I know, I know.  It's pretty easy to read a recipe.  But this tip will save you a TON of time.  Please, please read the whole entire recipe before you start.  There could be some important information in the recipe that is not advertised at the top.  How about this: imagine that you start a recipe for a delicious gourmet cake.  You make the whole cake, then you realize that you have to preheat the oven.  It didn't say anything about it until the very end of the recipe.  Now you have to wait while the oven preheats and it takes soooo long and your poor cake...  And what if you are baking the cake for someone and then you are running late because you had to wait for the oven to preheat?  Tragic.  Please

I don't know about you, but my family love love LOVES green beans.  They are delicious, and a great way to get a nice healthy, yummy vegetable into your meal.  But, let's face it, it takes a lot of time to snap a whole lot of green beans, an on a weeknight there is no way that's going to work.  So here's how to speed it up.  Line up all of the green beans so that the thick, knobby ends are all facing in the right direction.  Then, in one chop, simply cut them all off.  It's really easy.  And, don't worry, you can eat the thin, tapered tips.  Have fun with your newfound knowledge on how to chop green br

How many people out there have great struggles trying to get the skin off of their garlic?  Come on, I know you do.  Don't feel badly, it's difficult.  Don't panic, either, there is an easy way to do it.  Here it is: smash the garlic with the flat side of your knife to remove the skin, then chop.  Ok, ok, I know all of you are like 'I have spent so many years using my fingers to peel the skin off, and THIS is the solution?'  Well, yes.  Soooooo yep, enjoy your new garlic chopping abilities.  And remember to tell your friends about this blog!

If you've ever experienced chopping veggies that are prone to rolling around, and have gotten a series of small but extremely painful cuts from the knife, then you need to use this tip.  Ok, so you are chopping your beets or potatoes or squashes.  Here is how you keep your fingers safe.  Cut a thin strip down the length of your veggie to create a flat edge.  Then, turn the veggie flat side down to make sure it doesn't roll out of your grip.  Cut the veggie into any shape you want, until you get scared that you are going to kill your fingers with the knife.  Then, turn the veggie so that the side you were just cutting from is face down, and resume cutting.  Well, everybody, I feel really proud that I just saved you all from harm.  Yep, your welcome!  Remember, keep telling your friends about our blog so that we have a better chance of being on the food network!  Thanks!

Have you ever chopped a really juicy fruit or vegetable on a cutting board, and the next thing you now your drowning in juice?  Yep, it's annoying.  But have no fear, there is a solution.  A solution so simple, I wonder why I didn't figure it out years ago.  Here it is: put a baking sheet under the cutting board so that the baking sheet collects the juice.  When you are finished, you can simply pour the juice from the pan into the sink.  Wow.  That was life changing.  You're welcome.  Just kidding everybody else probably knew this and I'm just sitting over here like 'oh this is amazing' but it's not.  But if you didn't know this, now you do, and you will never ever be left cleaning up sticky countertops again.

Organization is a really important step in cooking any meal, especially if your crunched for time.  I have found that breaking the directions down and writing a list of every single little thing I need to do helps me to account for how much time I need to cook the meal.  For example, if I was cooking a fancier dinner than usual for friends who were coming over at 8:00, and this dish had about 55 steps (keep in mind these are really little steps), and if, say, 10 of these steps take 10 minutes, and the rest take 5, I would need to start cooking at 3:00 or even earlier to account for all the little things such as messing up, taking a phone call, and taking short breaks.  This is really useful information to know, because you wouldn't want to accidentally start cooking at 5:00 and have the food not ready when the friends came over.  Try this out!  I promise it will be helpful!

A couple days ago someone recommended that I make a page on my website dedicated to tips and tricks and the kitchen.  I thought that it was a great idea.  So here it is!  Come here to learn my little cooking secrets!  Today I want to introduce you to my favorite cooking secret- parchment paper.  I use parchment paper all the time to line cookie trays when I am making scones, cookies, baking veggies, cooking granola, pretty much anything.  Parchment paper is non-stick, so you don't have to spray your cookie sheet with yucky oils.  If the food you are cooking is messy, it doesn't matter.  You don't have to spend hours cleaning burnt food off of your baking sheet.  Just take off the parchment paper!  It is safe in temperatures up to 420 degrees fahrenheit too.  Some is even environmentally friendly too!  So stop using tinfoil or oils, and try parchment paper!  I really recommend using this!