ALWAYS GATHER YOUR INGREDIENTS FIRST

#1 rule to save you time. Before you begin each recipe, gather your ingredients in one area and gather any tools you might need! After you’ve done this, finish your mise en place (aka “putting in place”) by preparing the ingredients how they’re written—get to chopping if it says diced or mince the garlic if that’s what it says! You’ll be flying through your recipes—and actually enjoying yourself (instead of realizing you missed chopping something when you need it)—with this tip!

Grab a towel

You should be able to do all your prepping on your Main Day on one big cutting board! No need to rinse in between steps or cutting veggies—do like the chefs do and grab a kitchen towel and wipe the board when things get a little messy! You probably just want to use a separate cutting board for meats and be sure to use basic kitchen hygiene practices to avoid cross-contamination.

set the scene

Take a second when you start to cook and turn on a podcast or some music! Cooking should be enjoyable and not a chore. We hope we can help you find enjoyment in cooking, if you don’t already!

Stay safe

Really new to cooking? Read up on standard kitchen hygiene here to keep you and your pals safe. Another critical safety tip is to keep your knife sharp so you avoid slips that usually happen when your knife isn’t sharp.

keep your tools out of the sink until you’re finished with main day prep

Nothing is more annoying than putting your tablespoon or measuring cup down in the sink and realizing you need it still. Save yourself some cleaning time by leaving your kitchen tools out on the counter until you’re finished for the day. We guarantee this will save you some time and annoyance!

Read the recipe all the way through

This is a common mistake we all have made! You’ll avoid mistakes (and heartache) by taking the 30 seconds to read it through thoroughly, so don’t skip this step!

Helpers encouraged

Main Day prep is a great time to involved your spouse and children! Have them help you grab ingredients for recipes, learn to chop veggies safely, make your sauces and dry rubs, and clean up. Not only are you having some bonding time while learning new skills together, you’ll cut your prep time! When it’s time to make your meals, include everyone so you can all feel proud together. :)

Make your meats better

1. If you have the time, take your meat out and let it sit out so it takes the chill off. Meats/fish will cook more evenly when they’ve had a little time to come to room temperature.

2. Take the time to heat your pan up properly. The meat should (typically) sizzle when you put it in to make sure you get a nice sear (otherwise, it’s just going to start releasing moisture as it heats up).

3. Dry your meat and fish off. It won’t brown properly if it’s wet!

4. Rest your meat. No. Seriously. Don’t you like juicy meats? Chicken and steak should rest at least 5 minutes. Bigger cuts should rest longer. Put a little foil on top if you’re worried about it being hot still!

Get to know your instant pot

New to your Instant Pot? We recommend you take 10 minutes and scan this site and get to know the different functions a little better. The main things we would reiterate is that:

1. Typically, you will want to make sure the “Keep Warm” button is off after setting your time.

2. Once your Instant Pot beeps after the timer goes off, it’s now entering the steam release phase. If the recipe says to let it “naturally release” for x amount of time, set a timer once it beeps and then hit the manual release button on top once that time is up. Easy!

   (Note: We like to make sure the spout that will release the steam/condensation is pointed away from the underside of a cabinet so it doesn’t get wet).

FREEZE YOUR LEFTOVERS

Not able to use up all your leftovers for the week? Think about freezing soups, meats, and easily re-heatable dishes in individual baggies so you can pull them out individually as needed when you need a quick meal. Remember to label both the recipe and date you made it, in case it gets lost in your freezer for a bit. :)

take a deep breath

Mistakes are bound to happen. Take a deep breath, and lean into it! You’ll learn a lot and be on the way to becoming a better chef.