My 5 Must-Have Kitchen Tools

Do you remember when you were a newly married young woman (or newly moved away from home) and really had no clue what you were doing in the kitchen?  Not only did we not have enough money for expensive kitchen gadgets, but we really didn’t have a good understanding of what we needed and why.

Now that I’ve been a wife and/or mother for nearly 20 years I definitely have a few favorite tools in my kitchen that I don’t think I can live without.

I actually have an older version of this mixer, but it’s amazing nonetheless!  Several years ago, I decided I must have a Bosch Mixer but I didn’t have the money to invest in one at the time.  I scoured Craigslist and found a 30 year old used model that I convinced a lady to ship to me.  Amazingly, she did ship it to me and it still runs strong!

Bosch Mixers are great because they knead your bread dough in no time flat.  If you have the cookie paddles, it will easily mix up a batch of your favorite recipe of cookies, and of course, you can use the whisk and mix anything you’d normally use a mixer for.  If my mixer ever dies on me, I’ll definitely be upgrading to the new model.  It is made with all metal parts by a company that wholeheartedly stands by it’s products, so I can have confidence that it will last for a very long time!

Since you most likely signed up to get my free one week Freezer to Slow cooker menu, you likely realize that I am in love with my slow cooker!  I own a total of 4 different slow cookers.  It would be 5, but my daughter dropped the insert of one of them recently and cracked it.  I had no choice but to throw it out, and have a funeral.  OK, not really the funeral part, but I was not a happy mom.

The purple crockpot that is pictured above is my favorite in the bunch for two reasons (the link I’m sending you to though, is the same one in stainless steel, as I’m not sure they still make them in purple).  For one, it’s pretty, I love purple!  2nd, it’s got digital controls.  I can set it on high for 4 or 6 hours and on low for 8 or 10 hours.  After that time period, it will switch over to “Keep Warm”.  That way your food won’t overcook if you happen to not get home early enough.  If I get a new one, it will be the one that you can program for exactly the amount of hours that you want, (from 30 minutes to 20 hours).  You can find one of those here.

I don’t know how anyone lives without a Rada Peeler.  Seriously.  I love my peeler!  Any time I visit someone else’s home and have to use their peeler, I cringe.  It’s not sharp enough.  Rada peelers come super sharp and make peeling fruits and vegetables easy!  Almost enjoyable.  Unfortunately, there’s no way for you to understand until you actually try it.  The good news is that it is fairly inexpensive at under $10.

I had not bought a new cake pan since I was first married, but this past year, I finally invested in this Rachel Ray Cake Pan.  It is a nonstick surface and a nice thick metal.  I love having a decent pan to cook in again.  I will be slowly replacing all of my kitchen pans with something similar.

This is actually a set of measuring cups that I’m having produced and they’re for sale on Amazon, but I seriously do love them!  They are space savers, that nest together.  There’s 3 sizes… a one cup, 2 cup and 4 cup and that’s been awesome as well.  But most of all, I really like that I can bake in them, microwave them, and use them in the dishwasher and they can take the heat.  They’re made out of silicone and can withstand temperatures up to 490 degrees.

That sums up most of my favorites in the kitchen. I bet your list has some different things on it.  What tools do you think you wouldn’t be able to live without?  I’d love to hear all about them!