6 Ways To Save Time In The Kitchen
By Sherrie Le Masurier
With life as busy as it is who wants to spend more time in the kitchen than they need to? Crystal and I love to cook but we also love to do it efficiently. Here are some of our favourite kitchen shortcuts.
Create A Master Shopping Checklist
Photocopy it, and keep it handy. When each item on your list runs low, simply check it off.
Organize Your Kitchen To Eliminate Unnecessary Steps
Keep food staples in one place. Set up a baking centre to store your baking supplies. Keep your everyday utensils together in one area, your baking and non-everyday tools in another.
Freeze Cooked Ground Beef
One of our favourite meal shortcuts is to purchase ground meat in bulk. We then brown, drain and freeze in whole-meal portions. At a moment’s notice we have cooked ground beef which defrosts quickly in the microwave and is ideal for use in soups, casseroles, and tacos or as a pizza topping. Crystal and I do the same with large blocks of grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
Cook In Quantity
Take a few extra minutes when preparing the evening meal to double the recipe, and do so as frequently as you can. Freeze and reheat the second batch for those nights when things are hectic. Do the same with baked goods.
Wash All Salad Greens At Once
Wash, dry and store salad greens in air-tight containers. Refrigerated, the greens should keep for several days. Now when you want to throw together a quick salad, just take out the amount of greens you need and toss with dressing. That’s it!
Supply Self-Serve Snacks
Instead of responding to the constant "Mommy, I'm hungry" requests, keep healthy snacks convenient and self-serve. Store them in the fridge in easy-to-open containers. Cheese and crackers, washed and cut-up vegetables and fruit are all great choices (along with handy containers of dipping sauce). Do the same for drinks; keep a selection in reusable drink boxes or install a self-serve water jug with spout and nearby stack of plastic cups. As a work at home parents, this ‘self-serve’ idea has come in handy more times than we care to mention.
Written by Sherrie Le Masurier, Lifestyle Columnist and Co-Owner of
Family Sanity Savers.com. Copyright 2005.
|
