I love to cook but sometimes the prep and clean up can take all the fun out of it! I thought I’d share 3 very simple tips that I picked up, they have helped me so I hope they help you make the most of your kitchen experience.

Have a small strainer
A small strainer is an absolute miracle worker for things like poached eggs – Crack the eggs into the strainer over the sink and swirl them around gently to remove the excess watery white. Then roll the remaining egg into the boiling water by slowly pushing the egg of the strainer using a back and forward motion. The small strainer is also great for squeezing citrus fruits – squeeze the lemon through the strainer to catch any seeds.

Rubbish Bowl and Bench Scraper
Walking back and forth to the rubbish bin every few minutes can take a lot out of our prep, so make life a little easy and have a mini rubbish bin for these occasions. You can have it sitting right next to you and with your bench scraper you can scrape all of the unnecessary rubbish into the bin as you go.

Freeze Liquids in Usable Portions
You can freeze ice cube trays with wine, these are ready to be pulled out and added to recipes as needed and it saves you opening a new bottle of wine every time a recipe calls for it. You can also do this with excess stocks – it makes life a whole lot easier!