How do you do it?
How do you juggle the various tasks of traditional cooking day in and day out without going crazy, without turning to non-real food, and even while getting a good night’s sleep?
Of course I want to hear your answers… and in this podcast, I’m sharing five more of my own time-saving traditional cooking tips.
These are the exact same tips I follow, along with my family, to keep sane, healthy, happy, and rested.
Please share your time-saving tips in the comments!
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5 More Traditional Cooking Time Saving Tips
Listen to the podcast for the full version of these tips!
Tip #1: Minimal tools
Spare yourself loads of dishes by using less tools, not more. Measure dry ingredients, then wet, so you can reuse bowls, and measuring cups and spoons.
Handy tip: Measure your oils in a measuring cup, then measure honey and it will slide right out!
Tip #2: Simplify
Are there certain foods/tasks/preparations that meet duplicate dietary goals? Can you prepare one food instead of two and therefore make your life easier? These are foods that pack a punch. For instance, we all should eat fruits and vegetables right? Fermented fruits and vegetables (like kraut, chutney, pickles, etc.) provide vegetables but also our need for cultured foods.
Here’s another example. When you make cookies or muffins, create the batter and save the time during baking by turning them into bar cookies or a quick bread. That can shave 15 minutes to a half hour off the total time.
Tip #3: Shop less often
Avoid extra trips running out, which will save you time and keep you home more. (This also saves money.)
Tip #4: Batch cooking
Ramping up your quantities will save you all kinds of time. Freeze or set aside half of it to eat later. You might give yourself several days of not having to cook much at all! Here are some specific examples:
- a gallon of sauerkraut instead of a quart
- double what you’re making for dinner to provide lunch the next day and a dinner next week
- double or triple batch of bread — freeze what you don’t need right away
- double batch of muffins or cookies — freeze the extra
- double or triple batch of breakfast sausages — freeze in logs or patties for future use
Tip #5: Easy meal repertoire
Headed into a busy few days? Make up a bunch of mix and combine menu items, like assorted breads (sourdough tortillas or english muffins) or cooked rice, refried beans, seasoned and cooked ground beef, onion and garlic mixture, chopped veggies, shredded cheese.
Then through those busy days, you can have rice bowls, burritos, tacos and easy sandwiches off these ingredients. If you switch things up a bit every time, which is what I do with my no-recipe required skillet dishes, no one will feel they’re eating the same meal for four days.
Or another approach would be to make a big pot of soup that can be eaten for a few days.
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Anything to Add?
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I listened today for the first time since signing-up. Greeting from Quimper, in Brittany, France where I live. I loved the time-saving tips & lived your lifestyle with my late Husband for 12 years, in Cornwall, England. May I add a couple more tips? I believe is women working together whenever possible – started with new Moms who found Motherhood, 1st time round hard going. 5-day rota, all meeting at one home on Monday, group cleaning, cooking, child-care etc. so the benefitting homemaker provided lunch. Husbands could not complain as the evening meal was prepared with lunch. I did a 4-weekly, seasonal menu which meant I knew what I was getting before shopping. Group purchases were also possible following contact with local producers. Doubling-up & freezing enabled a less-pressured lifestyle. Bulk-making of crumble – possibly crumb in American English – & store in a jar in the fridge. Minimal everything & sharing larger items ensures your cash flow is not wsasted. I share my food-dryer & large mincer (for ground meant/fruit/veg). This also enables a social time when possible. I use vegetable water & surplus juice from stewed fruit for soup & other fruits – frozen into cubes if necessary. I’m living in a rural area where local markets are a way of life still. I’ve got the best of all worlds now & look forward to learning more of your tips. Thanks, Wardee, we may speak a different language – ground = minced, weights are different, but I love your lifestyle. Regards, Lise
Hi Lise Williams, I really love your input about women working together to help and support each other and to also cut the costs of food. I feel passionate about helping people ditch processed foods and cook whole organic foods at home but one of the biggest challenges people have is the high cost of organic food. I have been tossing around some ideas to make healthy foods more accessible to more people and have some thoughts about doing community shared gardens in that they have one large garden that all share in the work and the harvest. I have been tossing a few other ideas also and the group cooking has crossed my mind but am currently thinking more about how to get good natural, free-range and organic onto peoples tables.
Lise, thank you for your beautiful tips! I shared many of them on an upcoming episode in this series. It will be out on November 20th. 🙂
God bless you, and thank you for sharing your wonderful community- and fellowship-oriented tips.
My tips:
-utilize all of your oven when you turn it on to make bread/casserole/long baking items put some squash/potatoes/muffins/beets/carrots to roast or cook alongside or ontop. Move the extra rack to the very top if needed to allow the main item airspace around it.
-Use your oven to cook things you’d normally prepare on the stovetop. Like bake pancakes in a cakepan and cut into squares. Bake hamburger in bulk so you don’t have to stand over it. Just break it up and drain when it’s cooked through. Bake “hardboiled” eggs. Bake all your bacon at once in the oven.
-Use your Nesco or crockpot to the fullest! Cook hamburger in it, bake potatoes or sweet potatoes (keep them away from the sides of the crockpot and experiment with cracking the lid or place towel inside – under the lid to absorb moisture). Put your leftover soup, sloppy joes, etc in it at breakfast so it’s warmed and ready for lunch. If your Nesco/crockpot is big enough cook your turkey in it!
Love the podcast Wardee! You’re doing a great job – it’s amazing how much someone you’ve never met can be such an influence on your life! I’ve made tons of changes because of your podcasts! Thank you 🙂
Ann, hi and thank you for sharing! I just wrapped up this series so I missed including your tips in a podcast, but I will be sure and come back to add them in a future episode because they’re so good. Thank you for sharing and for the lovely words. I am happy to meet you and hear that you’re doing so well.
Can you recommend a food dryer?
Hi Diane,
We love the Excalibur 9-Tray Dehydrator. You can find it here: https://amzn.to/1LZAG1U
Here’s our resource page for the Dehydrating eCourse that has additional links for dehydrators: https://traditionalcookingschool.com/tools/dehydrating-resources/
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team