Chapter 17 Planning Healthy Meals 429 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Organize Work Area An organized work area prevents time wasted looking for a particular utensil, ingredients, or appliance. It also saves unnecessary steps. Store kitchen utensils close to where you are likely to use them. For instance, you might store a pancake turner close to the range and a vegetable peeler close to the sink (Figure 17.13). Keeping cupboards and drawers neat makes it easier to find the items that are stored in them. Store appliances in handy locations. If appli- ances are difficult to get out and put away, you are less likely to use them. Ingredients need to be on hand when you are ready to use them. Avoid run- ning out of items by placing a dry-erase board or pad of paper in the kitchen for noting staple ingredients or supplies that need to be resupplied. This prevents last minute, unplanned trips to the store to pick up missing ingredients. Create a Work Schedule A successful meal is not only appealing and healthy, but also timely. Making sure all parts of a meal are ready at the allotted time requires a schedule. The schedule may be quite simple if the meal is simple, but meals that have more dishes and preparation steps require a more formal schedule. Work schedules begin with the end in mind. In other words, the time you want to sit down to eat is when your work schedule starts and you work back from that time. For example, suppose you want the meal on the table at 6 p.m. If the chili you are serving takes 1½ hours to prepare, you should start preparing the chili at least 1½ hours prior to 6 p.m., or at 4:30 p.m. You need to perform this calculation for every dish you are serving. If you are the only person pre- paring the meal, you need to account for this in your schedule and start some dishes earlier. Figure 17.13 Store pots and pans near the range to save steps and time during food preparation. What appliance could you store plates, cups, and eating utensils near to save time? Raisa Suprun/Shutterstock.com