Must haves for the kitchen for healthy eating

What do you think are the kitchen appliances or tools that you can't live without? I'm revamping my entire kitchen and would love to hear the shortcuts and tips that can make it easier to cut vegetables, or make juice or the pans that works best for steaming food. Many thanks!

Thu. May 8, 10:37am

The best is to keep it simple. A knife for cutting, a hand reamer for juicing, and a little steam rack for the inside of a regular sauce pan. Done. Simple.

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 10:41 AM

I love my big Cuisinart - it slices, minces, and shreds in a jiffy. Great for big vegetable dishes or for making things like my own hummus. An immersion blender has been great for making my own soups.

Probably THE best investment was a good knife. It cost me $100+, but it made a world of difference when it came to cutting, dicing and dicing all those fruits and vegetables!

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 10:42 AM

Invest - cooking is an experience

If you like your tools you will enjoy using them. These are the items I could NOT live without !!!!!!

- Wustoff knives are worth every penny.
- Hand held blender / mixer (quickly does everything from a quick smoothie to blending homemade soups)
- A good wooden cutting board for veggies
- garlic crusher
- wooden spatula - Ikea - works better then the spoons for more turning ability when stir frying, of sauces.
- I have two sizes of the stainless collapsable steamers that fit into pots, easy and convenient, and then larger steamer pots for larger items
- my creuset dutch ovens (3 sizes) If I was stranded on an island with only one pot, it would have to be one of these.
- a stainless rack that fits into the bottom of a roasting pan so the drippings fall away from the meat.

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 11:00 AM

a big , high quality knife (as the pp says)

a smaller, serrated knife for cutting tomatos ( I eat a lot of tomatos.)

Cuisinart. Oh this is wonderful -- I do not own a blender in addition. I use the Cuisinart to make everything from smoothies to grated-carrot salad to chopped veggies for all sorts of dishes. It's especially nice for onions -- no more tears!

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 11:05 AM

My knives!!!! I could not live without good knives sharper than the winter wind. Having said that - my knife sharpener - love it.

- 2 great cutting boards, 1 for bigger jobs, 1 for smaller jobs
- hand blender: it's opened a whole new world of creamy soups (without the cream), neat sauces and my own flavorful LF dressings. I had no idea how easy it was to make my own healthful versions of stuff - I couldn't fathom paying that much money for the pre-made stuff ever again. It's a cuisinart and comes with a chopping attachment, but I usually only use that for really fine chopping and prefer my knives for most of it.
- Wok - I have a Calphalon anodized aluminum wok (not non-stick). It has the heat distribution of carbon steele without the maintenance. I'd be lost without it.
- Wooden spatulas from the asian market. Easy on pans and so functional.
- My nice porcelain dishes from Crate and Barrel. Everything looks nicer and more appealing served on nice placeware. Seriously, it was a wonderful investment. These do not chip or scratch like my old stonewear ones did. Food looks so appealing when it is presented on nice dishes.
- Litehouse Salad Herb blend - so nice and zesty! This perks of any dish that would otherwise be bland. I know it's not a gadget, but my kitchen would not work the same without them.

I have a few other things i really like (my heavy-bottomed stockpot), but really those are the main things that help me cook and eat healthfully.

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 1:48 PM

One of my favorite appliances that has really improved our diet isn't even in the kitchen. It's a gas grill. We use it several times a week for grilling chicken breasts, fish fillets, flank steak, and veges. And its quick. With marinades and rubs, I can have a healthy, delicious dinner made in under 30 minutes easy.

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 2:10 PM

A kitchen scale and measuring cups!

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 3:00 PM

I am going to agree with a few people.
I love and could not live without my digital food scale. Started with a regular one and it wasn't accurate enough.
I love my black and decker mini chopper. I have a hand blender and use it now and again. Depends on the types of foods you make. Mine also has a chopper attachment but when I lost one of the pieces had to go get a mini chopper. I have a large food processor as well and if you have a family to cook for it is what I would go for rather than the mini.
I chop my veggies in it all the time for soup and for fillings. When I make a meat filling of any kind I always load it with veggies. This makes such quick work of it
A meat thermometer
a nice pair of tongs.
a baking sheet with sides for roasting vegetables
a good vegetable peeler. I never knew you could peel butternut squash so easily.
Parchement paper and cooking spray
I love my parchement paper. Makes life so much easier.
And lastly a good non sick electric skillet. I cook about 75% of my food in it.

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 3:16 PM

mine is a relatively cheap item :)

I started stocking Parchment paper for baking things in the oven, not only does it mean your pans are protected from stains and difficult clean-ups, but it means you don't have to add any fat to keep your meal from sticking. You can make packets to keep in moisture or simply line your pans with it and cook "open-face" ... either way you don't have to add any calories to your meal to protect it from sticking and THAT is a good thing!!!! :)

I absolutely LOVE having it in my kitchen and would be lost without it!!!

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 3:31 PM

3:16 - a non sick electric skillet?? To work don't we need them to run a high temperature? hee hee

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 3:32 PM

Ba DA dum!

Thursday, May 08, 2008, 7:46 PM

I am not overly fond of any sick pans, I must have non sick at all costs :)

Sorry but it was a cute typo:)

Friday, May 09, 2008, 7:42 AM

To add to the list...

my blender...use it every single day
microwave....mine just broke! It makes me realize just how much I use it. I wanted a sweet potato yesterday and decided against it because I would have to wait forever and heat up the kitchen by using the oven.

Friday, May 09, 2008, 11:06 AM

Love my VITAMIX! Expensive as hell, but I got mine on Ebay for $70.

Friday, May 09, 2008, 5:46 PM

my coffee grinder. I use it to grind chia seeds and flax seeds to add to baking. I also use it to grind various spices or dehydrated veggies. Ironically, I never grind coffee with it. Desperately wanting a dehydrator so I can dry my own bell peppers, carrots, herbs etc to make salad dressings and dip mixes, as well as jerky and fruit leather.

I can't live without my blender. Because my wheat free bread costs me $5 a loaf, I'm also quite fond of my breadmaker (cost per loaf, less than $2). And I love my crockpot for making soup or stew while I'm at work.

Friday, May 09, 2008, 5:57 PM

I don't use it all the time, but....I love my George Foreman grill. Easy & fast. Non-stick. Great for non-diet stuff too like grilled sandwiches.

Friday, May 09, 2008, 8:33 PM

Thanks guys for giving me a hard time
so just for the record it is a non STICK skillet
I love it.
:)

Saturday, May 10, 2008, 1:11 AM

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