Eating healthy starts with cooking healthy - at home, and that requires the right gadgets, inspiration and tools to make it all more palatable. Cooking (and baking) for me does not come easy. I am not a natural. When a recipe says prep time of 10 minutes, I triple it. And I don't even look at the ones that have a prep time of 30 minutes or over - hah!
I also like kitchen tools and gadgets that can double as decor - since I'm just starting to get the knack for proper organization (another must!), and I'm usually hustling, so really ideal to have my main tools in arms reach and easy to put away later. Even better if putting it away means setting it on my counter. ;)
For a new year, with your new goals (if you're like me... eating healthy and more so at home) - I've rounded up my top 7 kitchen must-haves below!
Stoneware is a must, but you have to figure out what you'll most want it for to determine the size. I have a few, and up until recently, was mostly using when entertaining - but have challenged myself to use more often and just for fun!
Not only do they cook better and keep food warm - but the bright colors or crisp white make it more fun than a plain metal pan. Bonus, if it sits out on your counter - it doesn't look so bad.
Cutting boards are a utility you need, but also double as serving trays for cheese and charcuterie. Furthermore, some even look wonderful out on display, leaning against the back splash or wall. Get them in different sizes and designs - like this long, skinny one with marble or a set of olive wood cutting boards.
Trade in your mismatched, nicked and wilted cooking utensils for a set that matches. You won't even have to shove them in a drawer, you could display them right out on the counter - throwing them in a canister for easy use.
One of my favorite small appliances is my Blendtec blender. This has lasted me 5 years and going strong. I use it weekly - and there is never any re-blending or stirring throughout needed.
For all those stews and chili that are so great to make in the winter time, I got a cast iron dutch oven for Christmas! After a ton of research (if you know my husband.... you know we don't buy/ask for anything that isn't reviewed, tested and approved by the likes of Wire Cutter and others), we landed on this 6 qt one in crispy white by Lodge.
My favorite reusable item - the Stasher bag! It's basically a reusable Ziplock, but you can also freeze it, dishwasher it and boil it (a la sous vide). They also come in all kinds of colors, 3 different sizes and easy to close/open.
And the icing on the cake... or the avocado on the salad (?) for healthy cooking and keeping your kitchen space conveniently looking good (even when cluttered), cookbooks! I recently went through mine and cleaned out my way too massive stash, but the few I kept not only give me the best recipes, but look good. My favorite? Clean Slate by the editors of the great Martha Stewart Living.
My favorite kitchen gadgets, tools and appliances:
I started tackling problem areas of my house (which makes up a good portion of my house) months before the new year, and I'm glad I did. I still have plenty of room for new year resolutions, but I feel good about having gotten a head start. To keep myself honest and motivated, I wanted to share my little head start, and tips for gaining control over inside your cabinets (the place I chose to start).
Hopefully in this new year, we'll start renovations to our kitchen, brightening it up, updated counters and backsplash, and streamlined structure. I realized through other friends going through kitchen renovations that I really need to clean out the extra stuff, declutter and start organizing the remaining stuff BEFORE our own renovations start. This will help the current living and kitchen usage, but also the cleaning out/moving back in process later.
Before we just had loads of food stuffed (literally) into our cabinets. Nothing organized, nothing finable - so much so, we would just constantly buy new items we needed immediately, instead of the stuff we already had. As I was cleaning everything out - I found items that had expired in 2009!
The first thing you need to do is enlist/bribe/coerce a friend into helping you. It's way more fun with a friend (and some music), plus they help keep you honest. Thanks, Tiff! And take before pics, because you'll forget how bad it actually looked and it'll be super motivating to continue/do more.
Second: Take everything out of your cabinets. EVERYTHING. Then you can start grouping items and throwing out things that are expired (like from 2009...), not used in over a year or multiples of items. Once the cabinets are clear, you can begin measuring your space to know what size of storage containers to get.
Once you've cleaned out a bunch of stuff and grouped your remaining items, you'll assess what kinds of storage items you need.
I immediately ordered these Sistema Bake IT Storage Containers in both the "Flour" (larger) size, and the "Sugar" (smaller) size for all my powders, seeds, oats, chocolate morsels and granules. I love these because they seal well and easily, plus come with a measuring scoop. They also keep everything lined up and visible to what is running low and needed.
I also got these clear storage bins for my spices. My friend had the genius idea to group my less-used or extra spices by alphabetical order and toss them in bins vs. lined up and lost to the back. I then use a lazy susan to alphabetically organize the spices I used the most for easy access.
As a final and added touch, get a label maker to make it extra clear where everything goes. Just beware, once you get to labeling things, it'll be hard to stop!
{for the record.. this was their ideas!}
My cabinet organization products:
Tell me your favorite life-changing organization updates or what's on your list to get organized!
New favorite color alert! I predict this bright blue color will be around even more this Spring, as I'm starting to see it pop up. It's such a fresh take on your typical blue, and I love it. On a whim I tried on this blue cardigan in the store - first because the cardigan sweater was so soft, and second because the color immediately called to me.
My friend, who I was browsing with, immediately encouraged me to get it and totally pulled a Clueless on me as I was questioning if it was flattering on. "Give me your phone (in lieu of polaroids a la Cher)," she said, and snapped some pics right at the register with those around us giggling. But she was right, I loved the way it fit, too.
