Cooking & Baking Tips: Healthy Fats, Grain Prep & Substitutes

Mastering the kitchen involves understanding healthy fat profiles, variety-specific grain preparation, and safe food handling techniques.

How to Cook Longkou Vermicelli

The mouthfeel of longkou noodles stands out when you first try them. Slippery and almost weightless on the tongue, longkou, also called cellophane noodles, feel more like a garnish than a substantial part of a soup or stir-fry. What they lack in heartiness, though, they compensate for in flavor absorption.

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How to Reheat a Pan of Chicken Parmesan

Few dishes deliver an encore like chicken Parmesan. Similar to lasagna, it often makes a better impression the second time on the dinner table, once the chicken, sauce, cheese and seasonings have had time to commingle.

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Whole grain breads on the dark wooden background

How to Bake With Sunflower Oil

Sunflower oil is a healthy cooking oil that is composed of 79 percent monounsaturated fat, 7 percent polyunsaturated fat and 14 percent saturated fat, which is almost the same composition as extra-virgin olive oil. In moderation, unsaturated fats can lower your risk of developing heart disease.

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Stevia

Is Stevia a Sugar Alcohol?

If you are trying to reduce your sugar consumption or cut back on calorie intake, you might be looking for foods and beverages made with sugar substitutes. Among the many different types of artificial sweeteners are sugar alcohols.

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azuki rad beans

How to Cook Adzuki Beans

Adzuki beans, also called aduki or azuki beans, are small, red, dry beans often used in Japanese and Chinese dishes. Their small size lets them cook more quickly than other beans, and they have a reputation for not causing quite as much of a gas problem as other beans.

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Baked caramel pork belly

How to Cook Fatback to Eat

Fatback is an inexpensive pork product that is sometimes sold salted. The cut comes from the back of the pig. Even if you think fatback is too fatty and salty to eat as a main dish, it has a strong flavor that makes it useful for flavoring other foods, such as beans and pate.

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How to Cook a Boneless 2 1/4-lb. Bottom Round Roast

A bottom round roast is a thick cut of beef best roasted to yield tender and moist meat. The roast is also rich in protein, iron and niacin. This cut of meat comes from the hip area of the cow and is often marbled, making it an excellent choice for roasting, because it lends a rich flavor to the roast.

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Woman making bagels, rolling dough, close up, blurred motion

Can I Cook Bread Dough Right Out of the Fridge?

Refrigerating bread dough is one of the most convenient ways to store it for an extended period of time. Depending on the composition of your dough and how you’re planning to bake it, you may be able to put it in the oven straight from the fridge, but it’s helpful to set aside some time for rising.

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Pan Roasted Chicken

How Does Speed Bake Work?

With every new model on the market, home-use ovens acquire more features that were once the exclusive purview of commercial kitchens. One such feature is Frigidaire's Speed Bake system, a convection-based technology that enables you to cook casseroles, meats, breads and pastries in less time than traditional ovens.

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How to Cook Beluga Lentils

Tiny, black and round, beluga lentils are named for the caviar they resemble. In addition to their striking appearance, beluga lentils hold their shape well during cooking, unlike other lentils that tend to become mushy.

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white kidney bean

How to Cook Cannellini Beans

Cannellini beans are large, white Italian beans that have a creamy texture when cooked. Enjoy cooked cannellini beans in chili, soups, stews or bean salads. Use canned cannellini beans, which are already cooked, when you are in a hurry, or save money by cooking your own dried beans.

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Pile of Sugar Cubes over Wooden Background

The Effect of Refined Sugar on the Body

Refined sugar is made from sucrose extracted from raw sugar cane or sugar beets. Often added to processed foods and beverages, refined sugar has several forms such as granulated white sugar, brown sugar, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup and malt syrup. The average American consumes about 22 tsp.

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Man with salad

Is It Good or Bad to Drink Olive Oil Every Day?

If you want to add healthy fats to your diet, you may consider consuming a moderate amount of olive oil each day. Although olive oil is rich in heart-healthy nutrients, you should not use exorbitant amounts of the food.

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Baked cod

How to Season Baked Cod

Cod is a low-fat, low-calorie white fish with a mild taste that you can easily complement with any number of seasonings. In fact, cod is such a versatile fish that you can experiment with different combinations of herbs and spices, both dried and fresh, to create new and exciting flavors.

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Eggs and Bread, Close Up, In Focus, Out Focus, Differential Focus

How to Cook an Egg in a Toaster Oven

It may be the last thing you would consider using to cook an egg, but toaster ovens are more versatile than they seem. Useful for more than toasting bread, toasters can be used to make simple, innovative breakfasts.

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Chicken on grill

Is Charcoal Cooking a Healthy Option?

Grilling with charcoal is a popular pastime for many Americans in warm weather months. Cooking with charcoal is popular because charcoal grills are less expensive than gas grills. Some individuals prefer the flavor of charcoal cook foods over foods cooked with gas.

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fresh garlic on green board close up

Can Garlic Cure Syphilis?

Syphilis is well known disease caused by a spirochete microorganism called Treponema pallidum. If you suspect that your are infected, see your doctor as soon as possible and start your treatment at early stages to prevent possibly grave consequences. The antibiotic treatment became available in the mid-20th century.

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Roast pork with sauce

How to Cook Pork Roast Uncovered at 250 Degrees

Meats have traditionally been roasted at relatively high temperatures, ranging from a moderate 350 degrees Fahrenheit, to well over 400 F for especially small or tender cuts such as pork tenderloins. Tougher and fattier cuts, such as the shoulder, benefit from long and slower cooking at relatively low temperatures.

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How to Make a White Box Cake Into Chocolate Cake

When you are craving a rich piece of chocolate cake, the box of white cake mix in your cupboard just doesn’t cut it. Luckily, with the addition of a few ingredients you may have in your pantry, you can turn that box of cake mix into a sweet chocolate dessert in no time.

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