Lightening the cleanup load

[Anonymous]

Ive been a lot better about preparing dinner at home, but the cleanup/dish washing is killing me. What are your best no-mess recipes? Ones that require fewer pots/pans? No crock-pot recipes though - ours is broken.

[Anonymous]

Dishwasher?

[Anonymous]

Best clean-up helper is a bunch of rubber spatulas, and teaching my children (and husband) to scrape plates and dishes totally clean when done, place everything in the dishwaher, and immediately rinse anything that can't go in the dishwasher. The more they do the less I have to do.

[Anonymous]

OP I agree. I hate it. Makes me just want to get takeout and use paper plates all the time. I don't, but I hate doing dishes all day long.

[Anonymous]

Clean as you go! How many pots and pans are you using? I line baking dishes for fish and vegetables and whatnot with parchment paper. Doesn't totally eliminate cleaning that dish, but does make it a slightly easier proposition. But if you're making a pasta and a sauce, that's 2 cooking dishes. Plus the dishes you use to eat off.

[Anonymous]

get DH to clean

[Anonymous]

Definitely wonder why no one else is helping with cleanup. But echo PP on cleaning up as you go. I work in rinsing/loading the dishwasher between cooking tasks. Usually all that's left after we eat is a couple of pans and the plates/utensils from the table.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP. I clean as I go. By the time we sit down to supper all of the stuff I used to cook with is either in the dishwasher or handwashed, dried, and put away. After supper everyone brings his own plate to the kitchen. All I have to do is rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

Stirfry, chicken tikka masala, paella, pollo con fructose y frutas secas, chicken and apples braised in hard cider, and use leftover chicken to make enchiladas.

[Anonymous]

I recently invested in a cast iron Dutch oven. It was $79 at Target. It is great for reducing the number of pans I use! For example, I made beef stew the other night, and was able to brown the beef in it, then saute the onions and garlic in it, then add the tomato paste and other ingredients and simmer it for several hours. So, one pan for a multi-ingredient dish.

[Anonymous]

Le Creuset dutch oven, a one-pot meal (chicken pot pie, sheperd's pie, stews, curries, etc).

Also clean as I go, WITH gloves. I cannot put my hands in water so many times during the day without my Casabella hot pink gloves with cuffs

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the responses! I do try to clean as I go, but we have a tiny kitchen and the dishes just seem to pile up so fast. Or maybe I'm just a slob when I cook?
I get home before DH and have to keep an eye on my 18 mth old while also cooking, so that contributes to some chaos too. DH gets home right before dinner and usually takes baby duty while I clean up.
I think I need to do more weekend prep/meal planning. Also loving the suggestions to line the baking pans and try a Dutch oven. Thanks for the one-pot meal suggestions - that's what I was hoping for!

[Anonymous]

Cleaning as you go is the secret- if you have a pile you aren't cleaning enough.

[Anonymous]

I find the least messy dishes are things I can bake using tin foil. Tonight was fish on tin foil, broccoli in microwave and black bean salsa. Then the dog licks all the plates clean for dishwasher:-0

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I cook two meals at once, and reuse the pots without completely washing them after cooking meal #1. It saves overall washing and cleanup time to double-down.