I have some cooking/cleanup helpers that I wanted to post incase anyone here didn’t already know them as they have been a real time saver and help to me:

1. When you have to dredge and flour something (like fried chicken) put the flour or breadcrumbs in a disposable Ziploc baggie. Dredge your food item in the liquid then just drop 3 or 4 pieces in the baggie with the flour, zip it shut and shake it around to coat (the shaking part is fun for young children). When you’re done just throw the baggie away and no mess to clean up or dish to wash the sticky, gooey, stuck flour mess off of.
2. Place a piece of Parchment paper (not wax paper) on the bottom of your cookie sheet whenever you use it. You will no longer have to scrap cooked on cookie mess and when you take the cookies out of the oven, just grab one corner of the paper and slide it off on the counter, tear off another sheet and you’re ready to go again. The cookies can just cool on the paper and are easier to remove as the paper is flexible.
3. Speaking of cookies, use a small ice cream scoop (like this one) to scoop out cookie dough and all your cookies will be the same size.
4. Tear off a piece of Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil and place it in the bottom of your oven. If anything spills over you just have to remove the foil and put in a new piece instead of cleaning the oven floor (again). This also works on stove tops that have the burners with holes in them. Just lift up the top of the stove and place foil under and if anything boils over just replace the foil.
5. Always use the non-stick foil to line your baking or casserole dishes and you will no longer have to deal with cooked on messes. It also makes getting food, like lasagna, out of the dish, when you cut the lasagna you can lift up on the corner of the foil to pop the piece out.
6. When thawing meat in the fridge, tear off a piece of foil; place some paper towels on it then the meat on top of the paper towels, or place the meat on a paper plate. This way if the meat bleeds, it will not mess up the shelf and run down the back to pool on the floor of the fridge.
7. Spray the inside of your plastic storage containers with non-stick spray (like Pam) if you need to store something in them that will stain – like marinara sauce. It will keep it from staining and won’t affect the taste.
8. Use latex (non-powdered) gloves when mixing meat for meatloaf or meatballs. You won’t have to take off your rings and when you’re done mixing, just toss the gloves. Actually I use these when I paint the house as well as I always wind up with paint all over my hands.

Tell me some of your little helpers.