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Time Saving Tips
 Vida
Mann from Monroeville, Ohio sent in the following tip: After chopping
or mincing onions or green peppers I put them in freezer bags and press
them flat. Makes breaking off the amount needed easy. - Laura Pazzaglia from San Mateo, California writes: We purchase meat
in bulk and as soon as I get it home I separate it in freezer bags in
portions for four. Then, I fill each bag with a different "marinade.".Some
get rosemary sprigs, others sage, yet others cut lemons, and some even
orange juice or wine. That way, if we'd like meat for dinner I put one
of these bags in the fridge in the morning before leaving for work and...
voila, it's defrosted and marinated by evening. All I have to do is
pour the contents in a pan and throw it in the oven.
- Zeeze from Houston, Texas suggests if you're on the go each morning,
freeze muffins and reheat them in the AM for a quick sweet breakfast.
- The folks at Molly's House suggest storing coffee in the freezer.
It keeps the coffee fresh from the first to last cup. Molly says, "Now
I put enough coffee into small snack size zip lock bags to make 8 cups,
then store them in the freezer. It's a little extra work when you first
do it, but saves time when you're in a hurry. I store the little bags
in a larger bag. Just pop it out and you're ready to go in a few seconds
without having to measure and count. When you're down to the last couple
of bags you know it's time to buy more."
- The Danbury Clan from Trenton, New Jersey writes in with the following
tip: To save pot watching and burning of the bottom of the pots when
making spaghetti sauce, place your sauce in an oven safe dish and place
in the oven -- no higher than 300 degrees. It can be left to cook slowly
for hours without burning -- just stir every now and then.
- Sue O. from Rancho Cucamonga, California wrote in with this tip: Whether
for Italian meals or cocktail meatballs, form meatballs and drop into
boiling water, one at a time. They'll cook quickly, keep their shape
and the grease will drain into the water! Cook for a few minutes and
voila -- meatballs to use or freeze on a cookie sheet. When frozen-bag
'em. Your next meal will be ready in minutes, no need to thaw, just
drop needed amount into sauce and heat!
- Freezing cooked rice makes for quick to fix meals later. o use later
for stir-fries or a quick meal. Cook and cool rice, package in large
plastic zipper bags, and freeze flat. Use for stir frys, side dishes
or whatever your imagination comes up with.
- To bring butter or margarine to room temperature quickly, use a grater
to shred it into your mixing bowl.
- Use an egg slicer to cut kiwi fruit.
- Because most recipes call for salt and pepper you can save time by
keeping a shaker filled with both. A ratio of 3/4 salt to 1/4 pepper
is standard, but adjust to suit your personal tastes (I personally think
that's too much salt).
- Mary from Boston uses an egg slicer to slice mushrooms for
fast, easy and uniform slices.
- Molly Segda from Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey has this camping
suggestion: If you have a meat & potatoes, veggie & salad type of family
like I do, this is a good time saver. Put as many potatoes as you need
in large pot, leave skins on.cover with water and put on top of potatoes
a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Put fresh ears of sweet corn
on top of the foil and cover (if you don't have a lid large enough,
place a second piece of foil on top of corn). When potatoes start cooking,
corn will steam and both will be cooked at the same time, using the
foil as a server & also keeping it hot till ready to eat. Mean while,
your steak or hamburgers are cooking. Time it accordingly. Potatoes
should take about 1/2 hr. Also, put your cut up salad in a large plastic
bag and shake, with or without salad dressing. This saves time and dish
washing. A delicious meal just like you were home, in about 45 minutes
with prep. & cooking. PS: Any fresh veggies will work.
- Martin the Grouch (that's his description, not mine) sent in the next
two tips. Martin used to do prep work at a restaurant and says the first
tip is one everyone knows but underapplies: Be like an assembly line.
If you are going to do a task more than once do it all at the same time
if possible. This is especially helpful in prepping ingredients like
onions or garlic that might be used in a few different recipes.
- Use a melon baller to take the stems off tomatoes for less waste.
- From NeNe in Tennesse - "When ever I need to mix tuna for tuna
salad I first put all ingredients in a 1 gallon sealable plastic bag,
remove excess air, then I just blend ingredients by squeezing the bag.
Then I snip off 1 corner to squeeze out the amount I need for sandwiches,
salads, and etc. This idea can be used with many other foods such as
deviled eggs, seafood salad, meatloaf, seasoned ground beef for the
grill and so on. This is extra nice to prepare foods on camp-outs, picnics,
or carry dish for get-togethers (and a lot easier to transport). Enjoy
the food and an EASY clean-up.
- Joan wrote in to say that she always makes up two or three
recipes of the dry ingredients for cakes, cookies, breads, etc. then
labels them, and tucks in a copy of the recipe,and put them in the cupboard.
This way you're only dealing with flour etc. that is messy to clean
up once. When you're in a hurry its great to have everything ready.
- Judy Anne Wagner from Boone, North Carolina writes: "Whenever
I make cookie dough, I double the ingredients and bake only what I need
at that time. I load the remaning mix into 7 oz paper cups, placing
these cups into a ziplock bag to freeze for future baking. One 7 oz
cup holds enough dough for about a dozen freshly baked cookies. One
mixing mess to clean up, and freshly baked cookies whenever you want
them!"
- To chop nuts, place in a plastic zipper bag and roll with a rolling
pin.
- When making drop cookies, make a large batch, form into balls and
freeze on cookie sheet. When frozen put into zip lock bags and store
in freezer. Later, just remove amount needed from freezer, place on
cookie sheets and bake while still frozen. This way you will always
have a variety of cookies on hand.
- D. Cant (a wine lover, perhaps?) writes in from British
Columbia with this great timesaving tip: "To avoid cutting onions,
garlic, peppers and other spices every time you cook just prepare a
big batchin advance. I use onions, green peppers, red peppers, garlic,
tomato paste, and other spices like basil, oregano, pepper and blend
to a paste in a blender. Freeze the paste in ice cube trays and store
them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Each cube is a serving so you
don't have to keep cut vegetables in the fridge and speed up your cooking
by getting exactly the amount of spices you need. If you are cooking
4 servings use 3-4 cubes depending on how spicy you like it."
- To save time when making potato salad, use a pastry blender to chop
the peeled cooked potatoes and hard boiled eggs.
- When cooking pasta or rice (brown, long grain or wild rice), cook
extra. Freeze 1 cup servings in zip lock bags. It heats quickly in the
microwave for quick meals. Submitted by wellness consultant Lori
Thibideau.
- Grill or pan fry (in a sprayed, nonstick skillet), many boneless/skinless
chicken breasts. Season them with seasoned salt and garlic powder. Cool
and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Place wrapped chicken breasts
in a large zip lock bag and keep in the freezer. These are great for
a quick cesar salad, barbecue chicken salad (warmed in microwave with
some lowfat barbecue sauce), or chopped for a cold chicken salad. Submitted
by wellness consultant Lori Thibideau.
- Make your own "Instant Oatmeal" by putting regular oatmeal
in a blender. Blending makes the oatmeal the same as "instant."
- Making noodles is easy by adding an egg to a package of pie crust
mix. Mix; roll out, cut, and let dry.
- Core apples easily by cutting them in half, then scooping out the
core with a melon baller.
- Chris, a Fabulous Foodie from Pleasant Hill, California likes
to buy ground beef in bulk, and then separate it into 1-pound portions
and freeze. Chris suggests browning the ground beef first before freezing;
then you can just pull it out of the freezer to use for tacos or anything
else that's easy!
- Using leftover wine is a snap if you freeze it into ice cubes and
use them as part of the liquid for casseroles and sauces.
- Freeze meat and marinades together in plastic zipper bags. When the
meat thaws, you're ready to cook. You'll also use less marinade, so
this is a money saving tip too!
- Keep a small plastic bag in your can of vegetable shortening. When
it comes time to grease a pan, just slip your hand in the bag, scoop
out what you need and spread it on the pan.
- To make deviled eggs with no mess put eggs yolks from hard boiled
eggs in plastic sandwich bag. Add remaining ingredients, close bag and
mix. When finished cut small tip off corner of bag and squeeze into
hollowed egg white, then simply throw away the bag. No muss, no fuss.
- If you have more cookie dough than you do baking sheets, you can save
time by getting batches ready on large pieces of parchment paper. When
one batch comes out of the oven, simply slip the paper off the baking
sheet and replace it with a new batch.
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