After years of trial and error, I’ve finally narrowed down my must have kitchen list to these seven essential items.

The Slow Cooker

The slow cooker is hands down one of my “can’t live without” items.  I love that all I have to do is to chop everything up, put it in the bowl, turn it on and then leave it to cook.  After a few hours I’m left with a tasty, nutritious meal that’s ready to serve – and I haven’t had to hover near the stove or oven to keep an eye on it!  My favourite slow cooker has different temperature settings and also a timer so I can delay start it if I need to.

The Food Processor

I love making pesto, crumb mixtures, spices and pastries and a good food processor makes doing all that and more an absolute breeze.  You can go for a cheapie here if you want but I went for a more expensive model as I found that it had a stronger motor (good for heavier work), more attachments, and a bigger bowl.

The Knives

I used to think that any old knives would do but after getting frustrated with how quickly they kept going blunt, I finally bit the bullet and went out and bought a good set of knives.  Good knives are generally German or Japanese but I went with Japanese because I liked the way they fit in my hand, and the way they keep a wickedly sharp edge.

Good Quality Mixing Bowls

The mixing bowl is one of those ubiquitous kitchen items and for good reason – you use them for everything from making meatballs through to whipping up pancake batter.  I use bowls at just about every meal time and I find that stainless steel or glass ones serve best as they don’t absorb food smells or tastes.

Wooden Chopping Boards

A lot of people think that they’re unhygienic but I actually wouldn’t use anything other than wooden chopping boards in my kitchen.  They come in a huge range of sizes, they’re kind on my knives, and they are actually naturally antibacterial!  When I get worried about germs, I just rub some lemon juice over the board and hey presto, it’s disinfected.

The Mandolin

No this isn’t the musical instrument.  The mandolin is a gadget that makes slicing and dicing an absolute breeze.  I love it because it makes uniformly sized potato chips every time as well as slicing my vegies to the exact size I need.  It even grates and slices my cheese! 

Stainless Steel Saucepans

I know that the trend for the past few years has been going towards increasingly technological non stick saucepans but I just can’t go past traditional copper core stainless steel.  Stainless steel saucepans are a little more work to clean but they can take plenty of abuse and they’ll last an absolute lifetime.  Just what I need – I’m rough on saucepans!