Global Leadership Center Residents Cooking Tips & Tricks
Before You Cook
| Grocery store | location | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vons | 1040 Coast Village Rd | Not the cheapest store, but convenient. Sign up free for the Vons Club Card to have access to deals. Ask the person at the registers for a sign up form. |
| Trader Joe's | 29 S Milpas St | The cheapest, most easily accessible store to Westmont. The shuttle has an express stop during the daytime on Saturdays. |
| Tri-County Produce | 335 W Milpas St | Fresh food from local farms. There is a bargain shelf behind the registers that have cheap food that is nearing its expiration date. |
| Smart & Final | 217 E Guiterrez St | Cheaper brand-name groceries and a good place to also get household essentials. There is sometimes a bargain cart near the registers with cheap food that is nearing its expiration date. |
| Cost Plus World Market | 610 State St | Speciality foods from countries outside of the U.S. |
| Ralphs | 100 W Carrillo St | |
| Lazy Acres | 302 Meigs Rd | Healthy foods, much of which are organic. Higher price range. |
| Whole Foods | 3761 State St | Natural & organic options. Higher price range. |
Santa Barbara's Farmers' Markets
For locally grown and fresh options.
| Market | time | location |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown | Tuesdays 4pm-7:30pm |
Located on State Street (500 & 600 blocks). Parking on streets (Anacapa, Haley, & Ortega) or Parking Lots 10 & 11. |
| Montecito | Fridays 8am-11:15am |
Located on Coast Village Road. Parking along the street or Coast Village Circle (adjacent to Highway 101 below the businesses). |
| SB & Cota | Saturdays 8:30am-1pm |
110 East Cota St. Parking along the street or the Ortega Parking Garage. |
Food chart is from Real Simple. Graphic by onethread design.
To learn more about food safety, visit Foodsafety.gov.
To learn more about the best way to store your food, visit Savethefood.com.
Food chart is from Real Simple. Graphic by onethread design.
To learn more about food safety, visit Foodsafety.gov.
To learn more about the best way to store your food, visit Savethefood.com.
Food chart is from Real Simple. Graphic by onethread design.
To learn more about food safety, visit Foodsafety.gov.
To learn more about the best way to store your food, visit Savethefood.com.
Food chart is from Real Simple. Graphic by onethread design.
To learn more about food safety, visit Foodsafety.gov.
To learn more about the best way to store your food, visit Savethefood.com. Savethefood.com also has tips for the best ways to freeze your produce or you can also follow the instruction from this Allrecipes page.
Cooking Basics
How to Cook Eggs
- Check if the egg is fresh: Gently drop an egg into water. If it touching the bottom of the container, it is still good. If it is floating to the top of the water, the egg is no longer good.
- Boiled: Place eggs in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once you have a rolling boil, cover and remove from heat. Leave eggs in water for 10 minutes for a firm hard-boiled egg. Place eggs in cold water to stop cooking.
- Scrambled: Melt butter into pan over medium heat. Either crack egg into pan or you can whisk it beforehand. Stir eggs constantly as you cook. When eggs are just set, remove onto plate (eggs will continue to cook for a little while, so don't over cook on the pan).
- Sunny-Side Up: Crack eggs onto a pan over medium heat. Cover for about 2 minutes to cook to upper whites. Cook for about 3-4 minutes total or until the white is set and the edges are crispy.
- Over-Easy: Crack eggs onto a pan over medium heat. Cook for about 2 minutes and flip carefully. For runny yolk, turn off heat and let egg sit for a minute. For a more cooked yolk, turn heat down and cook for about 2 minutes.
How to Cook Chicken
Find many tips and recipes for cooking chicken on AllRecipes. Here are basics to keep in mind for chicken:
- Freeze any chicken you won't use right away. In store packaging, chicken can last in the freezer up to two months. If longer than that, wrap in aluminum foil and plastic freezer bag.
- To defrost a chicken, either defrost cut-up chicken in the refrigerator for 2-9 hours or for a quicker result, defrost in a cold water bath or microwave.
- You don't need to rinse your chicken. Rinsing it will only spread bacteria and cooking it (as long as it is done properly) will kill the bacteria.
- Cook time varies on recipes. Be aware of details that might vary your cook time like bone-in vs. boneless, the thickness of the meat, and the cut of the chicken you are using.
- Stir fry is perhaps one of the easiest methods of cooking chicken. Cook cubed chicken on stove top in a skillet over medium-high heat with oil, while moving the chicken around occasionally. It will take about 7-9 minutes (until chicken is no longer pink in the middle).
- More easy chicken recipes can be found at Tasty and Epicurious.
How to Cook Beef
Find many tips and recipes for cooking beef on AllRecipes. Here are basics to keep in mind for beef:
- Store securely and in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
- Beef can be frozen for about 4 months. To defrost, leave in refrigerator over night or use microwave.
- Stir frying beef on high temperatures is a great way to easily cook beef.