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February 23, 2016

My Kitchen Must Haves {High & Low End}

I love to cook. I am no Julia Child, but I love chopping, cutting and trying new recipes in the kitchen. While I may not be the best, I am all for recipes with multiples steps and rarely take the easy way out. Fresh ingredients are the way to go and Le Husband and I try to keep our cooking as unprocessed as possible. We've tried a lot of products throughout our cooking journey [I claim NO CHEF status] and below are some of my must haves for the kitchen.



Good knives are a must have when you're chopping almost every day. Le Husband bought an incredible set before we met and we've added one here and there over the years. Make sure you sharpen your knives, sometimes a few quick swipes all bring NEW LIFE.

We like to use our plastic cutting boards for meats [since they can go in the dishwasher] and save our wooden cutting boards for fruits, veggies and on the random occasion bread. I recommend using two cutting boards to cut down on contamination, but if you don't have the space go for the plastic, it's easier to clean up in my opinion.

Most people would consider mason jars, a zester and an herb cutter non essential gadgets but I truly don't. Mason jars are fabulous for storing coffee and shaking up a dressing or spice rub and they just look super cute. I've used a grater in the past for zesting [ I mean, I'd never turn down a good recipe, no zester be damned] however I find a zester gets just that much more out of the ingredients. I don't remember HOW I ever chopped herbs before I had this handy gadget, seriously, my chopping time and precision has gone down immensely. We bought ours in Alaska so it's extra special when we use it.

When we were registering before our wedding I was so excited to register for Pyrex. Does that make me weird? I love the pretty clear bowls and the fact I can just pop a lid on each for easy travel and storage. And they've come in super handy when blogging recipes.

Two of the newest additions to our kitchen are our spiralizer and pasta attachments. We found ours at BB&B but I've also seen it at Target or inn Amazon. Once we have more space I'd love to upgrade to a bigger standup version, but for now this one does the trick. I bought Le Husband the pasta attachments for his birthday last year and we probably use it every month when we aren't eaten Whole30. Once you try homemade noodles, you'll NEVER go back to store bought. And trust me, it isn't nearly as hard as you think.

Not pictured: a meat thermometer. Seriously, this is a MUST if you don't want to over cook your meat [I can probably quote you the temperatures if you need them, haha].  I'm a medium rare/medium girl so this lil gadget is a must to keep my meat from getting over cooked. I also like it that extra check on chicken and pork.

What are your kitchen musts? What am I missing?

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37 comments:

  1. I have the exact same spiralizer! Our kitchen is tiny so we have the minimal gadgets right now, but I definitely need a meat thermometer! I am always over-cooking my meat.

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  2. Always paranoid that my meat isn't fully cooked so I recently got a meat thermometer and it's a huge life saver!!

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  3. I love this post idea!! It's in my drafts to complete. It's so fun to see what other people use in their kitchen! I was excited about Pyrex, too! Pretty much any kitchen item I love.

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  4. I love my microplane. I use it for nutmeg, garlic, and ginger. And they last forever. I think mine was less than $10!

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  5. fully on board with all of this. i LOVE my kitchenaid mixer; i use it at least twice a week. i also found a great meat thermometer at the dollar store of all places!

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  6. all good suggestions! i have one expensive but great knife and it's a game changer. and pyrex is def my fav! i can't handle storing stuff in plastic. so bad. and i must have my pour over coffee device. so key! :)

    xoxo cheshire kat

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  7. I've been wanting those Pyrex bowls forever but I never get them. I need to! And I've been wanting a pasta roller but wasn't sure if I'd ever use it! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  8. Omg, I didn't even know an herb chopper existed!! This is going to be a game changer for me! And yes to a meat thermometer. My husband bought me one after I dried out chicken a few too many times due to paranoia, haha. Love this list!

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  9. as a non-cook, I am clueless on what i need in the kitchen, so i appreciate this list! I need that one for the herbs!

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  10. My kitchenaid is hands down my favorite tool in the kitchen! I want to get one of the icecream maker attachments for it!

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  11. Hubby says we need new knives... This is totally the year of replacement for us! We just bought new plates, a new sandwich press, new griddle, new toaster and the list of things to replace is growing... Like towels, glasses/cups, knives, etc. Such an expensive year!! Lol

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  12. I love this! I'm always on the hunt for things to make cooking more efficient and fun and of course healthy! :)

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  13. Something I have & love is a collapsible colander - different sizes - I love the smaller ones for berries.

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  14. I started making better meat when I bought a really good meat thermometer. And yes to nice knives! If you take care of them, they'll last forever!

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  15. Yess to a zester! I feel like we always need more pyrex or tupperware in general, somehow always losing the lids!

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  16. This is a great list. I don't have many of them, so that proves what a cook I am!

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  17. I was just saying to my husband that I needed to buy a meat thermometer!lol

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  18. I have been thinking of getting spiralizer..
    good picks

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  19. I love seeing what other people use like crazy in the kitchen!

    I hate mason jars, I don't like fooling around with the lids. Glassy pyrex for everything!

    Good knives are my #1 must. I have a wooden cutting board, and then three or four plastic ones. They get a ton of use in my house!

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  20. I've so been wanting to check out a spiralizer and we so need some new knives. I could not do without my Ikea cheese grater and the pampered chef chopper.

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  21. I tell Jared probably once a week that we need a new knife set haha. We didn't register for a very nice one for our wedding and here we are 5 years later- it's not in great shape. We purchased one nice knife last year to use but I'm hoping for a big nice set soon! I use all plastic cutting boards in our kitchen, but have always thought I wanted/needed a wooden one!

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  22. So many great kitchen gadgets! My Kitchen Aid is hands down my favorite appliance, and I'm in love with my spiralizer and of course my crock pot <3
    Green Fashionista

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  23. Good knives are a must! I've never made pasta before. I guess we don't eat it often enough but I like that you make your own.

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  24. We bought a spiralizer earlier this year, but it's not the one that attaches to our KitchenAid. So far we're loving making zoodles with it, and the KitchenAid sounds like it might be easier to use and clean! We don't have mason jars, but I would love to try them out for taking lunches to work.

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  25. I used to wonder why anyone would ever spend the money on mixers but now that we have our bosch?! I could never do it any other way (in other words I am far too lazy for a hand mixer or just plain using my limbs to mix something, ha ha!) I NEEEEEEEED a spiralizer!

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  26. I think my favorite gadget in my kitchen is my kitchen aid food processor. Without that I'd be doing a whole lot of chopping, dicing, slicing by hand. Great things you have listed here.

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  27. I need to get a zester! I love my Pyrex...I have those bowls and the casserole dishes are always great and handy too!

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  28. I couldn't live without my kitcheaid, it's my most used kitchen gadget!

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  29. I love my food processor!! It is just as useful as my kitchenaid! You should get the juicer attachment! Best OJ ever!!

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  30. Definitely agree with the kitchenaid mixer as a must have!
    Shoes to Shiraz

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  31. I could not live without my Pyrex! That stuff is amazing!

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  32. Pyrex bowls are my jam, I use them for everything! & I'd be lost without my Kitchen Aid Mixer! Great list!

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  33. Love this post! Both Conor & I cook, so our kitchen is well stocked. Love my micro plane as well as my Kitchenaid and ALL the attachments.

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  34. I loooove our Pyrex stuff... my sister got us a set for Christmas the year before last. The best is how you can put it in the oven, too!

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  35. pyrex are probably my favourite things in our kitchen. we got extra pyrex stuff because people didn't give the registry to the cashier or whatever and KC was like we should take some back and i was like NEVER. pyrex is the best! haha. that cutting board with the little slant dip thingy looks so awesome! i want it.

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  36. oh okay, the cute little chopping board goes with the herb cutty thingy? i don't use fresh herbs (i know, i know, bad me) but i want the board thingy. clearly i am amazing in the kitchen. LOL.

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