Sure, cooking it is easy enough. But cooking leaves the kitchen a disaster, right?
It doesn't have to, you know. You can cook more efficiently and have plenty of leftover time to clean up by making some simple changes.
1. Boil the water and preheat the oven first. If you are boiling anything (pasta, seafood, potatoes), put the water boiling right at the beginning of cooking. If you are baking something, make step one preheating the oven. That way, they are ready to go when you are.
Note: My husband HATES when I take pictures of my stove, because it looks so dirty. All I can say is that I do clean it regularly - and NEVER buy a white ceramic top. Shrug.
2. Set out ingredients in the order of use, with the first ones nearest the stove. Not having to scramble for ingredients helps ensure that you don't burn anything or let anything boil over while getting the missing ingredient out of the fridge. (In this picture, from left to right: pasta, boiling water, heating pan, veggies, liquid ingredients, and toppings.)
4. Use the colander to rinse vegetables and fruits while you are busy cooking. It keeps them off the bottom of the sink (always gross, no matter how much I clean it) and the colander is likely to be clean.
5. Leave the colander in the sink while cooking for collecting chopped ingredients to make room on your cutting board or for draining boiling items. You don't want to hunt for a colander with hot pasta about to over boil.
6. As soon as you run low on an ingredient, add it to the grocery list.
This will save you tons of time later!
7. Dedicate counter space to oil, salt, and pepper (or whatever you use ALL THE TIME). You probably use salt more often than you use that blender, after all, so why does the blender get the most convenient space?
8. Speaking of convenience, put stirring spoons, spatulas, and pot holders right next to the stove.
9. Clean while you are cooking. Sauteing veggies for 10 minutes? Use that time to wipe down the sink or counter or to toss scraps and load dishwasher.
10. Erase the evidence. Actually, assign someone (in my house, I do the stove area and leftovers while hubby and kids do the table) to erase the evidence of the meal. We do this right after we eat as part of of normal routine.
Happy cooking.
Etcetera.
1 comment:
That's my kind of cooking! Clean as you go and have an orderly kitchen. Oh, and write it on the list as soon as you notice you're low. These strategies make it so much easier!
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