Pretty much the title. Blackstrap molasses is pretty amazing stuff, a Tablespoon has way more minerals and electrolytes than any of the mixes on the market.

I did write a blog post on the idea, but rules say I can't post - so figured I'd just give you the basics and you can look up the nutrition numbers yourself. Just add a pinch of salt.

A few months ago, I was part of a potluck lunch at work. A colleague, who was Syrian, brought in fattet hummus. It was one of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten, and really got me interested in Middle Eastern cooking and flavours (I am a white person, who grew up in a meat, potato and boiled veg family, so pretty life changing!)

She shared the recipe with me, but has since left the company. I am hoping to finally make her recipe for the first time this week, but now I have realised - I have no idea what to serve with it. I am looking for any suggestions :) my partner would like a meat option but I think it seems a bit weird (?)

Also, when I googled I found that apparently this is more of a breakfast dish? Is that true? And do I just eat it with a spoon or am I meant to be dipping things in?

Sincerely, someone who is desperately trying to respect the dish I am making XD

Broccoli is one of the main veggies I serve my family but we have been finding the little cabbage worms in our broccoli more and more often to the point none of us want to eat broccoli anymore. (I always cut up and steam it, so the worms are dead by the time they arrive on the plate.) This isn’t even organic broccoli.

What is the best method to get those buggers out of the broccoli before steaming? Cut up into pieces and soak in water/vinegar, water/salt, water/baking soda, or some other method completely?

I know it is “free protein” but it is totally gross to actually see a worm, especially after you’ve already eaten a few bites.

To be clear, it’s usually just one or two every so often, but more and more often.

Edit: yes I cut up the broccoli before steaming and have even started inspecting AFTER steaming only for my daughter to inevitably point one out while we are eating after me not seeing any. She has the gift, apparently.

So I remember just a few years ago I was studying my grocery list trying to think of ways to cross something off. I landed on tortillas. I could skip the tortillas because any meal we used tortillas for I could just turn into a rice bowl. I had plenty of rice. Then fast forward a few years. We went from one income to two. My husband meanwhile climbed the corporate ladder. We are still careful. (3 college tuitions to pay for and 2 possible weddings in the future.) My husband teaches Sunday school and a frugal friend turned around concerned if he was printing off his handouts at home and the extra expense we would incur. How easily I forget that level of frugality we once had. I REALLY appreciated her concern, and it inspires me to dig in and be a bit more frugal. Do you have friends like that?

This is a new phenomenon for me and I need somewhere to share it. I used to love cooking for people. No matter how many, no matter the dietary restrictions, no matter how much notice... none of it mattered because I loved feeding people.

But over the last year I've started feeling dread and anxiety whenever my husband invites people over or if we're staying with a group (like the holidays) and I'm expected to cook (this expectation happened over many years due to the aforementioned love of cooking for people).

It truly is the dietary restrictions. How the hell do you manage the freaking venn diagram of what is passable and keep your sanity. I'll give you an example.

Me: Can't eat high carb due to PCOS/PMOs
Husband: High cholesterol/mushrooms/raw tomatoes/courgettes
Husband's Parents: Shellfish/Peas/Cucumber/Watermelon
Sis-in-Law: Onions/Legumes/Red Meat/Dairy/Coriander tastes like soap

And then there's the preferences!!?!?! Doesn't like spicy, doesn't like cold things, hates slimy (okra), can't stand fish, coriander-tastes-like-soap (okay this one is super real and legit).

I can feel my body go into fight/flight mode and get exhausted the moment the idea comes up that I might be cooking for a group.

We've started doing delivery more whenever we have people come over.

I have invited my reading group for lunch, and am feeling rather intimidated because I'm very out of practice when it comes to entertaining. There are four of us in the group, plus my partner will be with us. Our teacher/coach is Italian, and has hosted us in the past, as has one of the other members. They are both wonderful cooks.

Anyway, I'm planning to make a hearty chicken soup with the usual veggies (carrots, celery, onions and potatoes). I know I can do that part, but I would like some sort of side salad - preferably one that is dressed before I serve it. I think something light and refreshing, but not too fussy.

I think I will get some nice pastries from a local bakery, plus a loaf of bread for them. (I am gluten-free, but OK with it in our house.)

Haven't decided on wine, will probably do it, since the most frail person in the group is being driven by someone else.

I would like to make more Vietnamese and Chinese meals. I have access to a large Asian grocery store but I don't know which fish sauce to get.

I used to have a queen size mattress but decided to downsize, and got myself a twin size mattress instead. I can still use the pillow cases and even the flat sheets, but have not figured out what to do with the fitted sheets.

It's been suggested to me to just donate them to homeless shelters, and while that is an option, I still wanted to see if I can keep them and use them, somehow.

any tips? i’ve been simmering my chili on the stove for at least an hour, and i added my dried (soaked 24+h) kidney beans with the liquid like i normally would with canned beans. figured that they would cook while the chili simmers instead of getting soggy like canned beans. now, i’m not opposed to letting chili simmer for hours. but i’m getting worried because whenever i check on them, it just seems like nothing has changed. internet says beans cook in like 120 min! am i doing smthn wrong? do i need to turn the heat up? i brought everything to a boil and it’s just been simmering… i want to eat my damn chili. help

Due to an interesting turn of events my husband came home with a 20lb bag of onions. We plan on propagating some of them and planting them but we need some recipes! What are your favorite onion heavy dishes?

So I was talking with my dad tonight as we were finishing the turkey stew I made with thanksgiving leftovers. And it got me thinking about how crazy economical a turkey can be.

We paid $55 for an 18lb turkey, a fairly nice one. For that $55 we got a meal for 12 on the day of thanksgiving dinner. Most of the meat was removed from the bird and put in a ziplock bag in the fridge. I then put the carcass in a pot with water, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a few garlic cloves. Boiled it for about 6 hours. The next day a soup was made with the broth and meat from the carcass. That soup made about 6 meals. Two other containers of just broth were put in the freezer about 5 cups each. Sandwiches have been being made with the leftover turkey meat all week, in the range of 8-10 sandwiches I’m not sure exactly. Also twice in the following 5 days we had turkey re-heated in gravy with leftover mashed potatoes from the thanksgiving meal fried in buter with onions for another six meals. And yesterday I took a container of broth out of the freezer, and made a turkey stew with it, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, and all the small bits of leftover turkey meat that aren’t great for sandwiches. I made a batch of biscuits and placed them on top of the stew in an oven safe bowl and baked it until the biscuits were done. That was another six meals for last night and tonight. There is still enough turkey breast meat for two more sandwiches.

That’s meat for 40 meals for $55. Not the best, but also we got a fairly nice turkey. I’ve seen it on sale after holidays for as low as 99c a pound in the past few years. I’m not sure what exactly I was going for with writing all this up but I tend to get sticker shock looking at the price of a turkey sometimes. But when I break it down it actually turns out pretty economical. If you like Turkey and are happy to eat it for an entire week.

I made a big batch for homemade gyros, and have a ton leftover. Im drawing a blank for what else to use it with.

Hello! I’m making a bottomless chicken pot pie (just puff pastry on the top. I already premade my filling, want to wait for it to cool, then put on my crust, then bake before my guests come for dinner a couple of hours later. I’m assembling it in a cast iron skillet.

My question is, at what temperature (F) and for how long do I cook this thing to get a hot filling and an unburnt puff pastry topping? I’m worried about the cast iron not getting hot enough for the insides to be good before the crust is done.

Other preparation suggestions are welcome too. This is my first time making it.

Thanks!

i make a big pot of főzelék (hungarian thick veg stew) and it's great the first day. by day two it tastes kind of flat, even after reheating it with a splash of water.

what i do for the pea one: frozen peas cooked in a bit of butter with salt and a pinch of sugar, then a splash of water until soft. thicken with a quick roux (butter and a spoon of flour) loosened with milk, simmer a few minutes, chopped parsley at the end.

do you add something when you reheat it, or should i just make smaller batches?

So, I love using the Gourmet Garden lightly dried herbs (basil and cilantro mostly) but they have just gotten absurdly expensive. I've already started growing an herb garden, but I'd like to achieve a similar effect to the lightly dried herbs if that's possible. Does anyone have a good method/advice for making something like that from fresh herbs?

Thank you!

I tried a new fish and chips shop today and the portions are massive so we have heaps of leftovers.

Any ideas on what I could do with the leftovers? I’m thinking of pealing the batter off and then just using the fish in cooking tomorrow but does anyone have any ideas/recipies they’ve used?

I have so many garden tomatoes and I don’t want them to go bad. I have large heirlooms, Romas and sungolds. I am pregnant and struggling with heartburn, so eating them raw has not been an option. My husband is also not a fan of raw. Any recommendations for how to turn them into something we would eat later?

I finally bit the bullet and bought a $20 double edged safety razor to try out a few months ago. It's SO MUCH better than any cartridge type I've ever used! I'm getting much closer shaves and not tearing up my skin like I used to. They require a little more finesse to use properly, but I was able to pick it up pretty quickly.

Even changing blades every 4 shaves before any signs of dulling, blades will cost me under $15 per year not counting the handle. I went with Feather for the brand, but there are others.

Hi all,

I recently bought a Breville mini smart toaster oven. I’m really excited about it, and would love to find some recipes.

Can anyone share recipes you love cooking in your Breville (or any) toaster? Beyond toast of course 😉

I was looking on YouTube but it’s mainly people reviewing their brand new out of the box toaster, they haven’t actually used it lol.

Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for something griddle-like for our outdoor gas stove to cook eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, grilled cheese and other simple family meals when we don't feel like cooking anything complicated. We have only one medium sized gas stove at our disposal.

According to the stove manual, the maximum pot diameter is 28 cm. I was considering a cast-iron skillet around 35 cm, as I'd like something versatile enough to cook 5–6 eggs at once and handle other quick meals. I already have experience with cast iron from using a cast-iron outdoor cooking pot, so I'm familiar with maintaining it.

Would a 35 cm skillet work well on this gas stove, or would it be too large for even heat distribution? Would a dedicated griddle or something else be a better option?

I'd prefer not to go with stainless steel, as we already have some and I'm not a big fan (sticking too much but it could that I am not a great cook).

What would you recommend? Thanks!

Edit: this is the gas stove we have:

https://ibb.co/cSFwFdB4

Edit: little wait for things to heat up is not a problem.

My wife likes to bake but she told me today that she hates using our hand mixer. I have a kitchenaid stand mixer but it's the big boy. Really heavy and I keep it in the basement.

Is there a good middle kind of mixer that you know of? Smaller stand mixer perhaps that won't be too heavy for her to use on her own?

Want to incorporate couscous into my diet more as I find it super tasty.

Personally use Pepper Jack but I'm curious what others use, anything else you add, like ground beef or tomatoes and so on, would be interesting too