satylite,
you and I must be cut out of the same cloth. My kitchenaid mixer and a good set of knives. I made this to-die-for dinner rolls for christmas that required kneading. Before the mixer, I wouldn't have even considered making them. I just threw them in a went to chopping something for another dish. You should keep your eye on it though because with kneading dough it will "walk" off the counter.
I finally sprang for the heavy duty OXO measuring cups and spoons and they are great. I also love the new Silicone oven mitts – they keep me from burning myself and can be thrown into the dishwasher, so they are mess proof.
Does anyone use recipe software? I know that if I don’t start doing the cooking we won’t eat very healthily, so part of my 2006 goal is to start to build a good cache of recipes that are quick, healthy and tasty. To help with this I have been looking at BigOven, Cook’n, etc. These programs have cookbooks, store recipes, create menus and shopping lists and also can provide nutritional info. My geeky side thinks they might be really helpful, but they might be more trouble than they are worth.
I've thought about a kitchenaid.. but man, they are pricey! - so they are worth it, eh? what else do you guys make in besides yummy roles? I love to bake - but I don't need to
I do need a good set of knives - bad!! My mil got me a real cheap set of steak knives for a wedding gift (you know, the kind you order from the coupon flyers) I also have two paring knives that need to be sharpened bad. And that's it!
I would love to treat myself to a good cooking class. Have any of you done that? My mother was not a good cook (but she doesn't know it!!) I could really use some lessons!
I like this thread - need to stay away from fast food and processed food. The salt is nasty!
Ooh, I love my crockpot! Favorite thing ever. I only make a few things in it, mostly some soups and my shrimp creole, but it's so convenient to let it just simmer.
The one thing I go nuts over that's weird is spatulas. I don't know why. A good spatula is just a thing of beauty. My mom's spatulas drive me nuts, they're too stiff. She laughs because when I come home for Christmas, I bring my own spatula with me to cook eggs with.
George Foreman and I have an on again, off again relationship -- the grill, I mean. I have one with no removable plates so it's hard to clean. Maybe I should invest in a new one. My food processor never gets used. Too hard to clean. Blender sometimes, for smoothies and soups. Oh, and my microwave and toaster get the most use in the kitchen.
Oooh, and my gas stove! I moved into a new house and for the first time I have gas appliances. I absolutely hated it for the first month or two, because I wasn't used to using it. Things would get burnt, and I was scared it was going to blow up at any second with the open flames. Now I love it! So quick, great temperature control.
And only tangentially related, my favorite kitchen device isn't in my kitchen, really. My favorite kitchen trick is buying pre-chopped veggies at the grocery store. My family thinks I'm totally lazy, and I am, I admit it. But I absolutely hate chopping veggies! Hate, hate, hate. Drives me nuts. When I sat down one day to figure out why I wasn't cooking meals, that was the number one reason, above even kitchen cleanup. So I decided that I'd invest money I would spend on a gym (because I have my own weights and bike and exercise videos at home) on pre-chopped vegetables, not always but a lot of the time, but ALWAYS for onions! My family still makes fun of me, but I'm actually eating meals that I cook now instead of going to McDonald's daily, so hey. They can laugh. :P
I love my GF grill with the removable grill plates...so easy to clean up. And I LOVE my Pampered Chef Stone cookware. I have the pizza stone and the "bar pan". Everything you bake gets nice and crispy, and you just wipe it off when you're done! I have a bread machine I've used once in 5 years (wedding gift).I wasnt really inpressed with it, and then I lost the booklet, so, oh well.
Does anyone use recipe software? ...To help with this I have been looking at BigOven, Cook’n, etc.
I looked at a lot of different ones and downloaded several for the free trials a couple months ago. A lot seemed like they had a steep learning curve- maybe it was just me, but I want something I can sit down and pretty much firgure out how to use it in a few minutes. The one I fell completely in love with is AccuChef- it is so easy to import recipes into from just about any format you can imagine and it lets you pick what nutritional info you want listed- including fiber (I coudn't seem to get it come up on some of the other ones I tried). It even calculates 'AccuPoints'...which, of course, are not exactly equal to WW points, but pretty darn close (within 0.1-.2 most of the time). I think it cost $20, but they let you download the full version and have 60 trials, which last a long, long time. I use it as much for calculating nutritional info (especially when I change ingrediants to what I have on hand) as for organizing recipes. I do have to confess that I've spent more time downloading yummy sounding recipes then cooking lately...its gets so addicting and you don't want to 'lose' a good recipe that might come in handy someday.
Ooh, Ooh...forgot to add...I got an instant read digital meat thermometer from hubby for christmas. I used it the first time tonight..awesome!!!
It's so nice not to have to put the thermometer in and wait another ten minutes for the mercury to creep up!!
my 4 for a buck paring knives that I got @ Goodwill. They were cheap, they last forever & I am even thinking of bringing one to work to leave to cut my fruits there.
freezer bags. I love marinating meat while it's frozen.
plastic forks from restaurants like Noodles & Company & Fazoli's. They are awesome for scrambling eggs in a nonstick pan
my Tupperware salad spinner. Makes making spinach salads for the week easy peasy.
my Tupperware steamer. You can use these to steam chicken or shrimps or fish, but I like it best for steaming a bag of frozen vegetables.
my blender. I'm not much for sweets, but when I want a smoothie, BAM! It's done.
Oh, I cannot STANDDDD Rachel Ray. She SO does not deserve 4 shows & a new talk show coming out. They had a Christmas episode recently where Paula Deen had to slap her hand away from the mixing bowl b/c she was 'baking' but not measuring anything. I enjoy her meal ideas sometimes, but she's so loud & obnoxious & EVOO & grrrrrrrr I just can't take her. Gimme Alton Brown (who I met last year) or Paula Deen or Giada deLaurentiis (with the sound off though b/c Giada overpronounces the Eee-TAL-ian words. That grates on my nerves.) or even Emeril. I loved that he went to a school in Harlem & redid the school kitchen.
*my crockpot
*my kitchen aid stand mixer (I love fresh, home made whipped cream!)
*magic bullet
*my pampered chef stuff (stones, cheese grater, orange peeler, can opener to name a few!)
As for the 30-Minute Meals - LOVE LOVE LOVE Rachael Ray, I just ordered her new cookbook from Amazon. And I've tried several recipes out of her "Get Healthy without going to extremese" book. AWESOME!
My fave appliances would have to be my crockpot and George Foreman grill (mine just died, need to get a new one - that's how much I used it). And I've really been wanting a small chopper so I can make fresh salsa
)
They had a Christmas episode recently where Paula Deen had to slap her hand away from the mixing bowl b/c she was 'baking' but not measuring anything. I enjoy her meal ideas sometimes, but she's so loud & obnoxious & EVOO & grrrrrrrr I just can't take her. Gimme Alton Brown (who I met last year) or Paula Deen or Giada deLaurentiis (with the sound off though b/c Giada overpronounces the Eee-TAL-ian words. That grates on my nerves.) or even Emeril. I loved that he went to a school in Harlem & redid the school kitchen. 
