When cooking Weekly Meal Plans we use simple utensils and appliances that most people have in their kitchens. There might be some small things that you don’t have, see if these might be of help to you.
Good quality, sharp knives
This is an essential tool in the kitchen, you can get the job done so much better and quicker with a good set of knives. If you don’t have a good set of knives, start by investing in one good quality chef’s knife – it is the most versatile.
Garlic, ginger, nut… grater
Such a simple and inexpensive tool but we use it all the time.
Mandoline / Slicer
A V-shaped slicer / Mandoline is extremely usefull when making stir-fry. It slices, juliennes veggies and dices onion in seconds. If you purchase one, it’s important that you get a v-shaped one, the straight edge ones don’t work well and you will be more frustrated then helped. We got one at R280 or so at a food show but they seem to range from R300 – R2000, shop around before you purchase one.
Toaster
For making bruschetta or to dry out bread to make home made bread crumbs.
Liquidiser
For blending soups and smoothies and we make bread crumbs in it too.
Coffee Grinder
To crush nuts, seeds and to blend spice mixes.
Bamboo Steamer
These work really well – they save a lot of time and dishes since you can boil potatoes in a pot, and steam veggies on top of them in the steamer.
Blender Combo
This is my favourite, a mini food processor that attaches to a stick blender. It is light and portable and so easy to clean. The stick blender and the whisk are great additions to the combo and the one we own even has a potato masher. We have a food processor but I use that once a year at best, this little gadget is my go to weekly.
Kettle
To save time, I boil the kettle when making Basmati rice or pasta, the water boils a lot quicker in the kettle than on the stove top.
