Kitchen Essentials Worth The Investment

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If you were to walk in to my kitchen and ask me to choose my ‘can’t live without’ kitchen essentials, this list would be it. These six must haves are just that. I MUST have them. In fact, I don’t know what I would do if I had to live without them. Each have their own special place in my kitchen, pantry, and heart. Trust me, from someone who spends a LOT of time in the kitchen, you would be doing yourself a favor by getting your hands on any or all of these beauties! Let’s chat about them, shall we?

1. There are blenders, and then there are BLENDERS. We bought our original Blendtec back in 2011. It was then that our blending lives changed forever. If I had to guess, one of the first recipes I made in it was probably my Copycat Orange Julius. Mmm.. TASTY! If you’re hesitant of the pricetag, there’s a great option for you to drop a little less cash. Blendtec offers Blendtec Classic Certified Refurbished Blenders that are such a great value, including free shipping if you order through my link: score! 

I have a trillion recipes that I’ve used my Blentec with and was recently sent a Blendtec Designer 625 Blender in the super fun Seafoam (that I conveniently like to call Tried and Tasty blue… it’s almost as if they designed it specifically for ME!). I love love, LOVE it. If you want even more of a reason to own one of these gems, you must read my Why I love My Blendtec: Blendtec vs. Vitamix. What would you make first? I’d highly suggest this Copycat Jamba Juice Strawberries Wild!

2. I’m a huge baker. Love baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, breads, and more. My life changed when I was introduced to my Bosch. I kid you not. My. Life. Changed. For the longest time I was a KitchenAid girl (which I still love, don’t get me wrong). When I opened my Bosch and used it for the first time I was happier than a lark. The power. The ease. The ATTACHMENTS!!! Don’t even get me started on my love for my Bosch Mixer Attachments! I couldn’t live without my Bowl Scraper, Cookie Paddles, Food Processor, and Universal Slicer Shredder

So what have I used my Bosch for? Oh man.. there are so many recipes! Anything involving fresh whipped cream: No Bake Chocolate Strawberry Icebox Cake, Mini Cherry Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Cups, and Not-So-Guilty Almond Joy Trifle to name a few.  But pretty much any breads, any shredding, and all things cookie baking! 

3. I was given my first KitchenAid as a youngster (22’ish, is still a youngster right?) and went right to work whipping up all sorts of yummy deliciousness. In recent years I upgraded to the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer to handle my ever growing cooking experience. When I think of my Kitchen Aid I think of my Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. One of my FAVORITE recipes made in one of my favorite appliances. 

4. Look no further for THE slow cooker that belongs in your kitchen. I’m telling you, the Hamilton Beach 6-Quart Slow Cooker is the one for you. I have used it time, and time, and time again. What I absolutely love about it is that you can set the specific time you’d like your meal to cook in the ‘manual’ mode setting or you can just set it for high, low, or warm. The best thing is that if you do use the manual setting, after your set time of cooking it will automatically lower to the ‘warm’ setting. So if you aren’t able to get to your food right away, it won’t continue cooking!

If you had to choose between my Sweet Potato Beef Stew, Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken & White Bean Soup, or Copycat Zupas Tomato Basil Soup, which would make your mouth water first? I’ll tell you right now I just can’t pick a favorite. That’s like asking me to pick my favorite… kitchen appliance! Just not going to happen.

5. My most beautiful kitchen essential is hands down my Le Creuset 5 1/2 qt. Round French Oven. Hands down. The gorgeous Caribbean color makes me swoon every time I lay eyes on it. Every. Time. I have a good selection of Le Creuset pieces including the Signature 1 3/4 Saucepan in Cassis (the most divine rich plum color), 3 1/2 qt. Round French OvenHeritage Large Loaf Pan in White, Heritage Square Dish Set – Was $60 in Palm, Mini Round Cocotte in Soleil, Cherry, Cassis, Palm, and Flame. 

My dazzling pieces have made their appearances in recipes such as my Mashed Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie, Pico De Gallo, Copycat Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Rice, and Two-Timin’ Pasta Bake. If those aren’t enough to make your heart skip a beat, you must watch my Sweet Potato Beef Stew & Le Creuset 5 1/2 Qt French Oven Review!

6. Lastly, but certainly not least I highly, highly, highly recommend the Cuisinart Stainless Steel Toaster Oven Broiler. Several years ago we gave our microwave the boot. There’s something about nazis and microwaves that just doesn’t sit well with the hubs (hee hee) so we found the perfect alternative. Anytime we are heating leftovers, making nachos, or baking a few sweet potatoes we always use our toaster oven. It seems to heat a lot faster than our main oven (probably because the Cuisinart is a convection oven), plus it only has to heat a small area. Finally, it also helps keep temps down in the kitchen in the summertime. Definitely couldn’t live without it!

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