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Keeping the Castle - Housekeeping & Homemaking Tips

The Top 5 Time-Savers in My Kitchen

by Maricar on May 7th, 2007

kitchen timer

As the designated family cook, I’ve gradually developed some tricks that help me avoid spending hours and hours laboring over the kitchen stove. Here are my top 5 kitchen time-savers:

1. Pressure cooker. Every time I open a new package of meat for the day’s dinner, I take out my pressure cooker as well. The packages are always more than we need for one meal. So I cut up the rest and cook it under pressure. Be it beef, chicken or pork, the meat comes out tender enough even for my one-year-old. I divide it into portions, with the broth, and freeze it for a later dish. I’ve saved countless hours just by heating a portion of cooked meat, adding vegetables and seasoning it for brand new meal.

2. Slow-cooker or crockpot. Last year, I wrote about wanting to use my slow cooker more. I’m now happy to say that my crockpot is a regular time-saving device in my cooking. It’s entirely the opposite of a pressure cooker. But it saves time just the same. All it takes is for the ingredients to placed in the crockpot. It’s specially useful when I have to go somewhere and I don’t want to have to hurry home to make dinner. I can come in the door 10 minutes before dinnertime, knowing that a hot meal is ready for the family.

3. Mini-processor. Ever since I got my mini-processor, chopping and mincing have been a breeze. It now takes me seconds to chop up an entire onion. My mom was awed at how quickly I got a meatloaf prepared and in the oven. Now you know my secret, mom! ;)

4. Pre-cut or frozen vegetables. I only buy baby carrots these days. Not having to peel or cut them into smaller pieces means time saved. Frozen spinach (cause I hate having the fresh ones wilt so quickly in the fridge) and frozen corn kernels are regulars in my freezer.

5. The monthly menu plan. I wrote a long post about what it is and how to make it. All I’ll say here is, it saves me time and a lot of thinking about what to make for dinner.

All the time I’ve saved with these tips lets me do other things around the house (like the laundry) or elsewhere (like blogging!).

* This post has been submitted to the Problogger Top 5 Group Writing Project.

Image: Iconic Shop

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