Whether you’re a bachelor or a family of 4, cooking is a part of your life. Even if it’s just popping bread in the toaster. Sharing meals with someone you love is an age old tradition and one that seems to be falling away. We live in a world with limited time and fast food everywhere. But there are ways to make cooking easier.
A well stocked kitchen is ideal. But if you’re on a budget (and have limited space) these 7 essentials are a wonderful start. Your stomach (not to mention heart and cholesterol) will thank you.
*Pot and Pan Set
Now you can get a set of good pots and pans for fairly cheap. You need a good set to do everything from boiling pasta to sautéing chicken. Don’t skimp on this or try to do everything with a huge pot your mom gave you when you moved out. It won’t work.
*Knife Set
You don’t need anything fancy. Really just a great chopping knife with a sharpener and a steak knife set will do. The bread knife, paring knife and all the others are added bonuses. It’s miserable trying to chop anything with a dull knife.
*Garlic Press
It may seem small, but I love this sucker. It demolishes garlic instantly. And makes putting garlic in everything really easy. And garlic is a super healthy way to make anything tastier.
*Food Processor
This is an investment that you’ll use all the time. A really high powered blender works too, like the Vitamixer. But if you don’t have the dough, you can get away with a fairly inexpensive processor like the CuisineArt. It makes your life a lot easier and opens up a world full of fun recipes.
*Wire Whisk
When you have to beat the living tar out of some recipe, using a spoon just doesn’t cut it. Grab a whisk. They’re inexpensive and cut the time down by half. They’re great for baking, cooking eggs, making salad dressing, you name it.
*Cutting Board
This is kind of a given, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t have one! Or if they do, it’s a really bad one. A good wood board is awesome. And it looks good on your counter, if you don’t have space to store it. And it’s good to have 2: one for meat and only meat and one for everything else.
*Salad Spinner
Before I got one, I’d wash lettuce and then lay it in paper towel and dry it. Problem was it never got fully dry and I was burning through paper towels like they were going out of style. You can get a great spinner for around $20. It’s well worth it. Plus, if you have kids, they’ll love pushing the spinner down. They have fun and you don’t have to work as hard. Win!
If you take care of these 7 basic things, you’ll be off to a great start at stocking your kitchen! Just think of the possibilities for dinner.
Lisa Coronado is a content writer for Custom Magnets .
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