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For the last handful of years, the minimalist movement is making people reevaluate the number of things they have in their home.
A few years ago, after having our first son, we jumped on board and minimized a lot of things within our home. Majority of them were in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Quick note: We are more minimal in some areas of our home like our kitchen however we are by no means perfect minimalists. To us, we live minimal and that’s all that matters.
In this post I want to talk about kitchen gadgets we decided to keep and those we decided to get right of.
Obviously these items will differ from family to family but these gadgets are ones we use multiple times a week. Could we go without them? Sure. But they absolutely make our lives easier and meal times quicker.
As a mom, being able to make meals quickly and easily is so important for my sanity. But what items are necessity, what items are luxury, and what items can we be without? Let’s talk about it.
Small Kitchen Appliances That Make Our busy Lives Easier
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Blender
We have had our Vitamix Blender for 7-8 years I think and we use it everyday at least once, if not twice. It’s so easy to think that blenders are for smoothies only but we have quickly found so many other things we can make!
Some things we make with our blender: smoothies, cashew cream sauces, vegan ice cream, & nut milk.
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slow cooker
We don’t use our slow cooker a ton but when we do we REALLY need it. Most of the time we will use the crockpot when we literally don’t know how else dinner would be made. Throw chili ingredients in and leave it on low for the day. BAM, a quick and easy dinner is ready for us after me and my husband get home from work.
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Rice cooker
There is something about making rice and not having to worry about it burning or overflowing on the stove. A rice cooker makes life SO MUCH EASIER. Especially for us as we love rice.
Our rice cooker works great but makes a mess. If we ever upgrade, we will probably get a fancy one like this.
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Air fryer
An air fryer is something we never thought we needed or would really use but we find we use it almost daily to cook anything we want crispy in a short amount of time. Things like veggie nuggets, fries, tater tots, crispy chickpeas, even heating up pizza. There are so many amazing recipes for the air fryer and it really does make life easier. We LOVE this air fryer and highly recommend it.
3 Small kitchen appliances we have and love but are a luxury.
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Pizza Oven
If you’ve never used a pizza oven and are a frequent pizza person, this would change your life. We registered for a pizza oven for no reason other than we thought it was REALLY cool.
Being that it was pricey, we did not think for a second that someone would get it for us. Surprise to us – It ended up being our FIRST wedding gift we received!
We use it weekly now. It makes the best homemade pizzas or cooks frozen pizzas like a champ. And in like 6 minutes. Seriously amazing. Ovens work fine but the pizza from this is just…. amazing.
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Stand Mixer
We use our mixer maybe once a month. MAYBE. But because we received it as a wedding gift and I know we’ll use it and need it at some point, I would never get rid of it.
Basically I look at it this way… if we got rid of it, how easy would it be to replace? These suckers are pricey so I’m gonna go with not easy to replace.
It’s not used often but when we do use it, we are SO thankful to have it.
This is the one we have and love but there are so many other options on Amazon as well!
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Juicer
My husband received a Breville Juicer from my parents when we were newly dating. We used this thing DAILY for a while. That was 7 years ago and we still have it and love it.
If you are really interested in juicing, it’s a great starter juicer. I don’t think they sell the same one any more but it is very similar to this one. For us, we would love to switch to a slow masticating juicer that yields a better juice. But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Small kitchen appliances we got rid of when purging:
- Keurig / Coffee Maker
Do we still drink coffee? OF COURSE. After having a Keurig for 2 years after getting married we realized a few things; we didn’t drink coffee that often, buying pods was annoying and wasteful, the coffee wasn’t THAT good, and the Keurig took up so much space in our small kitchen.
So we donated our Keurig (this is the one we had) and decided to purchase a french press.You guys, this french press has changed my life when it comes to coffee. It makes a richer, deeper, and more delicious cup of coffee. It forces me to slow down in the morning to make my coffee and honestly, I love it.
- Hand Mixer
This was an obvious donate item in my mind. I honestly can’t name anything I would need this for. Do you use a hand mixer regularly? If so, I’d love to hear what you use it for in the comments!
- George Foreman Grille
We have an oven. We have beautiful pots and pans. No need for an individual grille. I will say that I used this more frequently when I was single, vegetarian, and enjoyed cheese panini’s. But now it would be a waste of space.
- Microwave
Ah, the microwave. If you are in any minimalist groups you will see the microwave is a huge conversation. I’ll be honest here and say we simply did not have a microwave when we bought our house so not having one wasn’t our choice.
But it’s been 4 years now and it’s totally fine! We heat things on the stove or in the oven. In many cases, we will use the air fryer to reheat.Yes we have thought about getting a microwave but here’s a few reasons why we won’t. 1) We truly can do everything without it. 2) We would only be buying it for the convenience of people who come over and visit (like to watch the kids, etc. and 3) We literally have no room for it in our kitchen. So here we are without a microwave. Ain’t no shame!
What small kitchen appliances do you love, did you donate, or do you wish you had? Do you try to keep a more minimal kitchen like we do?
Can’t wait to talk with you in the comments. Even if you don’t want to answer the questions, I’d love for you to stop and say hello!
You got thinking! There are 3 appliances off the top of my head that I could toss. I’m really inspired to start purging my kitchen right now!
As a retired 71 y.o. living alone in an apartment I am needing to downsize. (My sentimental items are the hardest by far.) Very seldom will I be having 2-3 other guests to dine with me. Also. I am a “casual” cook, for lack of a better explanation! I already have several small appliances you mentioned. The more recent new additions, such as an instant cooking pot and air fryer, have not been added to my already crowded small kitchen. Storage is a factor of course. A big one is what I can afford living on SS only. I have a rather large size microwave that is used mainly to heat frozen dinners. As a matter of healthy living and preferred tastes my plan is to begin preparing meals from mostly fresh foods. But, I feel pulled about doing away with the microwave. I had already purchased a small size convection/toaster oven, still unopened, when I was given a larger one, also still unopened, when a relative past away. She had bought it and it had not been opened. I have a 2-slice toaster; a basic blender I use ocassionally to make cold refreshing virgin drinks in summer; an electric juicer, which I use especially in summer making lemonade; a hand mixer; 2 crock pots, a 4 quart I’ve had since my first apartment! And a newer 6 or 8 qt. I received as a gift. I have used both. The larger one mostly when my children were still home. I have a Keurig which is currently waiting to be put back together after I had to take apart, per YouTube instructions to flush out apprent clogged lines. (?) And have a small 4 cup Mr. Coffee. Now, my question is, considering the appliances used for meal and actually cooking meats, vegetables, soups and such, and the fact I do not yet own an Air Fryer or an Insta Pot, which single or maybe 2 small kitchen appliances would you recommend I definitely have. The juicer, Mr. Coffee, and hand mixer stay. I do not have room for a stand mixer and it’s attachments, nor can I afford one!
I hope my questions and the request for help in knowing the opinions of more knowledgeable ladies than I about how to most efficiently and economically to stock my kitchen have not been too many.
These decisions have been weighing heavily on my mind for several months. There is no one locally that has been able to help me with my questions and concerns.
From what I have read today, there is quite a bit of experienced cooks here! Any suggestions will be gratefully appreciated!
Thank you in advance.