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.
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.
?yields larger ice cubes that you can add even more extras to! Quick and easy way to liven up your water.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!
?over your boiling water to keep it from boiling over. #Genius #WhoKnew
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
Great tips! I have a couple more for you. I have been cooking brown rice in my slow cooker. 2c brown rice, 5c filtered water and a tsp of salt. Stir it all up in your 4-6qt slow cooker. Cover it and walk away for 2.5 hours. Perfect rice every time. I know it can be done with a rice cooker, but I have a tiny kitchen and I don’t have room for single use appliances. The other trick I have learned lately is how to make my own yogurt in the slow cooker. Its so danged easy and you know what’s in it that way. Just dump a gallon of milk in the cooker, crank it up to high and start checking the temp at 2 hours. Bring it up to 180F then turn it off. Let it cool to 110, then take out a cup of it and put it in a bowl with some plain yogurt from the store(next time you use a cup of your homemade yogurt)Stir it up til smooth, then stir it back into your cooker. Cover it and wrap it in a big bath towel. In the morning you have yogurt! Just strain it over a bowl in a strainer lined with a clean dish towel. Let it strain til its the thickness you want and done! I usually get about 1.5 quarts of yogurt and 2 quarts of whey. Don’t toss the whey! It’s great in smoothies.
with some water in your mouth you can cut onions without tears. try it, really it works.
Hi:-)
I’m having a difficult time deciding on a protien powder… I have tried several of them..I’m wondering what your favorite is or if there is one or a few you might recommend? I try not to add fruits or any extra sugars- my preference is mixed with water and ice in a shaker cup.
Thank you?
Hi Cherish: Chris and Heidi recommend low-fat, low-carb powders with around 20 grams of protein per serving. 🙂
Hi Heidi,
Would you recommend carb cycling for someone trying to help manage diabetes?
Hi Kathryn: Yes, it is possible to carb cycle with diabetes, but we would highly recommend you discuss the plan with your healthcare team first and then follow any modifications they might recommend. Here’s a post that might help: https://heidipowell.net/5078. 🙂
Very helpful tip! Is there a post on how to calculate macros in order to do carb cycling?
For Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling plans, all the macros are figured out for you! You simply follow the plan. 🙂
A lot of great tips!! I love the onion hack, wearing ski goggles, I will definitely be trying this one as I usually get my husband to chop the onions as his eyes do not get teary eyed. We always used go through so much lettuce, until I found something to make my lettuce last a week. Take your lettuce and rinse it and then put in a salad spinner to get all the excess water out and then put it in mason jars. It will last a week in the frig.
Peeling farm fresh boiled eggs is difficult so I’ve started steaming my whole eggs…makes peeling a breeze!