10 Kitchen Items I Couldn't Live Without

Happy weekend to you all! Those of you on the East Coast with me know that right now it’s hard to tell if we’re expecting a hurricane or the apocalypse. It’s not easy to find a single battery or bottle of water in our town right now. But we’re prepared and hoping to only lose power for a couple days.

While we still have electricity, I’m catching up on lots of blog reading. I came across this post from the ladies at the Little Yellow Kitchen and I thought it would be fun to do a similar post on my most loved kitchen items. Learning what appliances/tools I do and don’t need has definitely been a learning process for me, but there are some things in my kitchen that I honestly wouldn’t be able to manage without.

1. Santoku Knife- @Amazon for $32.95

I have a block with several different types of knives, but the santoku is the one I reach for 90% of the time. I LOVE THIS KNIFE. Words can’t even express. It gives a completely effortless cut and can deal with anything from a delicate dessert to a rock hard winter squash. I honestly don’t see the need for a chef’s knife when you have one of these bad boy’s around.

2. Paring knife– @Amazon for $19.99

Yes, another knife. This is the one I reach for the other 10% of the time. Perfect for small and more detailed jobs like segmenting fruit or removing casing from sausage.

3. Pyrex pie pans– @Amazon for $14.74

I think I got my obsession with pie pans from my mom. She has DOZENS of them, most of which are aluminum and some of which are glass. Pie pans are really a great all-purpose tool in the kitchen. My favorites are Pyrex glass ones and non-stick aluminum ones. I use them to reheat things in the oven, to hold flour or eggs for dredging, to bake rolls, to toast nuts, to marinate meat, the list goes on and on. And of course, you can use them for pie.

4. Cuisinart Food processor– @Amazon for $159.99

I know a lot of people think a food processor is unnecessary or too expensive unless you’re a super “serious” home chef, but I beg to differ. This is one of the first items I got for my kitchen, and it remains one of the most used and most loved. And they are not as expensive as you would think. I own a 9-cup Cuisinart Prep Plus (pictured above) that retails for $160 on Amazon, but you can easily find smaller or refurbished models for under $100. From salad dressing to pesto to soup to grinding something into crumbs or making nut butter, I really can’t imagine my kitchen without a food processor in it. Well worth the money.

5. OXO Garlic press– @Amazon for $19.99

Since I use garlic in nearly every dinner that I cook, a press is an incredibly convenient way to get fresh minced garlic in a jiffy. Mincing garlic by hand is really annoying to me, and you can never get a mince that’s as fine or consistent as what you get from the press. This OXO model is inexpensive and easy to clean. Highly recommended.

6. Nordic Ware bundt pan- @Amazon for $21.14

This might seem like a weird one but I really love my bundt pans. It’s an easy way to make a beautiful cake that requires no decorating, and it’s the perfect vessel for our beloved monkey bread. One good non-stick bundt pan and you’re set for life. I would highly recommend Nordic Ware (for any bakeware), but I have Wilton ones too and they’re just fine.

7. Lodge cast iron skillet– @Amazon for $10.97

As a Southern girl, I feel it would be blasphemous for me not to mention a cast iron skillet as an essential part of every kitchen. Cast iron holds and distributes heat beautifully, and delivers a kind of sear on your food that you really can’t get from any other kind of pan. The skillets I have are from the Lodge brand.

8. Silpat non-stick baking mat- @Amazon for $21.00

I only wish I had bought one sooner. It makes a completely nonstick surface out of any baking dish and your cookies will never be the same again.

9. Zojirushi rice cooker- @Amazon for $89.95

This was a wedding gift, and one of the most useful that we received (though we loved them all!) . Stovetop rice can be tricky to get right (especially brown rice) and it’s so much easier to throw rice and water in this thing then walk away and know it will come out perfectly.

10. Silicone cookie spatula– @Crate & Barrel for $7.95

Also a wedding gift! Any time I have something small that I need to lift from a pan or move around, I whip out this handy spatula. The end is flexible and slopes down, which allows it to slide under pretty much anything without messing it up. Sometimes a regular spatula is too big or clumsy to do what you want, and that’s why I love this little one so much.

 

I’m not sure that I’ll see you again before Hurricane Sandy hits us…BUT I’ve got some exciting news to share when I get back and there are some great posts coming soon based on your requests! Plus another monthly favorites vlog. Get excited! 🙂 And if you’re in the path of this hurricane, please stay safe!

So…what are your must-have kitchen tools?

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren