11 Ingenious Kitchen Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

By Emily Leaman· 10/22/2013, 3:00 p.m.

Veer

You can thank my sister-in-law, Kristy, for this post. Yesterday on Facebook, she posted a photo of a freezer jam-packed with 79 complete, homemade, nutritious, delicious meals for her family—all ready to thaw, heat and eat. Apparently, she’s spent much of the past week making and freezing enough meals to last more than two months. She’s a busy working mom about to have her fourth kid (I’ll be an aunt! Again!), so she’s trying to get ahead of the dinner game with no-brainer meals. Color me seriously impressed.

Her endeavor got me thinking about how much I love anything that makes my kitchen time easier, cheaper and more efficient. Like, for example, the tip I posted a few months back about how to keep your bananas from turning brown. Or the genius self-cleaning blender trick I now use on a daily basis. So I decided to see what other life-changing kitchen hacks I could find. Here, 11 of them I can’t wait to employ in my own kitchen.

How to keep goop off your cookbooks
via Lifehacker

Two words: plastic wrap.

How to turn a clothes hanger into a chip clip
via Money Saving Mom

All those freebie hangers clog up your closet, anyway.

How to fold a chip bag to keep food fresh
via Huffington Post

Or, if you don’t have a hanger to sacrifice, try this nifty origami folding method.

How to ripen bananas in the oven
via Foxes Love Lemons

If you don’t like ’em green (what’s wrong with you?) or you need an overripe ‘nanner for a recipe, this is the hack for you.

How to keep ice cream soft
via Full Punch

No more bent spoons!

How to keep dough from sticking to your rolling pin
via Howcast

Seems obvious, but I’ll admit I hadn’t thought of this.