Here are your Ten New Tips for Quick and Easy Meals
- Celery leaves are a very good substitute for parsley leaves, in a pinch.
- Always add a little lemon juice when you sauté green vegetables. And if you feel like it, and have the time, zest the lemon and add the zest to the pan also. Or, save the zest in a zip-loc in the freezer and have it available for jazzing up some other dish some other weeknight.
- When you boil rice, pasta or potatoes save a little of the water when you strain it. The water makes a great addition to any sauce that will accompany the starch, like pasta carbonara or escalloped potatoes etc., etc.
- Whenever you make something that will easily survive being frozen and microwaved like this Parmesan crusted chicken dinner
or pork tenderloin fried rice 
make enough extras so that it could be waiting in the freezer to be a “weeknight nuke it no brainer” and still be as good as the original. - Make your “baked” potatoes, or even twice baked, in the microwave instead of the oven and if you are going to use potatoes in a sauté you could soften them first in the microwave to cut down on the cooking time in the skillet.
- Keep some white wine in the fridge. It’s a great addition to sautéed chicken and seafood recipes. Also works real good in your tummy.
- I’ve said this before but I’ve just got to say it again. Look for ways to make it a one pot or one baking sheet meal. When you are going to pan fry things on the stove top you could start the meat in the big skillet and add the veggies a little later like this one pot weeknight supper.
- Keep some frozen chicken tenders and some peeled and deveined frozen shrimp in the freezer. They thaw out and cook real quick for a busy weeknight. They also lend themselves real easily to a one skillet or one baking sheet weeknight supper.
- Invest in a good cooks knife. I use and recommend this Wusthof 8″.
- Get some good nonstick, oven safe pots and pans. I swear by Calphalon.
