Time-Saver Tips for the Kitchen
Useful tips for saving time in the kitchen—giving you more time to spend with family and friends, or to read a good book, or whatever you want to do with all those extra minutes you're going to save!
- Before party guests arrive, scoop ice cream into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners and refreeze. You won't have to fuss later when serving cake.
- Quickly use that frozen juice concentrate by mashing it with a potato masher while frozen, or place can with the lid removed in microwave for 1 minute.
- Double the amount of favorite casserole recipes you cook. Place half in a freezer container for dinner on a busy day.
- An egg slicer works great for slicing fresh mushrooms. Makes even slices in a jiffy.
- Use an ice cream scoop to easily fill muffin tins with the batter.
- Transfer jelly to a small plastic squeeze bottle. Less mess and no sticky jars or spoons! This also works well for homemade salad dressings.
- Use a cooking spray or oil the measuring cup next time you need to measure honey. No more messy process of scraping the cup, as the honey slides out easily.
- An empty salt shaker makes a great container to dust a little powdered sugar over baked goods.
- To quickly and easily cut rolled, chilled cookie dough use an electric knife. It slices perfect cookies!
- No time to roll and cut biscuits? Just drop the dough from a tablespoon onto lightly greased baking sheets.
- For quick and easy ravioli, fill wonton wrappers with any filling you fancy. Moisten edges with egg wash to seal and poach in boiling water.
- To save time when making meatloaf, use bottled marinara sauce instead of tomato sauce or ketchup — the herbs and spices are built right in so everything goes together faster.
- If you cut bagels in half before freezing they will defrost a lot faster, and you can toast them without waiting!
- Cut up those canned tomatoes quickly by snipping them right in the can with kitchen shears.
- To make dusting a pan with flour easy and convenient, place some flour in a salt shaker and keep it stored in the freezer.
- When a recipe calls for sifting, it works just as well to put all dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir with a whisk.
- If grandma told you always to proof yeast — dissolve it in liquid to see if it bubbles — forget it. Today's dry yeast is reliable enough to stir directly in with other dry ingredients, including flour.
- To crush nuts quickly and easily without the muss or fuss, place in a self-sealing plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin.
- Add marinated vegetable salads to your next dinner party. They can be prepared in advance and chilled until serving time--an important bonus for the busy cook!
