My “must have” kitchen accessories

Assuming you have a kitchen with oven, cook top, microwave and refrigerator, there is a plethora of appliances out there and I don’t think there would be room in an average kitchen to house them all!  So I’ve listed my Top 10 here, these are my tried and trusted tools that either help me save time, or help me use low fat cooking methods.

I’ve listed below the Top 10 gadgets I love and use the most often in preparing my meal plans for a large family of six.

Essential items

• A good set of sharp kitchen knives.  Don’t skimp on quality and keep them sharp.  I don’t let the children use these at all – there are cheaper, blunter knives for them kept elsewhere in my kitchen.  Believe it or not, sharp knives will save you time in meal preparation.
• A heavy based, non stick fry pan.  Once again, buy the best.  Mine also can be used in the oven to bake casseroles and risottos, saving washing up for some meals.  I always hand wash it, so treasured is this item.

Highly recommended

• A food processor / blender / chopper.  I actually have a few variations on this tool and they save so much time, especially if you are cooking for a large family.  I use mine nearly every evening to finely chop onions.

Good to have

• A slow cooker.  Mine was not especially expensive, and all of my slow cooker recipes can be made on stove top or in oven, but I love to come home occasionally, tired out from work, and have dinner cooked and ready to serve.  Well worth the $60 or $70 I paid two years ago.
• An electric wok.  I actually bought this only recently, because I couldn’t fit the quantity of food required for 6 people to eat stir fry in my heavy based non stick pan.  That said, I do love the electric wok!

These are the only gadgets I find I use constantly in making my meal plans.  However, the other helpful items when you are preparing fresh foods from scratch and avoiding processed foods include:

• A microwave rice cooker with lid.  I haven’t needed an electric rice cooker, this does the job beautifully and it saves dirty sticky saucepans to scrub!
• a ‘great’ grater:  experiment till you find one that’s quick, easy, dishwasher safe and saves your knuckles
• metric cup and spoon measures
• juicer – I still only use a manual one
• good quality ovenware, lasagne and casserole dishes with lids.

Happy and healthy cooking!

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