One of the most popular complaints from those new to the Whole30 is how much time they spend in the kitchen. Between meal planning, food prep, cooking, and clean-up, it can (at least in the beginning) feel like you’re stuck in Good Food jail.

The good news? With practice, the whole “eating real food” thing becomes practically effortless. Really, it does. The better news? Today, we’ve got .some amazing food hacks to save you time and energy. Plus, some of these are so nifty, they’ll make you look cool in front of your kids. As long as you don’t call them “nifty.”

De-Seeding a Pomegranate

“The spanking method”: easier, faster, and funner to say than “the water method.”

Hulling a Strawberry

This technique makes for prettier strawberries.

Peeling an Orange (the Russian Way)

If nothing else, the guy who created this channel is AMAZING. Also, this is a really cool way to peel an orange.

Pitting a Cherry

For those of us who don’t have a fancypants cherry pitter. (Who does?)

Pitting an Olive

No more flesh sticking to the pit.

Peeling an Avocado

From our girl Stephanie Gaudreau at Stupid Easy Paleo

Ripen an Avocado Fast

“I’m from New York. I don’t have that kind of time.”

Peel a Head of Garlic

An entire head in 10 seconds. For real.

Core a Head of Iceberg Lettuce

Because sometimes, you just want Iceberg.

Cut a Bell Pepper

Chopping faster=less kitchen time.

Cut a Head of Cauliflower

Tame this often ornery vegetable on the cutting board.

Cut Carrots

Two methods to get evenly sized slices.

Cut Cherry Tomatoes

Works for any small vegetable or fruit.

How to Remove an Egg Yolk

This is just cool–and it leaves the yolk intact.

Make Hard-Boiled Eggs in the Oven

Perfect for making large quantities for your weekly cook-up.

No-Peel Hard Boiled Eggs

All you need is this photo from blogger No Biggie–just slice in half and scoop out with a spoon.

Prevent Water from Boiling Over

Where has this been all our life?

Protect Your Cookbooks

Save Food For Humans‘ gorgeous pages from getting tomato-splattered.

Got a kitchen, cooking, or food-prep hack that you’d like to share? Drop it in comments… and rock on with your faster, shinier Whole30.