The tips I'm going to provide you may seem either like common sense or too tetious for the modern busy woman, but many of these tasks (especially the cleaning ones) can be done the night before, random times throught the day by you or a roommate/spouse/child. But I find that following these tips reduces stress or serious mess while cooking.
Tip 1:
Dishes, dishes, and more dishes!
Make sure the dishes are clean (ALL of them), that the dishwasher is empty, and that the sink is clean!
This will allow you to place dirty items you're finished in the dishwasher immediately so it's not taking up space. As for the sink, a clean empty sink can be used for washing veggies, straining noodles, and emergency washings of a knife or cutting board or your hands.
Tip 2:
Whistle while you work!
Make sure the kitchen is free of any and all unnecessary clutter and is cleaned with a kitchen disinfectant spray.
Most of us like our kitchens to look nice and be clean all the time, but it's not always possible and it's good to have a clean surface upon which to prepare dinner.
Tip 3:
Inventory!
Make sure you have all the dishes, cookware, dishes, pots/pans, utinsils, and gadgets that you'll need before you start. You don't want to end up like me making a duck and finding out mid-preparation that the bulb for my turkey baster was missing. It'll save you stress, searching, and makeshifting with something else.
Tip 4:
Garbage Bowls!
You can go out an buy a Rachel Ray or whoever's ceramic Garbage Bowl for however much at the store. All a Garbage bowl is, is a large bowl you use to toss away meat trimmings, parts of the veggies you aren't using, pieces of packaging, or anything in front of you that isn't large that needs to be tossed so that you aren't constantly making trips to the trash can, saving you time. If you're an avid chef an cook from scratch often and have all sorts of gadgets in your cupboards, investing in one wouldn't be a waste if you don't see it that way. For everyone else, a large mixing bowl, or a paper bag that doesn't fall over will work just as well and doesn't cost you a dime!
Tip 5:
Pesky Grease!
Browning ground hamburger meat or ground sausage? Mom/grandma always tell you to put it in an old coffee can? Get real! Take some tinfoil wrap and line a regular bowl with it (leave plenty of excess over the edges). When it's time to strain the grease from the meat use the spatula to move the meat to one side and let the grease drip to the other by tipping the pan slightly. Use a turkey baster to suck up the grease and transfer it into the foil lined bowl until there is no more grease in the pan. When the grease in the bowl has cooled and turned semisolid, you can wrap it up in the foil and toss it in the trash!
Tip 6:
Time is money... Or food.
Ok. Time management. Having 3 timers go off at once causes confusion, chaos, and sometimes overcooked food. Prior to cooking figure out how long things need to cook, if anything needs to sit, etc. for instance, when cooking bird, the bird generally sits out of the oven for 10-15 minutes giving you time to finish potatoes and or stuffing, both of which can also get done a little early and kept covered and warm on a burner. Steam-in-bag veggies take less space than steaming on the stove and can be kept warm for longer periods of time simply by keeping them in the microwave! As for pasta, I recommend finishing the sauce prior to the noodles as it's easier to keep the sauce than the noodles.
Tip 7:
Dude! Looks like a lady!
Wear an apron. Preferably one with pockets. You can buy one... They make cute ones... But that's no fun! If you sew, sew your own! If you're crafty, buy a plain one and iron on, bedazzle, and craft the heck out of it! Make it your own just don't do anything to it that will easily fall off!
Tip 8:
Girl, the back of your head is ridikulus!
(That was a MADD TV reference, the skit is "Can I have your Number?" I recommend you watch it and laugh forever.)
Ok, this is restating what I said in my recipe on Duck. There is a reason chefs wear hats or hairnets. It's to keep hair out of food. As women, our longer hair tends to break off every once and awhile especially if it's dry, over processed, or exposed to curling irons, flat irons, etc, often. So if you're not caring what you look like, pull your hair back, wear a hair band, something like that, if you're entertaining or it's a special night,put your hair partially back with bobby pins or a cute headband... Or pull it half back and clip a bow in it!
If you have any questions or any other tips, please let me know!
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