Does searing a steak really keep in the juices?

"It's a little bit of a complicated answer," Rachael says. "If you just throw a steak into a frying pan and throw another steak into the oven, they'll come out the same weight. But what's important is whether you're cooking it in the oven or on the grill or on the stove top, you've got to get the pan super, super hot, and you have to pat the meat dry before you cook it. If you put dry meat into a very hot pan, what will happen is a carmelization of the meat. You're developing the sugars in the meat, so the meat tastes more flavorful and you have the impression that the meat is very juicy and super tender."

Does the caffeine in coffee and tea cause dehydration?

"If it has caffeine in it, whatever it is, it is dehydrating you," Rachael confirms. "You have to hydrate yourself with water and balance that out. Certainly, a little bit of green tea and decaffeinated tea could go a long way, too. I feel that it sort of helps cleanse your body; I put a lot of citrus in it, a lot of lemon. I try to drink hot cups of liquid in a decaffeinated form and mix that up with several glasses of water a day."

Are brown eggs healthier than white eggs?

"There is no noticeable difference in their nutrition," Rachael points out. "The difference in the color of the eggs is really about the hen itself. So you can really get a nice variety of colors, just look for nice, fresh eggs, and I do recommend buying organic and cage-free eggs."

Should I wash my chicken before I cook it?

"I've got two schools of thought on this," Rachael says. "If you're dealing with a large bird, a four to seven pound roasting bird that has a cavity, I do take the time to clean that bird, dry it very well, and make sure the cavity is nice and clean. And you have to disinfect the surfaces that came in contact with the bird before cooking. If you're dealing with cut small pieces of chicken, you're really just wasting your time [cleaning it]. The heat in the pan is going to kill anything that would be bothersome. And if the chicken looks bad, you shouldn't have brought it home to begin with."