When cooking, do you do anything "semi-homemade" or have any shortcuts that work for you?

I’m in a few cooking groups on social media and there were some recent questions about shortcuts and semi-homemade tips that people do to make their cooking easier.

Some things that were common were using boxed mash potatoes (potato flakes) to add to thicken gravy and in conjunction with real mashed potatoes, to stretch them. Also a lot talked about frozen ginger to add to foods.

I keep chopped frozen onions and peppers on hand to throw a handful into things like a pot of rice or scrambled eggs. The frozen onions are good for soup, too, so I don’t have to chop and cry.

Sometimes I put liquor into baked goods. I have been doing that for years but recently saw something on Epicurious where they talked about kicking up quick breads, cakes and puddings with rum and liquors like Cointreau. The alcohol evaporates with the heat but the flavors remain.

How about you? Any hacks or semi-homemade tips that you use in the kitchen?