by Nafisa Noronha

Created on: June 09, 2010

We are living in a fast paced world; this is the kind of world where nobody has the time or inclination to stop and smell a flowers,so to speak. Hence, it is of little surprise that most people prefer to eat out, rely on take-away or ready-made frozen meals for themselves and their familes. The reason being that nobody has the time to prepare, serve and later clean-up after after a home-cooked meal. This is a really sad situation, and here are a few tips to save kitchen time and at the same time eat healthy home-cooked meals.

1. Plan ahead and buy accordingly: During the weekend take some time to plan your meals for the coming week. Decide what will you be eating and do the grocery accordingly. Always make a list for both the tasks and stick to it.

2. Prepare ahead: When you buy meat, poultry, fish, or shrimp always clean it and store according to portion per meal in zip-lock bags. You can also save time if the marinade has been already added. This way while the meats are being thawed they will be flavored simultaneously. marinated foods also cook quickly.

3. Pre-cut the veggies: Vegetables such as carrots,broccoli,cabbage, cauliflower, beans can be cut during the weekend and stored in air-tight containers and used as and when required.

4. Soak before cooking: Always see to it that you soak the rice, pulses, and dried beans at least 20 minutes before cooking them; it cuts on the cooking time as well as conserves energy.

5. Pressure cook: Use a pressure cooker to cook stews, boil potatoes and beans etc.

6. Prepare more than required: When cooking something like roasts ,stews, soups even rice and curries, prepare 2-3 portions in excess. Freeze the leftover in portion sized containers. On a really tough and tiring day, a good meal could be just a few minutes away. The roasts could become great sandwich fillings.

7. Stock well: A few ingredients should always be at hand such as frozen peas, a few spice mixes, ginger paste, garlic paste, spring roll sheets among others.

These are just a few tips to save time in the kitchen. A little bit of experience and some amount of help from your family can work wonders while making delicious meals while spending lesser time in the kitchen. As you go ahead , share ideas with friends and family, you will discover many more time saving tricks.

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