My Favorite Kitchen Tools and Gadgets

Welcome to the #betterforyoucrew series! I’ve teamed up with my girls Lisa, Suzi, Kate, Kristina, and Caroline to highlight green, yet effective food, beauty and lifestyle products that are rocking our natural mama worlds. This series will publish the last week of every month so check back for the latest. You can also search #betterforyoucrew on our blogs and Instagram to access the entire series. Wanna join in? Tag #betterforyoucrew on social with your picks. We want to see your faves, too!

There are a lot of tools in my kitchen that get plenty of use, but these four are tops in my books!

Big Berkey

My Big Berkey water filter is the one thing I simply could not live without in terms of my kitchen and my family’s health. I started using a Big Berkey two years ago and have never looked back. It serves as our drinking water, our cooking water, and even our puppy drinks water from the Berkey.

Water quality is so vital to your health, and when I found out that my city’s water quality was questionable, I did tons of research on water filtration devices and systems. Berkey was consistently rated the highest so for me, it was a no-brainer.

The Berkey Water Filter is the world’s most effective (and most cost-effective) personal water purification system available. It uses gravity water filtration technology to remove toxic elements, parasites, bacteria and hundreds of other contaminants from water without removing the beneficial minerals, and without the use of any electricity.

I wrote in detail about love for The Big Berkey here, and I would still recommend it to anyone. Tons of my friends have made the switch in the past couple of years and they all love it as well. Once you know exactly what you are drinking, you will wonder what took you so long!

Rice Cooker

We are a rice-eating family. (Dear Paleo, it’s not you, it’s me.) Taco night, red beans and rice, grilled fish bowls…my rice cooker gets a TON of use at dinner time, but before we go any further, I have to ask. Do you like rice? Are you still preparing it on the stovetop? MY FRIENDS, listen to the voice of reason here. Get thee a rice cooker – it makes absolutely perfect, fluffy rice every time without doing anything but measuring the rice, pouring it in the cooker with water, and pressing a button. Seriously, what are you waiting for. #thatsnotaquestion

There are a lot of rice cookers out there, but the reason I love this one by Aroma is that the insert is stainless steel. No Teflon or non-stick surfaces to be found, which is important to me since high temperatures are involved. If stainless steel is an option, I will choose it every time. (And don’t worry about a mess! I just pour a little water into the insert at clean-up and let it sit there for a few minutes before cleaning it out. Easy peasy.)

Large Dutch Oven

At least two times a week I make stews and/or soups and my 5.5 qt Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven is always simmering on the stove. In fact, it’s so dang pretty that even when it’s not in use, it always sits on the stove in plain view. I personally have the Caribbean (aqua blue) color and it’s just lovely.

If you’ve never used Le Creuset before, the enameled cast iron is such a treat to cook on. It heats so evenly and I love being about to saute veggies in the pot before adding in my liquids. So good for braising and slow-roasting too! It is worth every penny.

Electric Milk Frother and Warmer

It’s been about twenty years since I’ve consumed caffeine, so coffee is out of the picture, but I certainly love a caffeine-free tea latte! Well, I leveled up this past year when I purchased this Electric Milk Frother and Warmer and started creating my own. While steeping my tea, I just pour a little bit of this or this in my milk frother, and in less than a minute, I have the frothiest, warmest non-dairy milk in town. I normally use gluten-free Oat Milk but will use Almond Milk in a pinch.

Looking for other kitchen tools and gadgets to add to your arsenal? Be sure to check out these posts as well!

Suzi from Gurl Gone Green’s Favorite Kitchen Tools and Gadgets
Kate from Root & Revel’s Kitchen Essentials
Caroline from Olive You Whole
Lisa from This Organic Girl’s Favorite Kitchen Gadgets
Kristina from Love & Zest

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