Heidi's top tips for saving time in the kitchen:
Heidi is a busy, working mother of two. Her husband work longs hours and travels frequently but Heidi has a few secret tips for keeping things running smoothly at meal times.
See Heidi's tips below or read more about Heidi in her
biography.
1. Use frozen onions and garlic/ginger from a jar or tube (no chopping means no watery eyes and garlic and ginger from a jar is so easy). This is especially good for quick weekly meals after working all day.
2. Premake meals and freeze them. Do a a cook-up on the weekend and freeze it all. Each morning, take one meal from of the freezer, put it in the fridge and hey presto! Your dinner is defrosted and ready to heat by dinner time!
3. Have all small snacks like grapes, strawberries, cheese blocks, apple slices, cherries separated into small, easy to open containers at the front of the fridge (when the children open the fridge they see these healthy options first). Plus, bite-size portions make it easy and convenient.
4. Plan meals ahead for the whole week. If you don't have time to make and freeze meals, work out all the meals you will make from Monday to Friday (plan this on the weekend — make a nice cuppa or pour a glass of wine and take some time to write up a meal plan). Then you will know the ingredients you'll need (they'll become your shopping list). Every night when you get home just look at the list and follow the plan — you'll never again have the 'What am I going to make for dinner' conversation with yourself!
5. Organise and label food in your pantry. I bought a bunch of plastic trays with high sides and a handle on the front from a discount store. I label these and keep similar items in groups. For example all my baking items are in one container. That way I can easily read what's in the tray, reach for it, then take the whole tray out with all the contents. It saves time and space!
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