Time and hassle - tips for retaining sanity

daisy1973

What a great thread,im picking up some new tips.thats always a good thing Taplady,i like your idea of cleaning sink and toilet whilst running the bath,very time saving.Any tips i have im sure you already know as ive picked them up from the old style board

maman

• Use a cardboard tube (from kitchen roll) to store all those freebie plastic bags that fruit and veg comes in. Makes for a really tidy kitchen drawer.
• keep a bag (I usually use one of those sacks that get delivered) on the go for all the things you declutter and take to charity shop when filled

Gigervamp

Olliebeak wrote: »

One of my tricks too - little piles on the stairs and then nobody to go upstairs empty-handed :j. Used to get the kids to take their own stuff up.

I've tried doing that, but everyone else in the house seems to have a blind spot and they all walk straight past anything on the stairs! :mad:

oystercatcher

Gigervamp wrote: »

I've tried doing that, but everyone else in the house seems to have a blind spot and they all walk straight past anything on the stairs! :mad:

Exactly the same problem here

maryb

oystercatcher wrote: »

Exactly the same problem here

Tell me about it!! DH and both DDs never see the shoes they leave around even when I line them up on the stairs, a pair on each tread. It looks like a row of men marching upstairs wearing too short invisibility cloaks:rolleyes:. Eventually I give in and take them up so that no one breaks their neck coming down in the dark:mad:

Iona_Penny

I hope this is in a relevant place? It's nearly two years since I regularly came here and posted, so I am just finding my way around again!

I now have a full time job and not only do I want 'monysaving, home-cooked meals' I also want time-saving things as part of my meal planning. We eat well, and currently we are lucky enough not to be on a really strict budget for food; I try and use the butcher every week which IS more expensive but the meat is mostly very local and delicious. I balance this with other cheaper meals.

Anyway, I just want to share some of my time saving tips (apologies if this has been done):

• I make breadcrumbs in the food processor; I then freeze in tubs. I use them in making meatballs, mix with grated cheese to top macaroni cheese. They are fine to use straight from the freezer.
• If peeling potatoes for roast on Sunday I peel extra. Some I par-boil and roast with those for the meal. When part cooked I remove them and cool and then freeze. Can be put straight into a hot oven just like Aunt Bessies!
• Peel extra potatoes and keep in water in the fridge. Ready to boil for mash/chip for hoe cooke oven chips etc. I find they are fine for 2/3 days.
• fresh pasta cooks in no time. I buy when on offer (usually £1 per pack) not money saving but tastes so much better and must save on energy. \pouring kettle full of boiling water over it, covering and leaving for 5 mins cooks it fine.
• Easy sauce for chicken pie/macaroni/cauliflower cheese etc. Large dollop philadelphia cheese in a pan, heat and mix. Season with black pepper, herbs and thin with milk. Probably i minute max!

These are just some of the things I do to compromise on time not quality.

Alison_Funnell

I use the own brand cream cheese - the herbed or garlic make a great sauce. But the cheaper low fat ones do not need diluting in any form as the 'gelling' agent in them liquifies when heated.

Great with chicken or turkey and sweetcorn in a pie. Or just as is with mash.

JulieGeorgiana

How do you make breadcrumbs??? Do you use stale bread?? Is it best to let the bread go properly stale (hard)? Or can you use fresh bread?

xrjtg

You can blitz fresh bread to make breadcrumbs without too much trouble. Doing it when your bread has gone stale is mostly a tactic to avoid it being wasted (and if you were doing it by hand with a grater then using stale bread would be essential).

rosie383

Some of the things that I do to save even a wee bit of time.

Peel and whizz up onions in the FP and freeze so I can just take a handful out when I need them.

Do the same with garlic and ginger (I don't bother to peel the ginger) and put in jars in the fridge with a wee bit of oil. They keep happily for a month. Just take a spoonful when needed.
HTH.