18 Genius, Time-Saving Hacks to Make You Feel Like a Pro at Life

There are so many versatile gizmos and gadgets in your kitchen that you're not using to their fullest potential. Check out these 18 kitchen hacks from House Beautiful that will make your life so much easier in the kitchen!

>> Read more: 15 of the Coolest and Most Expensive Kitchen Gadgets

Use two plates to safely cut a lot of cherry or grape tomatoes at once.

Lay the tomatoes you wish to slice in half on a small plate. Place another plate on top and then run a very sharp knife through the gap between the two plates, holding the top plate securely with your other hand. Voila! Tons of tomatoes cut at one time with all 10 fingers accounted for! (via Jane Maynard)

Serve ice cream with a knife, not a scoop.

Next time you're serving ice cream at a party throw the scoop away. Just dip the closed ice cream container into a large bowl of hot water from the tap for 15-30 seconds, remove the lid, and invert onto a large platter or wood cutting board, then slice the servings with a hot knife. (via Jane Maynard)

Use a hot knife to slice cake perfectly.

Run your knife underneath the hot water from the tap, dry it off with a towel, and then cut your cake. You may need to re-heat the knife a couple times throughout the process but it works like a charm, especially on thick, rich cakes, like this SoNo Chocolate Ganache Cake. (via Jane Maynard)

>> Recipe: Diet Coke Chocolate Cake

Open jars instantly with a bottle opener.

Gently lift the edge of the jar's lid until you hear the seal pop, and then unscrew like normal. (via This Week for Dinner)

Form cookie dough into balls and freeze them so you have ready-to-bake, homemade cookies available at all times.

Next time you make a batch of cookies, freeze the leftover dough into ready-to-bake cookie balls. You will always have fresh-baked cookies just 10 minutes away, which is both incredibly wonderful and insanely dangerous. (via This Week for Dinner)

>> Recipe: No Bake Chocolate Protein Cookies

Make mini taco bowls using an upside-down cupcake tin.

If you have a muffin tin and tortillas, mini taco bowls are just a few steps away! Just flip the muffin tin over, shape your bowls with a tortilla, and bake! (via Emily Bites)

>> Read more: 50 Meals You Can Make in a Muffin Tin

Keep brown sugar from getting hard by throwing a piece of bread into the container.

Want to know how to keep your brown sugar soft as the day you opened the package? Throw a piece of bread into the container. Yes, that's it. The bread magically keeps the sugar soft, and never gets moldy or gross. (via This Week for Dinner)

Freeze broth in ice cube trays to keep a big container from going bad.

Why food companies insist on selling chicken, beef, and veggie broth in 32-ounce containers may forever be a mystery. Instead of letting the rest of the broth go to waste, just pour leftover broth into an ice cube tray, freeze, and then store in an airtight container. Two cubes is about ¼ cup and the broth will always be ready when you are. (via Fannetastic Food)

Instead of wasting cabinet space with a funnel, just use an envelope.

Simply snip a hole in one of the sealed corners of an envelope and you can funnel to your heart's content. (via Simple Bites)

Want to read the rest of the kitchen hacks from House Beautiful? Click here to read the original article!

Interested in even more household hacks? Check out our entire Household Hacks series here!