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I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and I’m not going to lie, I enjoy it.  Don’t get me wrong, it is amazing when someone else cooks a meal for me and much more enjoyable to eat, but I do get a lot of pleasure from cooking and feeding those I love. I never used to be one for gadgets and high-tech items in the kitchen and I am still no chemical gastronomy whizz, but I definitely have a few gadgets and items in my kitchen that I simply could not live without.

Obviously you need to make sure you have the kitchen you need to be a culinary genius and there are some great ideas and deals at kitchen warehouse if you’re looking to do out your kitchen including some great kitchen units.

Stand Mixer

I wouldn’t consider myself a master baker and have definitely had some mishaps (ask the family about the microwave rock, sorry sponge, I made!!) but I do love to bake and Alyssa loves doing it with me.

For me, baking became a lot easier, once I got my stand mixer. I can pop all the ingredients in as needed and the mixer does the rest of the work for me. I really enjoyed making Dorset Apple Cake with it, which I filmed and popped on my YouTube channel.

Mandolin

This isn’t a big gimmicky gadget; this is just a simple slicer but my goodness it saves me so much time. I find it really good for potato dauphinoise and it’s also really good for when I make vegetable crisps because it keeps the pieces all the same thickness, meaning they cook at the same rate. Also really handy when making salads and homemade stir fry!

Bins

This might seem a little silly, but I hate a messy kitchen. I really do try and clear up as I go along, otherwise the thought of clearing everything up at the end once we’ve eaten and are full seems like a lot of effort. So, I have a few rubbish bins; one for general waste, a food waste bin and of course a recycling bag for any little bits of packaging or tins that can go in there. Because it’s important to recycle. Then I can eat and there is only the washing up left to do. Did you check out the rubbish bins from Brabantia? They have so many different kinds of bins you will certainly find one that fits your situation. Some even make it easy to recycle with three compartments for plastic, waste and glass.

Slow Cooker

It doesn’t matter if it is summer or winter, my slow cooker is always being used. Obviously, a lot more during the winter when I will make things like Slow Cooker Veggie Chilli but in the summer I will still whack out a curry or perhaps a soup or something.

I really couldn’t be without mine because I love, chucking everything into one pot in the morning and dinner being ready without me doing very much if anything at the end of the day. For a self-employed, working mum it is an absolute godsend.

Hand Blender

It hides away in a drawer in my kitchen a lot of the time but when I am making a soup it is the first thing I grab because it just makes life so easy. I can keep the soup in whatever pot I have made it in and just whip out my hand blender and pop it in to make delicious soup. When I’m making my Wild Mushroom Soup, it’s great because it means I don’t need to chop the ingredients down too small, because the blender will do it for me once cooked.

What must have items do you have in the kitchen that you couldn’t live without?