Kitchen Tips………
Well I did a few things different this week and I hope it will make meal prep a little easier during the week when I work. So I have a few tips for you!!! All things I learned from Menus4Moms.com
#1 – Dried Beans…..you know you have a recipe and you need a cup of pinto beans ….who has time to cook those. This weekend I cooked up a bag of pinto beans….I am going to do some black beans next weekend. Though I do have alot of cans of beans in the pantry.
HOW TO COOK BEANS: Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.
Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.
I forgot to reserve the liquid….hope they turn out ok!!
#2 – ONIONS AND PEPPERS – I cooked up a bag of onions and about 6 peppers. I froze them in 1 cups size in small bags.
The same principle of bulk cooking can be applied to onions and green peppers either individually or together. If your recipe calls for a sauteed onion, instead of sauteing one onion, buy a whole bag of onions, chop them all and freeze in casserole-sized servings. When you have these meal-sized portions of meat and vegetables, it is a cinch to throw together a quick meal late in the afternoon.
#3 – FREEZER CHICKEN AND HAMBURGER
This is a way that we save prep time in the evening. When a recipe calls for ground beef, instead of browning one pound of ground beef, buy 5 lbs. and brown all of it, freezing the extra in 4 freezer bags. When you need cooked chicken for a soup or casserole, instead of cooking just enough for that recipe, boil or grill 3-4 extra lbs. for the freezer.
So this weekend I cooked 6 pounds of ground beef and three pounds of chicken. So that is all stored in my freezer for future meals.
#4 – CHICKEN BROTH – I rarely make my own. But hate opening a whole can of broth when I need just a tablespoon for a recipe or so. So what I do with the remaining broth is I pour it into an ice cube tray and I freeze it. So next time I need jsut a Tablespoon on broth I simply thaw a cube from the freezer. No more waste!! I do the same with Tomoto paste I have have any left over!!!
#5 – VEGGIE BUCKET – I keep a veggie bucket in my freezer. If we have left over veggies from a meal I throw them into the bucket and when it is full I make soup. Works great!!
Do you have any tips you would like to share??? Anything that makes your time in the kitchen more productive??
Great tips! I do some of them but will have to try out a few others and see how they work for me! Have a great night! ~Jen
I saw this in my Quick Cooking magazine September/October 2005 page 15:
Brown hamburger all at once in your slow cooker by cooking it on high and stirring occasionally. Then drain the meat and place portions in a 1-pint freezer bag or container.
I haven’t tried it myself, but I loved the idea of not being in the kitchen watching meat cook.
Thank you for sharing all these great tips.
I don’t have any tips for you……I’m the person who is scrambling around mid-afternoon, wondering what to make for supper. I HATE Flylady, but I do like your suggestions and tips. I really need to start making menus. Sometimes I do for a week at a time, but I never last long doing it! Sometimes I think I have adult ADD.