- Gloves for handling food, saves on clean up when dealing with raw meat or anything messy
- Rapi-cool - this is something used in restaurants to cool large pots of food, you could also freeze a half-gallon milk carton to do the same thing
- Aprons
- Dishtowels - between washing dishes and cleaning up, you can go through several in a day
- Dishrags - keep extras out so when you have to clean up from raw meat, it's easy to toss and get a clean one
- 2 Laundry baskets (one for dirty towels and one for hauling food to freezer)
- Big boxes for trash & recyling - saves a lot of time taking out the trash & recyling (line trash box with plastic bag). Ours doubled as a gate to keep Elinor from wandering through the kitchen!
- Huge pot - boiling hamburger, making spaghetti sauce
- Extra measuring cups & spoon - we keep an extra set of measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a 4-cup measuring cup. The extras are a different color from the set we keep in the kitchen to make it easier to pack up.
- Freezer bags (quart and gallon; the sliding zipper pulls work best)
- 13x9 dishes
- 11x7 dishes
- Sharpie
- Small containers - We have a set of prep bowls that work great for storing small amounts of items (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=9792&catId=123&parentCatId=22&xPrntItmId=1741)
- Mix 'n Chop (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=15658&catId=8&parentCatId=8)
- Food Chopper (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=240&words=chopper)
- Can strainer (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=12011&catId=123&parentCatId=123)
- Knives - a couple of good knives make work a lot easier
- Aluminum foil (restaurant size box) - we usually double wrap food in foil, then in plastic cling wrap
- Cling wrap (restaurant size box)
- Wax paper sheets (restaurant size box) - used to wrap individual items
- Sheet protectors to hold recipes - we keep a binder of all the recipes and then pull out the ones we need for the day
- Dry erase markers to mark on sheet protectors - mark the number you are making on the sheet protector to remind you
- Scotch Tape - Unless you have a ton of counter space, hang the recipe you're making on the cabinet door.
- Large bowls - for mixing ingredients or holding cooked ground beef until ready to use
Hints
- Don't start cooking for 3 months, try 2 weeks or a month at first.
- Try new recipes first before you cook multiples of them!
- Label everything - baked french toast and garlic bread look exactly alike when frozen. Baked french toast does not taste good with spaghetti.
- If it's cold outside, cool and/or freeze the food outside before putting in the freezer.
- Boil your ground beef. It's faster and you reduce the fat.
- They sell boneless skinless chicken thighs which gives you some dark meat and more flavor to mix in with dishes using cooked, chopped chicken.
- Line pans with foil when baking chicken for easier clean-up.
- Boneless, skinless chicken tenders are usually cheaper at Sam's and taste the same in recipes. They also make great kid size servings.
- Combine ingredients in ziploc bags instead of making a huge batch and dividing it.
- Put ziploc bags in bowls or coffee cans to hold them up while you fill them.
- Label the bags before you put the food in with the name and date.
- Freeze extras (cheese, chopped onions, etc) to use later.
- Make a pot of spaghetti or soup at the end so you can use up the odd amounts of tomato sauce, peppers, onions, etc.
- If you are working with someone, make separate recipes.
- Clear as much as you can out of the refrigerator and freezer before you go grocery shopping.
- Plan some meals for cooking days that don't include anything you are preparing.
- Wear comfortable shoes.
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