Time-Saving and Efficient Kitchen Cleaning with Dawn Power Clean {#DawnPowerClean}

While I've never claimed to be all that talented in the kitchen, I still love the feeling of putting a homemade meal on the table for my family. Just seeing the results — whether they be a casserole, lasagna, tacos, stew or more — always makes me happy.

However, while making these one-pot dishes can be a real time-saver, it's the nightmare of the clean-up that can quickly wipe the smile off of my face. The caked-on chunks or baked-in stains and messes made from sauces are really not what I want to deal with after having already spent enough time cooking.

Therefore, in the effort to always find the most efficient, time-saving ways to prepare meals and get the cleaning done as quickly as possible, being introduced to Dawn and their new line of power products was just the thing to make me reconsider hanging up my apron for good.

With Dawn's line of power products, you can get the amazing power of an overnight soak in just five minutes. Dawn Power Clean provides micro-scrubbing enzymes that cut grease and dissolve tough food messes with ease from your everyday dishes (even the ones you bake on there) without the effort of elbow grease!

As my interest was already peaked hearing that it would only take five minutes of soaking to have my pots, pans and dishes cleaned after dinner, it didn't take much convincing to receive a Dawn Power Clean kit and take the 5-minute soak challenge.

Arriving just in time, I was able to put the Dawn Power Clean to the test with that night's dinner: Cheese, bean and corn enchiladas. While the meal itself turned out extremely tasty...

...the resulting pan afterward wasn't so pretty.

Along with the bits of tortilla and cheese that were holding extremely tightly to the bottom, the cooked-on salsa along the sides was fairly menacing.

My husband already knew that he was the one in charge of dishes that night, so he took one look and could only sigh.

Setting him to work on the rest of the dishes, I pulled out my Dawn Power Clean in Refreshing Rain Scent (also available in Vibrant Fresh Scent) and prepared the pan to soak for five minutes.

When the cute little timer went off, it was time to see just how much was accomplished in five short minutes. My husband brought the pan to the sink and dumped out the soapy, sweet-smelling suds to find...

...an almost-clean pan! The remaining bits of tortilla wiped away without any effort at all and the very small amount of salsa left (which hadn't been covered during the soak) only took a swipe or two with the sponge and the whole pan was left sparkling clean.

Even my husband (who is often quite critical of products doing what they claim) admitted that he was impressed that it had only taken five minutes to have the trouble and hassle of trying to remove greasy, caked-on food done for him. What a time-saver!

When it comes to creating an efficient daily kitchen routine, I'm happy to add Dawn Power Clean to the list. Others tips include:

• Make sure your counters are clean and free of clutter at the end of each night so you can start the day fresh
• Clean while cooking so that it is not all left at the end
• Plan ahead and pack the kids' lunches the night before to lessen any scrambling in the morning
• Keep your pantry stocked with basic essentials so you don't have to run to the grocery store at the last minute
• Assign your children age-appropriate chores such as setting and clearing the table so that they can be a part of helping 
• Utilize a slow cooker to minimize time spent cooking
• Save cleaning time by only using one pot to cook your meal

What time-saving tips do you have to add to the list?

I'm looking forward to not worrying about future cooking — and the aftermath from it — now that Dawn Power Clean has made clean-up a breeze. More information about this great new dishwashing soap can be found on the Dawn website, as well as by connecting with this innovative company on Facebook and Twitter.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Dawn blogging program, to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points, and I received free product for participating. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.