One Hot Tip

Though I like to think of myself as such, I am not much of a domestic diva. I don't like cleaning and organizing, and thus unless someone is coming over, most of the time my house looks like a gentle tornado swept through. I can't sew, or knit, or make candles or soap. I love baking, which I guess is pretty domestic, but I don't really like cooking and I'm not very good at it or adventurous when I do try.

However, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I'm about to share one of my best with you.

When you're cooking ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, sausage, whatever) for a recipe, cook it in the microwave in a rice cooker. Get one that looks like this:


They sell these super cheap in the store, usually in the same aisle with the microwaves. All it needs is an outer bucket and an inner bucket with drainage grate/holes in the bottom. You don't want one with too big holes or where the entire bucket is mesh. And you don't need the lid.

Here's what you do. Put the raw meat in the inner bucket, and then put that in the outer bucket. If you have additives you like (spices, minced onion or garlic) you can put that right in with the meat and mix it up. Pop it in the microwave, and start cooking a minute or two at a time, taking it out and stirring/breaking up the meat as it cooks. Do this until it is all cooked through.

Now take out the inner bucket holding your cooked meat (careful, it might be a little drippy) and marvel (not for too long because it's kinda gross) at all the fat that has drained off. Even if you buy lean meat, like I do, I'm always kinda stunned by how much additional fat gets left behind.

You're left with ultra-ultra-lean cooked ground meat ready for whatever recipe you've got in mind, plus an easy way to dump the leftover ick into your grease jar. Throw that rice cooker in the dishwasher and you're done.

Ta-da! That's my one super-awesome domestic diva tip. Use it well.