What would you consider "essential" household/kitchen equipment?

[Maria from IN]

The Tall Bald Guy (hubby) and I were talking this evening, and we were (once again) marveling (and perhaps cursing) over how much money we spend just on food. We worked out a few things tonite that will save us money, like finding out that dh is not the strictly-meat-and-potatoes guy I thought he was, and that he actually likes the idea of just sandwiches or giant salads for dinner. That's going to help out tremendously!

 

We've also been talking about stockpiling foods, bottled water, etc. We have a pretty good idea what we need to start buying extras of, little by little, and I know there are several threads here that will help.

 

The problem we're facing, even if we cut down on meats, is that I have a ton of food allergies. I'm allergic to corn, wheat, rye, barley, soy, oats, and mushrooms. It's a pain come grocery time because while I can spend $1 on a loaf of bread for the guys, I have to pay $4.79 for white rice/flax bread at Kroger, or order it from Silly Yak Bakery for even more...a jar of canola oil mayonnaise is 6 dollars...the list goes on and on. Strangely enough, it's actually cheaper to buy both kinds of pasta, bread, whatever and cook just enough for me while the guys can eat all they want of the stuff I can't.

 

To make a long story short, I told the Tall Bald Guy that I would like to spend a little money at the outset in order to use the four days off I have every week (I'm the weekend therapist on the psych unit of a local hospital) cooking, baking, and dehydrating more. He agrees that if I'm working more, I don't have the time to do these things, and I spend more money on "convenience" foods and dress clothes.

 

What I want to know is, what appliances do you consider essential for your kitchen? Thanks to you guys, I made yogurt in the crockpot last week, and it worked beautifully. I have a Whispermill (what a misnomer that is!), and the lid is broken, but I found the website to buy a replacement. I want an Excalibur dehydrator, and for powdered sugar (without the corn starch) I want to get a coffee grinder. I live in the 'burbs, here in a condo with a fairly large kitchen, given the size of the entire place, but I don't exactly have a lot of counter/cabinet space.

 

What do you think? :bigear:

[Jyniffrec]

We have gluten and dairy intolerances/allergies here. I think that having a bread machine could save you a good bit of money. You can buy the bread mixes or find a recipe - that would save you at least some, if not a lot, of money. I am also finding that after years of not having one, having a really good food processor has been a dream come true. Cooking is a lot easier now. I already own a grain grinder - that is a huge help - and so are my dehydrators. I also like my yogourmet and my little yogurt cup maker that I can make individual servings out of (and put flavorings into while it cooks). Oh, and I couldn't imagine my kitchen without my Bosch machine.

[Daisy]

Rice looks like something you can eat. I'd definitely get a good rice cooker/steamer. That saves me time because I don't even have to think about it.

 

Rice is reasonably priced and easy to store.

[LauraGB]

Are you planning on stocking up for the winter via local farmers markets and such? If so, I'd invest in jars; pint, quart and 2 quart jars. Also, you can blanch and freeze a lot of those goods, so good Ziploc bags are handy.

 

With your allergies, possibly a pasta maker would be helpful? You can get them for under $40 at places like Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon. Brown rice pasta is pretty darn good, IMO. And you can make ravioli and tortellini as well as the traditional pastas. Can you find a local farmer or seller to stock up on the rice?

 

ETA - Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Min has a lot of recipes for bread and bread type things - I think they have an entire chapter dedicated to gluten free. They might offer some suggestions for breads your whole family can enjoy all at once.

Edited September 14, 2011 by LauraGB

[Maria from IN]

Rice is definitely something we eat a lot of around here. When I could still eat wheat, we had a breadmaker...I just figured I couldn't make my own bread once I switched to rice. Maybe it's not as difficult as I think?

 

I do need a decent food processor. Most of the appliances I have are gifts, or the cheapest model for what I needed at the time. What brands work best--and not just the food processor; I mean for everything? Is the Excalibur the best dehydrator to get?

[Tarreymere]

Either a Kitchenaide or a Bosch heavy duty stand mixer. I have a Kitchenaide because I can't afford a Bosch. That thing has revolutionized my kitchen. It does everything. Of course, there are attachments you have to buy for some of the things you may want to do with it. I wish I had gotten one years ago.

[Maria from IN]

Are you planning on stocking up for the winter via local farmers markets and such? If so, I'd invest in jars; pint, quart and 2 quart jars. Also, you can blanch and freeze a lot of those goods, so good Ziploc bags are handy.

 

With your allergies, possibly a pasta maker would be helpful? You can get them for under $40 at places like Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon. Brown rice pasta is pretty darn good, IMO. And you can make ravioli and tortellini as well as the traditional pastas. Can you find a local farmer or seller to stock up on the rice?

 

At this point I'm happy just going to Walmart and finding a 5-lb bag of rice for what it costs to buy one pound of Bob's Red Mill Rice Flour! :D

 

There's not a whole lot available in Terre Haute as far as orchards, co-ops, etc.

 

I'd bet a pasta maker would be helpful...I've been buying Tinkyada from Amazon, but that gets pricey.

 

I have had a container garden on our 10 by 10 concrete porch for the past 3 summers, and I'm slowly finding out what works well. So far, I've frozen 4 quarts of tomatoes and kept my mother's and my household in fresh tomatoes, and the onions did well--I've chopped and frozen about 2 quart freezer bags of them. Green beans aren't working well at all, but bell peppers look promising. I'm trying a late crop of carrots right now.

[Ellesmere]

Rice is definitely something we eat a lot of around here. When I could still eat wheat, we had a breadmaker...I just figured I couldn't make my own bread once I switched to rice. Maybe it's not as difficult as I think?

 

I do need a decent food processor. Most of the appliances I have are gifts, or the cheapest model for what I needed at the time. What brands work best--and not just the food processor; I mean for everything? Is the Excalibur the best dehydrator to get?

 

We used to be gluten free and I think certain GF breads can be done at home. I don't know if any of these recipes would fit your allergy needs, but King Arthur Flour has some here.

 

I have no idea about dehydrators. We had a cheap bread machine and a friend had a cheap rice maker. They were ok, but for as much as we use them it was worth getting a Zojirushi rice maker for ourselves and we were give a Zo bread machine. No regrets about either of those! We have an embarrassing number of food allergies to work around so I'm really glad we have those. We were given a KitchenAid stand mixer and it is a help, too. They have stood up to a lot of use for us. I have a tiny kitchen so the bread machine is actually on the floor in the corner of the room.