Chef Michael Smith offers up time-saving tips for amateur cooks

With summer (perhaps) coming to a close and school starting up again, many families' cooking habits will be changing along with the seasons.

And as many of our schedules start to get busier in September, that means cooking right can sometimes be left by the wayside.

North By Northwest host Sheryl MacKay spoke with chef, TV host and author Michael Smith about how to make cooking simple and nutritious this fall, and how it can fit into any busy schedule.

"I know a lot of people have crazy, busy worlds, and mine's no different," he said. "But I refuse to let that get in the way of a deliberate choice to really own my family's food lifestyle. And so I do it."

"And really, that first big choice is probably the most significant one, because after that it just becomes strategies."

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So which strategies should you be using? Smith has a few tips from his career as a professional chef that anyone can use to make cooking easier

Get organized

Smith says professional chefs keep clutter to a minimum, in terms of both gadgets and tools as well as ingredients. He calls it "spending time to save time."

"Take an hour to straighten that kitchen up, and you'll be amazed how much time you'll save moving forward!" he said.

He says that when you're organizing the kitchen, you should be thinking about what things actually get used, and what things have just become clutter — which are the prime candidates for you to get rid of.

He also suggests designating areas of the fridge or pantry for certain foods to make yourself more efficient.

Make a list, and keep to it

Smith says that when you shop for food without a list, you're doing yourself a disservice. It makes you less efficient, and you might forget things.

"I love shopping. I really do. I'm probably the only guy on Prince Edward Island who likes going to the supermarket," he said. "But a lot of us are racing off to the supermarket with no plan in place."

He says it's here that technology can be your friend and recommends making a shopping list template with prompts of things that you buy almost every time so that you won't forget the important things.

As well, you can save time by organizing the list by aisles so you can move through the supermarket in an efficient way.

Making food? Make more!

This one's especially helpful if you have kids and need to make lunches. Some foods, especially things like pasta and soup, lend themselves well to being taken for lunch the next day. Just make a little more and pack it up for the kids.

"I find a stash of mason jars can really pay off. I've got a gang of little squat, one-cup mason jars, the wide-mouth kind, and I find it so easy to just scoop some dinner in there, screw the lid on tight, throw it in the fridge, and we're eating dinner, and now I've got the kids' lunches ready for the next day," he said.

Smith also says it can be helpful to double a recipe and then freeze the other half. The trick is, he says, to use freezer bags, and spread the food as thin as possible so that when it freezes, the cold can reach into the centre of the food quickly. This prevents it from going off and can keep the food for longer.

To hear the full interview, click the audio labelled: Chef Michael Smith has professional advice for amateur cooks