Use pre-minced garlic. Freshly minced garlic tastes better, but takes a long time to prepare (although I got a very nifty kitchen gadget that makes it a lot easier). You can find pre-minced garlic in the produce isle in a jar, or if you use a lot of it like I do, you can buy it at Costco.
Don’t peel your potatoes. Whether you are mashing them or making hash browns, don’t bother peeling the potatoes, there are a lot of extra vitamins in the peel and it will cut more than a few minutes out of your prep time. If anyone says anything, just tell them they are “homestyle”
Use an apple corer/slicer. This is a great time saver when the kids (or I) want a quick, healthy snack. Make sure you get a heavy duty one that is all one piece. I use mine all of the time and the cheap ones break easily and can cause injury when they do. It’s worth an extra $5!
Use canned beans. When a recipe calls for dried beans, I usually use them, but if I’m in a hurry and don’t want to go through the 12 hour process of soaking and cooking them, I will just buy canned beans. This skips several hours preparation!
Heat the water in the tap before you put it in the pot to boil. If you are boiling water, wait a few extra seconds for it to heat up in the tap before adding it to the pan. The already warm water will come to a boil faster!
