Kitchen Products:
1. Tongs
My mom bought me a pair of these for my birthday back in October and, I kid you not, I use them for most of the meals I cook! They are good for flipping meat, picking up noodles, tossing salads, and any number of additional things. If you do not have a good pair or any pair of tongs in your arsenal of kitchen utensils.....you must spend the $4-5 a pair at any grocery store, Walmart, Target, Ross...any will do. One suggestion, if you can find a pair with a self-locking mechanism I'd go with those over the manual locking system.
2. Reynolds Crock Pot Liners
These liners are miracles. I really like using my crock pot, but the clean up takes forever and I hate hate hate cleaning my crock pot! I saw an ad for these in a magazine and instantly thought there were genius and my next trip to the store I picked up two boxes of these babies! I think I paid $2-3 per box and I got them at Target, but I'm sure you can find them at Walmart or most grocery stores. You can thank me later ladies and gents!
3. Garlic Press
In addition to getting a pair of tongs for my birthday, I also got a garlic press. I love garlic and think it adds just the oomph to almost any dish, but I used to scrimp on it because 1) I hate the way it made my hands smell and 2) it took forever to take it out of it shell thingy or husk for lack of a better word and I don't want to take 10 minutes to clean and cut a few cloves or garlic. With your garlic press you pop in the clove, husk and all, and clamp down and you're done. This is a food specific product, but I think it is a huge time saver, and that, for me, is more important than taking up a little drawer space. There are lots of different makes and models to this product so go out and find one you like, that is comfortable in your hand. These are pretty cheap and, again, can be found at any grocery store.
4. Bread Machine
All growing up I had a bread machine and I just LOVED making bread with my dad on Saturday mornings. Once I got married and saw how expensive bread was/is I longed for a bread machine. A few months later, Jordan's grandma gifted her bread machine to us, and still to this day it is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. Now if you don't have a grandma that is willing to gift you her bread machine, it is a little bit of an investment, but it does pay for itself within a few months if used regularly. If you are thinking to yourself, "Lexi, I don't have time to make bread and even if I did I have no idea how to use the machine or make the bread!" I'm here to tell you, a bread machine is the easiest machine to use ever. You pick a recipe, put all the ingredients in the bread pan (you don't even have to mix them), press a couple buttons, and walk away! There are things you'll learn as you go, but for the most part you'll be pleasantly surprised. There are lots of different brands and styles of bread makers, but if you go to Amazon and do some research (aka read some reviews) you can get a really good idea of what machine to buy. As with anything, you can stay on the cheaper side or you can go really expensive for the best brand out there...it is all up to you and what you want. Oh, I just wanted to put this in there....you can buy a loaf of bread for between $1.50 and $3 typically, but you can make a loaf of bread for about...meh $0.25-0.75 cents depending on what kind of bread you want.
5. Squish Bowls
Okay, so this is more of a wish for me, but a recommendation nonetheless! These bowls are SO COOL! They have different sized bowls, measuring cups,measuring spoon, colanders, etc. They are collapsible for easy storage, dishwasher safe, and even fun for adults! If you have not seen these, wander on over to your nearest Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond, check them out and buy me one! Just kidding, but they are pretty cool, especially if your family is big on camping...great product! It depends on the size and product you want but they run from $4.99-$19.99.
Those are my favorites for the kitchen, but I'd love to hear your favorites!!
