Better Home Cooking Basics: #2 Use a Garbage Bowl

I remember when I was in my mid-twenties one of my best friends (& also roommate at the time), Dawn, & I would come home after work & turn on Rachael Ray & watch her make 30 minute meals on the Food Network.  Then we would go into the kitchen & make the same pasta nearly every night regardless of what we just (thought) we learned in the half hour of Rachael Ray's cooking lesson.  The one thing I always remembered her talking about was a "garbage bowl." I remember smirking & thinking Rachael needs a garbage bowl - I don't. (WRONG young Heather - you do & did.)

Fast forward & I'm taking a cooking lesson with Chris & the instructor tells us to basically establish a garbage bowl - because my friends & fellow food loving cooks you always should.

I usually use a large mixing bowl for my garbage bowl but you could use a plastic grocery bag too or whatever you have on hand. You just put it on your counter right next to your cutting board & it's like the sous chef you've always wanted.

It really saves so much time & keeps your work space & you cleaner. By using a garbage bowl you don't have to open & close the trash & worry about cross contaminating your food (like when you don't know how to open the garbage when you have chicken juice on your hands without washing the garbage too).  If you are peeling veggies you can peel them right into the bowl. If you're cracking eggs, you can throw the shells in there too. It's just a great way to corral all that trash you'd be running back & forth to the garbage can with. Then when you're finished prepping or if the bowl gets full (whichever comes first) you simply toss all of it in the trash. This has honestly saved me hours on my life.  Try it, you may be surprised about your new free time you just gained.

Thanks for reading my better home cooking basics. I'll be posting them every Tuesday so come back for a visit or read more of them here.