Mom Hacks in the kitchen: 5 time-saving tips and tricks
August 13, 2009 by Shannon
We all have busy lives, and kitchen timesavers are a must. Here are some of my favorite time-saving Mom Hacks that streamline breakfast, lunch, dinner — and all the snacks in between.
- Pizza cutter. This thing is a lifesaver in a house with a toddler. I use it to cut quesadillas, sandwiches, and pita bread into bite-sized pieces. I’ve even used it to cut up basil and spinach, on occasion.
- Paper towel tube. I used to either recycle these, rip them up to throw in the compost bin or give them to Kellan to play with (which really only kept him entertained for about 4.5 seconds). Then my friend Heather at Living Senses enlightened me as to how she uses them in her drawers. You know all those plastic produce bags that are handy to have around but a nightmare to keep in a drawer? Heather advised me to stuff ‘em inside an empty paper towel tube, and stick the tube in a drawer with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. (Heather makes hers look really nice by wrapping it in shelf liner. I keep meaning to do that, but just haven’t yet…) The roll sits nicely alongside the long boxes and there’s no messy bag mess, which is a real time-saver. Genius.
- Dishwasher detergent. It’s not just for dumping in the dishwasher. When you have a particularly baked-on mess in a pan or dish, fill it with hot water and sprinkle in some dishwasher detergent. Let it sit overnight, and you’ll be amazed at how little scrubbing you’ll have to do the next day. I’ve sometimes woken up to a dish that needs little more than a quick rinse, and then it’s good as new.
- Frozen homemade pancakes. Most mornings, Kellan is hungry the second he wakes up. Instead of pouring him a boring bowl of cold cereal or having to endure the sound of hunger-induced whining while the oatmeal cooks, I throw a couple of homemade frozen pancakes in the microwave, transfer them to the toaster and Kellan has a nice, warm breakfast with minimal time and effort. This requires a little bit of pre-planning on the weekends, of course. I usually make a big batch on a Saturday or Sunday and throw the rest in the freezer to use later on.
- Ice cube tray. Ice cube trays were indispensable during my baby food making days. I would freeze several kinds of veggie and fruit purees in them, pop the cubes into resealable freezer bags and have a nice big stash of baby-sized food portions at all times. (Boy, did that stash come in handy when I was working and had minimal time for daily food prep.) Now, I use an idea I first read about in Wise Bread’s 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. I freeze leftover coffee in the trays. That way I can plop ‘em into a glass of lukewarm coffee, pour in a little vanilla soy milk, and enjoy an instant iced latte. The best part is, the coffee doesn’t get diluted since the ice cubes are really coffee cubes.
Those are some of my favorite Mom Hacks in the kitchen. What are yours?
Comments (8)
How about this teacher inspired one: I use overhead pens (vis-a-vis) to write on my leftovers containers with a date and label (if needed). Because the pens are water soluble, the writing slips right off in the wash. Downfall: spills in the fridge or slightly damp hands picking up the plastic container can cause smudging or word removal. Getting such a pen: If your kids are in school you could ask a teacher for a pen after the tip gets a little flattened (they are not as good on the overhead then) or buy them at any store with office supplies.
Dishwasher detergent — the powdered type — is great for scrubbing bath tubs. Teamed up with a scrub brush, this slightly abrasive strong cleaner will enable you to remove stubborn rings and hard water stains!!
Love the pancake tip!! And I’m totally going to try the dishwasher detergent bathtub trick!! Thanks, Karin.
Love these tips! We use our pizza cutter all the time - in fact we own three of them so that we always have one clean and available.
Seiously…where do you guys come up with these things? I’m so using the pizza cutter more often now! It just sits there in the drawer now.
I think my pizza cutter got wind of my intentions to put it to better use and went AWOL. I can’t find it anywhere.
Maybe it’s gone to live with all the missing left socks and important phone numbers hastily jotted on pieces of paper towel.
We’ve been making alot of smoothies, and use alot of the tips from you Shannon on how to slip in veggies like Kale- yum! My timesaver tip is to have frozen fruit on hand: I buy blueberries in bulk when they go on sale, they freeze easily in bags (don’t wash until you use them). Also, if I buy too much fruit and it’s threatening to go bad, I cut it up and freeze it too, like bananas, peaches or mangoes. I’ll buy flax seeds, grind a bunch in my coffee grinder and keep a bag in the fridge to add a liitle to the smoothies for a dose of omega 3s. I use organic soymilk and hemp protein powder and whatever fruit I have and just throw it all in the blender!
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