With so many hungry tummies that need to be fed, it is very easy to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen. In order to establish a balance between providing healthy, cooked food and time spent in kitchen, I usually employ tactics to simplify kitchen techniques. Or it is very easy to drown in your kitchen with hardly any time for anything else!
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On a regular basis, I rarely spend more than 3 hours a week of hands-on time in the kitchen, even though we make home cooked meals 90% of the time. I’m a person who likes to do things fast and simple, without compromising too much on the results. I even used to be annoyed when I see people do things the complicated way. 🙃
I’m happy to share my kitchen tips, aka staying away from the kitchen as much as possible, haha. This way, I will have more time to take up my other roles such as mom, homeschool teacher and curriculum planner, chauffeur/ mom-uber, homemaker, ministry, prayer gatherings, doctor roles, spending time with parents and their needs, hobbies and numerous other obligations, …. etc etc- you name it!
(1)First and foremost is to keep the kitchen counter/island free all the time.
We are blessed to have a large island counter in our kitchen, which is where we do all our vegetable cutting, dough rolling, batter prep, buffet, etc. I always make it a point to keep it empty all the time, as first of all it greatly makes the kitchen appear ‘clutter-free’ and second of all, it greatly improves the workflow in the kitchen. Just the look of a (relatively) clutter free kitchen is motivating to finish up your job fast and keep it that way.
(2)Put appliances to work, and buy the larger capacities when possible.
I have an instant pot, which I use often, although not as frequently as I would like to. The instant pot has several functions including pressure cooking, steaming, making yogurt, slow cooking etc. I use it several times a week, and on several occasions have become a huge life saver, especially in being able to make some things like dry beans fast, without having to soak ahead of time. You can read all the other reasons I love my instant pot, in my post here.
I always use the double griddle for pancakes and dosa (an Indian pancake). This way I can easily make about 8 small pancakes at the same time. I almost never make them short of a double griddle. Who has time to hover over a small frying pan, making 1 pancake at a time, when you can easily make 8 at once?
As we have a big family, we have a 4 slice toaster. We have a large George Foreman Grill (which can make upto 6 sandwiches at a time). This has become a blessing also. I can easily make grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, paninis with it.
I have a food processor, which I use to shred vegetables. I used to have one that I loved, as there was an attachment that helped to dump the shredded vegetables directly to the pot. But they discontinued that model, so I had to buy another one when it broke. This is the one I have now. It does a good job shredding, although I have to empty the container each time when it gets full. And since I usually make everything wholesale, I end up having to do this often.
I love my Kitchenaid Mixer as I use to make chappati dough and batter for cake and cookies. I can just leave it on and walk away.
(3) Cut meat in bulk and freeze.
My husband cuts upto 40 lbs chicken leg quarters in 1 sitting, and freeze in gallon freezer bags, so that when it is time to cook, I don’t need to cut them. The effort of cutting 10 lbs and 40 lbs are not way much different as we’ll have to still wash and sanitize the cutting boards either way. So this is more efficient for getting more done with just little more effort. We pack them up, about 10 lbs per bag. I never make less than 10 lbs of chicken at a time, as in a family of 10, it can be easily consumed in a matter of 2-3 days.
(4)Vegetable cutting- I usually don’t obsess too much about the shapes of cut veggies.
I cut/chop in a way that is most efficient, about 20 long beans at once, in 30 seconds, without caring too much about the shape. For carrots, I always cut circular, though some dishes favor it to be longitudinally cut. If cutting circular, I can cut one carrot in just 3 seconds, whereas to cut longitudinally, takes longer. For grating, I obviously use the food processor. But sometimes I find chopping easier, as it’s a hassle to get out the food processor and clean its parts later. So majority of the time I end up making sautéed vegetable dishes (without standing by and stirring all the time, obviously. The trick is to let it burn a tiny bit, and it enhances the flavor, haha).
(5)Simplify recipes
We do South Indian cooking, 70% of the time, which is notorious for taking lots of time and utilize lots of steps. I cut down on most of the nitty gritty steps and keep it simplified. The end result may not be as tasty, but atleast I can be happy that I didn’t spend my whole day in the kitchen laboring for something that will last for only a couple of meals; whereas I was able to free up that time, to be more available for my family and my other roles.
(6)Make more than for 1 meal, and freeze a little.
Our staple meals consist of plain parboiled rice, with 1-2 vegetable curries, 1 meat/fish curry and plain yogurt. Whenever I make curries, I make enough to last atleast 2-3 meals. In order to avoid the same dish consecutively, I sometimes make some pasta or baked chicken or other dishes in between. That way, we alternate, and no one gets bored, and I don’t end up cooking every day. I am also very grateful to have a husband who doesn’t insist on super-tasty gourmet meals or fresh food all the time!
I also like to have some cooked food frozen in cases of emergency. So when the stock runs low, I cook and freeze some chicken as either curry or baked chicken and freeze up in smaller bags. I also keep a stock of shredded cooked chicken breasts or pork, which can be used to make tacos, quasedillas, etc, and a small reserve of dry beans curry (payar thoran).
(7) I never wait for the water to boil to add pasta or rice.
I eliminate that step, by adding in the dry pasta or dry rice in with the water at the beginning. I really don’t even understand what difference it makes to the end result, that the directions insist on adding the pasta after the water boils!
(8) I use the instant pot to boil milk for gatherings, to make coffee
This way, I don’t need to stand by watching whether it will boil over. One caveat is that unless you wash the rim of the lid properly, there can be some flavor infused into the milk of the last meal that was prepared.
(9) If there is a choice between 2 similar things, I go for the one that takes less steps!
An example is I prefer to make coffee over tea, as tea involves extra steps including filtering out the tea leaves. I’m sure most of my friends are laughing now as it is something I fight with them over for, all the time! 😅
By employing different tactics, you can greatly reduce the time in the kitchen, and move on to do other things you love to, unless spending time in the kitchen is your passion. I’m not sure I fall in that category🤔.