Food

Air is the enemy of food. In order to keep food fresh as long as possible you want to keep it wrapped tightly in order to keep air out. Depending on the type and where you'll be storing it, an airtight container or wrap will keep food from drying out, getting soggy, developing freezer burn, absorbing odors, or becoming contaminated from raw meat or poultry. Now practically every storage container out there claims to be airtight but I can tell you from years of testing that that's not true. Here's what we've learned.

Related: The Truth Behind 9 Popular Vitamins and Supplements

A lot depends on whether or not air can go in through the material that the container or wrap's made of, as well as whether or not it has a tight-fitting lid. Even if the air seems sucked or vacuumed out, it can still get back in if the material's porous or the cover's loose. In our tests, glass containers with tight lids are always the best at keeping air out. Tops in our latest test: Snapware Total So

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Brighten up traditional lemonade by adding fresh strawberries -- and steeped ginger and lemongrass -- for a unique and refreshing sparkling beverage.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (about a dozen-or-so lemons)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large strawberries
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger (a little larger than a walnut)
2 lemongrass stalks
2 cups water
2 cups of chilled sparkling water or club soda
4 cups of ice

Related: A refreshing pineapple surprise and 15 other cool summer drinks

Directions:
1.Peel the ginger by lightly scraping the sides sideways with a knife. Chop up the ginger as fine (stronger flavor) or as coarsely (milder) as you like.

2. Trim the dry bases of the lemongrass stalks, and again, slice cross-ways, as fine or coarsely as you like.

3. Place ginger, lemongrass, salt, and sugar into a saucepan with two cups of water.

4. On medium-high heat,

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Nothing will make my daughter run for her room like spinach. She can sense it from a mile away - almost as if she has an anti-spinach super power. Thankfully, she has yet to figure out that her favorite green smoothie is packed with the super nutritious green vegetable. I'm thinking it has a lot to do with the way I serve it. Fresh and sweet, these monster smoothies not only look back at you, they're deliciously healthy!

Related: Blueberries, spinach and 8 other superfoods hiding in your kitchen!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 banana, peeled
1 tablespoon honey
Candy eyes
Small pineapple triangles

Helpful Tip: I'm using frozen pineapple and spinach for a colder smoothie but fresh pineapple and spinach can be substituted and will make the smoothie sweeter and greener. If using fresh pineapple and spinach, add a few ice cubes to make the smoothie colder.

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Is it the firm jiggles or the dissolve in your mouth sweetness that makes finger jello such a hit with people of all ages? My family has been making finger jello since before I could say "boo." Every party, every celebration, every sunday family gathering there it was. Depending on the occasion it was usually cut into squares, but when it's party time my Auntie Rosie usually cut them into fancy shapes and placed the scraps in a big ziplock. The big ziplock was reserved for the scavenger types who would go hunting for more once all the fancy shapes were gone. Yes, that's how I got introduced to finger jello, except my family made it with real fruit juice. Here's the recipe….. Enjoy!

Related: 10 tasty mug cakes you can make in under 10 minutes

Ingredients for Real Fruit Juice Finger Jello:
6 cups real fruit juice (the choice is yours, but I use Cran-Strawberry, Pom-Blueberry, pink lemonade, grape, apple, sweetened jamaica tea, or cherry juice)
6 envelopes of Knox unflavored gelatin

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Fabio goes to the garden to take lasagna over the top for the ultimate Italian family meal. Batch cook this one and make enough to feed yourselves all summer. Also, need to know tips & tricks to help you avoid the 5 most common mistakes made when cooking lasagna!

Culinary tips:

-Most common mistake people use with dry noodles is to use them! For perfect lasagna, use fresh noodles in large sheets. Fresh noodles are growing in availability in American markets and can be found in your grocer's refrigerator section.

-Simple tip for perfectly moist lasagna? Grill your veggies first for great texture, more flavor, and less water. This is also a great way to transform leftover veggies!

-Since vegetables hold so much water, use a thick sauce to avoid an overabundance of moisture.

VEGETABLE LASAGNA

Recipe by Fabio Viviani

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 batch Fabio's fresh pasta dough, rolled into large sheets

1 pound fresh portabella mushrooms, cleaned with stems removed

1 ea. green bell

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