Multitasking is something lots of
people are good at, but how good are your kitchen tools at
multitasking? When you have a small kitchen, a small budget and value
your time, there are five multitaskers you must find at garage sales
to help maximize your hourly
wage.
Big-ticket item No. 1: Bread machine
I live in Texas, and it gets HOT. Bread
is expensive to buy, but super cheap and a lot healthier to make. I
do not, however, want to heat up my oven when it's 110 degrees
outside. My bread machine was free (thanks to a super awesome
cousin/best friend who got it at a garage sale for 20 bucks and
shared the love – thanks, TripleR!). It is the Cadillac of bread
machines, a Zojirushi with so many settings you can't even shake a
stick at 'em. It takes me three minutes to load and set it, and when
we wake up in the morning, it's to the smell of fresh-baked bread.
(Wipe your mouth, you're drooling.) Buy a bread machine cheap, and
cross bread off the grocery list. BIG savings.
Foodie must-have item No. 1: Good
knives
We have pretty expensive knives, thanks
to some generous wedding guests. The thing is, we usually only use
the paring knife, the 10-inch chef's knife and a cheapo bread knife
we stuck in the block with the stuck-up Henckels guys. So, instead of
buying the whole block for $399, you could just buy individuals and
put them in a cheapo block. They're still mind-numbingly expensive
for knives, but dull knives in the kitchen are dangerous, and these
last for. Frickin. Ever. You'll thank you.
Mom must-have item No. 1: A blender
Smoothies are a mom's best friend, and
no store can sell salsa that's as good as what Hubs can whip up in
the blender. Plus, it's handy for making ranch dressing. Did I
mention smoothies? Old, mushy fruit (and even lettuce, a.k.a. a
“Shrek Smoothie”) goes into a baggie and into the freezer, then
straight into the blender with a little milk, yogurt or just water
for an awesome summertime snack. My kids think it's a treat. Gosh,
even our snacks are multitaskers!
Girlie splurge item No. 1: A KitchenAid
stand mixer
I would NEVER have purchased this for
myself unless I found an awesome Craigslist deal, but Hubs went
behind my back and bought it for Mothers' Day one year. It makes any
kind of baking such a breeze, and kneads specialty breads for me so I
can do other stuff. You can find lots of attachments for sale online
that have been barely used that make it a sausage grinder, ice cream
maker, pasta machine and maybe even a really good mixer. And it's
pretty. So, so pretty. My precious...
Alternative to pricey stuff item No. 1:
A food processor
There are plenty of pricey food
processors out there, but lots of people ask for them when they get
married, then sell them at garage sales about five years later after
using them once. This is a must-have for making baby food, but can
also mix and knead doughs just fine. It also whips up some dreamy
pesto with fresh basil from the garden. Oh, and it chops veggies like
a champ. Even those miniature versions like the Magic Bullet do just
fine, and can also take care of a lot of your blending needs, too.
They can even take care of a lot of your “blending needs,” too.
Like frozen margaritas after a whole day of very organized freezer
cooking.
2 comments:
Love it, Becky! I have them all in my kitchen (although I don't think they were garage sale finds!). You're a great writer...keep it up!
Aww, shucks! Thank you, and stick around... we don't require that all your stuff be "tightwad approved!"
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