One commonly touted benefit of meal prepping is that it saves time. While this is true, you must know that it only frees up daily cooking time by streamlining everything into one day.
Source: Maarten van den Heuvel/Pexels
To truly enjoy the time-saving advantages of prepping meals beforehand, you’ve got to learn how to go about it the smart way. Fortunately, that’s all we’re about in this article.
Let’s dive into our top meal prep tricks to help you make the most of your time already!
The Water Bottle Trick with a Twist
Almost every home cook knows to use the water bottle hack to separate egg yolks without making a mess. But what if we told you there’s an even better way?
Source: Raymond Chen/YouTube
If you don’t have a bottle of water, you can use the top of your baster to remove the egg yolk, using motions similar to those of a water bottle. It’s as easy as it sounds.
Make More Lemonades Per Lemon
If you’re a lemonade lover, you know just how difficult getting all the juice out from your fresh lemons can be. Fortunately, we’ve got the perfect solution to your lemonade struggles.
Source: drbronner/Instagram
It’s simple—microwave your lemons for about 10 minutes to draw all the juice out. You had no idea it could be that easy, did you?
A Ripening Trick for Avocados
Trust us when we say we know how terrible unripe avocados taste. With these butter fruits, you just have to wait days for them to ripen or deal with the bitter taste of your impatience. Or, do you?
Source: California Avocados/YouTube
The answer is a big NO. Just keep your avocados in the same paper bags as bananas and apples and let the ethylene gas from these fruits ripen your avocados. Thank us later.
Enjoy Tangerines without the Mess
You can eliminate the messiness that comes with cutting tangerines and mandarins by unrolling them instead. Confused? Don’t be.
Source: Pinterest
All you have to do is cut a thin, vertical slit through the skin of the tangerine from the top to the bottom, after cutting off both ends to create a steady base. Then, gently open up the fruit slices. Easy peasy!
Baking Made Easy with Grated Butter
Handmade confectionery such as biscuits and pie crusts taste like heaven. But the stress that comes with cutting the cold butter into the flour? Not pleasant at all.
Source: Pinterest
But don’t fret; we’ve got an amazing hack to get you over your fear of preparing your favorite treats. Simply freeze your butter before grating, then combine the butter and flour.
Just Because Nature Has Its Refrigerator
One of the disadvantages of bulk prepping is having little or no space in your freezer to store everything. But if you live in a colder climate with a temperature above 40 degrees, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
Source: Los Muertos Crew/Pexels
Take advantage of nature’s refrigerator by storing some already refrigerated food outside. This helps to make room for more freshly prepped meals in your freezer.
Keep Herbs Fresher for Longer
Fresh herbs have a short shelf life. But not if you try our tested and trusted hack for preserving these soft green perishables.
Source: Ron Lach/Pexels
As usual, it wouldn’t cause you to break a sweat. All you have to do is soak your fresh herbs in olive oil poured into ice cube trays and freeze them. What simpler way to reduce food wastage in your home?
Broken Things Still Make Great Treats, Including Cake
Sometimes, life happens, and your cake will break into many parts before you’ve even had a chance to frost it. While this can be upsetting, don’t sulk for too long.
Source: bmc_cakery/Instagram
You can still turn this mishap into something amazing by converting the pieces into a scrumptious truffle. We won’t tell if you don’t!
A Trick for Defrosting Meat Faster
Thaw your frozen meat in a few minutes by placing it on the base of a metal pot turned upside down. This should be done in your kitchen sink.
Source: Jed Ji/Pexels
Next, place a second pot filled with room-temperature water on the meat and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. Your defrosted meat is now ready for cooking.
How to Clean Your Blender Like A Pro
Fill ⅓ of your dirty blender with warm water and dish liquid (a few drops will do). Then turn the device on for at least 10 seconds or until you’re satisfied.
Source: Clean My Space/ YouTube
Throw the dirty water away, rinse the blender, and allow it to dry. That’s how to get your blender clean on no time.
What Have You Got?
While we’ve got so many food prep tricks up our sleeves, we’d love to learn from you too. Have you got any tricks for easy meal preparation you’ll want to share with us? Don’t hesitate to share in the comments.
Source: luthfianisahan/Instagram
Also, watch this space for more meal prep hacks coming your way soon.