Get Organized And Save Time In The Kitchen

When it comes to the kitchen the more organized you are the easier it is! It’s simple to get organized in the kitchen, you have to plan and think ahead but in the long-run it saves you time and money!

I like to prepare in advance and this cuts down the time that I need to spend in the kitchen, during the holidays or any other time of the year!

I love to cook, but in reality, the pressure is on to get the tasks done in the shortest amount of time!

Get Organized For Christmas

One of the biggest issues for me is getting all the food ready, I don’t want to spend the day in the kitchen and the more that I can get done ahead of time I will!

That means for me I prepare things in advance, and then I freeze these items so they are ready for me to just pull out and defrost and use!

Some foods are great for being prepared in advance and can make great freezer food for when you have a lot on and need a meal in a rush!

Things that are quick and easy to cook, reducing the stress that often comes with preparing meals for your family.

Not all food is suitable for freezing and it is important to learn how to freeze certain foods and what you should not freeze, this includes food that has been frozen and defrosted, you should not re-freeze.

Christmas Food To Prepare

If you are expecting lots of people this Christmas or you just want to have less time in the kitchen, it is possible to do some preparation in advance saving you time meaning you can spend more time with your family rather than being stuck in the kitchen and missing out on the fun.

The freezer food items that I prepare in advance are:

• Roast potatoes, they get peeled, parboiled, shaken and left to cool before being placed on a baking sheet for a few hours in the freezer to freeze before being transferred into bags ready for use on Christmas day.
• Fresh vegetables get chopped, frozen flat on trays (see the resources section for how I do this!) before added to bags. If they are frozen flat it means they won’t stick together in a frozen mass, which you can’t separate. It is important to know which vegetables can be frozen straight away and which items you need to blanche first.
• Cheesecakes are very popular in our house and I tend to make the base’s ahead of time and freeze these. Then I just have the topping to make on the day, I don’t like the topping frozen, I have tried this but it didn’t freeze well.
• Pies and crumbles for puddings are all made ahead of time and are frozen, I am a rhubarb fanatic and have pies and crumbles ready to go all the time.
• Cookies are great to have as a treat over the holidays and I do like to know the ingredients that go into them, I don’t want to overload my friends and family with hidden sugar and additives that I can’t even pronounce let alone know what they mean. So, I make the dough, cut them up and flat freeze them for a couple of hours and then store them in the freezer for when I need them. I just cook them from frozen!
• I make mince pies and cook them first before freezing them, but I have made them and frozen them before cooking so they are piping hot when I serve them.

Get Organized For The Holidays

Freezer food doesn’t have to be pre-purchased items that you buy from the shop, they can be wholesome food that you prepare yourself, knowing the ingredients that you use can help if you have allergies or you want to provide good healthy food for your family.

While there are so many jobs that you need to address last-minute with different preparations including cleaning, some tasks in the kitchen can be prepared in advance and can help by saving you time and missing those precious moments with your family and friends.

Spending just 10 or 15 minutes at a time preparing and organizing meals for your family for future meals saves a lot of time when you are stressed and trying to get a healthy meal on the table!

How To Save Time In The Kitchen

I think that it’s important to take the time to prep vegetables and other items when you have a few minutes.

I like to do this when I’m in the kitchen cooking tea, often I don’t need to do anything else for the meal apart from stirring and I can do vegetable prep at the same time!

It means I’m not wasting time but using the time I have to knock out a task or two!

Having a system in place that allows you to prepare the vegetables or to cook extra, gives you more freedom for holidays or just a meal when you are rushed!

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Save Time And Prep Ahead

I think this has saved so many hours in my kitchen, I’m not one for standing in there for hours cooking!

It might sound like fun, to me, it sounds like hard work! I want the shortest time possible in the kitchen and that means thinking ahead!

If I’m making cakes, I will freeze some of the cakes before cooking them in the freezer, either a big cake, as long as I don’t need the cake tin or little cakes in paper cases!

This means the next time I need cakes I don’t actually have to make them I just put them in the oven!

However, you do need a system so you know what you have in your freezer and when you need to eat it!

Let’s Recap…

Get organized now for the holidays by prepping in advance. Take the chance to spend any time that you have available getting things organized in the kitchen.

Prepare vegetables ahead of time, even get some of them in the freezer ready for when you need them!

Plan your meals, this will save you time and means that you can see what you need ahead of time!

Can you make some food ahead of time and store it? I like to have snack food ready to cook in the freezer as it saves me time and reduces stress when visitors turn up!

Getting your kitchen organized is a great way to save time and it’s cheaper too!