In response to the Electrolux “Do More with Less” campaign, I’d also like to share some of my own #DoMoreWithLess homemaking tips. These will not only save you time, money, and stress but also hopefully inspire you to have a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle as a homemaker.
Cooking for the family can easily eat up our day but not when you do these things ahead: plan, thaw, chop, group, and freeze. Organized cooking also saves money, some tips I listed down in my frugality posts but here are more favorite techniques:
TIP #1: Plan & prep ingredients ahead
It was typical for my household to decide on meals when it’s already 10.30am, meaning meat is not yet thawed, ingredients not sorted. Cooking becomes a chore when you need to hammer out frozen meat and it takes longer to cook (with watery/frozen taste even).
Not anymore when I decide what to have for the next day (as early as dinner) and bring the meat down from the freezer to the fridge where it can thaw overnight without contamination. Ingredients can be checked and found ahead of time, saving money & avoiding stress.
Mommy Lace tip: I love cooking Jap Chae and I found that I can buy pre-cut mixed veggies at the supermarket. Others will think this is more expensive but I only get what I need, get a balanced mix of more veggies, and save time in cooking my favorite dish. An alternative is to chop veggies then put in a ziplock bag for future use.
TIP #2: Mighty LGP – lean ground pork
This meat is very versatile and a must-stock in your freezer. To do less with thawing an entire 1kg then returning the rest to the fridge, I ask the grocery to pack my LGP in ¼ kgs. This means I spend less time thawing the meat and only use what I need.
Application: Vegetable stir fries like ampalaya with ground pork, stir fry chayote, ginatang kalabasa at sitaw, sinabawang patola at miswa. To cook even more in less time, I batch stir fry LGP with garlic & onion then sort them for different recipes like what I listed above. You can cook all the stir fry in less time and with less preparation.
TIP #3: Freeze your meals
Freezing meals means cooking dishes ahead then saving them for later. Some cooking shows like Rachel Ray’s teaches a lot of moms how to do this, sometimes it only takes 1 day to prepare & cook dishes that will last you an entire week! Think how much time, effort & thinking it will save you.
If you freeze food properly, they will never lose their taste & texture. I like re-using microwaveable containers and ziplock bags for this purpose. Batch cooking & freezing goes hand in hand so think of dishes that share the same ingredients but with different tastes (refer again to LGB). I also like doing batch cooking & freezing with adobo-cut chicken.
Application: Boil adobo-cut chicken in water, save the broth. Divide chicken meat in two sets: 1 for chicken afritada, the other for chicken curry. You can also save some meat to use with the chicken broth for chicken sopas. That’s 3 dishes you have! 😉
Don’t forget to apply the first tip and thaw your meals ahead of time to save on energy, especially when using the microwave.
TIP #4: Daily fruit & veggie blends
Health is wealth, this is no longer a cliché in my kitchen because I refuse to get myself and family sick due to poor nutrition & digestion. Every day I try to serve smoothies and to do more with less, I like grouping veggies & fruits in the right amount. For example, peel a banana, half a slice of apple, a stalk of celery, and 1 tomato in one container and put in the fridge. When smoothie time comes, just pull a container out and blend away. I don’t put ice or sweetener to get more health benefits from our smoothies. Sorting your blends save you time & money, refrigerating fruits prolongs their shelf life so you don’t end up with a black banana or a wrinkly apple.
TIP #5: Take advantage of steam
As in the steam of your rice. Most rice cookers come with a steamer, to save on gas or electricity – plan to steam some of your dishes like steamed fish, steamed chicken, and steamed veggies. Your dish will cook at the same time your rice does, provided you did the proper prep work.
TIP #6: Use less salt for more flavor
Too much salt is not good for our health and figure (heads up moms!). Chances are other foods we eat are already laden with sodium. When I cook, I try NOT to use salt and substitute with lots of herbs like rosemary, thyme, cayenne pepper, basil, etc. Even with less salt, you can have a more flavorful dish and level up your family’s taste buds.
TIP #7: Store leftovers properly
I don’t know why but some family members resist using proper containers for leftovers. Instead of putting a clean plate over a bowl to cover it in the fridge, use the multitude of reusable containers with proper lids. This keeps food safe from contamination, prevent odor from the fridge, and make it look appetizing, attractive, and easier to reheat.
Clear containers make it easier to spot the meal inside it and avoid mystery food in your fridge that gets ignored and wasted in the end.
Please share your own “Do More with Less” tips via comments below! Us moms can make use of more time and spend it with our loved ones or in keeping fit. Electrolux is also featuring more tips for homemakers on their Instagram account @electroluxph .
Mommy Lace is a blogger from the Philippines. She started this blog to share information on pregnancy, breastfeeding, childcare, family, and health.
