I manage to create kitchen disasters all the time but the tips below have helped save many of my dishes that would have ended up in the garbage.

As we budget family meals, tips and tricks are necessary to save mess-ups because just throwing a dish away and staring over is not an option.

If you lost control with spices, sugar or salt here are a few tips from Kraft Food and Family Magazine (winter 2007) to save the dish:

• Too Sweet? Acidic items such as lemon or vinegar tend to cut down on both too-salty and too-sweet dishes. You can also add a dash of cayenne to cut down the sugar.

• Too Salty? Use a bit of sugar or maple syrup. (TIP- don’t reach for a raw potato – it’s a kitchen myth that it calms dishes that are too salty)

• Too Spicy? Add something with a little fat such as butter or something sweet such as honey or peanut butter.

Cooking on HIGH really doesn’t help it only burns things Hints And Things gives some great tips for those burnt dishes:

• If you burn sauce or gravy, pour it into a clean pan, add some sugar to it a little at a time to avoid the final result becoming too sweet – it takes the burnt flavor away. **Really does work I used this tip last night while cooking dinner***

• Don’t stir the food as this will mix any burnt pieces into the rest of the food and contaminate it all. Plunge the bottom of the pan into cold water to cool it down and prevent further cooking.  Carefully remove as much of the unburnt food as you can and put into a clean pan, being very careful not to include any burnt bits, add a little more liquid continue cooking.  If it still tastes burnt the addition of something like Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, spice or herbs, usually disguises it.

• If you burn a pot of rice, place a slice of white or “light” bread on the top of the rice.  Let it sit for a few minutes (5-10).  The burnt taste will be gone but be sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan!

Looking for recipe substitutions to create a healthy family meal try a few of these ideas:
Simple Substitutions for a Healthier Recipe

If you have any tips or recipe rescues share them with us. Leave a comment with your recipe rescue and I will post more next week. Good luck with those dishes, maybe someone could leave a tip on how to get the kitchen cleaned by someone other than MOM!!