The #DawnPowerClean 5-Minute Soak Challenge & Time-Saving Kitchen Tips #ad

The other day I cooked a crock pot full of pinto beans. I haven't cooked pinto beans in ages, and I knew I wanted some to fix refried beans with for Cinco de Mayo. And refried beans are so much better made fresh from pinto beans than from a can, in my opinion.

So, after making a crock pot full, I removed about 3/4 of the beans and let the rest to cook longer, because I didn't want much soup left on them. I would have sworn I turned the crock pot to low, but I left it on high. And, got busy and forgot about them. 

Yep, you guessed it… scorched beans. Not only did it leave a very unpleasant aroma in my kitchen, but left the bottom of my crock pot a mess. 

Thankfully, I recently received a bottle of Dawn Power Clean. Because I fear my crock pot would have been ruined. The bottle says, "Overnight Soaking Power… in 5 Mins", so I put it to the test.

I squirted a little Dawn Power Clean into my crock pot and filled with hot water (it doesn't say water has to be hot, or any particular temperature, I just chose hot), set my timer for 5-minutes, and checked my email. 

When my timer went off, I poured the soapy water out, and this is what it looked like…

I wiped out the crock pot with a sponge, literally, wiped it out, no scrubbing, and my crock pot looked as good as new.

It's true the 5 minutes my crock pot soaked in Dawn Power Clean was enough to get out the burnt, nasty, stuck on beans encrusted mess. I normally would have soaked it overnight, and still not sure if it would have come completely clean. Color me impressed! This was a challenge I'm glad I took.

Now, I have something else to save me time in the kitchen. I won't need to soak my pots and pans overnight. I can get the same clean in just 5 minutes. Wow!

Speaking of "time-savers", here's a few other tips to help you save time in the kitchen:

Prep Ingredients Ahead of Time

One of the biggest time savers I've found, is to cut up veggies and fruits in advance. Say you know you're making soup and stir fry two days in the coming week, you can go ahead and chop/dice/slice your veggies and put them in baggies or containers in the fridge on Sunday, and it will save you time in the coming week. You'll appreciate it after a long day at work on Monday.

Make and Freeze the Weeks Meals Ahead of Time

Even more of a time saver is to make the complete meals in advance. Soups, stews, and casseroles, are great meals to make in advance. Store them in the freezer; then pull them out and warm them up… makes work days much easier.

Lock & Load (The Dishwasher That is)

Load up the dishwasher and load it up before going to bed. The next day, all you have to do is put them away.

Don't Go to Bed With a Dirty Kitchen

If you make sure your kitchen is clean, counters wiped down, dishes put away, and everything in its place, the mornings will go much smoother.

These are just a few tips. I'd love for you to share some of your time saving kitchen tips! Just leave them in the comments.

"You can discover DAWN’S BEST CLEAN with micro-scrubbing enzymes that power
through food messes with ease, from everyday grease to tough lasagna
dishes! Dawn Power Clean is available in Refreshing Rain Scent and
Vibrant Fresh Scent."

You can also follow Dawn on Facebook and @dawndishsoap on Twitter.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and
Dawn blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points, and I
received a free product for participating. The opinions and ideas
expressed here are 100% my own. To read more posts on this topic,
click here.