For me there are three absolutely can’t live with out kitchen appliances:

• Heavy duty food processor – I wrote not long ago about choppers of all kind
• Toaster oven – a multipurpose device for warming up food, toasting bread and quick heating instead of a microwave.  It is great in the summer for baking something small and not having to turn on the hot old oven!
• Crockpot– Year round convenience. It is wonderful for soups, sauces and casseroles. Start a meal and walk way.  I use it instead of the oven or stove top in the summer.

And then there are the ones that are absolutely not necessary, but sure make life a whole lot easier appliances:

• Rice Cooker – there is not enough praise for this appliance!  It makes perfect rice EVERY time not to mention polenta, oatmeal, buckwheat groats and quinoa.  You never have to worry about grains being over or under cooked and it is a breeze to clean up!
• Pressure Cooker – if you eat a lot of beans like we do, this might almost be a necessary item (although I lived without one for years). I will cook beans in minutes instead of hours and is wonderful if you want to preserve and can food.  We use ours a lot!
• Bread Maker – There is nothing in the world that smells quite as good as baking bread.  We love this but it should be used with caution!  You can get awfully chunky on gluten-free bread, gluten-free pasta or pizza (dough) even if it is sugar-free.  Ask me how I know. . .

Cooking everything from scratch can be a time-consuming prospect, even if you work smart, it still takes time; just no way around it!  I wasn’t kidding when I said I do not believe in spending anymore time in the kitchen than necessary, which is why I am such a fan of these devices.

They are pricey, but as I noted earlier most of them can be bought at thrift stores, yard sales or consignment stores for very little.  Expect to pay somewhere between $5 and $25 (at the most) for each item.  The trick is to keep your eyes open and if you find a great deal (even if you don’t need another one now) just buy it and store it in a closet.  You’ll want it sooner or later!