Another Trick In Easing Dinnertime Stress

With little kids who like to shovel food in their mouths (which, in our family at least, has a tendency to lead to choking), it's often necessary to cut their food for them before they eat. This used to take a long time, especially when eating spaghetti or something similar.

However, that was before I discovered the genius of kitchen shears.

Now, I use kitchen shears to whip through a bowl or plate of food for the kids in just seconds. A few snips through everything and it's good to go.
Kitchen shears also come in handy when cutting fresh herbs or homemade pasta. I like to roll out the pasta and just run the scissors through the dough quickly. In fact, there are endless ways to use these wonderful things.

But because I'm all about making dinner time as low stress as possible, that's the best thing about the scissors in my book. My hungry children really don't want to wait for me to use a knife and fork to neatly cut their food into bite-sized pieces. Fortunately, they don't have to!

Find more kitchen tips here and more tackle-it Tuesday here.

And be sure to stop by Blissfully Domestic to share your domestic bliss.

13 Things You Can Do In The Kitchen In 15 Minutes Or Less, Part 1

1. Brown a pound of ground beef.
2. Dice a large onion or two.
3. Mince a whole head of garlic.
4. Peel and cube 2 lbs. of potatoes.
5. Make hard-boiled eggs.
6. Assemble a lasagna.
7. Mix up a batch of cookie dough.
8. Roll out and cut a dozen homemade biscuits.
9. Mix together the dough for homemade egg noodles.
10. Peel and slice 5 apples.
11. Make hummus.
12. Make 2 dozen pancakes.
13. Shred 1 lb. of cheese.

Head over here for more Thursday Thirteen.

Prepping Potato Dishes During Stolen Moments

I used to question if I could make potato side dishes work with my kitchen method. Obviously, mashed potatoes weren't a problem. I would just make those in the morning and reheat in the oven or microwave. But what about other dishes?

So I started experimenting with things and seeing what would work when made ahead of time. Over time, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that most of the potato sides we like can be done ahead of time, at least partially.

Here are some of the potato dishes I've successfully cooked during stolen moments:

• Cheesy Potatoes - Can be completely assembled ahead of time and cooked for an hour before dinner.
  
• Twice-baked stuffed potatoes - Can be finished completely ahead of time and warmed before eating.
• Homemade oven fries - Potatoes can be sliced in desired fry shape, placed in a bowl, covered with ice cold water, and stored in the refrigerator until baking time. Actually, this step results in even better french fries than those just baked immediately because they turn out crispier and more authentic tasting.
• Casseroles using potatoes - Can be fully assembled well before being baked.
  
• Rosemary potatoes, broasted potatoes, garlic oven-roasted potatoes, etc. - For dishes like these, the potatoes can either be cubed and stored in water as stated above, or they can be boiled for about 10 minutes, mixed with oils, butter, sauces and/or seasonings, and stored in the baking dish in the refrigerator.
• Homemade hashbrowns, fried potatoes, or any other type of stove-top cooked potatoes - Can be cooked completely and reheated and re-crisped on the stove or in the microwave.
• Even our newest favorite, Crash Hot Potatoes from Pioneer Woman - Can be completed up through the boiling of the potatoes hours before dinner time.

I'll be sharing recipes for all these potato variations throughout the week.