Tag: food waste

3 Kitchen Hacks to Help You Save Time and Reduce Food Waste

Published on by thesavvypantry1 Comment

https://youtube.com/shorts/wX-rz1IUqYs

Hi Savvys,

I though I was a pro at food and meal prep before having kids, spending about 15 hours on the weekend meal prepping for the week for only my husband and myself.  However, since becoming a mother of 2, I have mastered the art of meal and food prep and have become more productive with my time!  I am more efficient, am still able to make nutrient packed meals and still have time to spend with the family.  Here are my 3 kitchen hacks that I use on a weekly basis to help me save time in the kitchen!

  1. Wash all of your leafy greens
    1. In our household, we always have bok choy, cabbage, lettuce and other leafy greens on hand for salads and stir frys.  To ensure that our greens are not going to waste and actually ending up in our weekly meal rotation, I wash and cut all of my leafy greens as soon as I get home from the grocery store.  I spin dry them in a salad spinner and chop them up so it’s easy to add to any dish.  A brilliant hack I have is to reuse salad containers to store your washed produce in!  Not only are you reusing something that would have most likely ended up in the landfill, but it’s also the perfect size, already made to fit your fridge!
  2. Wash and prep all of your fruit
    1. My family always has fresh berries on hand.  To ensure their shelf life and easy access for the little ones, I wash soak them in a water and vinegar solution for 10 minutes before air drying them for half the day.  Once they are dry, I store them in containers in the fridge so it’s easy to add to our oatmeal breakfasts and to the kids’ plates for meals.  I also ensure that I chop up any fruit like melons or pineapple to ensure that I can save time when looking for a quick snack for the kids or to add to smoothies.
  3. Prep minced garlic, onion and ginger
    1. Because we cook the majority of our meals from scratch, I use a lot of garlic.  To save me time in the kitchen, at the beginning of every week, I will add all of the cloves of garlic of an entire heave of garlic to a mini food processor and process until finely chopped.  Then I store it in a small mason jar in the fridge so it’s ready to go.  This saves me so much time when I am whipping up a weeknight meal.  You can prep onion and ginger in the same way.  Since I don’t go through ginger as quickly, I like to store them in ice cube trays in the freezer so that I can take out small portions as needed.

I hope you guys find these tips useful in your kitchen!  Comment below on any hacks that you use in your kitchen that you would like to share!

Now set forth and be savvy!