There’s a lot of good ideas out there on how to work smarter, not harder, in the kitchen. I like this kind of information and thought you might find an idea or two in this mix that you weren’t already aware of.


I credit these tips to website author, Cyndi Roberts. She echoes my belief: “It's always nice to hear about an easier or faster way to do something—especially if that something is in the kitchen, where we spend so much of our time!” Why not go into the New Year with some new ways of doing things?

Mix up your pancake batter in your blender, then pour it right out of your container onto the griddle. You'll have lump-free batter and lots less to clean up.

Throwing a birthday party? The day before, scoop ice cream into a muffin pan lined with paper liners. Keep these in the freezer until serving time. What an easy way to get that cake and ice cream served up quickly!


To quickly frost a cake or pan of brownies, sprinkle a 12-oz. bag of chocolate chips on top immediately after removing it from the oven. Let the cake sit for a few minutes; the chips will be soft enough to spread. Try using mint chocolate or caramel chips, as well!

We've all made small pizzas using English muffins, but have you tried using flour tortillas? Just top as many tortillas as people you are feeding with pizza sauce and your other favorite things, and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or so.


Your kitchen shears are the best tool for cutting fresh green beans into pieces. You can even cut more than one bean at a time.

Instead of making a white sauce for your veggies, mix equal parts of mayo and the water the veggies cooked in. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

When unpleasant cooking odors linger (think fish, for instance), eliminate them by boiling a few cinnamon sticks in water for a few minutes.


To clean your pots and pans quickly, add water and a little vinegar to them and let them sit while you’re doing your other dishes. They’ll be so much easier to clean after this soak.

Another use for your electric knife: use it to slice chilled cookie dough quickly and neatly.

Don't fry your bacon, cook it in the oven! Just lay the slices on a cooling rack atop a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until crisp and done. The cleanup is much easier as well.


A simple and quick way to shred carrots for carrot cake: place pieces of carrot in a blender, add the eggs your recipe calls for. Then pulse until you have the desired consistency.

Out of spaghetti sauce and no time to make it from scratch? Just blend a can or two of Italian diced tomatoes and heat. Add extra Italian seasoning or oregano to taste and serve atop your cooked pasta!

If you spill cooking oil on the floor or counter, sprinkle flour over it; wait a few minutes for it to absorb and wipe it up.


An easy way to peel a tomato: besides dipping it in boiling water for a couple seconds, you can rub it all over with the back of a knife. Then it peels easily.

Use a small funnel to easily and quickly separate an egg. The white will go through, while the yolk will stay in the funnel. Fool proof!


And finally, remembering this wisdom from Irish scholar and Senator, David Norris, will be a great way to handle this New Year: How you spend your time can be more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.