Have you ever wondered where the term “food hacks” came from, or what it actually means? We see it all over the Internet now, almost to the point that it’s becoming trite.

Research lead me to Word Wizard, where this term is defined as “an activity that creates healthier or unusual substitutions for standard meals, drinks, and snacks.” So, my guess was that this ‘hack’ meant something like ‘substitute’ or ‘stand-in.’

After lots of hunting, though, I never did discover when or where this term first popped up. My inclination is that some clever food journalist was needing some catchy topic to draw readers in, and “food hack” came to his/her mind.

So that cleared up, let’s talk food hacks. There seems to be no end to the creativity folks bring to cooking and baking. As a good example of someone’s food hack for an easy, delicious, and unusual snack or appetizer, take a look at this:

Honestly, I never would have thought of doing this to a loaf of French bread! Why wouldn’t a loaf of ciabatta bread work also? I’m betting any pungent cheese works well. And besides the sliced green onions, how about sliced black olives and maybe some chopped fresh basil?

And is this clever, or what? Talk about making the skill of eating with chopsticks so much easier!

THIS is the best! Anyone that’s ever made ice cream sandwiches knows what a major pain in the neck it is to get the ice cream quickly sliced, onto the cookies, wrapped, and back into the freezer before the ice cream melts all over the place. The only drawback for me is the cost of these individual ice cream containers. So, I’m adding my own hack to this hack: I’m going to saving the 12 ounce frozen juice cans we use all the time and when I have enough, I’m packing them with ice cream then returning them to the freezer. When the ice cream sets up again, I’ll slice them for my ice cream sandwiches! Much less expensive.

Holy cow, is my husband going to thank me for this one. Can you imagine the joy this little technique would bring to the breakfast table? I’m trying this and if it tastes as good as it looks, Bacon Cinnamon Rolls is going on my menu for Easter brunch!

Please forgive my gushing, but is this not clever? I’m always sending these plastic pants and skirt hangers to charity. Well going forward, I’ll be saving a few for this very sensible use. Thumbs up on this one, for sure!

I’ll close with one last food hack. What a delicious way to bake a potato. I know our Cook’n readers are creative and so you may have already thought of this, or already seen it done. But this is a first for me and I intend to try this tonight for supper. But again, I think I’ll add my own little hack to this ingenious hack: I’m going to cut some bacon strips into squares and place them between the slices of each potato before baking. I’m drooling as we speak.

So as you see, there really is no end to the creativity folks bring to the art of cooking and baking. Do you have a favorite food hack? We’d love to hear about it. Meanwhile, here’s to all you clever folks out there that make cooking, baking, and dining even more fun!