By the way: reasons to use glass containers instead of plastic + 3 stress-free ways to remove labels + how to wash inside a bottle.

(Em português)

I prefer to keep my teas and spices in glass jars, because this material does not absorb odours nor flavours, meaning it can be reused without interfering in the food I store - besides, whenever I judge it necessary, I can sterilise the jars and lids (only the metal ones).
Unlike plastic, glass won't allow for aroma and flavour characteristics of the food to be lost, for glass stops aromatic substances from evaporating. I think it is very functional, since the jar's contents are always on display, plus I find it pretty.
Furthermore, it is a sustainable storage solution, because most of the time I put to use packages that would otherwise be discarded (honey, jam, dulce de leche, juice, etc); even if I bought a set of identical containers, it is a material that lasts long.

By the way: why and how to oil wooden cutting boards.

(Em português)

It's been quite a while since I've been interested in getting to know how and why to oil wooden cutting boards, considering I have bought two of them for which I fell completely in love.
You know, I wanted to take good care of my babies.
So I found that, by oiling the boards, a protection film is formed, making it easier to clean them and increasing durability.
Humidity is partly stopped from sinking into the wood's fibers, preventing it from absorbing foods that could leave odor, stain, favor bacteria accumulation and form mold.
It should be done before the board's first use, then go on as maintenance.
To learn which oil to use, how and when, keep reading.

By the way: brush for roots and vegetables.

(Em português)

You might have noticed before that I really like to cook using the oven.

Breads, tarts, baked omelette, all kinds of oven roasted vegetable, fruits, chimia...

Particularly in the case of roots, I find it interesting to roast them with the peels on. Think beets, carrots, ginger, fresh turmeric, all kinds of potatoes, even some other foods that have slightly hard peels (squashes? apples?).

Baking/ roasting food with their peel helps preserve their nutritional value, even if you take it off later.

But for that, of course, the peels must be perfectly clean - after all, it's not pleasant at all to eat food with dirt.

My best friend in this task is a small nail brush. It's obvious that you need to buy a new one to use exclusively in the kitchen. The good thing about them is they fit nicely in your hand, and these ones that come with a handle don't slip away.

All you have to do is leave a string of running water and kindly brush each vegetable until you remove all of the dirt. Then you cut off the damaged parts, if there are any, and after rinsing you can proceed with the preparation of your food.

Rinse the brush as well, let it dry well hanging on a hook or on the dish drainer before storing (I keep mine on a hook by the tap.

It's always good to remember it is not interesting to eat with peel vegetables that are grown with pesticides, because most of them get stuck in the peels. In this case, you can stills wash them with the brush, but then cut peels off before cooking.

Now, some news: I've created a page on facebook for the blog, it's only in Portuguese, though.
Anyway, there I will publish the new posts & links I find interestig (it's quite possible they won't always be food-related).
If you feel like searching it, look for Blog É o que tem pra hoje.

Fruit fly trap. True story.

(Em português)

The kitchn's got some great tips. This one, for example:

a trick to get rid of fruit flies.

Honestly, can someone not be annoyed by them in summertime?

With this little simple trick problem is solved. Or at least diminishes a lot:

You pour some apple vinegar in a cup, add one or two drops liquid detergent, and place it next to the fruit bowl. Done.

(I have also tested white vinegar and rice vinegar; apple works a zillion times better)

Vinegar attracts them, detergent kills them. That's it.

The picture below is disgusting, but I'm publishing it so you can see it really works.

Depending on the quantity of flies that usually appear in your kitchen, it's nice to change the vinegar mixture once a day or once a week. 

Also, I'd recommend choosing a ceramic cup or any other non-transparent material, to avoid making your kitchen look bad.

PS: I have tested using a piece of neutral soap, because that's what I have at home and use to wash my dishes, but it didn't do well like the detergent did.

By the way: how to wash leafy greens.

(Em português)

People, to eat salad, what do we need?

We need salad ready to eat. It's that simple.

Properly washing salad takes time and is boring, that's why nobody has patience to do it when they come home from work and cook dinner, or when they make a quick weekday lunch. Or prepare their lunchbox, whatever.

At least, I am like that.

However, I like eating salad, and a lot of it too.

To solve this matter, I adopted an idea I've seen in La Cucinetta - I can't remember in which post nor when - that's to do everything in one single day: go to the farmers market & washing the leafy vegetables all at once.

The remaining vegetables and fruits I wash only when I use them, but for the leafs this has been quite useful, because they last me a whole week.

Of course I'm not able to do that every week, but I would like to.

Below you can see how I prepare my greens to make sure they are clean and fresh for a couple days.

The use of a bowl to avoid mess.

(Em português)

This is a very simple and useful hint.

I saw it in Jamie Oliver's website, where you can find many good ideas.
The deal is: before you start cooking, put an empty bowl on the counter to collect peels, seeds, etc.
In the end, all you have to do is toss them in the trash can. This way it's really quick to clean up the counter, and you avoid the inconvenience of having the trash can nearby.
There, that's it.
It might seem silly, but this makes cooking a lot more agile.

By the way.

(Em português)

Today, no recipe for you.

Instead, there's an idea. I'm starting this tag named "by the way", which I intend to post monthly (every first friday of the month) talking about small measures I take in my kitchen to make things easier.

This tip here is to help avoid waste.
Basically, it's about having a board where you can list the ingredients you don't want to forget to use.
Every once in a while we buy unusual things for a specific recipe, or to experiment, and then the ingredient is left lying around in the pantry (caham, buckwheat, rice flour...).
It's also helpful to remember the things you have on hand, so that you won't buy again ingredients you already have.
I found it nice to update the list when the week starts, specially the perishable goods, and try to use them instead of getting fresh stuff.