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1. Clean your kitchen "from top to bottom," as my mother would say.
2. Read the recipe all the way through before starting so you don't forget little things that make a big difference in the quality of your meal.
3. Make sure you dry your meat by patting it thoroughly with a paper towel before cooking it.
4. Use a meat thermometer to help save your whole meal! No need to fret over under- or overcooking your meat ever again.
5. Let your steak come down to room temperature before cooking it so it'll cook evenly.
6. Invest in a pressure cooker for days when you actually don't want to touch a stove at all but you do want a home-cooked meal.
7. Keep your fresh veggies and fruits wrapped with paper towels in the fridge to make sure they're still fresh and ready to go when it's time to cook.
8. OR, use produce-saving containers that help make fruits and veggies ACTUALLY FREAKING LAST in the fridge so they're nice and fresh when you're ready to pull 'em out and slice 'em up for a meal.
9. Keep some kind of stock around the house so you can use it as a more flavorful substitute for water when possible.
10. Keep your knives sharpened so your slice-and-dice prep process is easy peasy. It takes less time to slice stuff with a sharpened knife than it does with one that isn't ~on point~.
11. Pound and slice your chicken so all parts have an equal thickness before cooking.
12. Press and roll all your citrus fruits, like lemons, oranges, and limes, so you can get way more of the juice out.
13. Wash your dang rice!
14. Always, always keep some fresh garlic and onions in the fridge so you stay prepared to make a nice, flavorful meal when you get the mind to do it.
15. Make a filling shake with fruits and veggies you keep laying around so you can drink it before or during cooking. This'll help anyone who's like me and tends to make more prep and cooking mistakes when your stomach is growling and you're rushing to make a meal.
16. Keep the right foods separated when you're prepping so you don't have any contamination going on.
17. If you're going to make a cake and forgot to let the butter get to room temperature, then use a grater to warm it up quickly.
18. Make sure you have more than just non-stick pans in your cadre of cooking tools.
19. If you have a taste for Chick-fil-A fries but don't want to hit up a drive-thru right now, then keep some peanut oil around the house for a similar taste.
20. It's OK to take the shortcut on things when you're stocking up your kitchen and prepping for a meal.
Bon appétit people!
