Favorite Kitchen Tools

When I am in the kitchen, I have realized that I have my go-to kitchen tools that help me to accomplish any type of cooking/baking task.  Below is a list of tools that I feel are important and think any amateur cooks would appreciate having.

Immersion Blender

KitchenAid Immersion Blender

My immersion blender gets so much more use than I ever thought.  I received this as a birthday gift and instantly fell in love with this powerful little red appliance.  The immersion blender is great for:

1.       Thickening soups

2.       Making smoothies

3.       Mixing ice based drinks

4.       As a substitute for a food processor or blender (if what you are blending is a smaller quantity)

Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker

Hello my friend!  The slow cooker is such an amazing invention.  Who doesn’t love walking through your front door after work and smelling a ready to eat home cooked meal (and no, you don’t have a personal chief doing all of the work).  This little wonder allows you to throw together a soup, roast, chili, dessert, appetizer, the options are endless.  You can just set the timer on the slow cooker to start while you are at work, then when you are ready to eat it is waiting for you!  Plus this one pot wonder means less clean up! Who doesn’t love that?

KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer



KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer



This stand up mixer stands mighty on your countertops.  This beauty truly is worth every penny spent on her.  I use this mixer for everything that needs mixing.   It is so great to turn it on to cream together butter and sugar while I am gathering the rest of my ingredients and starting on the next step.  It allows me to keep moving on with the recipe and save time in the end.  The stand mixer has so many capabilities with the paddle, whisk and dough hook attachments.  I am making muffins, cakes, whipped cream, pizza dough, you name it, and I can do it with this mixer! Thank you KitchenAid for this product!

Fine Mesh Strainer



Fine Mesh Strainer

A fine mesh strainer is a great tool to have in your kitchen. I give mine multiple purposes to save on having to buy other types of products.  I, obviously, use it as a strainer to strain finer foods that can easily slip through the larger wholes of a standard strainer.  But I also use it as a sifter for dry ingredients while baking.  No need to have a specific tool for every action if you can repurpose some tools for multiple processes.  This will save you money and space in your kitchen.

Mixing Bowls

Parker Bowl Set

I love nested mixing bowls.  They give you lots of sizes for all different types of uses.  I received these Crate & Barrel Parker Bowls as a gift from my aunt and I love their vibrant colors.  I use these for everything from mixing to serving.  They look great and are so fun to use.  I am using these every day.   The small one is great to serve a dip in and then use the larger bowl to serve the chips.  The colors coordinate and make for a very fun presentation.   

Rubber Spatula

Rubber Spatula

I have lots of spatulas in my kitchen.  I am always using them to scrap down the side of a mixing bowl to ensure everything is incorporating together or scraping out a pot of mashed potatoes into a serving bowl.  These are great to make sure you aren’t leaving anything behind.  They have high heat tolerance so you can use them while cooking too for stirring rice, couscous, vegetables, etc. 

Baking Sheets



Nonstick Baking Sheets

Baking sheets are a very helpful tool to have in your kitchen tools collection.  They are very useful for baking cookies, but they have many other uses.

1.       Roasting vegetables

2.       Making baked quesadillas

3.       Baked French fries

4.       Reheating leftovers to bring their crunch back

I hope that you find this helpful.  These are definitely my go-to items in my kitchen that I don’t think I could function in the kitchen without. 

What are you favorite kitchen tools?