At voato we love making posh food for minimum effort. Follow this simple recipe to knock-up some posh chips (aka Sautee Potatoes) as a tasty alternative to oven chips. This recipe makes delicious potatoes that are golden brown and crispy.  All you’ll need is a 5-6 potatoes, garlic, rosemary, butter and olive oil. 

For full details of the recipe visit Channel4.com.

Beer and wine are loaded not only with calories, but with sugars that transfer into empty calories and carbs that stick around for a long time. The best way to get rid of these excess carbs is with some gentle exercise – walking, jogging, running and so on.  We’ll help you find out just how much exercise is needed to burn off those weekend drinks.

How Many Calories Did I Drink?

There is a great little tool at DrinkAware which allows you to enter how many drinks you had the night before.  It then shows you how many calories and alcohol units that is. We’ve done the basic calculations for you below, but you can click the image to take you to the calculator.

Calories burned whilst exercising

The amount of calories you burn depends on your height, weight and how fast or slow you jog.   As a rough rule of thumb, here are some basic figures for 10 minutes of exercise.

You can use the calculator here for other activities.

Exercise to burn off the drink

By using the two basic figures above,  we can calculate how many minutes you need to run for to burn off those alcoholic drinks. The figures below assume a running pace of 10-minute-miles, a walking pace for walking the dog, and a weight of 70KG.

Sources
Drinkaware.co.uk
ProHealth

Now is a great time to start scrubbing,  and it’s sure to make the food taste better.  We’ve bought together some of the best tips from across the web to make it easier to clean the BBQ.

Burn off the excess
Firstly, you need to burn off all the excess rock-like-meat which has stuck to the grills. The best way is to turn the grills upside down and put the BBQ on a very high heat.  Leave them burning for a good 20-30 minutes and all the big rocks of meat will flame away.

Cool down
Ensure that the BBQ has cooled down considerably as you don’t want to be paying a visit to A&E. When it has cooled, use warm soapy water to clean away the grease, but make sure you do so by using a non-abrasive material. A more abrasive one will scratch the surface and leave it more vulnerable to the rust

Remove the rust
The best thing to use is wire wool, which can be found in most reputable DIY stores such as B&Q or Wickes. When you’re done, give the grill a wipe down with a damp cloth to get rid of any rust residue and soap and there you go, it should be sparkling and ready for use.

Use a BBQ cleaning liquid
This doesn’t need to be anything fancy.  A bottle of Antibacterial surface spray will do the job nicely. Not only will it remove the remaining grease, but it also protects against killer bugs such as Salmonella and E-Coli.

Finally, get some BBQ liners
These 3mm aluminium foil grill sheets are supposed to keep your cooking grate clean, while still letting you grill effectively. You’ll never need to clean again! You will need to oil these liners before you cook or foods will stick.  You can pick these up at CleanBBQ.

Alternatives

Use a steam cleaner
If you can afford it, it’s well worth the investment if you’re sick of scrubbing.  This will speed up the time taken to clean your barbecue after use and can be very affective indeed. 

Use a Drill and Wire Brush (extreme caution!)

Use Soda Crystals

Sources
oph-good-housekeeping.com

Spring cleaning will soon be here, and that usually means going through the cupboards,  and pulling out those tins and jars with expiry dates long passed.   It’s not always easy knowing how long food really lasts once opened. When you’re at the shops it’s not always possible to know if that mayo you bought last week will last. With this simple and innovative guide to food expiry dates,  you’re sure to have fresh produce available all the time.

Some of the more surprising expiration dates include Nutella 4 months (usually no more than a week!), Tabasco 2-5years, and Vegemite 2 months. Although the author of the table suggests that Vegemite is unfit for human consumption as soon as it is opened.  Love it or hate it.

Visit The Periodic Table of Condiments.

A simple all-in-one insulated mug,  with coffee filter and plunger means all you need to do is add a scoop of ground coffee, put the filter in,  add the hot water and wait 3-4 minutes. Freshly brewed coffee has never been easier. All you need to do is keep a container of fresh ground coffee at your place of work,  and you’ll never need to spend £2 on that fresh morning coffee again.  For the colour coordinated,  they come in Red, Graphite, Platinum, Blue, Pink, Green and Yellow.

SmartCafe is available at the following suppliers: Amazon.co.uk and Cookware Online and lots of other outlets.   Check Google for other suppliers.

How do you reduce your coffee expenses?

Many busy people now resort to pre-cooked rice which usually has as much flavour as boiled lentils.  A rice steamer can help,   but readers of Voato will appreciate this cheap but effective way of cooking perfect rice every time.  

Follow Jamie Oliver’s simple recipe and you’ll be amazed at how light and fluffy the results can be.  All you’ll need is a large pan, a colander, foil, sea salt, basmati rice and water.  Also,  using this way of preparing rice makes it really simple to keep warm for up to 20 minutes.

Visit Jamie Oliver to find out how to make perfect rice.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWpvQa5-nUQ

Or follow these simple instructions and you’ll soon be cracking eggs like Jamie Oliver.

• Crack the egg by holding it firmly and striking the side of the egg against a completely flat surface like the kitchen worktop or a cutting board. Be careful not to strike it too hard, or you will smash the egg all over your hand. You just need to crack it
• Hold the cracked egg over the bowl. Apply gentle pressure with your index fingertip and thumb on either side of the crack. As the crack opens up, use your thumb to push the half of the egg nearest your thumb tip in one direction while using your middle finger to pull the half of the egg nearest the heel of your hand in the other direction.

Visit http://www.ehow.com/how_2180259_break-egg-one-hand.html

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What’s your favourite recipe?

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