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I have told you about the dangers of improper cooking of meats and food. Today I will tell you something about eggs.

Whenever you cook eggs, check that the egg yolk and egg white portion is firm. It should not be runny or loose. While making a scrambled egg cook till they have a firm texture. One more important tip is to completely stay away from recipes that need raw eggs or partially cooked eggs.

Proper cooking will make it easy to digest and also give your body the required nutrients. Let me know if you tried this at home!

For preserving the taste of food, it is important that you cook it properly. Thorough heating is required to get rod of harmful pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.

The U.S Department of Agriculture advises cooking ground meat to an internal temperature of a minimum of 160°F and all kinds of poultry to at least 165°F. If you wish to check it yourself, ground meat turns brown or grey from inside when done; poultry is cooked well when its juices are clear. A completely cooked fish can flake with a fork.

A meat thermometer is the best way to confirm that it is cooked alright.

Sometimes it might happen that you visit a relative’s place for dinner and come back with some of the leftovers at the party. There are chances that you forget about it the next day.

But when you do realize it, the time may not be right. So in such cases, if you have even a slight doubt about any food item, just dispose it off. Never taste or smell such foods as it can have food poisoning bacteria that can’t be seen or tasted!

So the right thing to do is wrap this suspected food and throw it down the bin.

Checking out in your refrigerator once in a while helps a lot in case of food. Try and organize your refrigerator and freezer by placing the older foods in front. This will help you to know that they have to be consumed on priority basis.

You can also write a date on each of these food packages and finish it within a certain time limit. Plastic bags that can be sealed are easy to use as you can mention the contents and date directly on this bag. Ensure that you eat the food when fresh.

Simply put, follow the “First In, First Out” approach!

Here is another tip for safeguarding food at home. Take care that you set the temperature of your refrigerator at or below 40 degrees F and your freezer below 0 degrees F for appropriate food storage.

As you know, the favorable temperature for bacteria to thrive is between 40°F and 140°F. When the temperature is below 40°F the bacteria find it difficult to grow. You can also buy an appliance thermometer that is available in the kitchen utensils department of any grocery store for this purpose.

Place this thermometer in the refrigerator and the freezer to monitor temperatures at both these places.

Grocery cart cross-contamination is a common occurrence at the supermarket. Why does this happen? How can we avoid it?

As you will decipher, cross-contamination can happen when the juices flowing from raw meat, fish or poultry mix with other foods, vessels or surfaces. They should never be kept open after you have bought them and handled properly as these foods are prone to contamination.

To prevent this from occurring, put all such items in plastic bags and only then place them in the cart. This will not let the juices drip on the other foods when you are driving back home.

The basic thing to remember while shopping for cold food is you must always put it the last thing in your cart.

Bacteria can develop well at room temperature. That is why you must shop for perishable food items such as meat, fish, eggs, poultry and dairy products in the end. Make it a point that you head towards home as fast as possible if you have any of the above items with you.

Don’t finish any pending errands or stop at the gas station, and drive home your groceries immediately. They can thus be put into the refrigerator fast.

Do you have the experience that when you are in a hurry, the egg does not poach well and breaks?

While poaching eggs, add some salt and vinegar to the water. This way the egg stays together as it is getting cooked. You can also try stirring the water before putting in the egg. Take care that you place just one egg at a time.

If you don’t want to use the egg immediately, remove it from water and chill it in ice water so that it comes in handy later. For warming up the egg, simply blanch in hot water for a minute.

On one hand I find people complaining about rising food costs and making a budget for the family and on the other, there are people who have a tendency to waste food and money, indirectly.

If you have leftovers, make it a point to consume it the very next day in some interesting form that all the family members approve of. This way you will put the food to good use and also be kind to your digestive system by not putting an extra load of stale food in.

Tell me how you plan to minimize the food wasted in your house.

Broccoli is usually available all through the year. It can be bought for a reasonable price between October and May. The best part is that one cup of chopped broccoli contains more than the Vitamin C needed by our bodies every day, along with Vitamin A and folacin.

The florets contain a larger amount of these vitamins than the stalks. Always check that you buy fresh dark green, purplish or bluish green broccoli and not the yellow florets. Broccoli consists of phytochemicals such as sulforaphane that prevent cancer.

So shop for broccoli the next time you visit the super store!