Comments on: Saving Time in the Kitchen…

By: Mari

Mari — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:02:21 +0000

What I do is tell the girl manning the meat counters what and how much I need, have them cut it according to how I will cook them and have them bag,portion and even label everything. When I get home I just put them in the freezer.

By: Lady Madonna

Lady Madonna — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:50:14 +0000

I learned one from a friend whan we used to live in Bangkok, Thailand. Upon arrival from the market she sautes her ground pork – She makes it gisa with the typical bawang and sibuyas and lightly seasons it with salt and pepper – She does not toast it – just makes sure that it is just about done- She lets it cool down and then this is when she separates them in portions. It made sense since generally the comfort food in which we incorporate the ground pork with usually are ginisa already – When she is ready to cook with them and use them for torta or omelette or what have you she only defrosts that portion and spends less time in the kitchen too since the ground meat has been pre-cooked!

By: dhayL

dhayL — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:51:26 +0000

I can definitely relate to this one. Normally, i would create a meal plan for the week, so i know what to cook and what to buy in the grocery. I would write down all my ingredients, and then shop at home first; i would check the fridge/freezer and pantry to see if i have a stock already or not; then i’ll head off to the grocery with a shorter list (saves money and time). As soon as i get home, i will pre-cut my meat acording the dish im making for that week. Sometimes if i have left over meat like pork belly – i would just cut it in cubes and store it for future use like ginasa or for pansit! This way i don’t have to thaw them in big batches, i heard that it’s not good if you thaw your meat specially in the micro then put it back in freezer. I do the same thing for tomatoes and bell peppers, just put them in ziplocks and freeze them! It’s wonderful and it’s saves so much time!

By: lovely palanca

lovely palanca — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:30:44 +0000

Good idea but I suggest you eliminate the soy sauce and salt in your marinade coz this will toughen your meat. Better to just add oil and spices and then when ready to cook, quick marinate it for about thirty minutes with your soy sauce and anything with salt. Salt will extract the juices in your meat. :-)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:55:06 +0000

I like the idea of those vacuum sealers a lot, will probably get one the next time we are in the States… Kaye, the problem you have is limited to a few browsers. It is a bit annoying but I am not sure how to fix it…will have to ask my techy guy. Lei, you are absolutely correct, its best to marinate for several hours to overnight in the fridge before freezing for maximum flavor in the chicken… trish, I think the cooties “go to sleep” in the freezer but wake up quickly when warmed up!

By: veron

veron — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:38:18 +0000

It takes a lot of patience to maintain an inventory. I had one in my pda and never used it again. Hmmn…now that we cleaned the freezer maybe I can do that again. Do they sell the vacuum sealer in the Philippines. They sell them at Costco here in the U.S. My brother bought one over here and brought it home. The hassle only is finding the bags that go with it.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 08:06:48 +0000

My family is nothing if not organized. My mom’s been doing the pre-printed, supermarket aisle-arranged list way before we had a computer at home! She typed it up then Xeroxed more copies as needed. Brands, etc. were indicated so it was easy to follow no matter who did the shopping. Wysgal, it IS possible to train your brothers to do this; my brothers took over the grocery shopping when they got old enough. The incentive to doing it was that if it was your turn, you got to add your favorite “extras” (junk food, cookies, cereal, etc.), as long as they stayed within the allotted budget.

By: Gigi

Gigi — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 07:57:55 +0000

3 words: Marketman for President!

By: cookie

cookie — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:45:34 +0000

Hi MM! I do this all the time. We live in NJ and Costco is a god-send! We go to Costco, maybe every month to a month and a half. And we buy a tray each of chicken, pork loin cut into chops, beef stew pieces, ground beef. Then after coming back from Costco we portion each item into ziplock bags, but I use a weighing scale to divide my meats. Costco just recently came out with packaged chicken – 5 pieces to a package of your choice of chicken part (they bundle ten packs and sell it that way). Its great! I can plan my meals easier and quicker.

By: kaye

kaye — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:24:34 +0000

Hi MM… just wanted to ask first why some of the comments seem to disappear while i read them.. hahaha.. weird question.. those on the green background would disappear when i scroll.. is it jsut me?? hehehe

i also do this after doing my grocery.. i clean and wash them, drain, salt, flavor and place them in either freezer bags or sandwich bags good for 1meal so i can neatly stack them in the freezer. am really glad am not the only one like this.. hehehe.. hubby calls me OC na borderline.. hahaha!!