My essential kitchen gadgets

What started out as my top 5 gadgets turned into my top 6 as I really struggled to decide between them!  These 6 items are my 'can't live without' and things that I use most regularly in the kitchen.

Before I started changing my diet, healthy eating and learning how to cook, I didn't own anything other than a basic pan set (which rarely got used) and a wooden spoon.  These days, cooking is one of my favourite pastimes and I'm a bit gadget obsessed - I'm on a self imposed ban from investing in any new ones at the moment as I've run out of storage space (though I do have my eye on a ninja).

So in no particular order, these are my top 6 

Kitchen scales

Probably the most used of all my kitchen appliances / gadgets - they live on the counter top permanently and are used to weigh out things like my cereal, nuts, seeds, cheese amongst others.  Keeping them on the work surface makes it easy just to put my bowl / plate directly onto them and makes the whole process completely painless.  My current set is Salter - I got them in Asda after my last Salter set finally went to scales heaven after about 6 years of service.  I like these ones as you can also measure liquids in mls on there too.

Cheese grater

Now, it has definitely seen better days, but I just love my old-fashioned cheese grater (think it is called a rotary grater)  - the exact same one my mum had when we were growing up.  

It's a nightmare to wash up but no risk of grating your fingers trying to get that last bit of cheese grated and it comes with several different size inserts, I always use the finest one as that makes my cheese allowance go a heck a lot further and it's oddly satisfying seeing the grated cheese fall out of the middle!

Tefal Actifry

This is my second actifry (my first one blew up the second week of Lockdown One in 2020 and we ordered our replacement the same night as it's a staple appliance in our house).  I mainly use it for chips (using various vegetables) and roast potatoes though have tried a few other things in it but will admit, I've not been that adventurous and see so many fab recipes and dishes others create in theirs so its definitely something I want to use more (any top tips would be gratefully received!)

3-in-1 peeler

This is one I was debating whether or not to add to my top 5 list but when I thought about it, it gets used so often and is so handy, it would be rude not to include it.

I mainly use the julienne side of the grater and it works perfectly for carrots, courgette, parsnip, radish, potatoes, cucumbers etc and my  favourite dishes are:

- coleslaw

- stirfrys

- salads

- onion bhajis

- hash browns

- carrot cake porridge and courgette porridge (don't knock it till you've tried it!)

(if you'd like me to post any of these recipes in a future blog post, please comment or message me)

Morphy Richards Soup Maker

I was highly sceptical of the usefulness of this when I purchased it about 5 years ago but I'd received some vouchers as a Christmas gift and a few people had recommended a soup maker as being a valuable addition to a healthy eating kitchen AND there was a special offer on AND I'm a sucker for a bargain and the rest is history! 

I love the ease of just chucking in whatever veg we have in (our base soup recipes usually include butternut squash, courgette, onion or leek and carrot but literally anything we have gets thrown in too), a stock cube and maybe a few herbs or spices.  Recently I've been bulking them out with a handful of dried lentils too.  I always use the smooth setting and 21 mins after you've pressed start, you have a lovely soup all done with no effort whatsoever.

It's now a firm favourite and gets used at least twice a week throughout the year and has its own place on the counter top.  It's an appliance that will definitely be replaced the second it breaks (and I have to say, 5 years on, it is still going strong and we most certainly have had our value for money from it).

I have the 1.6 litre one and we usually get 3 or 4 decent bowls of soup out of this.

Philips Chopper

Another of my trusty gadgets that has seen much better days (a hefty crack in the lid from a leap off the counter) but it still functions perfectly and won't be replaced until it has it's final chop!

I started off years ago with a manual version and upgraded to an electrical one about 4 years ago and this is probably one of the biggest time savers I can recommend - particularly if you are a batch cooker or make huge vats of things like chilli, bolognese or any other dish that you pack your veg into.  (Also ideal if you have fussy family members who don't like veg - this chops things so small that you can just hide all manner of the good stuff in your sauces and they'll be none the wiser).

On a batch cooking day, I'll get my various pans ready on the stove, get my piles of veg together and systematically chop them in the chopper, empty into the relevant pan and move on to the next veg.  The majority of my dishes always include onions, courgette, mushrooms and peppers but the chopper works on anything and you simply push the top down more times to chop the veg finer and finer.

I also use mine to make hummus, pastes, pesto and chop herbs and if chopping veg bores you, I'd definitely recommend investing in one of these bad boys.

So that's my top 6 of my most used and most useful kitchen gadgets and appliances (I do have lots more that are either hidden away in cupboards or drawers and used much more rarely as well as the obvious kettle, microwave and toaster) but I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you can't live without in your kitchen - what do you use most often and how it helps you in your healthy eating mission!

If you'd like to receive notifications of when I publish my blog posts, please email me at georginalivinghealthy@protonmail.com and I can you inform you when posts go live.