Kitchen Shortcuts - From Prepping Onions to Pasta with Golden Grain

This post was sponsored by Golden Grain Pasta. All opinions and experiences are my own. 

I am just an average Mom.

Most days there just aren't enough hours to accomplish everything I want to, let alone need to do. Of course I always have to do the basics like get the kids going in the morning and put meals on the table.

So I try to work smarter... not harder. I have some shortcuts up my sleeve.

The folks at Golden Grain pasta also love shortcuts. In fact, they created Pot-Sized Spaghetti, you know, the size of the pot? This saves the step of needing to break the pasta to make it fit. Cool, right?

 I found these at my local grocery store. The clerk scanned my purchases and then grabbed the boxes again.

"Huh." she said.

We started in on a discussion about the brilliant ideas that someone nabbed first. She mentioned that she had always wondered why no one was selling pot-sized pasta.

Well, now there is.

Besides just sliding into my boiling pot of water without a fuss, these smaller boxes fit much easier in my pantry, too. Yay!

Well, the pot-sized pasta idea may already be taken, but I bet we all have some kitchen shortcuts up our sleeve that are worth mentioning. Golden Grain pasta wants to hear about it.

Right now you can head over to Golden Grain's  Facebook page and enter the "Show Us Your Shortcut"  contest. There are two ways to win in this fun contest.

Enter - Upload a photo and share your shortcut on the brand's contest page for a chance to win $500. You can see my submission below. Entry is quick and easy. Then get all your friends to vote for you.

Vote - Head over and vote for your favorite, you can vote daily, for a chance to win weekly $100 prizes. How easy is that?

My shortcut has to do with onions. I see to use onions in just about every dish that I make. Most of my soups, sauces and sautes all begin with dicing onions, a chore I hate. Instead of shedding a tear before each meal, I pulse up several onions all at once in my food processor. Then I fill a ziplock bag and freeze them to use as needed later in the week.

No crying... no spoiling... onions ready to go when needed.

Like my shortcut? I would love your vote! Just follow this link to my "Show Us Your Shortcut" entry (Andrea, Roseburg)

This contest ends March 19th, 2014. Good luck and let me know what your shortcut is. I would love to check it out.