The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in our house. I mean, where else are you going to cook, and cooking takes time – especially cooking healthy. Sure you could throw some frozen food on a plate and heat it up and would not spend as much time, but nowadays everyone is trying to eat healthier. I know at least I am. Anything that saves me time in the kitchen or helps me eat healthier is a huge plus for me, and here are some of the kitchen items I have found that I cannot do without.
One “appliance” I will call it that is my new favorite thing EVER is the air fryer. Now, if you are like me you hear “air fryer” and immediately shake your head and think NO. I swear I did the first time I heard it. No way is my food going to be air fried and be just as good as deep frying in my vat of oil that I use, which I have not done in ages, everything is getting baked. I mean, it's basically like putting it in a toaster oven pretty much, right? How wrong I was. Still skeptical I used it, not expecting much. I decided to use frozen tater tots (no matter how healthy I am I have to have them once in a while). I figured they would be the same as putting them in an oven. You don't need to use oil or can just put very little in if you really want to, so hello, that is not frying in my book. When I took them out, I was amazed at how crispy they looked. My oven does not get them this crisp unless I leave them in much longer than it says to. Plus this took half the time. Okay, now the taste test. I swear if I had not air fried them myself I would have never known they were not “fried” the traditional way. How much oil did I use to achieve this? ZERO! No oil! I decided not to use any and I did not regret it one bit. Now I air fry EVERYTHING. You know what I air fried? London broil. Yep, meat. I did spritz that with olive oil since I was afraid that I would do something wrong the first time trying this. No lie this was the BEST London broil I ever had in my life. It was so juicy I did not even miss it not being on the grill. You can pretty much air fry anything, and because you are using very little oil (or none because it really is not necessary) you have just made it healthier (and more delicious if you ask me).
On the subject of meat, if I am spending money on meat I want it to taste the best it possibly can. I could go to a restaurant and pay triple the price or I could buy it from the store. But if I buy it from the store, it will not taste as good as the restaurants. Until now! With the SteakAger I put in my roast or prime rib or whatever I want and just let it age and then reap the benefit. It fits right into the refrigerator so I do not need to have a whole other separate appliance to do this. It controls the humidity, even kills all bacteria so instead of your meat sitting in the fridge unprotected now it is protected and aging so it will taste so good when you make it you will think it came from a steakhouse!
Now obviously I don't air fry everything, variety is the spice of life. A nice little tool I found was the Sous Vide Circulator Precision Cooker. This comes with the bags and grips onto any pot. I just put in water to cover the bag, and put it in the pot. It makes sure food is cooked evenly. I love it for ribs and vegetables, never had them taste so good!
One thing I ALWAYS run out of is ice. I use it faster than it can be made, and I have an automatic ice maker that delivers it to my freezer in a bin so you would think I would not have that problem. That is why I love my portable ice maker. Now if I know that I am having company or it is an especially hot day and I think that I will be using more ice than my freezer can handle, I can make more ice and best part is I can be lazy and bring it with me and whenever anyone needs ice they can just help themselves instead of me having to go to the freezer to get it or put it in an ice holder which always ends up melting and you are fishing little pieces office out of cold water with tongs that never want to grab those little pieces. I never run out of ice anymore and I love it. It is just a nice handy thing to have and I don't have to go running to the store for ice because I run out of it in the middle of something (and pay so much money for what is literally water).
The last little gadget I wanted to touch upon is an egg peeler. Might sound crazy, but this thing is awesome. When I have to peel hard boiled eggs to make deviled eggs or egg salad or even just eat one I always have the hardest time getting the shell off. It is annoying and frustrating and I end up making a mess half the time or completely destroying the egg. That doesn't matter too much if I am making egg salad but this also takes me half the time so there is that too! You fill it with water, put the egg in, shake it (not violently) so the egg is touching the sides, and the egg will just come out of its shell so easily. No more rolling the egg on the table or whatever trick you use (which for me never works anyway). No more peeling the shell off little by little because those pesky shells do not want to come off. Just grabbing a hard boiled egg in the morning for my protein and not having to spend 5 minutes trying to peel it makes it worthwhile! By the time I used to get the egg peeled I would not even want to eat it anymore! This saves on time and frustration!
What kitchen items do you need for your kitchen to make your life easier or help you eat healthier?
These are awesome suggestions. I could really use these at my house. Thank you so much for sharing this. God Bless