Basic Kitchen Needs

Since you may have your own kitchen for the first time, you might be overwhelmed by all the options. Do you need a spice grinder? A food mill? A mandolin? Do you even know what these things are?

Besides your basic kitchen utensils and appliances, there are three must-haves I have found to be extremely helpful:

1) Slow Cooker (most commonly known as a Crockpot, but they ain't paying me to advertise for them)

Slow cookers are fantastic. All you have to do is drop a few ingredients in the cooker in the morning, turn it on, and let it slowly cook all day (hence, the name!) Then you walk in the door after a long day in class or at work, dinner is ready, and your house smells like yo mama has been slaving over a stove all day.

They generally are not that expensive (I got mine by by bartering an ugly rolling coffee table to a former roommate...guess who won that deal?)

Keep an eye out for some great upcoming slow cooker recipes!

2) George Foreman Grill (they ain't paying me either, but if I said "indoor electric grill," you would have no idea what I was talking about)

Foreman grills can be a wee pricy, so you might wanna hit up Mom and Dad for this as a gift. Just tell them you are trying to cook healthy!

Foremans are great cause you can cook up some meat SUPER fast. Like a steak takes about three minutes. If you miss the flavor of outdoor grilling, you can always add a couple drops of Liquid Smoke to the meat (found near the BBQ sauces at the grocery store.)

The only thing that sucks is cleanup. A lot of the newer ones have removable plates you can wash, but if not, run a paper towel over it while it's still hot for easy removal! Otherwise you get a stanky crust, and no one wants a stanky crust.

3) Olive Oil Pourer Thing

Kinda random, I know. But I am a big fan of these. It makes it WAY easer to pour olive oil so you dont end up dumping out a whole bunch at once when you are cooking. It also makes it easier to drizzle oil on top of food.

Less oil dumping out = saved calories and saved money. Also, you look like a bad ass chef using it.

What tools do you guys find indispensable in the kitchen?