I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to believe it’s already December 3rd and Christmas is just around the corner—three weeks from tomorrow to be exact.
I have to say, this has been a most different Christmas for me. It came faster than I was expecting, but, for the first time in seven years, I’m not balancing kettles and toys and programs and preaching and the myriad of other things that corps officers do this time of year. The ministry focus has been different and, I realized, coming in to this Christmas, I am different. This past year held much heartache and change and learning and growth and I am not who I was a year ago.
As I’ve talked about before, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on minimalism and am slowly working through our things to minimize what we own. I recently also listened to an online course on how to simplify Christmas and really be intentional about what we give.
I’ve always loved giving gifts. In fact, I am always on the lookout for great gifts and collect things all year long to give at Christmas and for birthdays, so much so, that I’ve gotten to the point where I have several years’ worth of gifts for people and really need to actually be even more intentional about gifts I buy, even if it is a ‘good deal’ (that’s my downfall!). As I’ve been unpacking the house and trying to minimize, I found that I had 4 Rubbermaid bins full of gifts for kids, nieces, nephews, and “anyone.” These do come in handy at times, but 4 bins might just be a bit much.
While I really do try to give intentional, well thought-out gifts, the ‘good deals’ sometimes get the best of me and I end up just giving more ‘stuff.’ So, this year, in light of my focus on minimalism and a change in perspective as a result of life, any gifts that need to be purchased (which is actually quite minimal due to the aforementioned Rubbermaid bins) will be very intentional.
Minimalism isn’t about deprivation or minimalism for the sake of minimalism, but it’s about joy and contentment and simplicity. It’s about freeing us up from our stuff so that we can more freely live life. And, as with most things, it looks different for every person, and there are some areas that I might be minimal that you could never be because it’s something you love, and areas that I have a ton of ‘stuff’ because I use it and it brings me joy. One such area is the kitchen. I’ve had a love of baking and cooking for many years and, as such, over the years have acquired quite a collection of lovely kitchen gadgets. When we moved, I had 13 medium sized boxes of kitchen stuff…and that didn’t include plates, cups, cutlery, pots and pans and those basic things—that was just all my ‘extras.’
So, approaching Christmas, I just thought I’d share my top kitchen gadgets that I love and use on a regular basis, so if you’re a kitchen lover or know one that you’d like to get an intentional gift for that is a little more unique, then continue reading (this post may contain affiliate links).
Pressure Cooker: A pressure cooker just might be the number one most useful thing in my kitchen. Mine cooks for me at least three to four times a week, and some weeks as many as five or six. It’s so simple and so fast. I love that you literally can throw in as little as two ingredients and still have an amazing meal. Honestly, it’s probably the very best investment one can make—whether you’re a kitchen lover or not. Heck, it’s probably even better if you hate cooking because it does it all for you! There’s a ton of different brands and different price levels, but here’s a middle-of-the-road pressure cooker on Amazon if you’re interested in transforming your cooking game.
Rice Cooker: A pressure cooker also cooks rice, but the reason I regard my rice cooker as absolutely essential (outside of the fact that my husband is Asian), is that more often than not, these two machines are working side by side on the counter to make my meal. If you cook the rice in with the meat in the pressure cooker, then the rice gets pretty mushy, and I prefer that they are separate. We eat rice quite a bit—probably at least twice a week—and rice cookers are solid gold at making it well and making it easy. I hate cooking rice on the stove. And, they’re under thirty bucks, so it’s a great investment for the money. I’m all about efficiency, and pressure cookers and rice cookers are about as efficient as it gets in the kitchen for making a delicious meal. Here’s a decent one on Amazon.
Bread Maker: I absolutely love my bread maker…and my family loves that I love it too. I use it at least once a week, either to make bread or dough for pizza or cinnamon rolls. It’s so fast to throw in all the ingredients in less than five minutes and let it do the rest of the work for you. No heating water to the right temperature to activate the yeast and waiting for it to rise and kneading and all of that…you just throw in the ingredients, press start, and voila! Delicious bread to add to your meal. I have gotten far more than my money’s worth out of the bread maker and just straight-up enjoy what it produces. You can find a good one here on Amazon.
Hand Blender: This little gadget is small, easy to use, and definitely comes in handy for blending soups or smoothies or shakes or whatever you need blended. I use it every single morning to blend my coffee. Works like a champ. Great gift for you or someone else, and can be found here on Amazon.
Cast-Iron Skillet: If you’re a kitchen connoisseur, then you’ll want to add a cast-iron skillet to your arsenal. I love having the ability to cook something on the stove top and stick it in the oven, such as browning meat, and then cooking it in the oven. I’ve made a ton of different things in it, both sweet and savory, and have been happy to have this tool in my kitchen. You can find the one I have here on Amazon.
Silicone mats: I LOVE silicone in the kitchen…really, it’s fantastic. Whether it’s scrapers or oven mitts, the advent of silicone has been wonderful. I use my silicone mats all the time. I use them to put down on the counter or cutting board when I’m doing anything with dough, I use them on the cookie sheet when I bake cookies, I use one for rolling out pie dough (it has circles printed on it as a guide, which is awesome). Here’s a set under $10 on Amazon.
Floor mats: I only recently discovered these and I have to say, where have they been all my life??? So, I spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen and the kitchen floor is, well, hard. My discovery was actually a little bit accidental. When we moved into our new house, there was a mat just inside the front door and it was a little too tall, so the door would scrape across it when opened or closed, and, outside of being annoying, I didn’t like the extra noise when the baby was sleeping. So I had this brilliant idea to put the mat in front of the kitchen sink since we all spend a fair bit of time there washing dishes and loading the dishwasher. This was fabulous. So I got another mat for the other side of the kitchen in front of the stove, counter, and cutting board—where I spend most of my time when I cook. No more standing on the hard floor for at least an hour a day—these mats are genius. Here’s an example of the kind of mat I’m talking about on Amazon.
There are a lot more gadgets I have and use in the kitchen, but these are just a few ideas for your kitchen, or for someone you know that loves cooking, if you’re looking for a meaningful gift this Christmas that will get a ton of use out of it. What would you add to the list that you just can’t live without?
Happy cooking my friends!