7 tools for $7 to ease cooking day stress

This past weekend I made some freezer meals - half for me, and half for my kids.  Before I was done, my Sharpie marker gave out.  I also realized I could use a few other tools that would help make cooking day - and serving days - easier.

(What did I make?  Vegetarian Chili to get my vegan daughter through finals.  The slow-cooker version of this Taco Meat, half for us and half for my son so he won't starve while his wife is visiting her sisters.  And several freezer meals from two of my favorite cookbooks, "Once a Month Cooking" by Mary Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson, and its sequel, "Once a Month Cooking Family Favorites" by Ms. Wilson.)

I headed to my local Dollar Tree store and picked up seven things that make it easier to prepare, label and keep track of freezer meals:

Extra measuring cups and spoons:  We still have the aluminum set of serving spoons that we got when we were first married 36 years ago.  Two problems.  If you used it to measure wet ingredients, you'd have to wash and dry it to measure a dry ingredients.  And the whole set was hooked together, so when one was used, they all needed washing.  One Thanksgiving, I bought a plastic set at Dollar Tree, then separated them as soon as I got home.  It worked out so well, I bought a couple more.  Now I can use the 1 tbsp measure for lemon juice, put it in the dishwasher, and get another clean one out for chili powder.

Similar story with measuring cups.  We have two sets from my husband's bachelor apartment, three Tupperware sets and another we bought when we moved to Thailand.  The problem is that some are broken, melted or have the marks of dog teeth; some are missing (especially, for some reason, the 1/2 cup measure); and we can't always find what we want.  A new set for $1 is a good investment in avoiding frustration.

Kitchen scissors.  I have a good set I use for opening packages, cutting chicken skin, snipping parsley and even cutting green onions.  But when you're cooking multiple meals for the freezer - or one large holiday meal - it's nice to have an extra pair (especially when one was used for cutting chicken - that one goes straight to the dishwasher)..

Sharpie and color-coded stars to mark food containers.  I wrapped all the meals in plastic freezer bags - even the ones that were already covered by aluminum.  At a minimum, the bags should be labeled with the name of the dish and the date it went into the freezer.  If you really want to be nice to the person responsible for getting it on the table, you also can write directions for thawing and preparing. 

I also bought some color-coded stars.  I eat gluten-free.  A couple of my kids are vegan.  My husband doesn't eat certain vegetables.  So I can put the star on to indicate the presence (or lack thereof) of animal products, gluten, broccoli and any other allergies, preferences or phobias that develop in my family.

And finally, a weekly calendar and dry-erase markers.  This will require a little more discipline, but since I usually am the last one home from work, someone else will likely be getting dinner on the table.  By taking a few minutes on the weekend, I can let everyone know what's for dinner during the week, how to prepare it, and which cookbook they can search for the recipe.