HELOISE: Cooking for one becomes challenge

Dear Heloise: After many years of cooking for my family, I am finding it difficult to cook for just one person. I know this is a common concern for other single people, too.

The food industry is not really geared toward one person. I throw away lots of food that just goes bad even though I try to freeze portions and share with friends. What about doing some hints on keeping crackers fresh, etc.?

Lou W. in San Antonio

Lou, I understand your situation. When you find individual portions, they can be pricey. Here are some hints for keeping food fresh:

Store crackers in tall, round potato-chip cans. And here’s a hint from my mother, the original Heloise: Keep crackers in the freezer after putting them in a freezer bag.

Label, label, label and date everything! Mark each item in the freezer.

Did you know that canned and frozen vegetables may be better nutritionally and less expensive than fresh produce? Think about peas, green beans or broccoli. They are picked; they may sit on a truck, then in a warehouse, then in the bin at the supermarket. Many frozen or canned veggies are picked and packaged right away.

Keep an inventory of what’s in your refrigerator and freezer. You’ll use leftovers on that half-serving of meat before it goes south!

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I keep a kitchen towel on my oven door handle, and I constantly have to bend down to pick it up after I bump against it. I cut a small, 3-inch-wide strip of nonstick drawer liner long enough to wrap around the middle of the handle a couple of times, and I fastened it with tape. This keeps the towel off the floor, which is more sanitary.

Janice Moses, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: My suggestion for any avocado dish (to prevent the avocado from browning — Heloise) is to simply add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of citric-acid crystals or a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice to the dish. The citric acid will allow the guacamole to retain its color. This also works well with peeled, uncooked potatoes left out of water.

A Reader, via e-mail

And apples, also!

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I’ve never liked biscuits after they’ve been frozen, but I don’t want to throw away food. I had leftover frozen biscuits and decided to try something. I boiled a pot of water and put my splatter screen over the boiling water. I split the biscuits and laid them on the splatter screen for 10 seconds, turned them over and did the other side. They were great. The steam added moisture so the biscuits weren’t crumbling, and they came out hot!

Lois P., via e-mail

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate