Getting Organized in Your Kitchen

How to Make the Most of Your Time in the Kitchen

(StatePoint) Meals give you an opportunity to enjoy what you love – time with your family, friends and the chance to relish a well-made dish. Unfortunately, meals can often feel hurried, especially when you’re juggling daily work responsibilities and household tasks. Any shortcuts you can take in the kitchen will allow you time to do the things you love the most.
Here are some time-saving tips that will help you slow down and savor every meal of the week:
Stay Organized
You’ve probably heard the old saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Make this your kitchen mantra. Searching endlessly for needed utensils while you’re in the throes of meal preparation will take a major bite out of your evening. Use tools like alphabetized spice racks and drawer organizers to help you keep your most used items handy and easily found.
Go Oven-Free
It’s possible to get the taste of an oven-baked meal without the oven or the hassle. For those busy times where you find yourself running between sports practices and book clubs, keep a quick, wholesome family size meal in your freezer that serves as a complete meal – lunch, dinner or any time.
For instance, Marie Callender’s has created a whole new line of meals called Comfort Bakes, including Baked Mac & Cheese and Savory Chicken & Rice Bake, that are made with special attention to detail and quality ingredients –– like real cheddar cheese and white meat chicken. These dishes deliver homemade goodness to your family table.

With these dishes you can expect oven-baked taste from the microwave, providing evenly cooked meals in just minutes, minimizing burnt edges and eliminating the need for a stir step. Quick dinner and dessert ideas can be found at www.MarieCallendersMeals.com.
Stock Up
Your fridge and pantry are like a food library. Be sure you always have your go-to ingredients on hand. When you begin to run low on staples like milk, eggs, onions, flour and sugar, immediately add the items to your shopping list so you never run out. A surprise need for a trip to the convenience store is anything but convenient.
Plug in to Slow Down
Create enjoyable ways to slow down during meal time. Dinner time is often the first chance many of us get to catch our breath during the day, so it can be an ideal time to connect with loved ones. Learn the ropes of video conferencing and nurture your most meaningful relationships by setting up a video conference at your kitchen table and hosting a dinner date each week. With today’s technology, video conferencing easily allows you to have a “virtual dinner date” with friends and family across the country, or even the world.
Meal time is about more than eating. It’s about the pleasure and comfort of a good, sit-down meal. By streamlining your efforts in the kitchen, you can give yourself more time to sit back and enjoy what you’ve prepared.

Editor’s Additions:
I firmly believe in th saying “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Some of the ways I stay organized in my kitchen are as follows:
A few years ago I sold Tupperware so decided to “customize” my kitchen with their containers and their advice to have different “centers.” I have a Bake-Center where I keep all the usual things for both preparing and mixing, like different flours, sugars, spices… speaking of spices… mine are even alphabetized. Now you might think that a little over-board, but I’m telling you when I need a spice I know where to find it! I also have a Beverage-Center and a Pasta/Rice/Bean-Center. I keep all my “sharp objects” in one area and the items I don’t use but once or twice a year don’t get “real-estate” space in my kitchen. The latest thing I came up with to organized my kitchen was I took an over-the-door shoe organizer (the one with plastic pouches) and I put most of my long handled kitchen tools in that; now when I need something it is right there in front of me. I still have two turn-tables on my counter that hold the smaller tools.
I few years ago I went online and found a place that would special make pull-out shelves for old cupboards. I measured each of my lower cupboards and sent off the measurements and they shipped the shelves to me and I was able to install them myself. I was a little concerned about loosing some space but found that being able to get to the things in the back more then made up for it as well as only having things in my kitchen that I used on a regular bases.
In both my refrigerator and freezer I have bins that I purchased that fit all the way to the back and I keep jams in one, condiments in another, etc. That way when I’m looking for something I just pull a bin out and can quickly see what is all the way to the back of the refrigerator.
I am lucky enough to have both a Butler’s Pantry and a food Pantry right off my kitchen. I also had my carpenter remodel the old entry into a kitchen library so all my cookbooks, food research books, etc. are right beside the kitchen. (When I sell this house I will have to make it clear that all those rooms go with me!)
In my food pantry I have organized it in different sections: the vegetables are in one place, the canned fruit grouped together, paper products in another, etc.
Another way I save time in the kitchen is to prepare more then one meal at a time or at least quite a few servings of the same thing and freeze the extra. You not only save on time but energy as well.
Be sure and read the MOM article that I published monthly as it always has lots of great tips for being organized. Print this post