Kitchen Hacks: My Top Tips and Tricks!

 

Outfit Details:?Anthropologie Necklace?//?James Perse Henley

It?s no secret healthy eating takes prep and planning, but as a busy wife and mom, sometimes I just don?t have the time?or the patience! Along the way, I?ve stumbled across a few helpful kitchen tricks that have lightened my load tremendously and have made cooking something I can actually make time for. And today, my friends, I pass along my Top Kitchen Hacks to you! You?re welcome. 😉

Hacks for Herbs:

  • Freeze your herbs in olive oil in an? ice cube tray to prevent them from browning and/or getting freezer burn. Bonus: They will always be handy, whether in season or not! Add a fun twist by freezing them in different shaped trays.
  • Cutting your herbs with kitchen scissors (or you can get fancy with herb scissors that have?multiple blades) eliminates the sticking, flipping, and flying off the cutting board issues we’ve all experienced.
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Hacks for Storage + Freshness:

 

  • Lay a clean paper towel over a bowl of chopped lettuce, then cover it in plastic wrap to make it last a whole week. A MUST for us!
  • Freeze slices of lemon in your ice cubes for easy grab-and-go lemon water. Try throwing in a few sliced strawberries?better yet, add some mint leaves for a nice summer cool down. Bonus tip: Using a? muffin pan?yields larger ice cubes that you can add even more extras to! Quick and easy way to liven up your water.
  • Make bananas last longer by separating them from the bunch and wrapping the stems in saran wrap! Perfect for taking bananas on the go, and it’s such a lifesaver around here.

Hacks for Cooking Prep:

  • Place a? wooden kitchen spoon?over your boiling water to keep it from boiling over. #Genius #WhoKnew
  • Who doesn’t love a great spaghetti squash? Use an ice cream scoop to remove seeds from melons and squash to make the cooking process shorter and the enjoying process longer.
  • It may look silly, but throwing on a pair of snowboard/ski goggles will stop you from tearing up when you’re cutting onions. Don’t ski/snowboard? You can pickup a pair for under $20.
  • DIY fruit and veggie wash! Washing your produce before consumption is extremely important, but the store bought washes can be expensive and difficult to find. Instead of searching high and low, then spending a fortune on produce wash, try this: Simply purchase a small spray bottle, then fill it with one cup of water, one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and one tablespoon of baking soda. Shake to mix, and it?s ready to go! Wash away to your heart’s content.
  • Need a quick carb? Microwave ?baked potatoes? to the rescue! Prick with a fork, place in a microwave safe bowl, cover with a moist paper towel, and cook for 8-10 mins. Easy peasy!
  • Roll your citrus! Applying pressure and rolling your lemons and oranges before cutting and juicing them yields much more juice. Awesome for adding to your ice water!

 

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Those are my fave kitchen hacks?now I want to hear yours! Share below!!

Xoxo,

Heidi

Related reading:

4 Kitchen Must-Haves for Transformation Success
Grocery Shopping 101
#MomLife: 11 Life Hacks for Getting Fit

34 Responses

  1. I make a batch of egg “muffins” every week so we can speed up our mornings. I just mix our fav veggies with egg whites & just a bit of low sodium ham and cheese, pour into muffin tin and bake. Then we just microwave for 45 seconds on our busy mornings!

    1. What kind of muffin “tin” do you put in the microwave? I love this idea and wondered if a silicone muffin baker would work?

    2. You’ll have to check and see if it’s microwave safe, as different ones can be/not be microwave safe. 🙂

  2. I make a weeks worth of individual salads on Sunday. You just need mason jars, and you put your dressing on the bottom, then layer in your veggies, cheese, and then lettuce and spinach on top so that the dressing and lettuce don’t touch. They stay fresh for the whole week and easy peasy for lunches!

  3. If I know I have a busy week coming up, I’ll spend a few hours the weekend before chopping all of the vegetables for separate meals and portioning them out into meal-prep grab bags. Sometimes I’ll also measure the spices into a little big and put that in as well. Then I store each meal’s worth of veggies/spices/carbs in a gallon-size zip lock in the fridge. it’s easy to grab and add whatever protein I’m using (I keep chicken breasts and fish fillets in the freezer).

  4. I sautee veggies, spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, cover the bottom with the veggies and fill the rest with egg whites. Throw in the oven at 350 for 15- 18 minutes until egg white is cooked. Then my egg white omelets are ready to go for the whole week!

  5. Love the banana hack. My kid gets turned away when brown spots appear on the them even though I tell her they are still good

  6. Every Sunday & Wednesday I prepare 3 salads (green pepper,onion, broccoli slaw, kale & chicken) for my lunches. Easy to grab in the morning. I have a frig at work for my salad dressing, otherwise I would buy small containers to keep that in and pre-measure.

  7. Awesome tips! My mom always wrapped her lettuce in paper towel. I also put a paper towel into those bags or containers of precut lettuce. I also wrap fresh herbs and asparagus in paper towel.

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