Have you ever been in a cooking or baking frenzy and rushing around to get a bunch of things made? Or trying to beat the timer to get out your potholders to get the hot foods off the heat before they burn? You rush over to the spot you THOUGHT you stored the needed items, only to find they aren't there. OR you realize that the pot holders are in the last drawer, furthest from the stove, and you find that you're cursing yourself for putting them over there!
I have found that it really does matter where I store things in my kitchen. Yes, my kitchen is extremely small and I could probably reach every drawer if I stood in the middle of the kitchen floor and just leaned. :) BUT, when I am in a hurry I find that even in my tiny kitchen, it's still better to have the cooking utensils by the stovetop and the baking utensils over by the counter that I mix everything on.
I did some research, after days of frustration, and read about creating "stations" in the kitchen. Genuis! Since I use my kitchen very often, several times a day in fact, I loved the idea of designated areas for different tasks.
I rearranged some cupboards and now have a beverage cupboard. I keep our hot cocoa packets, coffee filters, mugs, tea bags, and any other hot beverage related items in that cupboard. I put the coffee maker directly under that cupboard, on the counter, so everything is easily accessible when we go to make coffee.
The microwave sat on our longest countertop, essentially cutting that space in half. :( I moved it over to a small countertop by the stovetop, leaving that largest area completely open. I made this my baking counter and stored all baking related items in the drawer and cupboards below. I separated my utensils between two canisters - one for stovetop cooking and one for baking. All the spatulas, knives, and other things used when I'm cooking, I placed in a canister and next to the stovetop. All the other things (spatulas, whisks, wooden spoons, etc) used for baking, I placed in a canister and in the cabinet below the baking counter, along with the baking sheets, mixing bowls, baking pans and other baking related items.
I keep my pots and pans in the lower cabinet right next to the oven/stovetop, with all the lids in the drawer under my oven. My baking dishes (glass), I store in the lower cabinet on the other side of the oven. I keep all of our drinking glasses together in a cabinet, and all the plates, dishes, and serving bowls together in another cabinet.
Keeping things organized and grouped by type really helps out when we're busy making things, or when my husband is rushing around in the morning to empty the dishwasher of the clean items. I think he finds it easier to know where things go because they are with other like items.
Anything to make putting dishes away faster is a plus here! We'd like to spend our extra time with the kids, not searching every cabinet to see where a whisk might go! :)
Showing posts with label kitchen tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitchen tip. Show all posts
Friday, July 1, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Kitchen Tip of the Week: Dry Milk vs Regular Milk
I assume everyone has noticed that lately milk prices have been going up, up, up! It's becoming more and more rare to catch a gallon of milk on sale for $1.99. The cheapest I've seen in recent weeks is $2.29. So, that's only $.30 more, but with all the baking we do and 5 people drinking at least 1 glass a day....we go through 2 + gallons a week!
I have recently started using dry milk in my baking. There is virtually no taste difference, and it lets me save the expensive liquid milk for drinking with meals and with cereals.
I bought a cheap box of Meijer Dry Milk to use in recipes. I think I paid $4 for the box. I have used it in 5 different recipes that call for 1/2 cup or more of milk, and I still have more than half the box of dry milk left! I'd say that we made out pretty good with it.
When I mix it up, I've been mixing for a quart of milk at a time. You can mix up 8 fl oz, if you want, but I figured if I'm baking a few things at a time, I might as well just mix up a quart and keep it in the fridge. It's good for a few days (I think the box says to use with 10 days of mixing with water; the most I've gone is 2 days.).
The measurements on my box say to mix 1 1/3 cups dry milk with 3 3/4 cups COLD water. I emphasize COLD water because the directions on the box did, too. :) I have been mixing it in a container with a lid and spout, so I can just shake it up together then open the spout and pour it into measuring cups for the recipes.
I cannot taste any difference in the foods once they're baked. I even used the dry milk mixture in 2 casseroles and we didn't notice a difference in taste for those either.
We are not quite brave enough to drink the dry milk mixture. I think I'll let us stick with our expensive liquid milk for now!
With the way food prices have been increasing, maybe dry milk is something you should start considering to use in recipes. If you can find a box on sale, you'll probably end up spending way less per cup on the dry milk than you would on the gallon of liquid milk per cup usage.
I have recently started using dry milk in my baking. There is virtually no taste difference, and it lets me save the expensive liquid milk for drinking with meals and with cereals.
I bought a cheap box of Meijer Dry Milk to use in recipes. I think I paid $4 for the box. I have used it in 5 different recipes that call for 1/2 cup or more of milk, and I still have more than half the box of dry milk left! I'd say that we made out pretty good with it.
When I mix it up, I've been mixing for a quart of milk at a time. You can mix up 8 fl oz, if you want, but I figured if I'm baking a few things at a time, I might as well just mix up a quart and keep it in the fridge. It's good for a few days (I think the box says to use with 10 days of mixing with water; the most I've gone is 2 days.).
The measurements on my box say to mix 1 1/3 cups dry milk with 3 3/4 cups COLD water. I emphasize COLD water because the directions on the box did, too. :) I have been mixing it in a container with a lid and spout, so I can just shake it up together then open the spout and pour it into measuring cups for the recipes.
I cannot taste any difference in the foods once they're baked. I even used the dry milk mixture in 2 casseroles and we didn't notice a difference in taste for those either.
We are not quite brave enough to drink the dry milk mixture. I think I'll let us stick with our expensive liquid milk for now!
With the way food prices have been increasing, maybe dry milk is something you should start considering to use in recipes. If you can find a box on sale, you'll probably end up spending way less per cup on the dry milk than you would on the gallon of liquid milk per cup usage.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Kitchen Tip of the Week: Bread and Cookies
I don't know how many people are aware of this "secret". I learned it from a girlfriend when I was in high school, but other than my friend I had not heard of anyone else doing this.
When you have homemade cookies or brownies in a container and they've gotten a bit dry and hard, throw a slice of soft bread in with them and reseal the container. Let it sit for a few hours and voila!...your cookies or brownies will be soft again. The bread will eventually dry out and get hard and crumbly, but the cookies should remain soft for a few extra days.
This is a great way to extend the life of your homemade goodies. We have some snackers around here that don't always close the cookie container all the way, so my cookies dry out sooner than I'd like. I just throw in a slice of bread, and we can keep the cookies soft for a few more days.
Anyone else have a tip they use to extend the softness of cookies? I know if we microwave a cookie for about 10 seconds, they soften up for a few minutes but it doesn't last very long.
Oh, and if you and your family don't use the heel of the bread very often, this is a good way to NOT waste that slice of bread. :)
When you have homemade cookies or brownies in a container and they've gotten a bit dry and hard, throw a slice of soft bread in with them and reseal the container. Let it sit for a few hours and voila!...your cookies or brownies will be soft again. The bread will eventually dry out and get hard and crumbly, but the cookies should remain soft for a few extra days.
This is a great way to extend the life of your homemade goodies. We have some snackers around here that don't always close the cookie container all the way, so my cookies dry out sooner than I'd like. I just throw in a slice of bread, and we can keep the cookies soft for a few more days.
Anyone else have a tip they use to extend the softness of cookies? I know if we microwave a cookie for about 10 seconds, they soften up for a few minutes but it doesn't last very long.
Oh, and if you and your family don't use the heel of the bread very often, this is a good way to NOT waste that slice of bread. :)
Friday, May 6, 2011
Kitchen Tip of the Week
I don't know about you all, but I am starting to get a little bored with just posting my normal 4 categories. I'd like to branch out and do more reviews (like the BookSneeze reviews I do or, most recently, the website review) and posts on other things I have some knowledge of. I know I am not certified to post on anything impressive :), but I have a little bit of kitchen knowledge that I think would be fun to share.
Each week, probably on Friday, I will post a kitchen tip or trick that I have learned. More than likely these tips will be something I learned from my mother, but they may also be from other women, whose blogs I follow, or things I've read in books. I have acquired so many good ideas and tips over the past year that I'd love to share them!
This week's tip is about freezing milk. Yes, it can be done. No, it isn't gross. :)
When I was younger, we had 10 people living in our home at one point. I have 7 siblings. My mother had us drink milk every evening with supper. There were no other choices, we were only served milk.
So, with 9 people drinking milk (my baby sister wasn't old enough to have regular food yet), purchasing milk became quite an expense. I noticed that my mom was buying 4 or 5 gallons at a time, but I did not ever see more than 2 in the fridge at once. I found out she was freezing them! I'm sure she found the milk at a great price and stocked up, so we could drink for less.
As a mother of 3 little ones and one on the way, I am sure to push the habit of drinking milk regularly. BUT with 5 of us drinking milk and with baking frequently, we go through at least 2 gallons of milk each week. I have noticed milk prices are on the rise yet again, and catching it at $1.99/gallon is becoming a rarity, unfortunately. We recently bought a freezer, and I plan to buy several gallons at its cheapest price and freeze what we won't be consuming within a week.
How do you do this? You can place the milk jug in the freezer. No need to put it in another container or wrap it in any way. The only tip is that the jug will need about 1.5" at the top for the milk's expansion when it freezes. Just open it up and pour a little out, replace the cap and throw it into the freezer.
As far as how long you can freeze it, I've heard a range of time. Four to six weeks is the common time frame I've heard or read, but I did just read recently about someone freezing milk for up to 3 months. I have not personally tried 3 months (and I don't believe my mom has either), so to be safe, I would stick with the 4-6 weeks.
To consume the milk, leave it out at room temperature for a day or two or defrost in the fridge for a few days. Shake it up well before drinking, as it may separate. This doesn't make it bad, but it will probably taste very watery if you don't shake it up first. The color may change slightly, to a yellowish color. Again, it has not gone bad....that's just the reaction from it being frozen. And because I have been drinking at least a glass of milk a day for the past 20 plus years, I can tell the difference in taste between milk from the fridge and milk from the freezer. It is not a bad difference, but there is a slight difference in taste. So, if you drink it often, don't be surprised if the taste is not exactly the same.
The best types of milk to freeze are skim or low-fat.
Tthe next time you see milk at $1.99/gallon, grab a few and freeze them. When the weeks go by without a milk sale, you will still be able enjoy your milk and cookies. :)
Each week, probably on Friday, I will post a kitchen tip or trick that I have learned. More than likely these tips will be something I learned from my mother, but they may also be from other women, whose blogs I follow, or things I've read in books. I have acquired so many good ideas and tips over the past year that I'd love to share them!
This week's tip is about freezing milk. Yes, it can be done. No, it isn't gross. :)
When I was younger, we had 10 people living in our home at one point. I have 7 siblings. My mother had us drink milk every evening with supper. There were no other choices, we were only served milk.
So, with 9 people drinking milk (my baby sister wasn't old enough to have regular food yet), purchasing milk became quite an expense. I noticed that my mom was buying 4 or 5 gallons at a time, but I did not ever see more than 2 in the fridge at once. I found out she was freezing them! I'm sure she found the milk at a great price and stocked up, so we could drink for less.
As a mother of 3 little ones and one on the way, I am sure to push the habit of drinking milk regularly. BUT with 5 of us drinking milk and with baking frequently, we go through at least 2 gallons of milk each week. I have noticed milk prices are on the rise yet again, and catching it at $1.99/gallon is becoming a rarity, unfortunately. We recently bought a freezer, and I plan to buy several gallons at its cheapest price and freeze what we won't be consuming within a week.
How do you do this? You can place the milk jug in the freezer. No need to put it in another container or wrap it in any way. The only tip is that the jug will need about 1.5" at the top for the milk's expansion when it freezes. Just open it up and pour a little out, replace the cap and throw it into the freezer.
As far as how long you can freeze it, I've heard a range of time. Four to six weeks is the common time frame I've heard or read, but I did just read recently about someone freezing milk for up to 3 months. I have not personally tried 3 months (and I don't believe my mom has either), so to be safe, I would stick with the 4-6 weeks.
To consume the milk, leave it out at room temperature for a day or two or defrost in the fridge for a few days. Shake it up well before drinking, as it may separate. This doesn't make it bad, but it will probably taste very watery if you don't shake it up first. The color may change slightly, to a yellowish color. Again, it has not gone bad....that's just the reaction from it being frozen. And because I have been drinking at least a glass of milk a day for the past 20 plus years, I can tell the difference in taste between milk from the fridge and milk from the freezer. It is not a bad difference, but there is a slight difference in taste. So, if you drink it often, don't be surprised if the taste is not exactly the same.
The best types of milk to freeze are skim or low-fat.
Tthe next time you see milk at $1.99/gallon, grab a few and freeze them. When the weeks go by without a milk sale, you will still be able enjoy your milk and cookies. :)
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