I started to enjoy cooking when I was a senior in high school, but it looked quite different back then! I mostly cooked Standard America Diet type meals consisting of casseroles, white pasta, white flour, and storebought dressings/prepackaged foods. I enjoyed trying new recipes, but I had no idea what I was doing and things usually either turned out severely overcooked or questionably undercooked.
I think when I moved back home after college, I really started to get the hang of things in the kitchen. I needed to get healthy. I was having HORRIBLE and painful rashes, outbreaks, and my lips looked like I had had injections gone very wrong. I had to totally overhaul my diet, because I was learning that it was all of the “low calorie/low fat” highly processed foods that were making me want to crawl out of my own skin. And that meant getting busy learning how to cook homemade, wholesome food that could give my body a chance to heal from the inside out.
Looking back now, I am actually quite grateful that my health problems came to a head like this. I LOVE that I am now better educated and have total control over what goes into my body. It didn’t come without frustration, but it got easier and easier as I saw the direct correlation between eating healthier and fewer skin problems. The kitchen became my sanctuary as my symptoms dissipated and I started creating meals that were totally delicious without a ton of time or effort! I am not very creative in the “traditional” sense, but the kitchen is definitely my “creative outlet”. 🙂
Since cooking (and eating) is pretty much my thang, most of my birthday and Christmas gifts for about the last 10 years have been some sort of kitchen gadget, big and small. Between that and getting married a couple of years ago, I have a pretty well-stocked kitchen, which is invaluable to making yummy recipes quickly and without frustration. I think having a well-written recipe is very important, but without the necessary tools, appliances, cookware, and accessories, things can definitely still go awry!
I recently had a conversation with someone that is getting married in a couple of months, and he asked me what were some “must haves” for the couple’s wedding gift registry. It got me thinking about what I use the most in the kitchen, what I couldn’t live without, and what comes in clutch when cooking. SO I decided to make a list of my top kitchen gadgets for people that are getting married, trying to cook at home more often, or just looking to help make cooking more enjoyable and efficient! You don’t need to buy everything at once-it took me years to accumulate these items. But with Mother’s Day around the corner and wedding season quickly approaching, now is the time to evaluate what YOU need in your kitchen, or use this as a gift guide for the aspiring chefs in your life 🙂 Every picture has a link to the item on Amazon, to make shopping quick and easy! 🙂
Without further ado, here are my Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets that every home chef needs!
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A good set of wooden spoons
This might seem kinda silly, but my wooden spoons are probably one of the “tools” I use most often when cooking! They are easy to overlook when stocking your kitchen, but can totally make or break the “chef experience”. I love the way the spoons feel in my hands, they hold up really well, I like that they aren’t made of plastic or silicon, and they look nice in the utensil canister beside your stove!
Narrow Measuring Spoons
These are actually something I just recently added to my gadget drawer, and I don’t know why I waited so long to buy them! They are inexpensive but SUCH a game changer when it comes to measuring out spices. I got frustrated for years that anything over the 1/4 teaspoon wouldn’t fit in a spice jar, but with these narrow measuring spoons, even the tablespoon fits in any jar! Such a simple little buy that makes SO much more sense than the traditional measuring spoons!
Glass Nesting Bowls
Gosh, I use these guys almost daily! I love that you can pick from just about any size and that they all fit together in one place in the cupboard. When I am cooking, I really like to get all of the ingredients ready before I start the actual cooking process, so having these bowls handy is super helpful to help temporarily store things like chopped veggies, sauces, marinating meats, salads, mixed spices…anything really! They are also super easy to clean and obviously dishwasher safe!
A nice set of kitchen knives
I “got by” with pretty crappy knives for a long time, until Travis had finally had enough and got me this pretty nice set for Christmas a couple years ago. You could spend hundreds on a knife set, so I feel like this is a really good quality, middle of the line option that won’t break the bank, but is a major upgrade from the cheaper products. If you are doing even just an average amount of cooking from scratch, a nice knife set is SO worth it! Plus, I like that this one has the sharpener built in, because, as my dad always said, a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one! 😉
Food Processor
Before the days of pre-grated cauliflower rice, this baby was pretty much a permanent structure on our counter. Now that I can buy riced cauliflower at just about any grocery store, it doesn’t get quite as much use, but it still comes in SUPER handy anytime I need something really blended or chopped into a course/fine texture.
Immersion Blender
This is probably one of the less commonly used gadgets on this list, but that doesn’t make it any less desirable or useful! This thing is MANDATORY when making your own mayonnaise. Never made your own mayo before? You are missing out, and it is SO easy when you have an immersion blender! This also comes in super handy when making soups like Tomato Soup or Baked Potato/Cauliflower Soup that get blended up…just stick the blender in the pot and let it rip until everything is smooth and to your desired consistency! I don’t mean to sound like a spokesperson for the Immersion Blender… It’s just that this magical little wand makes all the difference for certain recipes!
Dutch Oven
Instant Pot (Or a Crock Pot)
Instant Pots are totally ALL the rage these days, and understandably so. They are no longer the pressured steam bombs waiting to blow people’s faces off that they used to be (or at least that’s what I thought of them). They are SUPER easy to use, convenient, and cook many different types of foods incredibly fast. (I am still in absolute awe every time I cook a whole spaghetti squash in 6 minutes).
They can do everything a slow cooker does, including cook things slowly…if that makes any sense. Sometimes, I just want to throw everything in the crockpot before work and come home to the finished product, and the Instant Pot has that ability.
Perhaps what I love the most about it is the “saute” feature it has-this is SUPER handy for any recipe that requires the meat to be browned before cooking. Who wants to dirty a pan when you are using the slow cooker to save time? Not I!
The best spaghetti sauce AND chili I have tasted in recent memory were both made in the Instant Pot in about 30 minutes. That comes in incredibly handy when you come home from work without a solid dinner plan in mind, or maybe you want to scratch your former plans in favor of letting an appliance do all the work!
The only reason I wrote OR is because I don’t think that you NEED both an Instant Pot AND a Crock Pot. It is nice, and I wouldn’t want to give either away, but it all comes down to storage…most people don’t have room for both!
So I guess the takeaway here is: if you are debating between the 2, get the Instant Pot! And if you already have a Crock Pot, and have plenty of storage room and like saving time, go for the Instant Pot too! 🙂
A few recipes that rock using the Instant Pot:
Cast Iron Skillet
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but there’s a reason I saved this one for last! The use that my cast iron skillet gets is right up there with the nesting bowls and wooden spoons…so pretty much daily! I love that I can use the skillet both on the stovetop, and in the oven. The way that it browns meat and vegetables is unlike any other pan. I think the best steak that Travis has ever made, was in our cast iron skillet, because the crust on the outside was perfect and we were able to easily control the heat to get the perfect amount of pink on the inside. I currently have a 12″ skillet, but I have been jonesing for a couple more sizes since I can’t tell you how many times I could be using more than one at a time! Perhaps best of all, I love that I am getting an extra boost of iron every time I cook with this. Super helpful for someone with a history of anemia!
I think the one hold-up people have about cast iron skillets is that they can be intimidating to care for. This skillet from Lodge comes “pre-seasoned” so you can get right to cooking with it. We just make sure not to wash ours with any soap, and if something does stick to the bottom (which is rare) we just soak it in warm water for a little bit, and then it wipes right off with a sponge. It’s really not as difficult as people think!
A couple of prime examples of the Skillet at work:
Husband’s Pick
(Ok mine too)
Deep Fryer
This is totally a “just for fun” frivilous gift that I got Travis for his birthday 2 years ago, but we have put some really good use to this bad boy! Deep frying anything isn’t necessarily good for you, but I feel pretty darn good about it when we are using Avocado oil and controlling the ingredients that go into the fryer. We (and by “we” I mean my husband) have made some killer fried fish, french fries, hot wings, and fried avocado (to name a few) using this little appliance, and there is nothing like it! It’s an awesome feeling to be able to eat fried foods guilt free 🙂
Well, that wraps up my top 10 list! Who would have thought I could write almost 2,000 words about kitchen appliances and tools? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I get pretty passionate about my kitchen gadgets! These are my most prized possessions when it comes to creating healthy and delicious meals with ease and comfort!
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