As families plan get togethers for the Easter holiday there\u2019s sure to be a lot of discussion about the meal. Staples like a ham, deviled eggs and warm rolls are paired with foods that are unique to each family, which is part of what makes holiday meals so special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you signed up to host the family Easter dinner this year there\u2019s probably a lot to get arranged before the festivities. You may already be getting your grocery list together and coordinating with family members to get everything on the table. But one thing you might overlook is how much energy is needed to make a large Easter meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spending time with loved ones shouldn\u2019t require spending more on your energy bill. Use the tips below to host an epic Easter dinner without seeing your electricity use spike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want things to go smoothly and efficiently in the kitchen, you can set yourself up for chef success by creating a cooking plan. It doesn\u2019t have to be anything in-depth or elaborate. But taking a little time to plan things out in advance can save you stress and energy when you\u2019re cooking, especially when it\u2019s a large family meal with lots of food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cooking plan can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get creative on the last point to save the most energy<\/a>. You can consider things like if you can use a more efficient cooking method or change up the recipe so it doesn\u2019t take as long to cook. The goal is to prep so that you are set up to save energy right from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The oven is where a lot of the magic happens during an Easter meal, and this is where your cooking plan will really come into play. Depending on what you plan to cook, you could save energy if you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lower you can set the oven temperature the less energy you\u2019ll need to use. When the oven is on for hours cooking a large family meal, lowering the temp even a little can make a difference. That\u2019s why we suggest you use glass or ceramic dishes and pans instead of metal. Glass and ceramic hold heat better than metal, which means they can cook food at a lower temperature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use ceramic or glass pans and dishes you can set the oven temperature 25 degrees lower than what\u2019s noted in the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can skip the oven all together for a number of foods if you have a grill. Does your family prefer brisket over ham? Then slow-cooking a slab of beef on the grill will help you save space in the oven for other foods so it\u2019s used less overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also get creative and find other foods that can go on the grill if you have more room on the rack. Lots of veggies can be cooked on the grill or even appetizers and side dishes like bacon-wrapped asparagus, baked beans and cheesy flatbread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you can choose between the oven and a pressure cooker, the pressure cooker is always going to be the more energy efficient option. Bonus – you can keep it in the cooking pot to serve the dish so there\u2019s one less thing to clean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t get too caught up in the idea that you need to use complicated cooking techniques to create a 5-star Easter dinner. If a recipe gives you the option to use the microwave, go for it! The microwave is much more efficient than cooking in the oven, particularly when it\u2019s a small item that requires high heat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes the microwave is no substitute for oven cooking, but there\u2019s another option. There may not be a lot of space in a toaster oven, but that\u2019s why they\u2019re so efficient. It takes about half as much energy to heat up the toaster oven, and it can cook a small dish just as well as the oven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re rinsing dishes or filling pots be mindful about whether you\u2019re using hot or cold water. Whenever possible keep it cold so that the hot water heater doesn\u2019t kick on. The hot water heater is one of the worst appliances for your electric bill<\/a>. The older storage hot water heaters are very power hungry. They can account for as much as 14% of an electric bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold foods are perfect for Easter holiday dinners for a few reasons. As the weather warms up, cold foods are refreshing. Appetizers like egg salad finger sandwiches also don\u2019t require any electricity or gas to cook, but there\u2019s another energy saving bonus. Keeping the fridge fully loaded helps it cool the inside more efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re cooking on the stovetop, the cookware makes a huge difference. If a pot or pan is too large you\u2019ll waste energy heating it up. And if it\u2019s too small for the burner that you\u2019re using you may use more energy than necessary because of heat loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Flat-bottomed cookware is also recommended since it provides better contact with the burners and heats up more quickly. If the pot or pan has a copper bottom that\u2019s even better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to keep saving energy in the kitchen? The Provider Power blog has lots of useful advice like energy saving grilling tips<\/a> and how to store food for max energy efficiency<\/a>. It\u2019s just one way that Provider Power helps customers lower their energy costs so they can enjoy a comfortable quality of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As families plan get togethers for the Easter holiday there\u2019s sure to be a lot of discussion about the meal. Staples like a ham, deviled eggs and warm rolls are paired with foods that are unique to each family, which is part of what makes holiday meals so special. If you signed up to host […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-1701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-savings","tag-energy-efficiency"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/03\/iStock-1347890570.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7rbwO-rr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providerpower.com\/power-to-help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tip #2 – Use the Oven Strategically <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Tip #3 – Use Glass or Ceramic in Place of Metal Pans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #4 – Use the Grill Instead of the Oven<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #5 – Use a Pressure Cooker When Possible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #6 – Don\u2019t Overlook the Microwave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #7 – Choose the Toaster Oven for Small Dishes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #8 – Watch Your Hot Water Use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #9 – Make Cold Foods the Main Attraction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip #10 – Use Pots and Pans That Are Appropriately Sized<\/h2>\n\n\n\n