I am probably the furthest thing from a MasterChef. In the past, I have had to Google things like, “how to peel a potato” and “what is the difference between wax and parchment paper?” Yeah. It’s embarrassing.
Whether you’re a chef-in-training or a bonafide MasterChef, these kitchen hacks will make your life a little easier. There are tips for prepping ingredients, cooking food, and organizing your kitchen. I think even Gordon would like them.
Cut pizzas with ease.
Arrange the toppings on your homemade or frozen pizza to avoid the path of your cutter. It’s a lot neater, and everyone gets the same amount of toppings per slice.
Mix up your natural peanut butter.
If you don’t store your peanut butter upside down, try using a hand mixer instead.
You only need one of the mixing attachments for this hack and it works way better than a spoon.
The smart way to build your taco.
Taco Tuesday just got better. A fork will help you balance your taco as you load it up with delicious toppings. Yum!
Hand too big for the Pringles can?
Use a piece of paper to help you get Pringles out with ease. This also works well if you’re sharing the Pringles, but don’t have a plate handy.
No bottle opener? No problem!
Screw a screw into the cork, and then use a hammer to pull it out. Your dinner and wine pairing is saved. We’ll cheers to that!
Use this hack for fast defrosting
Pack ground meat in super thin patties when you’re freezing it. It’ll defrost much faster! It also makes for easier storage in your freezer.
Forgot to pop drinks in the fridge?
I’ve tried this hack before and it is genius. Wrap a wet paper towel around your drink and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. It’ll be ice-cold when you pull it out.
Just don’t forget it in there — the mess made from an exploding drink can be really bad.
If you have a sensitive smoke alarm, you’ll want to try this.
Wrap a shower cap over your smoke detector and tape a ribbon or string to it. The ribbon will help you remember to pull down the cap when you’ve finished cooking.
Arrange chicken nuggets in a circle when reheating them.
Your nuggets will heat more evenly this way. Is there anything worse than a cold nugget? I don’t think so.
A handy tip for determining if an egg has gone bad.
It’s pretty easy to remember: rotten eggs float and healthy eggs sink. A great tip for the next time you’re in doubt.
Extend the life of your greens.
Place a paper towel in your greens containers to soak up any excess moisture. It’ll prevent the leaves from getting soggy and going bad.
There was a measuring cup on oatmeal packages all along.
I can’t be the only one who didn’t know this. If you’ve ever wondered how much water to add to your instant oatmeal, there’s a line on the package that you can use to measure. Genius.
How to cook dinner for one.
As a former student, I wish I had known about this hack back when I was in school. I think portioning chicken is pretty standard, but I never thought to do it for veggies, too!
The best way to shave cheese.
Use a potato peeler to shave hard cheese in the perfect slices for salads or pasta. What would we do without these brilliant hacks? Eat less cheese, that’s for sure.
Double up on your skewers.
If you use two skewers, your kabobs won’t roll around as much and you can evenly cook both sides. Sometimes two is really a lot better than one.
Wooden skewers to the rescue!
If you don’t have a wire cooling rack around, use these wooden skewers over a plate to make your own. As long as I get to eat the cookies ASAP, I’m happy.
Use a muffin tray to serve condiments.
Who would have guessed that a muffin tray is a perfect container for serving condiments? No more clunky bottles and jars taking up space. Use this smart hack at your next BBQ!
Hang up your bananas.
A small Command Hook will keep your bananas off the counter and free from bruises. Attach one under a cabinet for easy access.
Just another reason to love Command Hooks.
Use muffin pans to make perfect portions.
Freeze leftover chili or soup in a muffin pan. That way, you can pop out the portions for individual meals without having to defrost the whole bag.
The smart way to pour soy sauce.
Make a small slit in the protective seal instead of removing it. It’ll act as a DIY spout so you don’t accidentally pour half the jug out all over your rice.
Sunny D lids double as can covers.
Pop a Sunny D lid over your cans if you plan on finishing it later. This would also be handy if you’re enjoying a drink outside and want to keep bugs away in between sips.
Organize your freezer once and for all.
Use binder clips to hang up any bags in your freezer. This will keep things organized and maximize space if you have a smaller freezer.
No more ice cube tray juggling acts.
Use a water bottle to fill up your ice cube tray so that you don’t have to balance the full tray when putting it in the freezer.
Put oil in a soy sauce container.
The small spout makes it easy to drizzle a little oil over salads or into the pan when you’re cooking. Definitely going to start using this trick at home.
