Elle’s Day Off Spilling Parent Hacks in the Kitchen!

As a parent of a flourishing nine-month-old baby, I love hacks and tricks that make life easier in the kitchen. So when I was asked to take part in an #LGKitchen event on this very topic, I was super excited to learn from and share my hacks with fellow guests and surprise… celebrity Chef @ChefChuckHughes and TV personality @rick_campanelli (super excited!!!) Here’s a quick run-down of what I learned, as well as some of my favorite tips and tricks to take home to your kitchen!

We started the event by learning how LG can make life even simpler with their newest appliances.

 
LG QuadWash™

LG really delivered for parents with their latest dishwasher. Imagine not having to prewash ANY of your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. And what if you had a third rack to hold those extra utensils and cups that never seem to fit?

The new line of LG dishwashers each feature the all-new QuadWash system with four spray arms that hit your dirty dishes from multiple angles. Two of those arms actually rotate to ensure that every dish comes clean. Plus, there are cycle options that allow you to vary the intensity between the upper and lower racks. As busy parents, every extra moment spared from housework is a win in my books. So I love that LG has gone out of their way to bulk up features that help you to spend more time with your family and less time cleaning.

But my absolute favourite thing about this dishwasher is that it’s super quiet. You don’t have to be afraid of waking baby!

 
LG InstaView™ 

Be honest, how many times a day are you opening your fridge? For many of us, this amounts to over 60 times a day. But every time you do so, warm air enters your fridge and the freshness from your food escapes. I learned this from my mother as a child, when she would smack my hands every time I would hang out in front of the open fridge door (I still suffer from this terrible habit.)

LG solved this problem by developing the all-new LG InstaView™ Door-in-Door® Refrigerator. Just knock twice on the door and you can instantly see the contents of your fridge -without ever having to open the door. Plus, the door contains another door that lets you access frequently used items -like snacks and drinks for the kids after school- without opening the main doors of the fridge. That helps to keep cool, stable temps inside your fridge which helps to keep your food fresh for longer.

 

Breastfeeding mama HACK – It is incredibly crucial for breast milk to be stored away from the door of your fridge. The warm air that enters your fridge can cause your breast milk to quickly spoil, and this is exasperated when breast milk is stored near the door.

ALWAYS store breast milk in the BACK of your fridge to prevent it from spoiling due to warm air exposure from the opening door.

But, with LG’s all new LG InstaView™ Door-in-Door® Refrigerator, you can avoid this worry altogether because you know LG has taken extra steps to ensure that the food in your fridge stays fresh longer.

 

Ellevated Healthy Kitchen Hacks:

I try to keep things pretty clean and easy at home when it comes to food preparation. Simple yet nutritious are my ultimate favs. Here are my top quick & healthy cooking hacks for parents that will help make life easier for your family in the kitchen:

Use Simple Ingredients

These are words I live by in my kitchen so I was thrilled to hear Chef Chuck emphasize the importance of using simple ingredients. I can’t tell you how many times the simplest recipes have saved the day for me as a parent.

When combining ingredients for baby Ben’s meals, I usually stick to 1 protein source and 2-3 different vegetables at each meal. This ensures that he gets to appreciate the taste of each food and flavour and not just be eating unidentifiable baby mush.

Adding to Chuck’s advice, it is crucial that when you are cooking simply you use the best ingredients you can source. This is because few ingredients are the only stars of the show. There is no room for underwhelming flavours to be camouflaged.

To show just how delicious recipes with simple ingredients can be, @ChefChuckHughes whipped up this toasted bread with just 4 simple ingredients: roma tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and bread.

Cook Fresh Meals that You Can Freeze 

One of the best time-saving methods I’ve found when it comes to meals is to make multiple meals in advance. Baby Benjamin has never had anything packaged, jarred, or processed. Every meal he eats is created by my hand. Now, before you think I’m a super mom let me explain why I actually call these lazy baby meals! It all comes down to having a good baby food system down.

 

By freezing a few batches of purees in ice cube trays, you can whip up a few weeks’ worth of baby meals in just a few short hours of work. In my next post, I’ll show you my step-by-step process for making a week’s worth of Lazy Baby Meals.

Always have Easy Produce on hand for Quick Snacks

Although my previous hack requires some manual labour (steaming, boiling, roasting, and pureeing) there are other quick and healthy options that only need to be peeled and mashed. For example, Baby Ben loves having ripe bananas and avocado for snacks. I make sure to always have these on hand while on the road and never run out of these convenient staples at home.

Warm up Frozen Organic Veggies/Fruits

There is nothing I hate more than expensive organic berries going bad before my family can eat them. So one of my kitchen staples is to always have a bag of organic frozen veggies and fruits in the freezer.
 

 
Organic frozen veggies and fruits are flash frozen while at the peak of freshness so they retain optimal nutrition. And there are no added ingredients so you don’t have to be afraid to feed them to your kids.

Plus, frozen organic veggies and fruits make a great addition to smoothie bowls which makes for an easy breakfast for mom while trying to get everyone in the family ready for the day.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience in the #LGKitchen. Thanks for letting me share my parent hacks with you. I would love to hear some of your own hacks in the comment section below!

Check out this fun-filled video which LG created on our day together in the #LGKitchen.

 

Thanks to LG Electronics Canada Inc. for sponsoring this post. All opinions are mine.