Cooking Shortcuts - looking for tips

[Coco]

The French call it "mise en place." Everything in it's place....meaning that your prep work is the key. I agree with kitchenelf, if I am making dinner one night and require an onion, I dice double the amount and put the other diced onion in the fridge for the next night's meal.

While I don't freeze whole meals, I find that marinara sauce or bolognese sauce does freeze particularly well. so I make a large batch and freeze individual portion sizes in ziploc bags for future use. Then I can just boil the pasta for a quick meal!

Also,some dishes can do double duty in another meal later on. Leftover sauted spinach for example, ends up in a spinach and bacon quiche and topped with some caramelized onions(that I already have diced on the fridge!)

Hope this gives you some ideas.

[kitchenelf]

Coco, when I cooked in a restaurant I was known as Mrs. mise en place. I guess that's better than what they called me behind my back :oops: :D

[Coco]

Well, you must be a great chef then, kitchenelf, because the best ones always have the best mise en place in my opinion! Planning is the key to success in the kitchen, although we all have made some very tasty "accidents" I'm sure! :P