I love kitchen tools and organizers that make cooking healthfully more fun.

Picture or video of me in my kitchen.

Why am I devoting a whole page to kitchen stuff?  Well, for several reasons.  First off,  I want you to start thinking of preparing and presenting healthy food as rewarding and maybe even fun.  Second, if your organization in the kitchen sucks, you may find cooking as a hassle. Sometimes that dread of cooking or having the right equipment (or being able to find the right equipment)  may be at least part of the reason you give up and order a pizza–with extra cheese.  If you have the right equipment and organization in the kitchen, it  can be for many weight-loss seekers a place in which to experiment and have fun.  There are no items listed below that I do not use and love–except for a couple of my beloved items  that are so old they are no longer available.  In that case, I found very similar items for your consideration.  I do also want you to know that if you click on a picture of any of the products below, it will usually take you to Amazon.  If you do buy that product by clicking through my page, it won’t cost you a penny more, but they will give me a few cents for getting you to the site.  Okay?

In the reviews I give along side my favorite kitchen tools, dishes, etc. I will only be speaking from personal experience.  If anybody reads this page and has a better idea, let me know and I will start a readers’ suggestion section.

 

Here is the order of the first 4 essential appliances in my kitchen.  Refrigerator, microwave, stovetop, Magic Bullet.  Really.  I bet I use it almost every day.  Sometimes several times a day.  Many people think “Smoothies” when you say “Magic Bullet”.  Smoothies are on my list, but I use it for whipping eggs for crepes, pancakes, French toast.  I use it to blend flour and milk and all sorts of ingredients that would otherwise call for a blender, food processor, mixer or frantic stirring with a spoon to combine ingredients.  I love my Bullet.  I love it so much that I have a second one ready and waiting for the sad day when the one I have (probably 8? years old) dies of exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$19.49 Vidalia Chop Wizard

I love this thing.  I bet I have bought 6 of them as gifts.  Easy dishwasher clean up. Eggs, meat, cheese, hash browns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$7.69  Demitasse Espresso Spoons–Set of 6.

Don’t laugh, these baby-sized spoons are a big deal to me.  I always eat my ice cream (almost a daily 1/2 cup affair). They let me have lots more spoonfuls, they make me eat slower, and for some reason it adds pleasure to the act of eating. I use them also for any other spoon-able delight.  Try it. You may become a devotee.  Of course, you  can also use them for their original purpose, as espresso  spoons when you entertain you 6 espresso-type friends.

 

Just so you can see how tiny they are, here is a tablespoon, teaspoon, and one of my dessert spoons.  I get more bites and I eat slower and savor my dessert more.  I don’t think I have the patience to use them for soup slurping though.

 

 

$39.45 Corelle Livingware 18-Piece Glass Dinnerware Set, Winter Frost White, Service for 6

Why do I love them? They are light weight.  They are tough.  I am reckless.  I can practically throw them into the dishwasher, then clank them and flop them around unceremoniously  as I take them out of the dishwasher. Stubborn foods seems to come off easily.  They microwave beautifully. (Once out of the microwave, I use a second similar plate or bowl as a charger because they can get awfully hot in the microwave.  They take up so little space in the dishwasher and in the cupboard.   I like their modern, sleek look.  I can use all sorts of napkins, other dishes, etc. with them and make them look darn near elegant.  I just like them.  Okay?

 

 

 

 $26.69 20-Ounce Porcelain Salad/Pasta Bowls, Soup Bowl Set, Shallow & White, Set of 6

Absolutely essential addition to the dinnerware set above.  I probably eat more meals (soups, popcorn, salad, pasta, and frozen/microwaved meals plunked into them with a side of veggies,) from these bowls than from a plate.  If you are a slob like me, you might enjoy the fact that anything runny is not as likely to spill. (I get my set at Walmart, but they aren’t available there anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$33.50 Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef’s Knife, 8-Inch Chef’s FFP  5,927 customer reviews

It is not a great idea to pick out a knife for someone else, but here goes.  You can spend $1,000 on a good knife. (I would just like to try one sometime.)  I did a lot of looking for knife reviews and this one seemed a good choice for a first time semi-serious knife buyer.  I do not own this exact knife, but I think one of my favorites is quite similar.  This is  a good multi-purpose knife that is supposed to feel good for a person with small to medium hands. If you haven’t developed an intimate relationship with your knives, this is probably a good first choice.  When I am working in the kitchen and I need a knife, I know before I open the knife drawer which one I am going to choose first for the task at hand.  I know how it is going to FEEL.  Now I may be wrong; if so, I will go to a second choice.  I guess my point is that, I know and love my knives and they bring me pleasure.

 

 

 

$35.19 Rachael Ray Cucina Hard-Anodized Nonstick Covered Stir Fry Pan, 11-Inch

If you are thinking healthy weight loss and healthy weight maintenance, you HAVE to be thinking about eating plenty of vegetables.  One of the tastiest ways to prepare even veggies you don’t particularly like as a solo item on your plate can be tasty when in a stir “fried” ensemble. I  don’t have this particular pan, but I like it better than the one I have because this one has a lid.  Also, it had good reviews and it is moderately priced and can be used for other purposes.  Costco and Walmart have huge bags of stir fry vegetables. You need only spray oil on pan if you are a real Spartan. plop in the vegetables,  meat or fish, put on brown rise sprinkle with soy sauce and whatever else sounds good–and yum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$14.95  This is a fun strawberry slicer.

Just fun and makes beautiful slices for salads, desserts.  Don’t try cheese in it or you will spend 20 minutes cleaning it.

 

 

 

$12.99 Etekcity Digital Food Scale Multifunction Kitchen Scale, 7,165 customer reviews Amazon’s Choice for “kitchen food scale“

 YES, a good kitchen scale is a MUST in my kitchen.  I probably use it, oh, 3 to 10 times a week.  I primarily use it for big ticket items (food with lots of calories) such as meat, cheese, candy, chips.  I know, you may be rolling your eyes and thinking I am way too anal.  I LIKE using my scale.  It sits handily on my counter and it only take a few seconds to weigh a food–and it makes me proud and happy about my CONTROL.  Here is a vocabulary work for you: TARE.  It means you can put a container on the scale, THEN turn on the scale and it will be set to zero.  Any good scale will measure ounces or grams–your call.  I think it is pretty. It’s not very big (I can’t find the dimensions, but not more than 5″ x 5″ I would guess, and just weighs a few ounces.  This mighty tool can also weigh form 1/10 of an ounce  postage to an 11-pound unsquirmy baby.

 

 

 

I like Rubbermaid storage containers better than more expensive alternatives for some of the following reasons:
It’s only $21.15 for this set.  I like them clear so I can tell when my leftovers have rotted sufficiently and I can throw them away with a little less guilt.  They take up so little room in the cupboard because they stack well and there are only 3 sizes not 84 of lids.  I think my cupboard full of these boxes is a joy to open and look at and then to retrieve just the size I need.  And in the refrigerator, square shapes waste less space.  I know you aren’t supposed to use them in the microwave, but I do.  If I get cancer from using Rubbermaid, I will still die happy that I had the pleasure their company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to do it right, throw yourself in–whole hog.  Accountability should be built into your day, not just once a week when you weigh.

This little contraption isn’t cheap-$59.90, but I like to think about it more along the lines of what I have spent $59.90 on to get fat and now I am saving a ton of money NOT buying crappy food.  This is an investment in yourself.  Besides, you may get to enjoy the process of keeping track this way.

Here is a short list of other items you may want to add to your kitchen:

A Micro grater,  plenty of colorful measuring cups and spoons. (I you know the 1/4 cup is red, you won’t have to check twice to read its little handle to see if it is the yellow 1/3 cup.  Herb pot, bamboo steamer, wok or big pan