8 Kitchen Gadgets We Couldn’t Live Without

Here at Nourishing Guru Central, we are continually looking for ways to save time in the kitchen. Though we promote home cooked food, we also know that busy lifestyles can get in the way of any well intentioned cooking plans. With that in mind  (and holiday season upon us), we wanted to share some of our favorite gadgets and appliances we rely on to help us maintain our healthy lifestyle AND have a life outside the kitchen!

SO today we bring you our 8 TOP FAVORITES, along with their use level in our kitchens (green=every day, orange=medium use). See which ones you might already own, and which ones you may want to put on YOUR wish list this season!
(You can click on the gadget name or picture for more information.)

1). Vitamix: Heavy use – both Jane and Stephanie use every day. Where do we start with the all mighty Vitamix…from our morning or afternoon smoothies to salad dressings, sauces, and even soups.  The Vitamix is our trusty friend.  Always there for us in a pinch with its amazing strength and versatility.

2). Food Processor: Heavy use – Stephanie uses almost daily for so
many different things – especially baking – but also for sauces, nut butters,
and shredding vegetables.

3). Mini Food Chop:  Heavy use – Jane’s second runner up.  She uses it
daily for  salad dressings, pudding, chopping or mincing veggies for salads
or sauteing, and crushing nuts or herbs to throw in a variety of dishes.

4). Immersion Blender: Medium use.  You will love having an immersion blender most often in the winter when making soups, but we also
use it for mixing pancake batter and other light mixing.

5). Spiralizer: Medium use  If you have never tried a spiralizer, we suggest you put this on your list.  This is a wonderful gadget for carb lovers trying to cut back on noodles and pasta. You will be amazed at how well it turns zucchini into spaghetti.  Depending on what model you choose, you can also use it for celery root (celeriac), carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash – the options are endless!

6). Crockpot:  Medium use. This is used several times a week in Stephanie’s house.  In one word – stew!  She uses it much more in the colder months, where it’s just easy to chop stuff up and toss it in.  This is a special crockpot called VitaClay® Smart Organic Multicooker – 8 Cup made from clay for more enhanced flavor and no concerns about leaching chemicals into your food.  For the most part the food is ready in 2 hours, but it can keep food warm all day if you are going to be out.  Nothing like coming home to the smell of savory food that is warm and waiting for you to enjoy.

7). Little spatula: Heavy use. Stephanie uses every day.  This little, inexpensive spatula is priceless.  It is helpful for scraping smoothie remains out of the blender, spreading topping on Guru approved cakes and for getting the remainder of nut butter out of a jar. (By the way, this was purchased at the local grocery store for a few dollars)!

8). Citrus Squeezer: One of Jane’s favorites this is a wonderful little device for extracting the juice from lemons, limes, oranges for use in salad dressings and smoothies (and definitely for that morning lemon water).

What about you?  Do you have a small kitchen appliance or gadget you can’t do without?  Let us know in the comments below.

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