Shortcuts are my love language. I am always looking for life hacks to make my life easier. Being stuck at home more nowadays has proven to be quite the challenge with being creative both in activities for the kids and dinner ideas. I mostly enjoy cooking but would always still rather be baking. (It’s my true love and probably why I’ll never have a 6-pack.)
I have found a few kitchen hacks that have proven quite efficient and downright genius. If we are going to have to cook more at home, why not do things the easy way?
Kitchen Aid stand mixer shreds boneless, cooked chicken in SECONDS (just use the paddle attachment). This is my absolute favorite hack! Place the chicken fully cooked into the bowl and turn on the mixer on low. Go pour yourself a glass of wine, mom, you deserve it.
Add bread to a bag of brown sugar to keep it from getting hard. I usually place the bag of brown sugar in a gallon Ziploc bag once it is open. The sugar is coated in molasses and it evaporates. If you place a slice of bread into the gallon bag along with the bag of brown sugar, the bread will absorb the moisture and it will harden instead of your brown sugar.
Freeze milk jugs (that’s what those little circles on the sides are for). I never knew this until recently! If you need extra milk, but won’t use it before the expiration date, you can place the half-gallon jugs in the freezer and the circles allow the milk room to expand when it freezes. Garage fridge, here we come! Note: if you’re wanting to freeze a full gallon, you may want to open it and pour out an inch or two just in case, so it doesn’t expand too much and open up.
Silicone baking mats are the best thing since drive-thru restaurants started accepting credit cards. (Well, I guess that shows my age a little.) Ever since I have used silicone baking mats instead of parchment paper or using the cookie sheet, my baked goods never burn. Never. My cookies are also never too dry or crispy on the outside. Best purchase ever!
Slice strawberries or mushrooms FAST with an egg slicer. It pains me to think of how much of my life was wasted carefully slicing strawberries for a recipe while also making sure I didn’t slice a finger. Too much time for sure!
If you have a great kitchen hack or tip, please comment and share the knowledge! After finding out all of these tips, I’m wondering what else I may be missing out on. If anyone knows of a self-loading and unloading dishwasher, feel free to share. I’m sure it’s worth every penny.
