Tuesday's Time Saving {Kitchen} Tips

In addition to the Lunch Tips I posted last week, there are several general Kitchen Tips that I use every day in our house. As I was writing this, I realized that I tend to use my freezer. A lot. I don't buy traditional "frozen dinners" so we have plenty of freezer space for spare meals and other prepared foods that I make all at once.

Last year, I posted some tried & true cooking, baking and food prep tips that I found on another blog. Below are some of MY most-used time savers, but still read the old link for additional ideas...there are some great ones in there, too!

Time Saving {Kitchen} Tips

* Shredded chicken - I rarely stress over chopping cooked chicken. Every few weeks, I'll stick several chicken breasts in my crock pot with a little water and turn it to "low." (it doesn't need any seasoning unless you want to add a can of green chilies if you know you'll be using the chicken for Mexican dishes or a can of diced tomatoes if it will be used for Italian meals...you get the idea, but I don't do anything to it so I'm not limiting myself later) By the end of the day, you can take 2 forks and shred the chicken perfectly. I portion it into small storage containers and freeze them in 2 cup portions. You can use the ready-to-go shredded chicken for quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, casseroles, soups, chicken salad sandwiches, the possibilities are endless.

* Grilled chicken - I'll use this same concept when Mike makes dinner on the grill. I'll have him throw on a few extra chicken breasts, chop them up and freeze them to put on top of my salad, in quesadillas or to make Chicken Pesto Pizza. (pizza crust, pesto sauce, chicken and mozzarella cheese, in that order...it is DELISH!)

* Cook once, eat twice - You can use this concept for doubling a recipe, then eating one meal fresh and freezing the other OR you can use the leftovers for a different meal. For example: use leftover roast for beef enchiladas, toss leftover taco meat into chili, leftover meat and veggies can be made into Shepherd's Pie or chicken pot pie, and there's a whole list of soups you can make using leftovers here.

* Bake once, eat twice - I usually double my batches of waffles, pancakes or french toast and stick the leftovers in the freezer for a quick breakfast. I do the same with cookie dough: I'll scoop the dough balls onto a cookie sheet and freeze them, then put them altogether in a freezer bag. No need for Nestle's "break and bake" cookies when you have a stash of your own ready-to-make dough. (though cookie dough seems to disappear from my freezer...I have a husband with a sweet tooth who's a dough addict)

* Prep once, use twice...or more - When I'm chopping an onion (or peppers, for that matter), I go ahead and chop 2 or 3 and freeze them in portions of 1/2 onion/pepper each. I do the same when making ground beef or ground turkey: I cook twice as much and freeze half of it for a future meal. When I make meatloaf, I usually make meatballs at the same time and use them in a later meal, or vice versa. Everything gets a label with the contents and date, of course. :)

* Convenience foods - I try to use fresh food as often as possible, but I definitely keep "convenience foods" in the house. Trader Joe's has some great, healthy options for convenience foods. Minced garlic that you keep in the freezer, shredded carrots, ready-made pizza dough that can be easily frozen and defrosted, all at reasonable prices. I keep some of these items on hand to make life easier. I also usually have a can of beans, chicken broth and 3-minute microwavable bagged brown or white rice handy for when I'm in a hurry.

* My final suggestion...MEAL PLAN - this is the best time saving tip EVER. If you write out your meals for the week, you won't need to make special trips to the store for one more thing and you'll know what to pull out of the freezer in the morning for your dinner recipe. Last week, I wrote about how to get started if you've never planned your menus.

Money savers that only take a little fore-thought:

* Homemade breadcrumbs - I hate wasting food, can you tell? I make homemade breadcrumbs using the heels of my bread. When the rest of the loaf is gone, I'll stick the heels in in the freezer, wait until there are 6 or 8 of them and spend a few minutes chopping them using my food processor (you can also use a blender). You can either use them as-is or if you prefer a crisper breadcrumb, lay them on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until they're dry and crunchy (but not burnt). I re-freeze the breadcrumbs to use later for Chicken Parmesan, chicken fingers, meatloaf or for a crumbly top on a casserole.

* Dried beans - I used to dread dried beans, until I heard you can soak them overnight on low in your crock pot. You wake up to perfectly constituted beans every time and it is significantly cheaper to buy a bag of dried beans than a dozen cans of beans. Once soft, they freeze well or you can keep them in the fridge to throw on a salad for extra protein and fiber.

* Produce that's past it's prime - Another food-waste tip here: avoid throwing away produce! If you know it's going to go bad and you won't be using it in the next day or so, freeze it. Hull strawberries, peel bananas and slice peaches for smoothies, save bananas for banana bread and grate zucchinis for future zucchini bread, cook and puree squash, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli to sneak into sauces, soups, stews and casseroles (your family will never know) - you'd be surprised what can be frozen. Mashed potatoes don't freeze well, in my opinion, and apples need to be frozen in a simple syrup, but I've had good luck with everything else.

* Check the "last chance" bakery items - There are usually perfectly good items on the day-old cart at the grocery store. Bread that still has a few good days left, cookies and muffins that can be frozen and served at a play date in a few weeks, pies that you can save for company, pastries as a special treat for a weekend...keep all of those things in mind and peek at that cart next time you're at the store. I usually grab the $.79 french bread loaves and freeze them to use for french toast the next week. It's cheaper than regular bread!

I posted another whole list of useful food storage and kitchen tricks here, just in case you're not sick of reading yet! Do you have any kitchen tips you swear by? Leave a comment and share!