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Greetings to my hangry readers! (Am I the only one that gets hangry?) Welcome to my first LIVED LIST! I hope you've had the best month and that your year is going well so far. May your goals continue to come to fruition and your light continue to shine so bright that it blinds others!
For my last Veganuary blog, I decided to compile my first #livedlist of kitchen tools I've used to successfully assist my plant-based journey. I’m just gonna get right to it! Because it’s easier to be successful when you have the right tools to do what you need to do to complete the task, I spend good money on the tools because I use them frequently, I don't want them to break down on me! They may not cost you a little, they may not cost you a lot, but it’s going to cost you (For those of you who watched Martin growing up)!
The following five tools have been so helpful in my plant-based kitchen:
14-Quart Cuisinart Food Processor
I love this food processor! It makes anything you need to do in the kitchen easier. As a “Smarter Not Harder” type of person, this tool makes the most sense in helping me work smarter! You can grind, mince, puree, shred, grate, and slice anything you need. I love making this raw breakfast mix I got from Pinterest…and I can’t even find it! But, I remembered I started to make a video and didn’t finish it. I will soon. I also make some Chickpea “Tuna” Salad that’s finger-lickin’ good! Here’s the base recipe I use: https://simple-veganista.com/chickpea-of-sea-salad-sandwic/#tasty-recipes-8545-jump-target. You can purchase this food processor here: https://amzn.to/3vLQUzr
High-Powered Blenders
It’s necessary for any plant-based household to have at least one high-powered blender in their kitchen! A high-powered blender just goes along so well with my “Smarter Not Harder” philosophy. :) Fortunately, I have both the Blendtec and the Vitamix in my home. Both are on the counter and both are used for different purposes.
I had the Blendtec first, and one thing I love about it is the large 75oz cup that you can pack all your fruits and veggies in… and it will pulverize them into the most delectable shakes! It rarely misses any small “details”. It’s the easiest to clean, and I also love that you can make soups that come warm out of the blender. Fewer tools to create plant-based masterpieces! Get it here: https://amzn.to/3Sy1enP if you desire, but if you have a sound-sensitive soul in your household, the Blendtec is not for your family.
Enter the Vitamix. This blender entered the chat when I learned that my son couldn’t handle the loud noise of the Blendtec. It’s a high-powered blender that gets the exact same job done, but it has a dial that you can use to turn up or down the intensity of the blender, which in turn, affects the volume as well. I could blend my shakes without waking the whole house up…the Blendtec is going to wake the house up. The version of the Vitamix I have doesn’t have pre-set programs, but the link to the updated one is here: https://amzn.to/3SvBsQY. It’s not the easiest to clean, and I actually just figured out how to take the blade out to clean it...after three years. Anyway, now it's sparkly clean!
Sharp Knives
Raise your hand if you started to sell Cutco knives when you were 18 years old and one of the conditions of employment was for you to purchase the set of knives you’d be using in your home demonstrations…and when you quit, you were left with a set of knives you purchased, even if you didn’t sell any knives? 🙋🏾♀️
Oh, only me? Ok. 🤣 Well, I have a starter set of Cutco knives that I’ve had since I was 18, and aside from one of the knives, they all are still sharp. 22 years sharp. They are my favorite knives to use, and with their forever-sharp guarantee, I’ll use them for the rest of my life. Are they an investment? Oh, absolutely! Refer to GIF above. LOL If you want to see what they look like, here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3UdDhmJ. Or, you could just invest in knives that have great reviews like these: https://amzn.to/496ag0K. (I only have Cutco knives, so I cannot personally recommend any other knife sets).
Sink Colander
My life partner recently purchased this sink colander because we needed a colander that was big and spacious, especially for washing fruits and veggies in bulk. We have two bowl-sized colanders, but when you’re trying to wash a ton of fruits and veggies at once, they’re just not that convenient. This one pictured is aiight, but since I put it in the dishwasher, it messed it up a little. When I purchase another one, I’m going to buy this one linked here: https://amzn.to/48Ixme7.
NamaWell J2 Cold Press Juicer
If you’re looking for a juicer that’s not wasteful, is time-saving, hands-free, easy to clean, and extremely durable, Well, look no further! The Namawell J2 Cold Press Juicer is all you need. I’ve had many juicers over the years. The one pictured below is the 2nd one I purchased.
The first one was a Breville Juice Fountain (which is still in the kitchen cabinets, lost in the abyss), but with that one, it was easy to clean but you had to enter each piece of fruit individually, which was incredibly time-consuming. If something is going to take you longer to do, it’s going to be unsustainable. The Megawise (pictured above) was easier to clean because there are fewer parts, but because you have to push each piece of fruit in, it was time-consuming as well because not only was it slow (as advertised), but you’d have to run the pulp through a couple of times in order to squeeze all the juice from the fruit.
But the Nama J2? All I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW! I barely cut the fruits up, I can fill the jar all the way up, and the J2 squeezes ALL of the juice out of the fruits. Like ALL of it. The pulp is actually dried fiber when the J2 is done with the fruits. Cleaning is a breeze. Sometimes, I just rinse each piece off and put it back together. There’s also a smoothie blade that it comes with that will allow for some of the fibers to come through in the pressed juice too. Overall, it has really been a worthy investment! You can order one here: https://namawell.com/products/nama-j2-cold-press-juicer#product-page__pdp
Well, I hope this #livedlist helps you get started on your plant-based journey! Please feel free to leave a comment or other kitchen tool recommendation in the comment section below.
Alexa, play "Fruit Salad" by Tierra Whack. We're eating luscious fruits 24/7/365!
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