Most useful culinary shortcut (lighthearted)

Oh yes sally. Agree about the potatoes - and the arthritis. A recent discovery, more than useful and if I don’t tell anyone they don’t know 😂.

dont have to peel them
better for you anyway

Why are they better for you dotpoka
I must say they are delicious and extra nice if you’re in a hurry

I’m another convert to frozen mashed potato. Besides saving time and effort it saves waste as I’m on my own and don’t eat potatoes very often. I also use frozen chopped onions and peppers.

It has to be frozen pastry .
So easy to roll out and I'm not picking bits of pastry out of my nails all day .

Frozen puff pastry.

GrannyGravy13

Frozen puff pastry.

Yes, that would get my vote too. I can make pastry, but can never be bothered faffing around to make puff - and mine never turned out all that great anyway. Apparently my hands are too hot to make good pastry (according to my hypercritical mother, anyway!)

I discovered Idahoan packet mash on Gransnet and always have a couple of packets in the cupboard now for emergencies.

A Charlie Bingham meal once a week, delicious 😋

BlueBelle

Why are they better for you dotpoka
I must say they are delicious and extra nice if you’re in a hurry

Probably because like pre-cooked and cooled pasta or rice the chilling and reheating of a starchy food improves digestibility.
I think it's something to do with lipids...
Someone will remember exactly.

I love frozen mash potatoes!! My friend was astonished that such a thing actually existed.

Whole frozen chillies and ginger, grated as needed.

I had to look this up as I'd forgotten the details!
Here you are BlueBelle

www.healthline.com/nutrition/cooling-resistant-starch

Agree frozen mash and puff pastry are great time savers.
I am diabetic and precooked, reheated potatoes, rice and pasta have less impact on blood sugar levels than eating them freshly cooked.

I make much bigger quantities of casseroles, sauces etc and put portions in the freezer for a quick meal or for OH to eat if I'm away. I just wish I'd label them better!

foxie48

I make much bigger quantities of casseroles, sauces etc and put portions in the freezer for a quick meal or for OH to eat if I'm away. I just wish I'd label them better!

Oh yes……..that’s my downfall too! We have several boxes in the freezer, all unlabelled because we’ve all said we’ll remember what’s in it haven’t we ? 😂

Frozen soffrito mix (finely diced onions, carrots and celery). Started buying this about a year ago and wish that I'd discovered it sooner. So useful for casseroles, soups, bolognese, etc.

Our DS teacher taught us how.to.make a white sauce. We had a whole catechism to learn for exams which started with "What is a roux?"

Nowadays I just chuck all the ingredients in the food processor or smooth it out with a stick blender. I still taught my children the "proper" way though. I am always in favour of knowing the rules before you break them.

Definitely frozen puff pastry. Another shortcut for me is when making cauliflower cheese. I use crème fraiche, adding mustard and lots of grated cheese then pour over the cauliflower and cook in the air fryer.

granfromafar

Frozen soffrito mix (finely diced onions, carrots and celery). Started buying this about a year ago and wish that I'd discovered it sooner. So useful for casseroles, soups, bolognese, etc.

Oh, I forgot about that - I love this too. I hate celery normally, so would never actually buy it, but I do like a soffrito for things like bolognese and so on, so I find this very handy and avoids waste too.

Agree about soffit mix and frozen pastry.

A tin of Italian tomatoes thrown over seasoned lamb chops and sliced potatoes on the top for a quick casserole.
.

Frozen pastry is great, and, unlike pastry made by me, is unlikely to break a toe if dropped.

Definitely frozen pastry, chopped onions and ready peeled potatoes in a vacuum bag.
Never tried frozen mash but going on my shopping list also soffit mix(never heard of it)
Thanks for that