Top 10 Kitchen Items For Healthier Eating

Every grocery and department store has sections with healthy cooking ingredients and tools. Most of us cannot afford that luxury, so we need to carefully pick and choose those items that will increase our enjoyment, make our lives easier, and make our food healthier and tastier. Here’s your top 10 items you should have in your kitchen :

1. Blender. It works well to puree soups, make them thicker and creamier, eliminating the need for additional butter or cream. You also can make healthy smoothies (fruit, yogurt, ice, juice), low-cal mayonnaise, low-cal salad dressing and low-cal veggie dip with cottage cheese.
2. Cookbook. You are probably not gifted with devising your own recipes on a regular basis. Let’s face it, we all need some inspiration, but you should try to choose one or two that suit your tastes and lifestyle, and believe me, there are a million of them out there.
3. Cooking spray. What started out as one version of PAM has proliferated into several shelves of cooking sprays in a wide variery of flavors, including butter and olive oil. Fats are necessary for overall health, but excess fats contribute to weight gain, clogged arteries, and increased risk of stroke and heart disease.
4. Crockpot/Slow Cooker. Make your life easier with one-pot meals utilizing cheaper cuts of meat. You can roast a chicken, make a stew or soup, and keep dinner warm for latecomers. Slow cooking allows the fat to cook off most cuts of meat, which you can skim off the top and avoid ingesting. It’s also a great way to cook dried beans and legumes. Split pea soup, navy bean soup, homemade baked beans, barley and vegetable soup.

5. Grill pan. It allows you to cook meats, chicken, fish, and vegetables quickly and without added oil. Used on very high heat, the grill sears the juices in and provides for a tasty meal.
6. Kitchen Scale. While many can eyeball portions accurately, most of us get it terribly wrong, causing for additional unwanted calories. A small kitchen scale can take the guesswork out of portion control and also comes in handy for many baking recipes that list ounces instead of teaspoon or cup measurements.
7. Nonstick Pans. It allows users to reduce or eliminate fat when cooking everything from eggs to grilled cheese to fish. Early and cheap versions of the nonstick pans can peel and break up with repeated use and age, so this is one kitchen staple it is worth spending a bit more on. Just remember to keep metal utensils away from these pans, to keep the nonstick finish intact.
8. Rice Cooker/Steamer. White rice, brown rice, red rice, black rice, and veggies can all be easily prepared in an electric rice cooker. There is no-mess and no fuss tool. Add rice and water, turn it on and get it only less than 30 minutes. Bonus feature is the warmer, which can keep your rice at serving temperature for several hours. No watching the stove or checking for evaporation. Get creative and cook your rice in broth, with herbs or even diced veggies. You can also add garlic or herbs to your steaming water when cooking veggies to add another flavor component.
9. Spices/seasonings/herbs. One way to perk up any meal, healthy or not, is to use fresh ingredients and use added herbs or spices. Herbs like these and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and curry powder all add a flavor punch, as do seasonings such as Emeril’s Cajun Seasoning and Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic. There is also a good variety of herb mixes with lower salt content.
10. Truvia/Stevia/Agave: Hot on the market are the new natural sugar substitutes. With 300 times the amount of natural sweetness of the popular sugar cane, you can now find this in sodas and in packets of sugar substitute called Truvia. Produced from the agave plant, it is thinner than honey but thicker than maple syrup and is very mild in flavor. It can be used to sweeten your coffee and tea, cereals, and used as a substitute in baking. It is lower on the glycemic index, making it a good choice for diabetics.

What You Should Prepare For Outdoor Kitchen Appliances?

Outdoor kitchen is not complete without the outdoor kitchen appliances. What better way to enjoy your outdoor cooking experience than to have everything you need all in one spot?
The great thing about cooking outdoors is the ambiance it creates. The smell of the grill, the enjoyable time everyone has, and the overall good feeling everyone experiences from spending time together outdoors.

The type of outdoor kitchen will decide what type of appliances you will need. If you are going to have a full outdoor kitchen you will want to have :

1. A refrigerator - small or large depends upon your family size and how much time you are going to spend preparing meals in outdoor. It is also dependent upon how much entertaining you may do. Many people choose a larger refrigerator with an icemaker as this is handier for outdoors than running back and forth to the inside every time you need ice.
2. Wine cooler - many people use when they have a fairly large sized outdoor kitchen. This is a nice compliment to the outdoor kitchen.
3. Ventilation hood for your grill to make it covered. These can be expensive, costing as much as a good grill. However, this is an absolute necessity if you are going to have an outdoor kitchen that is covered to keep fumes and smoke from becoming trapped in the area in which you and your guests and family will be sitting.
4. Oven unit may be required if you are going to use the outdoor kitchen the same as you would an indoor one. This is especially useful for fixing pizzas which are a favorite at any outdoor gathering. They are also great for bread to go with the masterpiece you fix on your grill.
5. Warming drawers to keep certain foods warm while others are being given the final touches is a necessity. There also should be side burners for fixing foods such as baked beans that will be the added touch to your meal.
6. Grill is the most important aspect of the outdoor kitchen. This is going to be the focal point of your whole kitchen. The more options the grill has, the more expensive it is going to be. The size of your outdoor kitchen is going to be one of the determining factors of what type of grill you purchase. The portable type may be what you need if you are planning to move it at some point.
7. A modular or custom-designed unit may be your choice if you are planning to make it permanent.
8. Backyard kitchens have become just as much of a way to prepare meals as cooking indoors, while many people remember outdoor cooking when it was charcoal and slapping hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. This is one reason you need to find the best outdoor kitchen appliances to suit the outdoor space you are planning.

Calculating The Kitchen Budget

5% to 15% Rule
The entire kitchen project (including cabinets, appliances, Countertops, flooring, lighting, trim molding, & wall coverings) should cost no less than 5% and no more than 15% of the current value of your home ... with approximately 50% of the total cost allocated for cabinets (including accessories and trim).

5% to 15% Rule
$200,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 5% $10,000 8%* $16,000 15% $30,000	$300,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 5% $15,000 8%* $24,000 15% $45,000	$400,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 5% $20,000 8%* $32,000 15% $60,000	$500,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 5% $25,000 8%* $40,000 15% $75,000

The High-End Custom Kitchen
Those who want only the best, will find that the use of custom made cabinets, professional appliances, extensive wood moldings, granite/stone Countertops, and high-end materials along with features such as a butler's pantry will greatly increase the cost of the kitchen, rendering the typical budget percentages inappropriate.
The total cost of high-end custom kitchen should not exceed 20% of the current market value of the house. Spending more could reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.

High-End Kitchen - Maximum Budget - 20%
$500,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 20% $100,000	$750,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 20% $150,000	$1,000,000 House % of Value Project Estimate 20% $200,000

80/20 Rule
All projects have a way of growing beyond initial budgets, no matter what the amount. Plan on spending only 80 percent of what you can afford. Put the additional 20 percent in reserve to cover changes, unforeseen problems, and miscellaneous charges.