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Kitchen Time Saving Tips

Even the busiest home cook can find time to create a delicious home-cooked meal with these time saving tips.

Vegetables:

Buy prewashed salads in a bag. Buy pre-washed and cut vegetables, salad packs – costs more but will save time

Pre-chop vegetables for the week and keep prepared salad in a vacuum seal plastic container for storage.

Use a food processor to chop vegetables.

Buy peeled and cut vegetables to save time.

Keep frozen vegetables in your freezer – they are already prepared and easy to cook with.

Prechop onions and other vegetables and keep in vacuum seal bags until ready to use – will keep for about a week.

Meats:

Purchase boneless cuts of meat and thinly sliced meats – they cook much quicker.

You can buy already cut and marinated meats – particularly chicken, pork and beef. These are available fresh for immediate cooking or frozen and can be kept in the freezer for a quick meal.

Buy cooked rotisserie chicken available at every grocery store – can be made into soup, stock and meat cut off and added to pasta or salads.

If you like to save money by buying meat in bulk at large warehouse stores, this can be a time saver as well. Although you will need to spend the time cutting the meat into smaller portions at home, it can them be sealed with a vacuum sealer for airtight storage in your freezer. You can marinade the meat before freezing and even pre-cook ground beef to have it ready for quick prep time later.

Meatballs can be made and cooked in advance, then stored in your freezer. They can be added to sauces while cooking or microwave only as many as you want and toss on top of spaghetti.

Soups and Sauces:

Cook and freeze sauces and stocks for quick use later. Soups freeze very well. Make several different types of soups and freeze them in small containers for quick lunches or dinners.

Marinara, bolognaise and puttanesca sauces freeze very well. Make ahead and keep them in the freezer for quick weeknight pasta dinners.

Make your own stocks for soups and sauces and store in the freezer. Pour your homemade stock into ice cube trays and freeze. Use the stock cubes to make quick pan sauces when sautéing meat.

Pantry:

Keep your pantry stocked with essentials for tossing together a quick pasta dinner.

Make enough pasta dishes or casseroles for 2 dishes and freeze one for a quick dinner later.

Make your own frozen pizzas and keep in freezer for a quick meal.

Cooking Tools:

Use kitchen tools that really do save time – food processor, immersion blender, regular blender, mandolin slicer are a few.

Invest in a good Crockpot. They are immensely helpful for busy people.

Cleanup Tips:

Use tin foil, parchment paper or silicone liners on cookie sheets and pans to save time on cleanup.

Line your broiler pan with foil than can be thrown away when the food is done leaving your pan clean.

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. This helps prevent foods from sticking to the sides and you will be surprised how much easier it is to clean the crock. Newer crocks can be put in the dishwasher too!

Start with a clean kitchen and load the dishwasher as you cook - cleanup after the meal with be much easier.

Time saving tips:

Use only kitchen gadgets that really do save time.

Plan meals ahead a week in advance, prepare the shopping list before you go to the store and buy everything you need. Prep vegetables for the week after purchase to save on prep time when cooking. Vegies and fruits can be prewashed and stored in Green Bags™ in your refrigerator. Salad can be prepared in advance and kept in a vacuum seal container to greatly increase storage time.

Before beginning to cook, remember Mise En Place and have a big bowl on your counter to toss in trash and scraps as you cook.

Cook once and eat twice - make sure you cook a large enough quantity to freeze leftovers for a future dinner or create a new meal with the leftovers the next night.

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