Kitchen Essentials
Are you a chef?
Can you whip up amazing meals without giving it a second thought?
Yeah, us neither.
Over the years we have learned that you can accomplish 2 main things by learning to cook most of your own food.
#1 - Save a bunch of money.
Restaurants are crazy expensive. I mean, a “value” meal at a place like Subway is going to set you back at least $10. How much are you going to spend at a mediocre chain restaurant for dinner? $15-20 per person? It adds up fast!
#2 - Save a bunch of calories.
Let’s face it. Even if you’re logging your food in an app like MyFitnessPal there is a huge margin for error between what you find on the plate and what you find in the app or on a website. I don’t think the cook really cares about your macros. They just get paid to make sure that the food is tasty and keeps you coming back. The secret for that recipe is more salt and more fat. Even “healthy” dishes can contain hundreds of added calories from cooking oils.
Looking back on our own fitness journey, it wasn’t until we took control of our nutrition by cooking most of our own food that our performance, health and physiques took a sharp turn for the better.
We didn’t learn to cook overnight, and we still want to continue to expanding our menu by learning to cook new things, but we’re hear to help you get started today.
If you’re going to start cooking at home there are some basic kitchen essentials that you need to have on hand to set yourself up for success.
In a future post we will cover the specifics of how to cook a few different essentials, but you better start by getting your supplies ready.
Here we go!
Pots with Lids and a Non Stick Frying Pan
Get at least one medium and one large pot. You can make rice, soups, noodles, oats etc with these. You can probably get by with just one or two medium frying pans. Get non-stick unless you like scrubbing fried eggs for an hour after breakfast!
Baking Sheets
Lots of things you can do with these bad boys. Our favorite is baking up veggies on these bad boys.
Big pan for cooking meat (truck meat)
When you cook 5-lbs of chicken breast at a time like we do it’s nice to get it all into one pan. You can use it for the Thanksgiving turkey too.
Aluminum Foil & Parchment Paper
This is convenience thing. Cover your baking sheets with it and you won’t have to clean up any mess! Just throw it away! You also don’t have to use cooking oil with parchment paper.
Knives
Get your wallet ready for this one and get some decent knives and get keep them sharp. Get a large knife like one on the top for chopping, a serrated knife like the one in the middle for cutting things like tomatoes and a medium knife like the one on bottom for trimming meats and other cutting.
Cutting Boards
We like the thin plastic cutting boards that come in a set because they don’t take up much cabinet space and they are easy to throw in the dishwasher. No wood cutting boards for us.
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Pretty self explanatory on this one! Unless you’re doing extravagant baking you only need the basics.
Digital Thermometer
Yes, a digital one. There’s nothing worse than either getting sick from undercooked meat or not being able to chew your chicken because you over cooked it. We LOVE the thermometer in this picture.
Meat Hammer
Meat tastes better when it’s tender and this puppy gets the job done.
Strainer
You’re going to need to wash and rinse things and there really is no other way to do it without something like a strainer.
Utensils
Silicone spatulas are great for things in the frying pan, big wood or plastic spoons are a must for soups and a ladle is great for getting a hold of the juices at the bottom of the pot.
Hot Pads
You’re going to need something to grab those hot pans out of the oven with and somewhere to set them! Don’t spend a bunch on these, just get something that works.
Basic Seasonings and Cooking Oil
Often the thing that separates plain boring food from stuff that you actually want to eat is how it’s seasoned. Every great chef uses the basics!
An Awesome Mother/Mom-in-Law
Looking back on this list, Blakley’s mom has gifted us just about everything on this list except the salt :) Thanks Mom for supplying us over the years with the tools to help us be better/healthier cooks!
Like I said at the beginning of this post, people who have achieved admirable physiques, levels of performance and are working to optimize their health aren’t eating out at restaurants every day.
That’s just a fact.
They might not even be eating out at restaurants every month.
The key for you is to find some basics that you can prepare in advance or with minimal effort that help keep you on track and out of the restaurant.
Start with these commonly needed kitchen tools and stay tuned to the blog for a future article on how to prepare some basic protein and carb options to always have on hand!