10 Kitchen Hacks You Must Try to Make Dinner Time Easier
I am well known for doing things the hard way. It’s like “Captain Obvious” skips me most of the time when it comes to life. I drive this way (often taking the long way around), clean this way (leaving me exhausted) and cook this way (taking much longer than I should).
However, over the years, I have found some kitchen hacks that have made my life much easier and my cooking is now much more efficient because of it. Here are some of my favorite kitchen hacks to use in my own kitchen and I hope they inspire you to stop doing things the hard way.
10 Kitchen Hacks to Make Dinner Time Easier
Ripen fruit faster
If you need your fruit to ripen fast, try sticking it into a paper bag. The bag will keep as much oxygen from getting in and the natural gasses that fruits emit as they ripen in. This means that your fruit will ripen about twice as fast! The opposite is true for some vegetables. Mushrooms, for example, will stay fresher, longer in a paper bag than in your fridge drawer in a plastic bag.
Keep fruits & veggies fresh
Keep your veggies and fruit looking fresh with simple things like water or lemon juice. If you are making a fruit salad, there is nothing more unappealing that seeing the apples start to brown a half hour after you make it. Prevent this by adding some lemon juice to them as you chop them. With potatoes, just float them, uncooked, in water if you won’t be using them right away.
Check out what the seasonal fruits and vegetables are right now!
Use those orange peels
Don’t toss out those orange peels! They can be used for keeping brown sugar soft by just tossing one or two into your container or bag. You can also use them to throw down your garbage disposal and grind them up for a fresh scent.
Quick cracked egg fix
Don’t get angry if you drop a shell into your cracked eggs. Just dip your finger in water and you will easily be able to grasp it to pull it out!
Core avocados with ease
Trying to get the core out of an avocado can be frustrating and messy. Do it in a flash with a chef’s knife! Just carefully and quickly chop at the core and it will get grabbed by the blade so you can pull it out easily. Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado flesh.
Keep the honey in your recipe
Make sure you get all of that sticky stuff, like honey, out of your measuring spoon by spraying it with a non-stick cooking spray oil dispenser before you pour it into the cup to be measured. It will slide right out.
Leftover rescue!
When reheating leftovers in the microwave, avoid the hard and chewy texture of some foods by placing a coffee cup in the microwave filled with water. The steam will help it cook more evenly and keep it moist.
Enjoy refreshing drinks
Make refreshing ice cubes for your summer drinks like iced tea and lemonade by cubing up watermelon and freezing it on a cookie sheet.
Dice meat with ease
Freeze meat (not completely solid) if you will by cubing it or cutting it thin. You will have an easier time cutting it up with a sharp knife this way than if it is not frozen.
Quick blender cleaning
Clean your blender (this one is my favorite) quickly by adding some hot water and a bit of soap and then giving it a whirl. It will practically clean itself this way and all you will need to do is rinse it out!
I never thought about the blender trick – that is so much easier (and safer)!
Thanks for linking up to the Party in the Kids Kitchen – hope to see you next Thursday!