My Favorite Items in my Kitchen

I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen, well I mean even if I wasn’t a food blogger I would probably still spend a ton of time in there. I love to cook and bake while I whip up family favorites and teach myself how to make new dishes.

I’ve been working on stocking my kitchen for years and I’ve come across some pretty amazing “kitchen must haves” as well as come useless gadgets.

Here are a few things that I love when I’m working in my kitchen! I would feel lost without some of these items haha.

 

 

KitchenAid KSM150PSTG Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer  – Tangerine (what color would you pick?)- Buy One Here

• Kitchen Aid Mixer! I LOVE this thing. I got my first kitchen aid mixer back in 2007 the Christmas after I got married. This Christmas I was determined to make Christmas sugar cookies with royal icing and since this was my first Christmas away from home and my first Christmas as a wife I wanted this Christmas to be extra special. I was already a bottle of nerves and trying to keep myself together with everything that was going on with military life. I tried to make sugar cookie dough with my little hand mixer and burnt the motor up.  Then I sat on the kitchen floor and cried a big ugly cry over cookie dough. Thomas went out and surprised me my KitchenAid that weekend. I use it for cookie dough, cake batter, homemade ice cream, homemade whipped cream, shredded chicken and so much more! I would be lost without it.

 

Ninja Mega Kitchen System – Buy One Here

• Thomas bought the Ninja Blender system for me for Christmas a few years ago and while we’ve used it for smoothies before, I mainly use it for making homemade peanut butter, Frozen Margaritas, and Milkshakes. I also love to use it to grate cheese if I need a lot for a recipe. It’s also great for pureeing soups! I also recently started using it to Aerate eggs with a little bit of cream or milk before I scramble them! Oh so good!

 

OXO Good Grips 10-Piece POP Container Set- Buy the Set Here

• These little containers are fantastic for food storage! I love being able to see what’s in my containers. I’m actually not a fan of adding labels to everything in my pantry because sometimes I use different containers for different foods and I don’t want to constantly change out labels. The clear containers mean that I don’t have to waste labels and I can still tell what’s in my pantry. I also love that they lock closed and can stack on top of each other. We have a very small pantry in the apartment and sometimes things just have to go on top of other things!

Wilton Indulgence Professional Cookie Cooling Rack Stackable – Buy the Set Here

• I’ve been using these for years and I actually think that I’m going to buy a few more sets soon. I love baking cupcakes and cookies but also don’t want to take up my entire counter space with cooling racks. These stack on top of each other so they don’t have to take up a ton of space. I first bought these when we lived at the farmhouse and I have zero counter space. They’re awesome.

 

Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 6.75 Quart Oval French (Dutch) Oven, Flame- Buy one Here.

• This Le Creuset pot is one of my favorite things to make pasta. I mean I make tons of other things in it too but it’s great for giant dishes of pasta. It’s also perfect for roasting chicken and short ribs.  I’ve used it for giant batched of collard greens and green beans too. I use it so much that I just leave it on my stove 27/7 (after it’s been cleaned of course haha).  I also use it to make soups and Thomas’ favorite chili in the winter.

 

Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven, Marseille- Buy one Here.

• This French Oven was my favorite for Broccoli Casserole, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, Soups and Stews before Thomas broke it. *Wahhhh* Yep, when I was down in Wilmington one week, he was cooking something, went outside to drain the grease and dropped in on the concrete. It cracked all over and so did our hearts. haha Oh it was a sad day indeed. While I don’t have this piece anymore, I’m adding it to the list because I love it and I’m saving up for another one.

 

The Pampered Chef Garlic Press- Buy one Here.

• Ok, this might seem a little silly right below all of these huge gadgets for the kitchen but I truly do love my garlic press. I use a lot of garlic in our cooking and I love being able to pop a garlic clove into the press and be done with it. No need to dirty up a cutting board and knife.

The Pampered Chef Mini Nylon Serving Spatula- Buy one Here.

• This is another small gadget that I use in my kitchen all of the time. It’s perfect for cookies but I also love it for flipping anything (except pancakes and omelets) It’s easier for me to work with than a giant spatula.

Pineapple Easy Slicer- Buy one Here.

Now I don’t use this in the winter haha but now that summer is on it’s way I’ve been eating a ton of pineapple in my fruit bowls. This Pineapple slicer makes it so easy to cut up a pineapple! (Plus you can impress your niece and make a pineapple “cup” for her when you’re done haha)

 
Stainless Steel Kitchen Food Scale- Buy one Here.

I never thought that I would be one of those people that wanted to use a kitchen scale. I thought that they were a pain in the butt and useless. Well, that was until I started to use on in my kitchen. I use this a lot for baking. I really use it a lot when it comes to weighing cut fruit, chocolate and nuts for baking.

 

So that’s what I’m loving in my kitchen right now. What’s something in your kitchen that you just can’t live without?