A few blogs ago, while talking about the kitchen {sustainable kitchen products actually}, we had realized how it is the heart of every family. We gather, eat, talk, fight, gossip sitting on the island chairs almost huddling together and everyone trying to fit their elbows on the kitchen island with eyes mostly fixated on the cooking countertop awaiting dinner!
Had housekeeping been a professionally listed job, up doing, organizing and smart cooking would have taken a meaty portion of the KRA! So, if the kitchen is where we spend most of our time, {not to mention that you could frequently spot me coming out of the kitchen with a munchie in my hand during these quarantine days!!} why not invest some time to know and get our hands on some tried and tested kitchen hacks from cooking to cleaning to organizing. Why not make our lives a bit easier and kitchen time smarter with these kitchen hacks!
1. Keep Em Fresh
For the love of apples and my repulsion for cut browned slices, I put the slices into lemon juice. Tada! Apples keep fresh and look as if they have been just cut up. You know, I saw a friend cut up the apple and put it back together with a rubber band and it held up pretty well. Try it!
2. Rub Dub Dub!
If you want to clean your microwave, you could just warm up the mixture of dishwashing soap and lemon juice in a bowl and wipe off the inside with the scrub. And that’s it, you just got rid of the food stench from your micro! After all, the microwave needs a deep clean too.
3. Citrus Hack!
Did you ever think of using round cut lemons or citrus bed for BBQing your fragile catfish or salmon piece? Think again! Yes, really because it would not only stop the fish from getting stuck on the bbq rails, it would lend a succulent flavor to the food as well. And please don’t stop at fishes, beef patties, chicken breasts would do equally good with this hack!
4. Easy Peasy!
Do you have a plastic straw at hand? Good, use it to de-stem the strawberry for your guests or your fussy toddler! It’s easy and you could just plop the whole strawberry in your mouth. De-stemmed strawberry dipped in chocolate ganache, yumm heaven!
5. Ripen Up!
Ah! Paper bags help to ripen that fruit that you cannot wait any longer to munch on. I read it somewhere, wrapping up a banana or an avocado in a paper bag would speed up the ripening process. And you know what, if you want to have your banana after a few days, then just wrap the end of the bunch with a piece of a Saran Wrap, it would be good for a few more days.
6. Too much is ever enough!
Did you cut more potatoes than you would actually need? Don’t fret over it, put it in a bowl and just pour enough water to cover the whole thing up! Remember any part which sticks out would turn brown, so careful folks. This tip comes in handy for me because I just don’t seem to learn how much portion to cut, like really!!
7. Chicken Hack!
Getting that damn fat out of the chicken stew or beef stock. How? Not a daunting task, put a few ice cubes in a ladle and skim it over the stock and see the fat accumulate and solidify on top. Scoop out the fat!
8. Clean Sink!
Unclogging those kitchen sink pipes is so important, all would agree! I usually use hot water and baking soda together and pour it down the pipe. It works like magic, every single time.
9. Spice Rack!
Label those spice jars and wait, could you install a spice rack? IKEA has this amazing Bekvam Spice rack, very pocket-friendly at $4.99 which could be installed on the inside of your kitchen cabinet {I’m assuming you have a space crunch too, like me!}. Spices sorted and ready when I need them. No longer shuffling through 100 bottles of spices one falling on another! And also, check out this cool Jot & Mark Spice Jar Labels on Amazon.
10. More Space!
I read this up on LifeHack and oh boy, this was one of the most important organizing kitchen hacks. Utilizing the space in between the fridge and the wall and installing a roll-out/ pull-out pantry shelf. Well, this IdeaWorks Portable Storage, 5-Tier on Amazon is what I’m all gaga about. See if you could get one of these in and get your kitchen wackiness out!
11. Organize!
Well, the fridge is to the kitchen what the kitchen is to the house, baby! So can we use simple kitchen hacks to organize the fridge, please? And trust me, you would find many of the organizers at your nearby Dollar Tree for sure. You could use the file holder or the plastic bins or the baskets to de-clutter your fridge. Put the butter sleeves, mayonnaise, and pasta sauce in one bin and coffee creamer, half n half’s into another. See I just gave you a great organization tip!
12. Good as New!
I love you my Ninja Blender, and I promise to keep you clean! And the extent to which you are used, I at least owe you a simple deep clean! This is a rather easy hack, put some dishwashing soap and warm water, and run it on medium. This cleans all the spinach, garlic, and smoothie leftovers from all the crevices. Just remember to wash it out thoroughly because you wouldn’t like the Dawn soap smell in your breakfast smoothie for sure!!
13. Garlic Hack!
I love garlic but peeling it is another story! You know, my hack for this, I put the garlic cloves into lukewarm water for about 15-20 mins. And voila, peeling is a breeze after that. No really, it is!
14. Salt for the Win!
Salt could be a very handy cleaning agent. Salt may be our oh-so-always-in-the-kitchen kind of thing but when coupled with lemon, it could shoo the grime off your everyday chopping board. Just sprinkle some salt and then rub with a piece of lemon. To only does the stench go away, it feels absolutely clean too.