Everyone has their favorite kitchen items they can’t live without. These are just a few of mine! Plus don’t miss our favorite cherry smoothie recipes.
A. Blendtec Classic 575 model. It’s a smoothie making magician! It has a preprogrammed smoothie button, among others, that does all the work for you and no tamper needed.
Before making my purchase I watched several youtube videos and ultimately decided based on what I needed a blender to do, the Blendtec series was the best bang for my buck. I purchased mine at Costco last year and have nothing but success.
Here’s a video from the girls over at Simple Green Smoothies of the Blendtec and Vitamix in Action that further persuaded me.
CONS: loud when chopping frozen items, but to be expected!
B. Ninja 3 in 1 cooking system. I previously mentioned how much I adore this crockpot in my Pasta e Fagioli post. It’s truly more than a crockpot! You can sear and saute right in the pan before setting it up for slow cooking. The warming feature can be used at anytime vs. previous slow cookers I’ve owned that only utilize that feature after the time is up.
The ninja system has saved me many times to keep dinner warm or let it finish cooking on the stovetop low setting while I dash out to the door to pick up or drop off kids.
CONS: the sides of the pot get hot (the black sides that stick out just under the lid) and I’ve mistakenly grabbed them when going to stir something. Once the unit is off they cool down quickly for lifting the pot to rinse out. Also you need to use plastic or wooden utensils to not scratch the non-stick surface. Upside is it’s a breeze to clean…downside is no shredding with forks and you’ll probably need to purchase a plastic ladel for soups.
C. 6.5″ Santoku Knife by OXO. A good knife makes all the difference in preparing food. And by good I don’t mean ridiculously expensive. Home Goods had this knife in stock for only $14.99 last month! Rarely do I use another knife in my kitchen! In fact it gets immediately washed and put away because I use it *everyday* for everything. From slicing apples,chopping veggies, mincing garlic and herbs, slicing through cooked or raw meat or tough spaghetti squash…its my workhorse.
CONS: none.
D. Meat Chopper/Crusher. Hands down a life changing tool in my kitchen. You can find these almost anywhere kitchen tools are sold nowadays, I purchased mine 6 years ago from Pampered Chef. When making any dish that requires ground beef/turkey, like my #1 homemade sloppy joes, it easily chops up the meat vs. chasing it around the skillet with a wooden spoon. Just do yourself a favor and get one, you’ll see the immediate difference and wonder how you survived without one.
CONS: none. just check to make sure it’s safe to use in non-stick cookware and the edges don’t seem overly sharp.
E. Oster 2-Tier Electric Food Steamer. Unfortunately my particular model is no longer available but there are several competitors models out. Oster still makes a double steamer version but it’s just slightly smaller and with overall different dimensions. It comes in handy when you want to make rice or an abundance of steamed vegetables but not be a slave to the stove.
CONS: Due to the output of steam you must have a space on your counter not directly under a cabinet. Storage can be a bit tricky if you’re low on space for larger appliances.
F. Pampered Chef Small Micro Cooker When you don’t need the big food steamer mentioned above, this one is super handy for microwave use. I use it weekly for heating up various frozen vegetables, warming soups, or leftovers. The handle twist-locks into place and the lid has tiny holes that allow you to drain it before removing the lid. They also have a larger version, but this size is perfect and stores easily among my other pots.
CONS: none.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk
- 1 packet Carnation Breakfast Essentials vanilla powder or protein powder
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup frozen cherries
- 1/2 cup frozen peaches
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup frozen cherries
- 1 1/4c fresh or frozen pineapple
- juice from 1/2 a lime
Instructions
- For either recipe and any blender, load blender with liquid first and frozen items on top. Hit smoothie button on Blendtec and let it do it's magic. 45 seconds later...cheers!
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