Nine Things I Learned from Food Network

I was chatting with someone about cooking the other day, and I mentioned that I learned how to cut an avocado from watching Food Network. That made me think about other things I've learned from Food Network.

I love to cook. I love to watch cooking shows, and back in the Before Kids time of my life, that's what I used to do while I drank my coffee on the weekend mornings. I've learned a whole lot about cooking from Food Network, so I made a list.

Nine Things I Learned from Food Network

1. How to cut an avocado - Slice it down the middle, around the pit, then separate the halves and scoop out the pit. Score each half lengthwise and crosswise into cubes while it's still in the peel, then scoop the whole thing out with a spoon. It's so easy.

2. Olive Oil - Or EVOO, as Rachel Ray rebranded it. I use it for everything. I keep vegetable oil in the house for brownies and the very rare occasion that I fry something, but olive oil is my go-to cooking oil. Also, it's very moisturizing so I've added it to glycerin soap and I used to to get rid of Ella's cradle cap when she was a baby. I didn't learn that from Food Network, but had I not learned about EVOO before then, I probably never would have tried it.

3. Popping garlic - Ever tried to peel a clove of garlic? It sucks. Rachel Ray  taught me to smash it with the flat side of the knife first, and the peel basically just falls off.

4. Chicken stock - You can make quick meal taste like it has been cooking all day with chicken stock (or beef, I guess). It really works. I have a yummy, easy marinara recipe using chicken stock that tastes like an Italian grandma cooked it. Chicken stock is also a good replacement for water if you want to make the flavor richer, or wine if you don't have any on hand or are opposed to cooking with alcohol.

5. Knives - Rachel Ray gave me the courage to use the big vegetable knife. It's my favorite one; I use it almost daily. I can't fathom how I'm supposed to chop anything if I work in someone else's kitchen and they don't have the big knife. The chopping is my favorite part of cooking.

6. How to cook pasta - All of the women in my life cook pasta by adding oil to the water, but Rachel Ray (Yes, I love her.) taught me to leave out the oil and had a heaping helping of salt instead. It's the bomb. Side note: Even Rachel's mom puts oil in her pasta water, so I'm not saying it's wrong, I just don't do it that way anymore.

7. You can grill anything - Bobby Flay opened up a whole new world of grilling for us, and during the summer months we grill everything.

8. What leeks are and how to wash them - Not just leeks, which I have cooked a few times, but all kinds of vegetables that I didn't know existed or that I was intimidated by because I didn't know what to do with them. Really, not just vegetables, all kinds of food. We eat a wide variety of food in our house, from classic American to Italian to Mexican to Chinese to Indian to Thai to pub style and other things in between, thanks in part to Food Network.

9. How to prepare eggplant - Before you cook it, peel it, slice it, and soak it in a bowl of cold, salty water for 15ish minutes. That makes it less spongy so it doesn't soak up all the oil or sauce or whatever you are cooking it in that would make it soggy.

I don't get to watch much Food Network these day, but I do pin new recipes like crazy on Pinterest. Then I spend a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon prepping our meals for the week so we can eat well, even on the crazy nights. The meal planning and prep has become one of my favorite jobs lately.