Kitchen Time Savers

A few weeks ago I was asked to come up with some tips for saving time in the kitchen that I could share at a church activity.  Time is so precious, I love every opportunity I have to set even just a little bit aside to spend it doing what I love!  

Here are a few ideas I came up with (along with a few recipes that tie in).  I've shared a couple of the recipes before but that just means they must be really good ones, right?!

Time saving tips 

for meal prep!

1.      Shop for 5-10 meals at the same time - take a few minutes every week to plan out a menu then make ONE trip to the grocery store!.  Not only will you save time by not having to run out to grab last minute ingredients daily, but you'll notice you end up actually spending less money too!  

2.     Make double and freeze ½ for later - self explanatory right?  I wish I remembered to do this more often.  I love having a handful of meals in the freezer so after any given busy day I have something to throw in the oven or crock pot with minimal effort and no one even knows I forgot to make dinner that day!  It's a much better alternative to fast food!

a.      Taquitos

b.     Chicken Noodle Soup

c.      Pork Sandwiches

3.     Utilize your crock pot - There are quite a few recipes that weren't necessarily created as "crock pot recipes" but work great in there.  I've found that from 3:00 - 7:00 is usually my busiest time of the day so it's nice to not have to squeeze "prepare dinner" in there as well!  I need to remember more often to plan ahead and get something in the crock pot.  Too often, it's 4:00 before I even think about dinner and I've totally missed my chance to use the crock pot that day!

a.      Bonnie’s Chicken Fiesta

b.     Taco Soup

c.      BBQ Chicken

4.     Prepare your meat and cheese ahead of time - This can be a money saver too.  I cook and shred my chicken or brown ground beef, ground sausage or ground turkey and freeze it in quart ziplock bags in either 1/2 or full pounds.  It takes the same amount of time to brown 5 pounds as it is to do 1 and yet it cuts out a considerable amount of time if you don't have to do it every day.  The same thing goes for shredding cheese.  I grate 5 lbs at a time and fill freezer bags.  If you have the slicer/shredder attachment for a kitchenaid this is easy peasy lemon squeezy!

a.      Spaghetti Pie

b.     Layered Enchiladas

5.     GOOD SPORT NIGHT! (I've mentioned this before too, but this is a fancy name for leftover night.  Usually once a week we have a night where we all "open the fridge and be a good sport"!  I usually plan it for our busiest night of the week where we attempt to juggle soccer games, dance class, church meetings, homework and every other little thing that seems to come up!)

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients

1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese (low fat is fine, avoid fat free)

1/4 cup green salsa

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, or garlic powder

3 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 Tablespoon sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)

1 C grated pepperjack or plain jack cheese

small flour or corn tortillas

kosher salt

cooking spray or olive oil

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.   You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

If using corn tortillas, work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towels until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If using flour tortillas straight from the fridge, it helps to warm them in the microwave so they’re easier to roll.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1 inch from the edges.  Roll up tortillas and place seam down on a baking sheet, not touching one another.  Spray lightly with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.  Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.  Dip in sour cream, or our favorite: Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch.

Freezer Instructions: Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 and place the taquitos on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Yields 12-16, when using 6″ tortillas, depending on how full you make them.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or diced

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1 T oil

1 cup peas

8 oz egg noodles

Chicken Broth (or water and bouillon)

1 can cream of chicken soup

Place chicken in large pan and cover with broth (or water and bouillon).  Boil until cooked through.  Strain over bowl to collect broth but filter out the yucky, goupy part of the chicken.  Set broth aside.  Put celery, onions and carrots in pan with a small amount of oil and saute 5 minutes or until color deepens and they begin to soften.  Add broth from cooking chicken and additional broth (so you have about 8-12 cups total).  Add chicken.  Mix in cream of chicken soup and cook over medium heat until it boils and flavors have time to mix.  (If you are freezing, now is the time!  Add noodles when you heat it up to serve it.) Add noodles and cook until soft. 

  

Smoked Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

2-3 lb Pork Roast

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

3T liquid smoke

½ cup soy sauce

1 cup water

Rub outside of roast with salt.  Place in crock pot and pour soy sauce, water and liquid smoke on top.  Cook 6-8 hours.  Shred meat.  Optional:  serve with BBQ sauce

Bonnie’s Crockpot Chicken Fiesta

Recipe from Body for Life

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves (1 lb)

1 20 oz jar Pace Picante Sauce

1 cup frozen corn

1 15 oz can Black Beans, drained

2 cloves minced garlic

2/3 c long rice

Spray crock pot.  Add all uncooked ingredients to crock pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken, mix well and cook an additional 15-30 minutes.  Serve in tortillas with cheese and sour cream.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup Ketchup

½ cup brown sugar

1 TBS worcestershire sauce

¼ cup vinegar

Cook chicken, pork roast or boneless pork ribs in crock pot.  Drain juices off meat.  Mix ingredients together and pour over meat.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Serve plain or on buns for a sandwich.

Layered Enchiladas

Ingredients

10 tortillas

chicken, cooked and shredded (you can either cook a couple chicken breasts or use canned chicken)

2 cups sour cream

1 small can green chilies

1 can refried beans

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups cheese, grated

chopped olives (optional)

Mix soup, sour cream and green chilies together.  Place a large spoonful of mixture in bottom of 9x13 pan and spread evenly so the bottom of the pan is lightly coated.  Make a layer of tortillas in bottom of pan.  I've found the easiest way to do this is to cut the tortillas in half and place the straight edges along the edges of the pan.  I usually use 5-6 half pieces per layer.  Then spread refried beans and sprinkle cheese on top.  The beans can be easier to spread if they are warmed.  I usually just do it in a bowl in the microwave.  Next add 1/2 of your soup mixture.  Then sprinkle your chicken and more cheese.  Add another layer of tortillas.  Top with remaining soup mixture and lots of cheese. (if you're going to use olives, just sprinkle them on top)  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  This works as a freezer meal too.  Just prepare, cover in heavy tinfoil, and freeze.  Then when you bake it just make sure it's hot all the way through – your bake time will vary depending on how thawed it is before you bake.

Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 can corn

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 pkg taco seasoning

Add all ingredients into crock pot.  Do not drain any of the cans.  Simmer in crock pot on high for 1 hour.  Serve with corn chips, cheese and sour cream.

Spaghetti Pie

This recipe fills a 9x13 pan and will feed 8-12 people.

Ingredients

12oz spaghetti noodles

4 eggs

3T butter

2T parsley flakes

1 1/2t salt (divided)

2/3c + 1/2c grated parmesan cheese

2c cottage cheese

1 1/2c shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)

1t Italian seasoning

1 lb ground sausage

48 oz spaghetti sauce

Layer 1 - Noodles

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain and return to pan.  Place butter in with noodles and stir until melted.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs and then stir in parsley flakes, 1t salt and 2/3c parmesan cheese.  Pour egg mixture over noodles - stirring fairly rapidly until all noodles are coated.  Layer in 9x13 pan. (no need to grease pan - the delicious butter helps with this!)

Layer 2 - Cheese Filling

Combine in bowl: cottage cheese, 1/2c mozzarella cheese, 1/2c parmesan cheese, 1/2t salt and Italian dressing.  Spread evenly over noodles in pan.

Layer 3 - Sauce

Brown sausage.  Pour sauce over sausage in pan and heat through.  Pour on top of cheese layer in pan.

(this is where you'd cover and stick it in the freezer if you are saving it for later)

Cover pan with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove cover, sprinkle 1c shredded mozzarella cheese on top and return to oven for 5-10 more minutes.  You want all edges to be bubbly and the all the cheese to be nicely melted.