Things I Learned in the Kitchen This Year

Another year of cooking...a year I didn't do Sally's Baking Challenges. (She paused publishing them as she worked on other things.) What I did do was try to cook more from cookbooks. I finished cooking through the recipes in the Savor devotional, and that's about it. I did make a further dent into the recipes from Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker, The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cookbook, and Rise and Run. Hubby made a few recipes from Good Housekeeping Family Italian Cookbook. While cooking from these cookbooks did increase our food variety and enjoyment, so did earning a few tips and tricks about cooking overall.

About Baking:

A little bit of baking soda goes a long way, and an acid is necessary to combat the bitter taste. Adding 1/2 t of cider vinegar to my mug cakes has made all the difference!

I still haven't mastered yeasted breads....

About Burritos:

The George Foreman grill excellently crisps the outside while warming the filling inside. No more soggy microwave burritos or need to turn on the oven when its 118 outside!

About Grilled Cheese:

Put grilled cheese toppings between the cheese to avoid sogginess.

Mayonnaise instead of butter can be great for browning grilled cheese.

About Tea:

The greatest lesson I learn--remove the tea bag from the water after steeping! I've always left it in, but apparently it leaves for bitter tea. New level, unlocked!

Rooibos needs five minutes to steep in boiling water.

Green tea steeps in almost boiling water for three minutes.

About the toaster oven:

Turn it up to 450 degrees and roast veggies in there. Even make French fries. No need for an air fryer if you make small batches.

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Any tips or tricks you learned this year? Please share in the comments section!

Life Hacks for the Busy Woman

Any busy women out there? I'm raising my hand! Working full-time, especially with a commute can take most of the minutes of the day. Then there's cooking, cleaning, laundry, and the house in general to keep up (at least for the women who like me, still want to fulfill traditional housewife roles). Daily tasks on top of work outside the home can be a lot, so I look for every corner I can cut to save time and still get things done. I have searched for hacks and tips for the busy woman, but have not found many good ones. So I have culled and created my own list. Without further ado, here are a few life hacks I practice to help reduce clutter, free up brain space, and make the most use of precious time.

Kitchen organization:

-Store food in mason jars. Simply pop the jar in the microwave to reheat the food and then send it through the dishwasher. No need to worry about melting plastic, or food absorbing the chemicals from the plastic.

-Recycle plastic condiment lids to cover those mason jars. (I have found that coconut oil and mayonnaise lids are the best so far.) Just one thing, and they go on and off easier than the traditional metal gasket and ring.

-Use old peanut butter jars, or other large plastic jars to store lids. A cascade of lids is no fun and takes a ton of time to clean up. Never fear! An old jar is near to corral all those lids and make for easy access.

-Label an old egg carton and store your hard-boiled eggs there. No use having large bowls to hold eggs, or chasing eggs all over the refrigerator. Simply pop an egg out of the carton, crack on the counter, peel, and go.

(Photo caption: how not to be efficient: explode milk all over the kitchen)

Time Savers:

-Keep a mesh bag on the laundry machine for mask collection. This provides a place for depositing the dirty masks and ensures that they get washed in the next load. Better than chasing masks around the house, or running out (if you're an eco-freak like me and don't purchase disposable masks)!

-Always have a load of laundry started. It may not be best practice, but once I take out one load, I put in detergent for the next one. That allows me to throw clothes in as I go, making it easy to just press a button when the machine is full and ready to run.

-Sort the silverware when you put it in the dishwasher. A hack from America's Test Kitchen, this saves time when unloading the dishwasher. Just empty each compartment into the silverware organizer and voila, done!

-Keep the dishwasher loaded with a detergent pod. One less thing to do when the dishwasher is ready to go. (This ONLY works if you have pre-sealed pods and only if there is a cap for the soap.)

-Batch cook protein. Something I already did, but that got reinforced by a podcast, this provides easy meals when pared with some vegetables and/or grains. It also saves money by reducing need for take-out or pricey prepared foods.

-For that matter, batch whatever you can. Kath Eats has a good post about this. My best friend says not to touch anything more than once, unless you have to. So if I have the mail in hand, I try to open it and deal with it. I chop the carrots for today's lunch and dinner while I have the cutting board out. I wait to fold all the loads of laundry for the day at one time, if I can. Yes, tasks take longer attention in one setting, but then they are done!

-Grocery shop using an app. Forgo the lists and just log things in the app. This has a bonus of helping with budgeting, too!

-Clean by zones. I dust on the days I use all of my hand weights and therefore have a clear surface. I clean the kitchen on cooking day. Why dirty a clean kitchen by cooking, or clean the kitchen only to cook a day later. I literally use one counter for all it's worth, clean it, and then move on. When cooking is done, cleaning is done.

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I'm sure there are more hacks I could list, but you know, I'm busy. Please share any time-, or life-saving hacks you practice in the comments so that we all be more efficient.

Our Most Used Kitchen Products (So Far)

People were so, so generous in their wedding gifts to us. We received a few things we needed, and a lot of things that we wanted. And some appliances and gizmos that we didn't know we would use as much as we do. Here's a few of our most used kitchen products so far:

(And thanks to all who gave us gifts not mentioned here. We're using or will use them, too!)

The Insta-Pot

People told us we'd use this thing, and man have we ever! We made rice the first night we were home, and we use it probably at least every other day. So far, we've made rice, and beans, and split pea soup, and hard boiled eggs, and I've got a whole Pinterest board dedicated to more recipes I want to try. (Feel free to send me your favorites.) The Insta-Pot is a time saver, and a space saver since it is so many appliances in one. Double yes on this gift.

George Foreman Grill with Removal Plates

I grew up with a George Foreman grill, and we used it mostly to make paninis, aka "sandwiches in the sandwich maker." I've made one sandwich like that so far, but I've also used it to grill zucchini for zucchini lasagna and chicken for our new favorite summer meal (cold rice, lettuce, chicken, and a cold creamy dressing, all topped with sriracha). Best of all, the plates come out of the machine, so the drip pan and everything go into the dishwasher and come out clean with minimal effort. We'll see how long the metal lasts with our hard water, but for now, this machine is a winner in our book.

Bissell 1782 Pet Hair Eraser Cordless Hand and Car Vacuum

My Granddad bought this gift for us, and I honestly didn't expect to use it as much as we have! We don't have pets, but we've use it for everything from vacuuming up piles of dirt when we've swept (because we couldn't find the dustpan), to cleaning out my car when the power was out, to vacuuming up charcoal from food that burned inside the oven. (Yes, I caused the food spill, and yes, it was my idea to use the vacuum to remove the debris from inside the cool oven.) A+ for usefulness, Granddad!

Pampered Chef Mix 'N Chop

I didn't know what this gizmo was until I read the packaging. And then I used it. As a former vegetarian who still doesn't like cooking meat that much, this thing makes it easy, and I'm convinced it speeds up the process. Plus, there's less risk of flinging raw meat all over like with a spatula. And it's made of nylon, so it won't scratch any pan! I didn't know I needed this, but right now, I don't want to be without it when I've got ground meat to make.

This short list is not to say we don't have (or use) other items in our kitchen, but with our busy schedules, these are some of the ones that have been most useful in saving us time. We have fun with some of the bigger and more elaborate appliances we got gifted on the weekends, and in our spare time....