you might get 6 recipes that you actually like, check out your local library. You can borrow those books for up to a month and copy any recipes you would like to try.