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Of all the cooking shows on TV, Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals is one that I love to watch.  It is so practical!  She gives so many great tips and for some reason, her tips actually stick in my brain and I use them!

Here are 4 tips of hers that I use everyday, that have changed my life.  Dramatic, I know.  But true!  Eating a plant based diet does mean time in the kitchen, and lots of chopping of fruits and vegetables, but this does not have to be a tedious task if you have the right tools!  I personally find being in the kitchen is quite cathartic as long as I have a clean kitchen, efficient tools, and a good work space.

My time in the kitchen is so much more enjoyable and efficient because of these four tips:

1. Use a Large Cutting Board — Rachel Ray’s entire counter top is a cutting board.  Lucky her! I keep my 24×18 inch wooden cutting board out on the counter at all times.  I love having the room to chop many veggies at a time, and being able to push each pile over with my knife towards the back of the board.  There is nothing worse than a small, nasty, plastic cutting board where everything runs off and messes up the counter & floor!

I use one side of my cutting board for fruits and sweets.  I use the other side of it for vegetables & strong, savory items like garlic and onions.

We rarely eat meat anymore, but if we do, I use a small plastic cutting board for that.

You have seen it in many of my photos as I use the natural light from my kitchen window and the neutral background of the board to take many of my recipe photos. Handy!

2. A Waste Bowl — our trash can is kept in the pantry, which is a few steps away from my cooking area and has sliding doors that need opened every time I need to throw something away.  When I am cooking, I make sure I take out my handy dandy waste bowl. It saves me all those steps to my trash can & having to open and close the doors each time.  It makes a huge difference in my cooking time. It also makes separating out plastic or cans for recycling or veggie scraps for composting quite easy.  When meal prep is done, I quick grab the bowl, separate out what is really trash and what can be reused.  So efficient, convenient, and easy.  I have Rachel Rays rubber bottomed waste bowl.  It stays right where you need it. I have the blue one, but the orange one is super fun, too!

3. One Main Knife--Rachel Ray does 90% of her slicing and dicing with one main knife.  I love the simplicity of this.  You really don’t need an entire knife block taking up precious space on the counter.  I have one main large knife, a small paring knife, and a serrated bread knife.  That is it.  3 knifes, kept in a drawer, one used the majority of the time.  Simple!

4. Bench Scrape Shovel–I feel totally professional when my oil is heated in my pan, I have chopped my garlic and onion on my cutting board using my knife, and I use this awesome bench scrap shovel to scoop my cuttings from the board to the pan.  I love the sizzle sound and the immediate scent of vegetables sauteing.  This shovel might seem like a tool that you don’t need, but I make room for it in my tiny kitchen due to the convenience of scooping up what I have chopped in one swipe.  It keeps my floor free from dropped pieces of onion, which used to happen when I would try to transfer my cuttings using just a knife and my hands.  This bench scrape shovel is a must have in my opinion.

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Got any great time-saving, space-saving kitchen tips for me?