With the rising cost of living leading to an increase in dual-income households, there is less and less time to plan out and serve nutritious and delicious meals for the family. While traditionally mom stayed at home and ensured that dinner was on the table each evening, this is no longer the norm. Mom is as stretched for time as you are so that you may come home to a pizza box than a lovingly cooked lamb roast. However, that can all change with these time-saving secrets below.
Time-Saving Cooking Tips
Induction Cookware
One of the best ways to save time in the kitchen is by investing in cookware with that much technology built into it that it can’t help but save you time and effort. Induction cookware works with induction stoves, evenly distributing heat, heating up quicker, and even being safer too. What’s more, it’s able to keep more of the nutrients and flavor in your food than inferior, old pots and pans can.
Pressure Cookers
A pressure cooker might not be your conventional, everyday home appliance, but it’s one that can end up saving you hours in the kitchen over your hectic week. You can cook chicken drumsticks right through in as little as five minutes, and a full lamb leg in only 35 minutes so it’s falling off the bone. The time savings in meat, poultry, and vegetables are phenomenal.
Meal Preparation Services
It can be a challenge to strike a healthy balance between nutritious and delicious and quick and easy. It’s nearly impossible to tick all the boxes. That’s why meal preparation services, which are growing in popularity, can be lifesavers. You get a set menu given to you every week by a supplier with all the ingredients measured out and ready cook. You save time in not needing to head to the grocery store, measure, prepare, and weigh ingredients, or even decide what to have.
High-Quality Utensils
If chopping and preparing ingredients in the kitchen have you working up a sweat, then it might be time to check out your utensils. Are they up to scratch? Remember, a blunt knife is a dangerous one, not to mention adding precious minutes onto meal preparation time. Before you start, make sure you have sharp, high-quality knives – and ones that are suitable for the job at hand.
Bulk Sauces
Everyone has their favorite dishes they like to make, with the same herbs, spices, and sauces. Imagine how much time you could save if, instead of making four different sauce batches in one week, you could make one? The next time you go to create that ol’ faithful dish, think about how much your future self would appreciate a few steps completed in advance. Create in bulk then freeze for a later date.
Stop Peeling
Everyone is always coming up with genius hacks for peeling vegetables quickly, but even the quickest way is still time-consuming when you’ve got too much else to do. Save time on peeling carrots, beets, potatoes, and other root vegetables by not peeling them at all. Most vegetables house a lot of essential nutrients in their skin. If you peel them off, you are not able to get any of those benefits. Save time and nutritional value by cooking your vegetables as they come – skin and all. When was the last time you were able to sit down, take a break, and relax? If you’re a busy working parent with a family to feed, then that answer is probably never. However, if you consider any of these time-saving secrets above, that sneaky little break may be more attainable than you think.