The holiday season is a wonderful time for gathering with family and friends and sharing delicious food. With so much cooking involved, it’s wise to plan ahead.

It will save time and energy if you prepare several batches of food at a time and freeze the extra batches for future use. When reheating or cooking small amounts of food, use small appliances. Microwave ovens, toaster ovens, and crock pots usually use less energy than the oven to cook a dish.

If you need to heat the oven for a particular recipe, bake as many other dishes as possible at the same time. When cooking in the oven, keep these tips in mind:

• Use glass or ceramic pans in the oven. You can turn down the temperature by roughly 25°F, and food will cook just as quickly.
   
• Insert dishes in the oven immediately after turning it on; preheating is usually only required for baking products like breads, cakes, and cookies.
   
• Turn off the oven five minutes before your cooking is completed when making roasts, turkeys, or casseroles and let the heat in the oven finish the cooking. 
   
• Keep pans in the oven separated, staggered on upper and lower racks and not touching the oven walls, to maintain proper heat circulation. 
   
• Don’t cover your oven racks with foil because it blocks the flow of air. 
   
• Avoid unnecessary peeking; opening the oven door lets up to 20% of the heat out and wastes energy.  
   

Enjoy your holiday cooking!