According to Fitness Magazine, there are some easy ways to go from "flop chef" to "top chef" when we're cooking. EASY is the name of my game and I thought you might like EASY as well. Consider these tips:

Want to know how to cook fish so it comes out moist and flakey, not dry and charred? First, the pros recommend starting with fatty fish, such as salmon, because it's less likely to dry out. Then they say we should drizzle fillets with olive oil on both sides, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and bake in a baking dish at 400 degrees. Advice on thick fillets (salmon or halibut, for instance) is to cook them for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at the fattest spot. Check the fish after eight minutes to see if it flakes when stuck with a fork; that means it's done.

With thin fillets, such as flounder, sole, or tilapia, pan-frying is best and can be healthy if we go light on oil, says Devin Alexander, author of The Biggest Loser Flavors of the World Cookbook. He says to dry the fish with paper towels because excess water prevents the outside from browning (I had no idea) and drizzle a few drops of olive oil (one teaspoon per pound) over the skin and rub it in. Cook the fillet in a pan over medium-high heat until one side is lightly browned (one to two minutes), then flip the fillet for another one to two minutes of browning before turning the heat down to low to finish cooking (three more minutes).

How about stir-fry - do you get it right? Fitness Magazine says the number-one stir-fry slipup: throwing all the ingredients, which cook at different rates, into the pan at once. Here's what we should do instead: Put prepped ingredients (chopped vegetables, peeled shrimp, etc.) in separate bowls before turning on the stove.

The pros say when adding protein (shrimp, chicken or beef strips), cook it first by heating a teaspoon of canola oil in a pan over medium-high heat (olive oil burns at high heat, and its flavor will overpower things); pat the shrimp, chicken or beef dry and drop them in the pan. Cook over high heat for two minutes. If using shrimp, flipping them once they turn opaque. When the shrimp are no longer translucent on both sides, remove them. Same goes for cooked chicken or beef. Then cook the veggies in the same pan, starting with aromatics, like onion or fennel, for one minute; then throw in the rest and stir over medium-high heat for three to four minutes. Finally, mix soy sauce and Dijon mustard in a bowl, pour it over the veggies and add the protein back in for a minute or two; stir to combine the flavors.

Then there's the chicken breast. HOW do we cook it so it's not as dry as sawdust? Several pros I read said that a common mistake most folks make is to cook it for a set period of time (say, 30 minutes), regardless of size or thickness. But for a moist, perfectly cooked breast, it's recommended we purchase bone-in chicken breasts with skin. Baking chicken with the skin on locks in moisture and helps prevent the flesh from shrinking and drying. (So we give up a little convenience for taste - OK.) The pros say the bone adds flavor and promotes even cooking. They also suggest seasoning a breast with salt, black pepper, and a favorite spice (try poultry seasoning or a Cajun spice blend), then cooking it in a 9-by-9-inch glass baking dish (metal or cast-iron pans, earthenware, and Dutch ovens work, too) at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. It's also advised that if we have a chicken breast that's one pound or bigger, we give it 55 minutes. After it cools for 15 minutes, we should cut it from the bone and remove the skin to slash fat.

And we can't forget steak. I still have some in my freezer that my hubby bought a few weeks ago. We never could bring ourselves to cook it because we ruin every steak cut we try. To my surprise I learned cooking steak not that hard. The pros say that often people don't start with a high enough heat, and that leads to overcooked meat. (Yup, that's our deal.) Chef Tyler Florence (Food Network chef) says high and even heat is needed to caramelize the steak through searing. He recommends choosing a thick cut of meat for juiciness (such as a one-and-a-half-inch New York strip steak), and using a cast-iron pan or ovenproof skillet. First, we should dry the surface of the meat because excess water leads to stewing instead of searing (sheesh, where have I been?), and then season with salt and black pepper. Perry then suggests pouring a little canola oil in the pan and turning the heat to high. Once the pan is hot, we should cook the steak for six minutes on each side, then put the pan into the oven at 375 degrees for about five minutes.

For a thinner cut (less than one and a half inches), the final step in the oven isn't necessary. We just need to make sure the pan is hot, sear the meat for a minute, turn the heat down to medium high and cook for two to three minutes more. Then we need to peek at the underside; once it's brown, it should be flipped over and cooked for a couple of minutes more. The pros say that a classic mistake is flipping too often, which can make the meat stick or develop an odd color - two to three minutes a side is all it takes.

And do you know how to cook the perfect scrambled egg? Who would've thought there was any technique to that? But the Fitness Magazine pros say there is. Most people cook them too long and dry them out. The trick is to take the eggs off the burner when they've set but are still slightly wet and just starting to thicken. We should keep folding them with the spatula and they'll continue to steam and cook without drying.

Fitness Magazine shares a tried-and-true recipe for an egg-white-and-veggie scramble: Whisk four egg whites until they're fluffy. Then saute onions and garlic with diced fresh or canned tomatoes and a handful of spinach. As soon as the spinach wilts, pour the egg whites over the top. Let the mixture sit for 10 to 15 seconds; then stir it for a minute. When the eggs change from clear to white and the ingredients begin to hold together, put them on a plate and top with a pinch of grated Parmesan.

For the vegetarians out there, here's what the pros say about cooking tofu (one of the things I've avoided trying because it seems just scary). They say chances are, we're committing one of these tofu faux pas: (1) We buy the wrong kind. For cooking, firm or extra firm, not silken, is needed. Silken is best for smoothies and is a great substitute for ricotta in fillings. (2) We forget to drain it. Here's the draining technique: Unpack the tofu, cover a cutting board with a clean dish towel and set the tofu on top. Cover it with another towel and another cutting board. Put something heavy on top - a cast-iron skillet, a large book, or several cans of soup - and let sit until the excess moisture is removed, about 20 minutes. Change the towels if they become too wet to soak up any more water. Then cube and fry.

Finally, whole-grain pasta. Mine ends up either tough or a mush mess. According to Fitness Magazine pros, the cardinal sin when preparing whole-grain pasta is overcooking. It needs to be al dente, meaning the noodles are not hard, but still firm. The rule of thumb is to use one gallon of salted water for each pound of pasta. Professional chefs add a teaspoon of olive oil to help prevent the pasta from sticking together. They say to drop in the pasta only after the water has reached a rapid boil and give it a few stirs to make sure the pasta isn't sticking to the bottom. The pros also say to start checking it two minutes before the suggested cooking time on the box to be sure we catch it al dente, which we can test by biting into a noodle. It should be not quite fully cooked - still a little firm, yet tender.

Who knew? With these tips, EASY can still be the name of my game, and yours as well. Now let's go cook like the pros!