Place the frozen meat product still in its original wrapping into a zip-top bag. Fill your sink with COLD water. Immerse and walk away for a couple of hours. It's far better than using a microwave to thaw, since sometimes it tends to precook. I thawed a 1-1/2 pound "brick" of hamburger this way. I will never let it sit on the counter or in the refrigerator again.
Use the small individual cups from applesauce to divide smaller amounts of ingredients when assembling a recipe. It saves on using larger measuring cups or containers and makes for easier clean up.
Kids always want soft, chewy cookies. So if your cookies came out a bit crisper or drier than intended, load them into the cookie jar and place 1/4th of an apple (skin side down) on the top of the cookies and put the lid on. Your cookies will be bakery-soft by morning. No kidding, and no wasted cookies.
When you just want a few strips of crisp, cooked bacon, place 3-4 strips of bacon across 3 stacked SCOTT Towels. Cover with a 4th SCOTT Towel, and microwave 'til crisp! No plates, pans or clean-up!
Any time I have leftover vegetables and meats from a meal, I place them in a saved and washed plastic ice cream container and freeze it. After a period of time, I will have the ingredients for wonderful homemade soup.
Cut potatoes in fourths and put them in a foil-lined pan. Add a few teaspoons of olive oil and stir to coat, throw in some chopped green onions and seasonings. Wrap tightly with more foil and cook them in a 350 degree oven until tender (about 25 to 30 minutes). They are awesome, even without the added fat of margerine or butter!
When you don't need an entire can of tomato paste for a recipe, put the remaining paste into snack-size bags in the portions you ordinarily use, and freeze them for future use. It will be one less step the next time you cook, and less mess in the kitchen.
You know the little tools that you can get to carve pumpkins? Well they can be used all year. I use them to cut through acorn and spaghetti squash shells in the fall and watermelon rind in the summer. They cut them so easily where a knife will get stuck and slip and slide around. Even better, wait until right after Halloween and buy them at 75% off!