Thanks to Ronco, a favorite around my home, for partnering with me on this post. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own!
Friends, I love pinning gorgeous recipes on Pinterest every bit as much as you do, but when it’s time to roll up my sleeves and get to work in the kitchen, I almost always opt for recipes and shortcuts that will get me in and out of there FAST.
Ronco Pot-Sized Pasta
Ronco just launched a celebration of kitchen shortcuts, and has also released Pot-Sized Pasta to help things go a little faster during your meal prep. Have you seen it on the shelves, yet? It look like this:
So why do you need to purchase noodles that are half the length? Does that actually save you any time? Absolutely! When I have to break apart my pasta, a few different things happen:
- I have to break it apart in groups, as I can’t get it all to come apart quickly.
- Because I have to break it in groups I have to go as fast as possible so that all the pasta gets in the pot at pretty much the same time.
- Because I have to go really fast,things get messy, and I always end up with noodles bits all over the counter and the floors. And that means more cleanup. Which means more time. 🙁
- If I try to fit all of the pasta in the pot, I have to spend time squishing it down, little by little. That never works well, by the way, so I definitely don’t recommend doing it!
Ronco Pot-Sized Pasta goes straight into the pot, all at once, with no mess. It’s compact box also fits in the pantry nice and neat, which I love!
My Kitchen Shortcut
Ronco asked me to share with you one of my favorite kitchen shortcuts, and I knew instantly what I wanted to showcase: oven pancakes!
I make 16 pancakes at one time, and spend ZERO time in front of the stove pouring, watching, and flipping. That’s because I make them all in the oven.
To make oven pancakes, follow the directions on the box of pancake mix (because boxed mix is already a shortcut!), and then pour that mix onto a greased baking sheet (with raised edges). I followed the instructions for making around 14 pancakes, just to give you an idea of how much you should make.
It will look a little lumpy, but that’s ok, because you aren’t supposed to over-mix pancake batter.
The next step is to pop these into the oven, set to 325, for 15 minutes. At minute 13, I usually go back into the kitchen and switch the oven over to broil, just to give the pancakes a darker finished color. If you do that, you need to watch them for those last 2 minutes!
Remove the very large pancake from the oven, and cut into squares or rectangles, or you can even bust out some cookie cutters if you want to get really creative. One pan for me yields 16 pancakes, all ready at the exact same time!
I absolutely love that I can go do other things while the pancakes are cooking. It saves me a TON of time, and a lot of frustration, too, as I tend to ruin at least 3 pancakes during my attempts to make them.
Share Your Shortcut (And Win $$$$!)
Was this shortcut helpful? If so, I have a favor to ask! Ronco has a “Share Your Shortcut” promotion happening on Facebook right now. The entry who receives the most votes will win a $500 gift card, which will buy all the Pot-Sized pasta pancake mix my family could want for years to come! 😉 More importantly for you, though, anyone who votes is automatically entered to win the weekly prize of a $100 American Express gift card. Talk about a win/win! Pretty please take a second to vote for me? You could be the big winner!