My Favorite Kitchen Tool, A Meat Masher - A Kitchen Quick Tip

If I had to say what kitchen tool, not an appliance, but a hand tool I love the most in the kitchen, it would be my ground meat chopper. I actually don't cook that much ground meat but I use this meat masher tool for so many things that need a bit of chopping up.

I cook everyday, often breakfast, lunch and dinner so I love tools that are easy to grab and have multiple purposes. I keep my masher right next to the stove in the tool caddy.

Multiple uses for a meat chopper:

1. Besides ground meat, I use my chopper to shred any meat I am cooking up in the crock pot for say tacos or meat sandwiches. It perfect chops up shredded chicken or beef.
2. I use it to mash potatoes up before I am ready to whip them up for mashed potatoes.
3. It easily crushes bread crumbs or corn flakes for toppings or mix ins.
4. When I make banana bread it mashes the bananas super quick.
5. If I need to tenderized some meat, this works perfectly.
6. For egg salad sandwiches, this chops the eggs up in no time.
7. I have even used this masher to break up dried egg shells to spread in the garden.

How To Steam Eggs - Young Homemakers Series

My favorite way to hard boil eggs is also the easy way to steam eggs. I find this method makes it easier to peel fresher eggs which we all know can be tough. In this Young Homemaker Series, hard boiled eggs are a basic kitchen staple. Easy to make and an economical quick snack or meal.

Make Baking Mix And Pancake Mix Last Longer - Kitchen Quick Tip

When you stock up and have food storage you have to stay on top of expiration dates to prevent food from spoiling. If you freeze your baking and pancake mixes you will help them to last longer.

Kitchen Quick Tip - How To Get ALL The Mayo Out Of The Jar

You know I hate to waste any food and this frugal tip on how to get all the mayonnaise from the jar is a simple one but works so great. Frugal tips to save money on food is something I strive for.

I used to use a standard butter knife when try to get the last of the mayonnaise out of the jar. Then I thought maybe a spoon would work but then you had to get the mayo off of the spoon. A few years ago it dawned on me that a rubber kitchen spatula would be perfect. And made even more fun with a cute chicken rubber spatula.

Kitchen Quick Tip:

Use a rubber kitchen spatula to get the last of the mayo out of the jar and use it to spread right on your bread or stir into your recipe using mayonnaise.

Check out the entire quick tip series.

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DIY Seed Starter Stand From DVD Rack - Garden Quick Tip

My husband was going to toss this old DVD rack when I told him I thought it would make the perfect

DIY seed starter stand.

 Being the frugal gardening girl I am I drug it out back and stood it in the planter in a sunny spot. The best thing about this seed starting stand is that when I water the top pots, the water drains through to water all the seedlings below. This works especially well when I am fertilizing with my compost tea and saves water as well.

Garden Quick Tip - Easiest Way to Harvest Zucchini

It's almost summer, so I think it is time to take our Quick Tip Series outside. Today... the easiest way to harvest zucchini and other vegetables from the garden.

This time of year I need to peruse the garden daily and harvest vegetables that are ready to be picked. A quick tip - keep an old steak knife or other small knife outside with your garden tools so you can harvest easily without breaking the stem off of the squash.

Often you can twist them but sometimes the top of the squash will break off and then they do not last as long. The stem of the zucchini or other squash helps keep them fresh longer. So I like to keep my little knife handy in my harvest basket to easily reach in and cut the stem. This works great for picking cucumbers and other vine grown produce.

And remember so many of the vegetables are easy to grow in containers. That is where the one above is growing.

Create a Baking Basket - Kitchen Quick Tip

Another in our kitchen organization series. When I go to bake or stir up something from scratch, I don't want to have to go here or there to gather my ingredients so I created a baking basket. All my baking and scratch cooking needs in one place.

In my basket I keep all that I would need for basic baking organization in one place.

Here is what I keep in my baking basket:
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Cookie scoop
Yeast packets
Baking soda
Baking powder
Cream of tartar
Vanilla and extracts
Food coloring
Frosting tips

Keeping baking items organized makes it easy to grab my baking supplies with one hand and mix up something from scratch just like that.

Avoid Stuck On Messes - Kitchen Quick Tip

Another tip in my kitchen quick tip series is avoiding stuck on messes on the bottoms of my pans and bake ware is vital to my happiness. I do not have patience to stand and scrub any longer than I have to. Here is how I prevent stuck on gunk from the bottom of my baking dishes. This is perfect if you are roasting a chicken.

The answer is foil. Now the frugal part of me does not like to waste foil but the stronger urge in me to avoid unnecessary time scrubbing and ruining my hands scraping baked on crud off the bottom of my pans, wins out.

Whenever I am roasting or baking something I know will be a greasy stuck on mess, I line my pan with foil, the dull side up. Get the foil all up the sides because the point is to avoid any of the juices and liquids from touching the pan. Give the foil a shot of nonstick spray and you are good to go.

Now when it comes time to clean up, I just toss the foil and rinse the dish out. Easy as can be now that you have avoided the baked on build up that takes forever to scrub off. If you missed my last kitchen quick tip you should check it out.

How to Cook the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs - Kitchen Quick Tip

How to boil perfect eggs in this kitchen quick tip.

We love hard boiled eggs and I often do a pan of them once a week. Here is the easiest, most cost effective way to cook perfect hard boiled eggs. Afterall, hard boiled eggs are the original protein bar.

How to Hard Boil Eggs

Always start with a pan of cold water and fill to cover your eggs by an inch or so.

Bring to a boil, with the lid on a medium/high flame to avoid cracking any eggs. 

Once the eggs are at a good rolling boil, turn the flame off (saves $) and leave the lid on. If you like a yellow yolk with no chance of that grey ring, set your time for 10 minutes to achieve perfect hard boiled eggs. If you are doing a large pan of eggs or like a well done yolk then set the time for your hard boiled eggs to 12 minutes.

When the time goes off, drain off the hot water carefully and rinse with cold water and soak in more cold water with ice to stop them from cooking.

Remember older eggs peel the easiest so always choose your oldest eggs for boiling.

Whether you are making scrambled eggs, poached eggs or plain old boiled eggs, you cannot beat the nutritional value of eggs. I love gathering them fresh from the backyard chickens.

My family loves deviled eggs. They are gone as soon as I serve them.

You can find more egg recipes on our recipe page.

Also, remember to save boiled egg water and your eggs shells for the garden.

Washing Silverware the Easy Way - Another Kitchen Quick Tip

Another in the quick tip series. How to wash silverware and flatware the easy way.

I love sharing little tricks that make cleaning the kitchen easier. Here is another great tip for washing your silverware. When you are preparing a meal, take a tall glass that is probably already sitting there ready to be washed. Fill it with a squirt of dish soap and hot water and as you dirty utensils, drop them into the hot soapy water.

By the time I am ready to wash dishes or load the dishwasher, the silverware and cooking utensils have soaked and the stuck on food comes right off or is super easy to swoosh off with my brush.

Kitchen Quick Tip - How to Make Your Faucet Sparkle

How to make your faucet sparkle and shine.

At the end of the day, or even after a meal and clean up in the kitchen, there is nothing like leaving your kitchen clean and your chrome faucet shiny and spot free. Here is how to clean your chrome faucet and remove water spots.

I learned from the neatest house keeper I know, my husband's aunt, to always clean your chrome faucet after each use. She always sprayed hers down after dinner dishes when we would visit with Windex. I asked her why she did this and she said because it keeps hard water spots from developing on the chrome on your faucet.

I started doing this, but am much more conscious of putting chemicals on the sink than I used to be when I was young. Now I use a mix of vinegar and water and often the Method cleaners from Target. I love with glass and surface one that smells like mint.

So whenever you do dishes, to prevent water stains on your faucet, spray, wipe and shine. It is so nice to walk into your kitchen with the faucet sparkling.

Now if you have hard water build up here is a post on how to remove hard water stains from chrome and glass. This and other tips in the quick tip series.

Kitchen Quick Tip - The Easiest Way to Clean Your Refrigerator

Our kitchen quick tip - Easiest Way To Clean Your Refrigerator is how I clean my refrigerator all year long and since I have cleaning ADD, I have the easiest tip to clean the largest appliance we own.

So last week I shared my tips for organizing and simplifying your Thanksgiving meal but before you head to to the grocery store, how about getting the refrigerator cleaned up and sparkling to hold all your groceries and that TURKEY!.

Now, to me, taking apart the entire refrigerator and having to clean the whole thing, is just overwhelming so what I like to do is to speed clean the refrigerator a little at a time. That's right, a few minutes here and there and your fridge is always clean.

Easiest Way To Clean Your Refrigerator

1. Every morning when I do the dishes for say a week or so, I will pull out a shelf and one shelf from the door as well.

2. Wash the glass shelf and door shelf and then take the hot soapy rag and wipe down those areas in the refrigerator and dry. I do this about once a month and that way it is never seems to be a daunting task and is the best way to clean the refrigerator which seems to stay more organized and clean than waiting till it is a mess and tackling the whole thing at one time.

I will use this method with the freezer too but less often as it does not seem to get as messy as often as the refrigerator section.

So by adding just a few minutes at the end of morning dishes, I keep my refrigerator clean and that is this week's kitchen quick tip. Check out our quick tip series.

Kitchen Quick Tip - Freezing Chopped Onions

In my quest to never throw away food, I have learned what freezes well and onions are one of them. So here is how I freeze onions that are getting old.

If you have an onion in the drawer and it is getting old and ready for the trash, get it out and chop it up as fine as you like it. Take all of the onion and put in a plastic bag and seal and just pop in the freezer. When you need to cook, just break off the amount you want to use, and put the rest back in the freezer. The onions saute up nicely or you can toss in soups and sauces. This is how I never throw onions away and frugally freeze onions for use later. This is also a great time saver, perfect for Thanksgiving meal preparations. A reader suggested freezing the onions flattened in the bag so it is easier to break off exactly what you need. Genius! Check out all of the time saving tips in the quick tip series by searching quick tips on this blog.