Mum of five Kellie shares her tried and tested clever cooking hacks.
I’m all for an easy life, especially when it comes to cooking and prepping meals for my five kids and I’m sure you are too. That’s why today I am sharing some of my clever time-saving food preparation and kitchen hacks because let’s face it, they probably won’t even eat half of it anyways.
1. Never Underestimate The Power Of A Pizza Cutter
A pizza wheel is one of my number one tools in
the kitchen, especially when it comes to prepping foods for a large family. I
use it for cutting herbs, lettuce, quesadillas and more. It also comes in handy
for chopping up spaghetti for the little ones and cutting the crust off bread.
2. Make Slow Cooker Porridge
I’m a slow cooker sucker and wouldn’t be without it. I cook everything from a full chicken and bbq ribs to curries and casseroles in my crockpot, but my favourite has to be porridge because let’s face it, who has time to stand over a pot and watch it cook. To make it, pour in whatever amount of oats you need and soak it in milk, make sure it is completely covered. Leave it on low for ninety minutes until it is creamy-melt-in-the-mouth-goodness.
3. Use Vegetable Water In Your Gravy
Most people use roasted meat juice in your
gravy but next time add some extra flavour packed with nutrients by using the
water from your veggies. We also add in a little cornstarch to thicken it up.
4. Hashbrown Heaven
This one we discovered over lockdown, and we have it at least once a week since. Instead of baking or frying your hashbrowns lob your mixture into a waffle maker until golden brown. That’s right, lash it all in - I promise you won’t regret it.
5. Peel Eggs Faster
Until recently, peeling boiled eggs use to be a pet peeve of mine - the tiny eggs shells would be everywhere. Now I use a spoon by sliding it in and peel the shell from the inside out. It is genius!
6. Add Some Zest To Your Fish
When cooking fish, it tends to break up into
tiny little pieces - well it does for me. Now I place fish on top of slices of
lemon beforehand, so it doesn’t stick or resemble a big fishy mess once served.
7. Freshen Up Stale Rolls
Do you have baguettes or a crusty loaf that have gone a bit stale? Run it under some water and pop it into the oven for 5-7. It will come back out fresh and crunchy as hell. As for bread, crumb it to make stuffing at a later date. All you have to do is toss it into the freezer.
8. Peel With Ease
Garlic can sometimes be a bit of a pain to
peel, but with this trick, the skin should slip right off. Simply place the
cloves of garlic in the microwave for 20 seconds, and it should just fall out
of the peel. Another great tip is to break the bulb and place them into a metal
bowl and vigorously shake the garlic to remove the shell.
