When we cook in our own kitchen , we want to make sure that everything is neat, organized, and lasts. Sometimes, that’s much harder than it seems .
While we all know our way around the kitchen and can cook up a storm, it’s not always easy to keep things clean and have them stay fresh. Luckily, these kitchen hacks will help you keep everything perfect.
Keep baked goods fresh for longer.
If you bake cookies or brownies and you want them to last a little longer than they usually do, make sure to put them in an airtight container and throw in a small piece of white bread . The bread will keep them moist and fresh.
Find a use for those over-ripe bananas.
Bananas’ ripeness can sneak up on us and before we know it, they’re a little mushy and brown. But, no need to throw them away. Using over-ripe bananas is perfect for banana bread, as they’re cooked into the bread.
Freeze a soup kit for those cold winter nights.
When you are busy and running around, it can be hard to prepare an entire dinner when you get home. Instead of making an entire dinner from scratch, you can premake a soup kit and freeze it so all you have to do is heat it up . Veggies stay good in the freezer for up to 8 months!
Grab that hand mixer.
When making mashed potatoes, it can be tedious to mash them up with your regular mashers or even trying to do so with a fork. If you have a hand mixer, take it out and plug that bad boy in. It makes it that much easier.
Freeze sauces for single use.
If you are cooking for one (or even two) making recipes for sauce can be annoying because they usually serve 4-6 people. But, you can cook them up and save them in egg cartons or even ice trays , making them good for single uses in the future.
Use a bowl of warm water when needed.
Sometimes when you are cooking or baking, you’ll need ingredients to be at room temperature. But, we don’t always remember to take things out of the fridge in time for them to reach that—like eggs. Use warm water in a bowl to help you out.
Put peanut butter jars upside down.
Stirring peanut butter is a norm for many people because the oil gets all pooled up on the top. But, to prevent this from happening, all you need to do is store your peanut butter jar upside down.
Use a cheese grater for more than just cheese.
Cheese graters may be great to grate cheese blocks, but it can be so much more than that. If you only have a stick of butter, you can also use it to grate the butter in order to make it easily spreadable.
Don’t throw out stale baguettes.
There is nothing worse than buying a beautiful, fresh baguette and leaving it for too long. Throwing out an entire loaf of bread is a huge waste. Revive the bread simply by using some warm water on top and putting it in the oven for a few minutes . It’ll be soft again in no time.
Use command hooks for more storage.
If you have a small kitchen with not a lot of counter space or storage, you can make more by using command hooks on the back of your kitchen cabinets. There, you can hang things that you may not have space for.
Make iced cubes out of coffee.
To keep your iced coffee from being super watered down, you can brew a pot of coffee and pour it into iced cube trays to make iced coffee cubes. That way, they’ll melt in your coffee and just make more coffee.
Microwave lemons for more juice.
If you need to get all the juice out of your lemons for sauce, lemonade, or dressing, try to microwave the lemons for 20 seconds . It’ll soften the lemons and make them easier to juice and squeeze.
Get perfect meatballs.
Meatballs can be hard to get in that perfect circle shape and make sure that they are all the same way. Using an ice cream scoop can make sure that they are all the same shape and size.
Don’t worry if you oversalt your soup.
We’ve all been in a situation where we use way too much salt in a soup we are trying to make. Some may think there is no turning back. But, you can fix it by throwing in some peeled apple slices and letting them soak up the extra salt for a bit .
Freeze breakfast burritos for an easier morning.
Getting up early enough to cook in the morning can be really challenging when we are running on empty half the time. If you cook breakfast burritos the night before, you can freeze them and reheat them easily and save time.