10 Kitchen Shortcuts For Busy Cooks
Most home cooks could do with a little streamlining when it comes to getting dinner on the table every night. When you're cooking from scratch, there are plenty of ways to multitask. These tips and tricks will help get a good meal on the table — even on busy weeknights. Whether you're chopping, roasting, stewing, or baking, here are some great time-savers, and ways to get a head start on another dinner while you're at it.
— JulieVR, Babble
Make your own mixes
Baking mixes are undoubtedly timesavers, but who knows what kinds of ingredients are in a packaged mix? It takes just minutes to mix up your own and stash away.
Try this easy multigrain pancake mix!
Assemble extra to freeze
Most baked casserole dishes can be frozen before they're baked. Double your favorite recipe, freeze one, and dinner is taken care of for another night!
Get the recipe from Simple Bites for butternut squash mac and cheese.
Mix up a batch of meatballs
They're simple, versatile, and kids love them. Make a big batch of meatballs on one night, and freeze the rest for quick meals on another.
Get the recipe from Family Bites for Italian meatballs.
Pull out the slow cooker
A slow cooker does all the work (or most of it, anyway), creating a meal that tastes like it simmered all day — because it has!
Try this classic beef stew.
Roast two instead of one
It takes exactly the same amount of time, energy (in the oven), and effort to roast two chickens as it does to roast one. Use the second for a jump-start on dinner another night.
Make roast chicken.
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