Today I want to share a few of my kitchen tips and tricks with you. I received many questions about how to keep things simple in the kitchen. hence this post.
While we all know that fresh home cooked meals are the key to healthy eating, most of us don’t have the time nor the strength to spend whole evenings in the kitchen.
Modern life forces us to live at 90 mph. So how do you begin to combine work, school, family, hobbies, and other responsibilities with prepping healthy meals for yourself and your family?
Here are 3 of my favorite kitchen tips and tricks to speed up home cooking and create more time to relax and spend time with family and friends.
Kitchen Tips and Tricks That Will Change Your Life
#1 Batch Cook Single Ingredients
Maybe one of the most important things is getting ready for the week. Spending 1 to 2 hours of your weekend on prepping a few things, will set you up for success during the week. Focus on ingredients that can be used in different meals. I’ll give you a few examples of things I prep-prep during the weekend.
- Batch cook chickpeas/beans/lentils
If you are committing to a (mainly) plant-based lifestyle, beans and lentils are a big part of your diet to make sure you get the protein you need.
Unfortunately, most of these have long soaking and cooking times, so many of us tend to buy them in cans. Did you know that you can soak and cook a big pot of them during the weekend and store them in the fridge or freezer to eat them throughout the coming week(s)?
Cooked, they can be kept in the fridge for about 3-5 days and in the freezer they will last up to one year. Freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet for 45-60 minutes before adding them to a container or Ziploc bag. This will avoid them clumping together and will make it easy to get the amount you need. FYI: make sure the beans are well drained and dabbed dry with kitchen towel before freezing.
FYI: make sure the beans are well drained and dabbed dry with kitchen towel before freezing.
Take out a portion whenever a recipe calls for chickpeas, lentils, or beans. If using in a salad allow thawing before adding. For stews, you can just throw them in when still frozen. This will save you the overnight soaking and 45-60 minutes of cooking during the week.
Example recipes: stews, lunch salads, homemade veggie burgers, falafel, hummus, etc.
- Batch cook brown rice/quinoa/buckwheat/etc.
Same can be done for grains such as brown rice, buckwheat, and quinoa. Cooked, they’ll last for 5-6 days in an airtight container in the fridge and in the freezer they will last up to 1 year. This again will save you a lot of cooking time when making a quinoa lunch salad, or just warm some with almond milk to create a breakfast porridge bowl or combine with leftover veggies for a quick stir-fry dinner or a rainbow Buddha bowl for lunch.
Scroll down for more kitchen tips and tricks.
- Dressings and sauces
Make your favorite sauces, dips or dressing during the weekend (avocado dressing, Italian dressing, balsamic dressing, mango dressing, orange dressing, guacamole or hummus, to name a few). They are much better than the store-bought varieties and will make eating salads and veggie sticks so much easier.
- Cut up raw veggies
While you are batch cooking quinoa, chickpeas, etc. cut up whatever veggies you have in the fridge (carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, etc.). This will make it easier for you, and more likely, to whip up an easy salad or stir-fry in a matter of minutes. And you’ll always have all the ingredients on hand for a healthy veggie/dip snack too.
Having all of these ready in the fridge will save you tons of time, and it will enable you to put a meal or lunch quickly together that is healthy, home cooked and full of plant goodness. No more take-outs when you are short on time.
#2 Batch Cook Your Favorite Dishes
When cooking a recipe, double, triple, etc. the recipe and freeze portions for days you don’t have time to cook or just want to have a meal ready for later that week. This will give you a stress-free, no-cook evening that can be used to relax, pick up your hobbies, or spend time with family and friends.
#3 Plan Meals Ahead
The best way to save time, and money, is to plan your week ahead. Plan the dishes you are going to make before grocery shopping. This will avoid impulse buys or the purchase of unnecessary items that will go bad in the fridge. It also takes out the stress of the everlasting, time-consuming question…. “What to eat today” Plan your meals a few days ahead and you won’t feel lost or wasting your time running back and forth to the grocery store.
And of course, double your favorite meal(s) and batch cook during the weekend to create a (few) day(s) of no-cooking.
ALSO READ: Easy Steps To Make A Week (or more) Of Green Smoothies In Less Than 20 Minutes
Thanks for reading. I hope this information was helpful. Until next time!
Amy Goodrich
Crazy cat lady, life and food lover, certified biologist, and holistic health coach.
