Blendtec Total Blender
This blender is definitely an investment... but it is worth every penny! I use this thing EVERY day, often a couple times a day. It is excellent for making smoothies, homemade nut butters, waffle and pancake batters, soups and everything in between. I crack grains for hot cereals and mill grains for flour (my favorite is fresh cornmeal from popping corn) when I only need a small amount. I have only had mine for about 10 months, but I don't think I could live without it now.
A grain mill is another investment piece for your kitchen that is worth the money. A grain mill is essential for healthy, whole foods (or clean) eating. I mill my own wonder flour, spelt flour, kamut flour and whole wheat flour. It is so much cheaper to buy the grains in bulk and make your own flour than to buy them pre-milled. Whole grain flours also lose nutrients after they have been milled if not properly stored. I know how old all my flour is and how it has been stored. Biting into something made with rancid flour is not a pleasant thing... trust me. I know this from experience.
These are the BEST! We love to make our own gogurts and "smoothie pops" to eat for breakfast or snacks. Kids love the taste of gogurts and moms love the portability, but gogurts have more sugar in them than ice cream. Not what we want in a so-called "healthy" food. I love to take plain yogurt (I use greek) and mix in some fruit and honey, give it a whirl in the blender and stick it in these molds. They can be eaten right away or frozen and added to school lunches. My kids actually like to eat them frozen and not thawed. I also like to make green smoothies and put them in these molds and freeze them. The Princess will pretty much eat anything I put in these molds. These come in sets of 4 and are BPA-free. I have 2 sets (because I love them so much) and bought mine at Amazon.
Pampered Chef Measure All
This is the best measuring cup for hard to scoop items like coconut oil, nut butters or thick molasses. You simply pull down the inside part, fill the "cup" full of whatever you are measuring and than push it out. All you have to do is scrape off the flat surface to get everything, no more scraping out measuring cups. I have the one cup size.
Silpat
My fabulous cousin gave this to me for my birthday 2 years ago - I had never heard of it before. It is simply awesome. No more non-stick spray when making cookies. Simply lay the silpat onto your cookie sheet and nothing sticks. It is easy to clean and store and (when taken care of properly) can last for years! You can find these on Amazon.
We love these for school lunches. No more plastic bags to throw away each day. With divided compartments, I can fill each one with something different and they don't have to touch (obviously liquids can't go in here). They are BPA-free, very sturdy and come in a 2-pack. I bought mine at Amazon.
Apple Peeler/Slicer/Corer
This was another birthday present (also from my fabulous cousin). I LOVE homemade apple pie, apple crisp and applesauce. This makes the worst part of those recipes (dealing with the apples) quick and easy. You can get the kind that suctions to the counter (what I have) or clips on the overhang (which I don't, the overhang part of the counter). These are fairly inexpensive, easy to store and well-worth having in your kitchen.
Air popped popcorn is super healthy for a snack anytime of the day. I like to make a trail-mix of sorts with air-popped popcorn, raw almonds and cereal (or homemade granola) for The Princess. It is also great for when you want to make some healthy kettle corn or caramel popcorn.
Jana
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