Tips for Food Preparation
Cooking food at home is obviously a much better choice than running to the nearest fast food joint. It costs far less per meal and is also much healthier for you than your general takeout options.
One of the first hard truths you will learn about cooking is that the time it takes to cook a meal does not actually represent the majority of the time you will spend on it. You will spend far more time on preparation: getting your ingredients and tools ready before starting, washing kitchen utensils, searching for that favorite spatula you misplaced, and running out to the store because you ran out of salt.
Luckily, the switch to making more home-cooked meals is one that can be made right away. You can make healthier choices and save money starting now. All it takes is a little bit of planning.
You don’t have to be an expert in home cooking. Even the most humble of beginners can take advantage of simple tips and tricks to get onto the right path for speedy cooking in no time. You can whip up breakfast in a cinch or cook large quantities in bulk with some seriously easy secret tricks.
7 Tips For Food Prep
Grab your favorite set of Tupperware and let’s go over a few of them:
Use foil wrap to separate different seasoned meats.
We all know that everyone has different tastes. Some are more interested in honey BBQ, others prefer sriracha, and there’s always at least one ranch flavor nut at the dinner party. So next time you are cooking a batch of chicken, pork, or beef, use foil wrap to separate the meat into even portions.
Then season each one in whatever seasoning you prefer. This is an excellent way to maximize the amount of flavors you can produce while utilizing fewer pots and saving time.
Boiling eggs is so yesterday.
Eggs are fantastic. You can prepare them a hundred different ways and incorporate them in thousands of dishes and recipes. Furthermore, eggs are a superb source of vitamins and protein. But when cooking for many people or making many different dishes at one time, how does one person cook so many eggs in one pot?
The answer is simple: don’t use a pot.
Use a muffin pan to cook the eggs in the oven. Just thirty minutes in an oven should produce perfect “hard boiled” eggs. Some ovens run colder or hotter than the norm, so it might be a good idea to first test this with a smaller batch so that you know how long you need to put your eggs in the oven for.
The muffin pan is the key to speedy mornings.
Are you one of those people who can’t leave the house unless you have had your morning smoothie or fruit mix? The problem with this is that you have to get up early in the morning to get everything mixed together and blended with the right proportions. Otherwise, you may end up causing a culinary disaster or making yourself late to work.
Fear not, we have the solution for you. Buy your ingredients in bulk, mix them up in bulk, and distribute them into a muffin pan. Freeze them, and now you have individual batches to save for later. In the morning all you have to do is throw one cube in the blender. Simple, easy. And an awesome time saver.
Roast the veggies together.
Cooking vegetables can be a pain in the you-know-where, but it doesn’t have to be. The main issue is that different veggies all have a different cooking time. Luckily, you can pair the ones that take longer to cook together and do the same for the ones that take less time to cook.
Things like mushrooms and asparagus can be cooked together because they have the same cooking time, while other veggies like carrots and cauliflower can also be roasted together because they take a longer amount of time to cook. This can be a great bit of knowledge to draw on when planning ahead for those big cookouts.
Yes, it’s muffin pans again.
Seriously, if you haven’t discovered the amazingly delicious things that the muffin pan is capable of, you are missing out. For example, if you would love to enjoy some fancy frittatas every day of the week but just can’t be bothered to get all the ingredients and utensils out every morning to make them, we have the solution.
The muffin pan can do it for you! Simply cook one batch with the help your favorite muffin pan and you are set for the week. When you reheat them in the microwave, don’t forget to wrap them in some paper towel so they won’t dry out.
Kabobs can be cooked in the kitchen too.
Originally created in Turkey, the dish known as “shish kebab” consists of simply skewering meats and veggies onto a wooden or metal stick and cooking on a base of coals. This can be used as a superb method of controlling portions and preparing meat in advance to be cooked at home.
All you have to remember to do is keep wooden skewers soaked in water in between uses so that they don’t catch fire in the oven. We strongly suggest cooking via the traditional method of using some coals and cooking the kabobs on direct heat, the result is a just more delicious. But if you aren’t up to the task and are more interested in conserving time, then the oven will do just fine.
It’s a salad. In a jar!
You might feel a bit suspicious buying so many mason jars at your local supermarket, but it’s okay. By now everyone knows they can be used for so much more than just making moonshine. Speaking of things you can use mason jars for, have you thought of using them for lunch salads? It might sound odd, but it’s surprisingly simple.
Put the heavier and grainier items on the bottom and then add the softer leafy ingredients on top. If you are planning to keep the jar in the fridge for a few days, you should also add a piece of paper towel right at the top to absorb any extra moisture that forms.
These are just a few of the ways that you can maximize your efficiency with a little preparation in the kitchen. There are plenty more out there. There is no limit on how far you can go with these ideas, so get creative. If you think something may cut back on preparation time, give it a try. But don’t forget to share!
