Meal preparation could often be a frustrating, time consuming, and labor intensive process. Even more so when you don’t know your way around the kitchen.
Sometimes with all that effort people feel they’ve put in, they would rather give up on preparing their meals in the kitchen altogether and order takeout. But cooking at home is much healthier and cheaper than eating out. Thankfully, these helpful kitchen hacks will change everything about how you go about doing things in the kitchen.
1. Use drinking glass to peel mangos with ease
Place the sliced mangoes on the side of the glass and use some pressure to push it down the glass.
2. Buy some Food Huggers to skip the mid-week grocery runs
Food Huggers are silicon savers you can reuse to keep cut fruits and vegetables fresh. Just place the Food Hugger over the cut portion of the food to keep its freshness longer.
3. Place a wooden spoon across a pot to prevent boil over
Using some inexplicable magic, this is one of those life hacks we don’t yet understand how it totally works.
Related: 10 Useful Kitchen Hacks You Should Know
4. Freeze your ice cream tubs in large Ziploc bags for easier scooping
This kitchen tip will save you time when you just need a quick scoop of caramel goodness directly from the freezer.
5. Clean your microwave stress-free with little vinegar
Cook a bowl of vinegar on high for a few zaps in your microwave to get rid of all the stubborn grime and grease stains in there.
6. Cut your cherry tomatoes all at once using two plates
Use this kitchen trick to save time cutting up those cherry tomatoes. With two flat dinner plates and a large knife, place all the tomatoes between the plates and cut through with one slice.
7. Clean a dirty blender in 30 seconds
Fill the blender with a soap and water mixture and blend for a few minutes to remove hard-to-clean leftovers from the blade and jar.
8. Get crystal clear ice cubes by boiling the water first
Boiling your water before you freeze it will give you clear ice cubes for chilling your drinks.
9. Use straws as strawberry corer
Straw… Strawberries? I’m sure you hate that you never guessed this obvious hack before. Remove all your strawberry stems easily with a straw by simply plucking the stem and leaves from the top and digging your way through the core from the bottom.
10. Pour a bit of water in your bacon skillet to reduce splatter
Add enough water to cover the bottom of the frying pan, then add the bacon. Cook it long enough to allow the water to boil off and then continue frying your bacon until crispy. The simmering water renders the bacon fat so that there’s less splattering and less mess. Plus, the bacon ends up perfect without burnt edges!
As a rule, getting creative and finding multiples functions for kitchen equipment you already have is one of the keys to kitchen hacks. This way, you can always save big on kitchen space and time without spending a penny!
