One of the smartest things I think I do to help get that meal on the table every night is to carmelize a big batch of onions and keep them in the fridge glass jars so I can quickly cook something up on the fly. I swear it has saved me many a night. First, here’s how I do the onions. (It’s simple, so don’t worry if you are culinary-challenged:)

1. Slice onions (Maui or other sweet onions are the best but regular ones will do too.) They reduce quite a bit, so start with a bunch! I usually cut about six to eight BIG onions. (Yes, it’s a real tear-jerker, but I’d rather do it once ina while than every day!)

2.  Put onions in a pan.

 3. Stir as they reduce down over medium heat.

4. Store in the refrigerator in glass jars. (Simple, right?)

And here’s my latest off-the-cuff recipe idea using leftover carnitas:

We had some left over carnitas from a party that we threw over the weekend and were kind of burnt out on the Mexican fare, so I tried a new “something out of nothing” combination. I tossed a big spoon full of the pre-made onions in a skillet along with some thinly-sliced brussel sprouts (slice them from top to bottom and they make confetti,) and then toseed in some carnitas (I knew that pancetta and brussel sprouts make a good stir fry combination so I thought, why not some other pork?) and voila! The end result was an Asian-esque stirfry that really handled the carnitas well – without tasting Mexican! Although we didn’t, I think you could add any type of sauce (like sweet and sour or some type of mustard-based sauce) and it would have really put the Asian flavoring over the top.

Long story short: Cutting onions once in a while and having them ready to go for quick meals is the way to go for this busy mom! (and yes, my son eats brussel sprouts.)