You've probably noticed -- there are literally thousands of cooking "shortcuts" living on those grocery store shelves. Everything from salad dressing to to stir-fry mixes are waiting to help you whip up dinner in a jiffy. But are they all worth it?
The May issue of Everyday Food has a list of time-savers that they think are -- or aren't -- worth it. They say skip the bottled lemon juice, pre-peeled garlic cloves, and shrink-wrapped stir-fry mixes. They're too expensive and lack flavor and freshness. But dried breadcrumb and chicken broth get the thumbs up. That got us thinking -- what other cooking shortcuts are worth it?
Worth it:
Pizza dough. Pizza dough is the perfect compromise between scary frozen pizza (or delivery) and the real thing. We buy it all the time. Just roll out, pre-bake a little, then add sauce and toppings. Yes, I also buy pizza sauce even though it's a snap to make.
Rotisserie chicken. I prefer roast my own, but in a pinch I'll sometimes buy one of these babies. Depending on where you buy them they taste amazing and you can stretch them for a couple of meals. I think it's almost always more economical to buy a whole chicken than parts.
Not Worth It:
Frozen pre-cooked rice. I'm kind of on the fence on this one actually. I get that it's nice to zap some rice in the microwave for a super-quick meal. But it's rice -- it's really easy to make. It does take 20 minutes (at least) to cook, but you could be chopping veggies in the meantime.
Shredded cheese. I've never understood the need for this product. They charge you extra for a bag half-full of air! Why? Grating cheese takes seconds -- especially if you use a food processor, but I usually just use a box grater. In fact, half the time I make my kid do the grating for me. Now there's a time saver: Child labor.
No-boil lasagna noodles. Silliest product ever! You don't have to boil lasagna noodles anyway as long as you bake yours with a sauce.
What are your favorite time-saving foods?
Image via NathanF/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
KStew Refuses to Shower
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Comments 27
I buy the baby carrots and use them instead of peeled cut up carrots.
Those no boil lasagna noodles don't taste good anyways! I tried them once, gross.
I buy shredded cheese because I don't have a grater, but maybe I will. I literally never thought about it doing it on my own. I get frozen chicken breasts, rotisserie chicken sometimes and fries.
cut up veggies
chicken nuggets instead of making my own most times
I love making easy meals
I love no-boil lasagna noodles....especially the Barilla kind!
I agree about the pizza dough for sure. Sometimes I will buy a rotisserie chicken but they are so expensive I try to avoid it. I also agree about the lasagna noodles and rice being not worth it. The shredded cheese though is usually the same price for shredded or regular though so a lot of times I buy the pre-shredded because I might as well for the same price.
As for other time saving foods I really like the Betty Crocker boxed mashed potatoes. Don't get me wrong, the real thing is still so much better when I have time, but when time is short the Betty Crocker ones are really good.