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Last updated on September 16th, 2022 at 01:23 am
Moms are busy. We’re always looking for ways to save time and get things done a little more efficiently. With that in mind, here are 40 of our favorite mom hacks for the kitchen. These ideas are so smart, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them!
Keep reading for 40 mom-tested hacks that will make your life just a little bit easier.
And, if you have any to add, we’d love to hear them. Just leave us a comment at the bottom of the post.
Mom Hacks for the Kitchen
- Warm your dinner plates in the microwave for a few seconds before plating your food–just enough so that the plates aren’t cool/cold. You don’t want to put hot food on a cold plate.
- Put plastic wrap across the opening of an ice cream tub before putting the lid back on. This will help prevent ice crystals from forming.
- When making meatloaf, add the dry seasonings to a bowl, add the egg, and mix. This is easier than trying to mix the dry seasonings evenly through the meatloaf.
- Rub your hands on a stainless steel faucet to get rid of garlic and onion smell on your hands. Or, pick up one of these stainless steel bars.
- To get rid of hot grease, put a piece of aluminum foil in your sink. Then, pour the hot grease on it. When it solidifies, you can just throw it away.
- Use an ice cream scoop to evenly portion out cookie dough or any kind of batter.
- When you buy frozen products, toss the boxes. If you need to, use Ziploc freezer bags instead. This is a good way to save freezer space.
- Use a cheese grater to “cut” frozen butter for recipes.
- Use a gallon plastic bag to mix meatloaf ingredients–or use disposable gloves. Your hands stay clean.
- Wrap celery tightly in aluminum foil to keep it fresh longer.
- A tablespoon or so of instant coffee added to a boxed brownie mix is delicious!
- Put a damp paper towel under your cutting board so it doesn’t slide around the counter.
- Save the water from pasta or vegetables to use for gravy or sauces.
- Out of buttermilk? Add vinegar or lemon juice to milk to make buttermilk. The exact “recipe” is: For one cup of buttermilk, put one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup. Then, fill the cup with milk until you get to the one-cup mark, and stir.
- Save chicken or veggie broth in ice cube trays, and freeze. After they’re frozen, you can keep the cubes in Ziploc bags. They add flavor to soups, stews, etc. and save you from having to open a new can or box when you only need a little bit of broth.
- Hit a head of iceberg lettuce against the countertop to remove the core more easily.
- Shred cooked chicken with a hand mixer. This works well when you cook chicken in the slow cooker.
- To keep cookies soft, put a slice of bread in a sealed container with the cookies.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut your children’s food–think pancakes, waffles, grilled cheese, sandwiches, cheese, deli meat, quesadillas, toast, and of course, pizza!
- Kitchen scissors also work well to cut up children’s food!
- See if eggs are fresh with the “float test.” Put the egg in a bowl of water. If the egg sinks or stays at the bottom of the bowl, it’s fresh. Older eggs will float or stand on end.
- Use the end of a straw to remove the pits from cherries and olives. It works for the tops of strawberries too.
- Leave a jar of natural peanut butter upside down in the cupboard, and it won’t separate.
- When you spray a pan with cooking spray, open the dishwasher door, and hold the pan over it to avoid getting the spray on your countertops or on the floor.
- When making deviled eggs, put the filling into a Ziploc bag. Snip the corner to fill the eggs–like a pastry bag. This is a terrific way to take deviled eggs to a potluck too. Wait to fill the eggs until you’re ready to serve them.
- Put paprika in a fine mesh metal tea strainer to shake onto deviled eggs for the perfect light sprinkle.
- Roll lemons and limes on the counter to make them juicier before you cut them.
- Save the little plastic “tables” that come in pizza delivery boxes. When you have a cheesy dish you need to cover with foil, use them to hold the foil up so it won’t stick.
- If you want to keep peeled potatoes from browning, put them in a bowl, and cover them with cold water.
- Just a little white rice in your salt shaker will keep the salt from clumping together.
- When you need to measure peanut butter or anything sticky, spray the measuring cup with cooking spray or put a little oil in the measuring cup first.
- Slice cherry tomatoes by placing them between two lids or two small plates. Then slice once between the lids to cut them all at one time.
- When making sheet pan dinners, place the pan in the oven to get hot while you prepare the veggies and meat for faster cooking.
- Level a cup of flour or sugar with a wooden chopstick. You can keep one in the canister.
- Dip the end of a chopstock or the end of a wooden spoon handle into hot oil to see if the oil is at the right temperature for deep frying. If bubbles form around it, it’s the right temperature.
- Short on storage space in your kitchen? Use a magnet strip on the wall to hold your knives. (This also works for tools.)
- Use a gallon-size Ziploc bag to flatten chicken for cutlets.
- When baking, line your baking sheets with parchment paper or foil to make clean-up easy.
- Tomatoes stored in the refrigerator lose some of their flavor.
- Add salt to the water when boiling pasta. For every pound of pasta, use at lease 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt.
What are your favorite mom hacks? Leave us a comment below!
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Donna
These tips are so neat! I didn’t know they made stainless steel odor removing bars.