My Favorite Kitchen DooHickeys

It's hard finding places to keep things, and i tend to throw away utensils and appliances with abandon when they aren't working for me. That said, there are some doohickeys that get used almost everyday in our house.

Good Knives
Good knives are important. You probably don't realize how important until you've used a good knife, and then had to use someone else crappy knife. While we have an assortment of small paring knives in our drawer, our knife block consists of 3 knives that we use daily. That's right, 3. We have a pairing knife, a 7 inch slicer, and chef's knife from the Calphalon Katana Series. If i had to pick 1 knife to use forever it would be that 7 inch slicer. $70 seems pricey for a knife ($56 if you use the 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath, and Beyond), until you realize that you will never need another knife again. We had ours for 5 years before i asked a chef friend to sharpen them for me, and they were still superior to other knives even then. I did, in fact, throw away a bag full of kitchen knives when we moved to our new house, because we acknowledged that we really do only use 3 knives

 Storage: We keep ours on a magnetic knife block with our steak knives and the bread knife (which we don't use everyday, but do have). This block is flat on the back and about 6 inches deep. 

Citrus Peeler
I don't know why, but we have like 5 of these. They are awesome. This is a pampered chef citrus peeler. If you ever have a friend toting pampered chef, these are usually like $1-$2 in the catalog. They're $7 for 2 on Amazon. These ingenious little tools score citrus perfectly. I have used them to make long spirals, but mostly i just use them to peel oranges and grapefruit. If you eat citrus, you will not regret having one (or 5) in your drawer. Storage: These take up no space. Get one

Apple Slicer
My husband eats apple slices with peanut butter pretty much every day. I imagine when we have a kid they will too. He uses this everyday. They run around $7, and we actually picked ours up at an antique store. Storage: If you have a kitchen catch-all drawer, that's where this ends up, mixed in with spatulas and turkey basters. While I don't mind just cutting apples with a knife, the corer function is desirable.

Pineapple Corer

Ok, if you don't eat a lot of pineapple/want to eat a lot of pineapple, there is no point in having this. My husband goes through a pineapple a week and this thing is awesome. It Cores and rings the pineapple just by screwing down through the top. It saves a lot of effort. $6 Storage: This is an awkward one to store, it barely fits in a drawer.

Salmon Salad

Salmon is actually something we eat pretty frequently. One of my favorite preparations is grilled over salad. I always pair it with fruit and nuts and some sort of olive oil vinaigrette. Today, Bob happened to be slicing up a fresh pineapple while i was cooking the salmon and i decided to use that as the fruit. YUM!!!

(I can never remember to take a picture BEFORE i start eating...)

Step 1: Cook your Salmon

Step 2: While the salmon is cooking, prep your salad

• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1 Tbs Black Walnuts
• 1-2 Fresh pineapple rings
• Drizzle with olive oil and an acid. I had pineapple balsamic, so i used that, but some pineapple juice would work equally great!

Step 3: Serve Salmon over salad, drizzle with a little more vinegar/pineapple juice and devour!

Feel free to mix up your fruit combos. We frequently do strawberries with goat cheese and balsamic, cranberry and walnut, and a grapejuice vinaigrette is super yummy with salmon!

Food Benefits!!!

Salmon: Omega 3s!!! Vitamin D!!! Iodine!!!

Spinach: Iron! Vitamins: A, C, E, K, beta-carotene, and Fiber!!!

Pineapple: Digestive Enzymes!!! Vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium, and Fiber!!!

Sweet Potato Pasta

Most of our meals are not planned. I got a new veggie spiraler the other day and also found a bag of sweet potatoes in my pantry from before thanksgiving. I'm not huge on sweet potatoes, despite them being super super healthy for you, and despite having been on GAPS before, but I thought why not. I spiraled them up and just kind of went with it. It was the first time I ever attempted this dish, and while tasty had some lessons to be learned :)

• 2 Tbs Butter (or ghee or omit)
• 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Small Onion, minced
• 2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 Large sweet potatoes, noodled 
• 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tbs Sour Cream (optional)

If you don't have a spiraler, you can use a veggie peeler to make flat fettucine noodles. If you are using a spiraler, I have read that most have issues with sweet potatoes- personally i think because of the shape. For my spiralizer, i had to choose potatoes that were skinny enough to turn. I did spaghetti noodles, but wonder if the fettuccine style might be more pleasing to look at on the plate

I melted the butter, added the olive oil, and sauteed the onions and garlic. I also added some crushed red pepper because i like it. I added the noodles, tossed to coat, put a lid on it and left it to steam. I waited til they were cooked through before adding the balsamic, but i don't know that that was necessary.

This is sauteeing in olive oil with onions and garlic. Leaving it uncovered and just sauteeing for 2-3 minutes would have given me curly, al dente noodles.

 I melted in the sour cream around the 5 minute mark and it added a very pleasant richness to the dish. Add your protein so it is warmed through (i did canned clams) and devour.

*This is admittedly not the prettiest dish I've ever made, but it was tasty at every stage in the cooking process (it smelled amazing cooking in the butter and onions and tasted great too). The sweet potato is definitely edible at every stage in cooking, so i might make them more al dente in the future. The balsamic cream sauce was also delicious, but the dish would probably be prettier if i made the sauce separately :)

The Staple Pantry

We live across the street from a grocery store, but on ugly days, i don't want to go pick up something i need. There are a few things that are always in our house for a quick meal in winter months, when local produce is scarce.

• Cabbage: Cabbage keeps for a long time in the fridge, absorbs a multitude of flavors well (like curry or citrus), is an excellent source of fiber and crunch, and is high in vitamin C, K, and B6 among others.
• Root Vegetables: Root vegetables have been cellared for centuries and keep well. We always have carrots, onions, and potatoes on hand and there is a lot of flavor to be had in those 3 ingredients.
• Organic Chicken Stock: We do read labels, but there are some things we DON'T care to make from scratch, and chicken stock is one of them. We always have several cartons in the cabinet ready for a yummy rice dish or a quick soup dish.
• Rice/Pasta: These are kind of obvious. They're dry goods that pair well and somtimes just hit the spot. We don't eat a lot of either, but at the last minute, it's great to be able to whip up a side of whole grain and vegetables. I also make my homemade pierogi in large batches and freeze them for later.
• Cream: The high fat content in heavy cream gives it an excellent shelf life. We use it in cappuccinos, chowders, and baking (if i don't have milk, i just water down the cream). 
• Coconut Milk: Coconut is highly digestible and great for skin and hair. It also imparts an amazing flavor to asian dishes, desserts, and smoothies. I buy cans of it by the case. Today, i knew i could whip up a 30 minute curry with that can of coconut milk
• Lemons: There are almost always lemons on our counter, ready to add to dishes, a healthy tonic in the morning, or a cocktail. The thick peels mean you don't have to worry about using them right away.
• Frozen soups/stews: This all started with large batches of chili and opposite work shifts. My husband wanted easy go-to meals so when i make soup or stews, i always make extra and freeze it in individual portions. On a lazy day, you just pop them into a pot and wait. 
• Protein: We usually buy our proteins fresh the day we cook them, but our freezer always has some frozen beef and chicken, ready to add to a quick dish.

Vegetable Spiralers

Veggie spiralers are gaining popularity with the healthfood movement because they allow you to make noodles out of vegetables. I use and love them, but have had a few duds, so i thought I'd compare them for you here. All of these can be obtained for ~$15-$25 depending on where you look.

Overall, I prefer the conical one, because it is sturdy, has the variety i want, and stores small. However, it is the slower of your options if you're working bulk. I use (and compared here) an all-times finest version, but suspect that all the "pencil sharpener" varieties perform similarly. it was important to me that it did flats and noodles.

How do I use this product?
I use this for julienned carrots in my curries, and flat cucumber noodles for cucumber salad. Looking for to trying a sweet potato noodle dish soon!

Apple, Corer, Peeler, Slicer
Storage Space: Medium-Large. These are about 10" x 6" x 1"
Durability: These are usually metal so pretty sturdy
Functions: Cores, peels, Slices
Variety: Just spirals
Thickness: very thick. Over 1/8"
Ease of Use: super easy. It centers well and the crank is efficient
Speed: Very fast


Wellness Tri-Blade
Storage Space: Large. This is about 12" x 6" x 5"
Durability: Mine got knocked by another appliance and the crank snapped. So plastic. not sturdy
Functions: Cores and slices
Variety: 3 different plates for different noodles
Thickness: Medium thickness. 1/16"-1/8"
Ease of Use: Because the blades are offset from the corer, i found it difficult to perfectly center to maximize the length of the spirals.
Speed:Very fast



All Times Finest
Storage Space: minimal. Comes in a box 6"x 3"x 3"
Durability: Stable shape and Lifetime guarantee.
Functions:Just slices
Variety: Spirals or noodles
Thickness: Very thin
Ease of Use: Read the instructions and it's very easy
Speed: This is hand powered rather than crank powered so it's slightly slower. ~30-60 seconds for a carrot or cucumber