A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.

Pat Conroy

I love that quote! However, sometimes we just need that story to move along, am I right? Usually in the winter and early spring, I have all day to cook. I can pour my soul into our meals, and make a big production of them, and I truly love doing that. However, in the summer I don’t have that kind of time. We are a horse riding crew, and summer is our time to soak in as much horse time as we can, plus it’s garden season, it’s yard work season, it’s chickens laying millions of eggs season, and I could keep going. During our busier months, I tend to lean on my time saving kitchen tools and quick meals. Just because we are busy doesn’t mean I lose my passion for quality food and ingredients.

For that reason, I have become a big fan of a few kitchen tools. Some won’t surprise you at all if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, and some may surprise you just a little. Here goes!

Stand Mixer

Several years ago, my husband bought me a Kitchen Aid mixer. This was back before he was even my husband! While a stand mixer is quite the investment, you will never convince me they aren’t worth it. I use mine several times per week, usually for bread, but also for cookies, batters, shredding chicken, etc. The attachments that you can purchase to go with your Kitchen Aid are almost better than the mixer itself. I can shred a block of cheese in no time flat, make pasta in minutes, and slice veggies in a flash. The absolute best thing about them is my ability to put the ingredients in and set a timer, then do other tasks while it does all the work.

Pressure Cooker

I firmly believe that every home should have a pressure cooker of some kind. Even better, invest in the Deluxe Multi Cooker from Pampered Chef! I use my pressure cooker for everything from full meals to steaming veggies and cooking rice. The Deluxe Multi Cooker also doubles as a slow cooker, so you can bet I throw some wonderful slow cooker meals in there in the morning or early afternoon on a busy day and let it do all the work while I soak in the spring and summer sunshine.

I do regular videos over on Facebook at The Huskisson Homestead, and here is one of our favorite pressure cooker dinners, Oktoberfest. So good, SO fast, and everyone in my family actually eats it, which I consider a HUGE win.

Food Chopper

I am not a fan of chopping and dicing. Ok, I take that back. I don’t mind chopping. Dicing is just not for me. I don’t have the patience for it, and honestly my focus is usually on small children running around and I am afraid I am going to get one of my fingers haha! I love the Food Chopper for it’s time saving ability, but I also love that my daughter can help me prep for a meal safely.

Proof Feature

This may not be for everyone, but if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that I make almost all of our bread products from scratch. Bread needs to “proof” or rise before baking. This is what gives your bread that light and airy feel, and it is very important. If you don’t proof your bread, you will have a bread brick at the end… no thank you!

Our oven has a Proof feature on it. I was shopping for that particular feature when we started looking at appliances for the new house, and I wasn’t leaving the appliance store without it! It shaves hours off of my bread baking day, sometimes more if I am making a quick sourdough loaf, and I appreciate it every single week.

If you don’t bake bread often, this probably isn’t on your list, and that’s fine! If you do bake bread often and you’re in the market for a new oven any time soon, I highly recommend searching for one with a proof setting.

Cast Iron

I will readily admit that cast iron has always scared me to cook on. I consider myself fairly adept in the kitchen, but for some reason cast iron was something I just steered away from. I had watched both of my grandma’s cook on it often, so when Pampered Chef came out with their own line of Cast Iron I dove in for nostalgia’s sake. I really wish I wouldn’t have let it scare me! The care of cast iron isn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, and it cooks your food more evenly because of the amazing heat retention.

All of those things make cast iron pans amazing all on their own, but the reason cast iron made this list is because of it’s ability to go from stove top to table or stove top to oven, and makes some of the BEST one pot meals. Plus the enameled ones are sooooo pretty!

While I do have a ton of kitchen gadgets and use them often, they aren’t all necessary by any means. Some make cooking more fun and enjoyable, and they serve their purpose well, while others, like the ones listed above just make good use of your time. Those are my favorite gadgets and tools of all.

~Tara