We’re all for finding ways that make our life easier, so when we came across these kitchen
hacks recently, we knew we had to share with our customers.

Finding the perfect pasta serving size
It’s the age-old question; ‘how much pasta should I cook?’. No matter how conservative you
think you’ve been, you always end up with too much pasta for the number of people you’re
serving.
But not anymore!
There is actually a (very good) reason why there is a hole in your pasta spoon; it is used to
measure out approximately one serving of spaghetti as however many dry noodles fit into
that hole count as a single serving.
Not only is this a kitchen hack, but a food wastage hack as well which makes it even better in
our books!

Stop heat escaping from your food
When you’re having a dinner party, a trick of the trade is to microwave the plates for up to 90
seconds just before serving. Cold plates take heat away from food so doing so will ensure
your dish is served (and enjoyed) piping hot!

No more tears when cutting onions
Put the sunglasses down because there is a way you can cut an onion without tearing up
and it involves an everyday household item.
Before it’s time to cut onions, place them in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Why?
Freezing will halt some of the chemical gas from releasing into the air that is responsible for
irritating your eyes.

Stop brown sugar from going hard
Don’t you hate when you reach for the brown sugar when you’re baking and it’s as hard as a
rock?
Well, you can stop this by raiding the kids’ lolly jar and adding some marshmallows on top of
the sugar (yep, really!)
Marshmallows add moisture, making your hardened brown sugar soft once again. If you
don’t have marshmallows then white bread will do the trick too!
While we’re on the topic of marshmallows, a bonus hack is to melt them down to make the
perfect cake icing.

Easily pick up eggshell
Quite simply, eggshell attracts eggshell.
So when you accidentally get some shell in your whites (We’ve ALL been there!), break off
another tiny piece of shell and use it to scoop the piece out.
We wish we knew this one earlier!

Juice a lemon without losing seeds
There’s nothing worse than squeezing a lemon and then having to fish out the seeds that
have fallen into your dish.
Rather than slicing the lemon into wedges, poke a hole halfway into the citrus using a
toothpick or skewer to create an opening. The hole will allow the juice to be squeezed out of
the lemon while the unwanted seeds remain inside.

Make your lettuce last a month
Yep, you read that correctly; one month!
Don’t you hate when you open the crisper in the fridge to find your lettuce (that you only just
bought) has gone brown or soggy?
Us too!
Next time you buy lettuce (or any veggies), wrap it in foil after use to keep it fresh for up to a
month! Not only will your salad taste and look delicious, but this hack saves you money too.

Do you have any other handy kitchen hacks? We’d love to know about them next time you
visit our Morayfield or Capalaba stores!