A simple kitchen. We all aspire to have one, believing that it will make life–and achieving our wellness goals–easier.
Maybe you like cooking, or perhaps you’re just trying to eat more at home to improve your health and your finances. And you’re probably keen on finding ways to make your time and money work more in your favor. Your money is valuable, but your time is precious.
I think the following kitchen hacks will help you efficiently handle food-related duties without spending hours in the kitchen or tons of cash at the grocery store.
Kitchen Hack #1
Store tomatoes at room temperature–rather than in the refrigerator–with the stems facing down on the countertop to keep them from spoiling quickly.
Kitchen Hack #2
Instead of flipping your veggies half-way through roasting, leave the baking sheet in the oven as it preheats. A preheated pan will help all sides of the roasting veggies to cook more evenly and quickly.
Kitchen Hack #3
Have you ever stuck your hand in the silverware drawer and gotten an unexpected poke from a knife? To keep your hands protected, place old wine corks on the tops of your knives.
Kitchen Hack #4
Which tricks do you use to keep bananas from spoiling too fast? Covering the stem of the banana bunch with plastic wrap helps keep your bananas fresh longer. Even better, separate each banana and wrap each stem to make them last much longer individually.
Kitchen Hack #5
Have you ever wondered how to determine whether an egg has spoiled? Place your uncooked egg in a bowl of cold water. If it sinks, it’s still good;if it floats, it’s time to toss it.
Kitchen Hack #6
If you’ve ever wondered how you can speed up your herb chopping process, reach for the pizza cutter. Get your herb bunch ready on the cutting board and roll the pizza cutter over the bunch in different directions to chop them thoroughly.
Kitchen hack #7
Apple slicers certainly make apple cutting a breeze, but you can use them to slice your white or sweet potatoes into long chunks. You can have fresh, homemade sweet potato fries cut perfectly within minutes!
Three additional kitchen hacks…
Whether it’s by using a slow cooker or an Instant Pot, you can pull dinner together with a minimal time investment. Prep your meals on a weekend afternoon so that you’ll be meal-ready for the week ahead. Add your prepared items to your slow cooker before you head off to work in the morning. When you get home, dinner will be waiting for you, giving you more time to relax and unwind after your hectic day.
Here are a few of my favorite crock pot recipes to inspire you to cook slow:
Crock Pot Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs
Can I discourage you from heading to the supermarket with a half-baked plan of what you need to buy? You might end up with a grocery cart full of unnecessary items and a receipt a mile long.
By making a grocery list and a menu for the week, you’ll spend less time and money in the grocery store. And with a little time spent planning and organizing, you’ll reclaim some well-needed “me time”. Imagine: no more running late; no more being too tired to cook something delicious and nutritious. Rather, you’ll be creating meals that’ll last for a few days, with enough variety to stave off meal boredom. Plus, you’re less likely to waste food when you have everything organized and ready to go.
During your grocery store visits, stay away from the center aisles as much as possible. The store perimeter is filled with fresh produce, seafood, eggs and pre-cut and portioned produce. Choose in-season fruits and vegetables due to their abundance, excellent flavor, and lower price.
The center aisles are filled with shelf-stable pre-packaged foods. Keep to your list when you need to get dried beans or rice from those aisles so that you don’t cave in and buy cookies and chips!
There are tons of free apps that help you save money through rebates on foods you buy. Other apps track the items on your shopping list locally to find you the lowest prices. Check out apps like Ibotta, Walmart Savings Catcher, and Shopkick.
How do you ensure that yours is a simple kitchen?
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