Running an efficient Kitchen......

alipops1986

Hello All,

After our holiday myself and my OH are on a health kick, this consists of basically eating food that is homemade and without any sauce mixes where possible, as well as the usual fruit. I used to do this a while ago through Weighwatchers!

Anyhow, working full time and cooking when we get home from scratch might not be a good mix, so i want to have an efficient kitchen.

So far I have:
- Sorted out all the cupboards, done an audit and know I have everything I might need.
- Chopped a lot of: mushrooms, onions etc ready for dishes in the week ahead.
- Grated some low fat cheese, again so it's ready for the odd sprinkle.
- Planned the meals for the week.

I just wondered if anyone else had any other tips/advice as to how to keep this going? Alternatively, any little gems to help create different/healthy sauces?

Thanks in advance,
Alipops x

seabright

For greatest cupboard and fridge efficiency, I only use square and oblong storage containers - no wasted space that way.

I use some from Lakeland (Stack & Store? They have multi-coloured lids) and then print labels for the front, so I can see what I've got as soon as I open the cupboard.

A little OCD, I grant you. But makes me feel organised!

lindseykim13

bolognaise or pasta sauce- i use 1 carton of pasata from lidls 29ish p i think, basil, chopped garlic, and onion. This is much cheaper than jar stuff and probably healthier too.

pavlovs_dog

i seem to spend forever chopping things too, so chopping in advance is a habit i am trying to form.

With veggies that will freeze, I have started freezing them so i can just take out what I need. It also saves waste as there is only two of us.

another really simple thing that is really making a difference is putting the oven on as soon as I go into the kitchen. It's a range cooker and therefore takes a while to warm up. By the time i faff around making a cup of tea, deciding what to cook etc the oven is hot and ready to go :j

diluvsdiscounts

I have stopped buying tiny jars of herbs and spices from the supermarket that last about four times.
Now when Julian Greaves have their 50% sale I stock up on the large bags of cumin,ginger,peppercorns,sea salt etc and I keep them in washed out coffee jars.I cut the label of the spice bag and sellotape it to the front of the jar.
It's half the price and you get about four times as much and alot less shopping involved!!