Arianna Endicott

If you overestimate how much pasta you need to cook for dinner, it's easy to package up the leftovers for another meal. But if you find a forgotten container of noodles hidden at the back of the fridge, you may want to reconsider heating and eating it. Generally speaking, cooked pasta will only last about three to five days in the fridge, and this timeframe only applies if you store it properly.

Scrambled eggs are an essential part of brunch, according to celebrity chef Bobby Flay. And while everyone has their own preferences regarding the ideal texture of the dish, the chef has been pretty vocal about his own opinion. In a YouTube video to promote his cookbook "Brunch At Bobby's," he shared an important tip for perfecting the texture of the protein. "The key to scrambled eggs, to me, is to make them nice and silky and fluffy and light," Flay said. "You want to continue to stir as soon as the eggs go in the pan."

Doing the dishes can seem like a daunting task after enjoying a nice home-cooked meal, especially if some of that food got a little too burnt on the stovetop. Just because stainless steel pans are called "stainless" doesn't mean they shouldn't be cleaned ASAP after every use, and while it's tempting to say you'll just scrape off that burnt-on food residue tomorrow, doing it right away is easier for you and better for your pans.

Concerns are being raised over the quality of Lunchables after Consumer Reports tests revealed that the meals contain lead and other heavy metals. The packaged foods, which are marketed as easy-to-grab for school-aged children's lunches, are sold in grocery stores nationwide with various meals, including DIY mini pizzas, nachos, and cracker "sandwiches" — like a mini charcuterie board with crackers, cheese, and cured meats.

Breaking an omelet mid-flip can throw off your entire breakfast — at worst, you might have to turn the mangled eggs into a scramble, instead. So long as you're not going for a delicate French omelet (which is quite different from the American style), you ought to try celebrity chef Ree Drummond's hack for making omelets in a neater way — no messy flipping required. On her Food Network show "The Pioneer Woman," Drummond revealed that she cooks her omelets sous-vide, or in a water bath.

Celebrity chef Ree Drummond is an expert at cooking for a crowd. The host of Food Network's "The Pioneer Woman" often cooks for her family, friends, and ranch hands employed on her Oklahoma ranch, using her renowned Southern recipes. One crowd-pleasing dish she recommends is monkey bread: flavored balls of biscuit dough baked in a Bundt pan, then pulled apart to eat.

Texture can make or break your scrambled eggs. While the ideal plate might be full of custardy eggs, a watery mouthfeel is not pleasant. Add too much liquid, cook on too high a heat, or use older eggs, you may find your breakfast is more soup than solid. Fortunately, adding a little cornstarch can help to thicken things up and give you a dreamy, creamy consistency.

If you want perfectly textured cookies, mixing leavening agents into the batter is essential. Most cookie recipes call for baking soda or baking powder, and the two can even be substituted with some slight modification. While it may seem redundant to use both, adding them can ensure sweet success by allowing the cookies to brown and spread a little more. Expansion is essential for evenly baked cookies since tightly compacted sweets could cause super soft (if not underdone) interiors and overbaked, crispy exteriors.

Tahini is essential for cooking up some delicious Middle Eastern dishes. The sesame paste is the star of the show when blending up some hummus or baba ghanoush, but it can also be drizzled as-is on top of a Greek pita pizza. Fortunately, if you aren't using it all right away, tahini can last for quite a while. Unopened, some brands boast a shelf life of up to two years — though it is always important to adhere to the jar's expiration date.

Whether you're a curry connoisseur or you just prefer using non-dairy milk alternatives, keeping a few cans of coconut milk on hand will ensure you can always add some creaminess to your dishes. But, even though the canned variety may be shelf-stable, it won't last forever. So, before you open a can to make Swiss chard coconut curry, verify it's unspoiled first with some easy tips.