A look into my kitchen and what food and cooking items I use the most.
Don't you just love my old green counter tops and back splash? I rent and this kitchen hasn't been updated in a while (probably ever).
This fun project was suggested by Bluestar Cooking. They have beautiful ranges and ovens that I dream about and would love to have someday but for the moment, that's not possible. Even without top-of-the-line equipment, I still love to cook and create new dishes. These are 5 of my go-to kitchen essentials that I use to make just about every recipe on my blog.
Look into my kitchen with My Kitchen Essentials [Tweet this]
My number one kitchen essential is my 12-inch stainless steel skillet. I cook so many dishes in this skillet. Lots of stir fries, pastas, curries, and more. It's plenty big so food doesn't spill out as I stir, I can use any kind of utensil in it without worrying about scratching a non-stick coating, and it's easy to clean. I use this skillet all the time. Here are just a few recipes I make in my skillet.
My next kitchen essential is my rice cooker. I love this one too. It can cook up to 10 cups of rice, has both a brown and white rice setting, has a delay timer, and has a slow cooker feature. Since moving to Hawaii (about 5 years ago), my husband and I eat much more rice and this cooker has room to make plenty. It's no trouble to make extras for leftover rice dishes. I don't think we've come anywhere close to making 10 cups of rice, but it's nice to know we can. I love the delay timer. I can add the rice and water whenever I have a free moment and just program the cooker for when dinner will be ready. I also use the slow cooker setting often and it's easy and convenient. I love that this ricecooker/slow cooker has multiple uses. It's important to get the most out of one appliance when you have a small kitchen with limited counter space. This has a place of honor on our countertop because I use it multiple times a week. Below are just a few recipes made with the help of this cooker.
My toaster oven. This is my third most essential kitchen item. I've mentioned many times how my apartment oven is unreliable. So, about a year ago (after our first toaster oven died), my husband bought this one. I've always loved toaster ovens because they are the perfect appliance to use for making cheese toast (my favorite lunch) and this one is no different but it offers much more. My favorite thing about this oven is it's big enough to fit a frozen pizza. I bake many things in our toaster oven and since I'm only feeding two it's the perfect size . This toaster oven is used to bake everything from breads (8x4 inch loaf pans fit perfectly) to nachos. I use it often. Here are some recipes that I bake in my toaster oven.
Wooden spoons are a must-have item for every kitchen. They have long handles and are sturdy so they are great for stirring large pots of stews, chilis, soups, and batters. You don't have to worry about the handle getting too hot, and they are safe to use on non-stick pans. Wooden spoons have been around for a long time and it easy to see why. I would be a very unhappy cook without my wooden spoons. Below are just a few recipes stirred by a wooden spoon.
Now that I've made all of these delicious dishes (using my top four kitchen essentials) I need to store the leftovers. This is where my final kitchen essential comes in handy. A set of Snapware Pirex Glass Storage Containers (actually we bought a second set because we loved them so much). My husband bought these at Costco a few months ago to replace the plastic containers we had. They don't all stack together as well as the plastic, but I am happy to dedicate an entire shelf to these. Reheating food in glass containers is so much better, the sizes are great, and the lids fit tight. I also love the steamer basket (5 minutes in the microwave steams broccoli just how I like it). Just a few months of using these storage containers and I don't know how I lived without them.
I hope you enjoyed this look into my kitchen.
I showed you mine, now show me yours. [Tweet this]
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