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- Tools of the
Litehouse Trade
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- Producing healthier family
meals is easy if you invest in some good
quality cooking apparatus.
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- This doesn’t mean you
need to spend hundreds of dollars filling
your kitchen with fancy appliances and
gadgets, but if you gradually acquire
most of the following items, you should
have everything you need to quickly
prepare a healthy family meal every night.
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- Non-stick
cookware: I consider my non-stick
cookware an absolute necessity. Adding
just one tablespoon of oil to any dish
means you must add on an extra 176
calories and 20 fat grams. Using non-stick
cookware means you can fry or sauté
without using any added fat, or use just
a short burst of vegetable or olive oil
if necessary.
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- I would highly
recommend investing in:
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- a non-stick wok
- a large and a small non-stick
frying pan
- non-stick loaf pans
- a non-stick muffin tray
- non-stick oven trays
- a deep and shallow round
or square non-stick cake pans
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- Other cooking
equipment I regularly use:
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- set of saucepans –
small, medium and large - with lids (non-stick
is handy)
- stock pot – for
cooking pasta, soups, large casseroles
- assorted sized glass
baking and casserole dishes
- pie dish
- lasagne baking dish
- baking or roasting pan
with a rack
- set of 3 mixing bowls (small,
medium, large)
- wire cake rack – for
cooling baked goods
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- For correct
measuring:
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- set of metric measuring
cups (¼ cup, 1/3 cup, ½ cup, 1 cup)
- set of metric measuring
spoons (¼ teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, 1
teaspoon, tablespoon)
- metric measuring jug
showing cup and litre measurements
- kitchen scales
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- For preparation:
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- pot-holders
- chopping boards
- set of good quality knives
– ideally a cook’s knife (20-25
cm), utility knife (10-15 cm), serrated
- large and small metal
whisks
- grater – 4-sided for
cheese, nutmeg, lemon zest
- garlic press
- vegetable scrubbing brush
- wooden and plastic spoons
- slotted spoon
- plastic or rubber scraper
- plastic spatulas
- can-opener
- corkscrew
- potato masher
- vegetable peeler
- sifter
- soup ladle
- tongs
- kitchen scissors –
handy for cutting meats, finely cutting
herbs, slicing spring onions
- small and large colander (for
draining pasta and vegetables)
- an assortment of plastic
storage and freezer-safe containers
– for leftovers (planned or not)
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- Useful but not
essential:
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- hand citrus juicer
- salad spinner
- apple corer
- pastry brush
- rolling pin
- Dutch oven
- pepper grinder
- steamer
- mortar and pestle
- timer
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- Other useful items:
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- paper towel
- baking paper
- plastic freezer bags
- Electrical
Appliances:
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Microwave: One appliance I could
not do without. Apart from reheating and
defrosting, it is invaluable for
“jump-starting” many dishes. I
often pre-cook vegetables or meats to add
to a finished dish. Many recipes can be
completely prepared in the microwave.
Also very handy for making sauces and
custards, and for cooking jacket potatoes,
rice and pasta.
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Food processor: A major time
saver for jobs like chopping, slicing,
grating, shredding. A necessity for
pureeing soups, fruits, vegetables,
making breadcrumbs, and for mincing your
own lean meats.
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Hand held-blender (e.g.
Bamix): Easy to wash and great for
pureeing soups straight in the pot.
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- Other appliances I
own that I find very useful (but by no
means are essential):
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Health grill (e.g.
Breville): for grilling vegetables and
meats indoors when the weather is
unsuitable for outdoor barbecuing.
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- Ice
cream maker: handy for making
your own low-fat ice-creams (see recipes
in Living Lite Family Recipes)
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- Breadmaker:
there is nothing like that taste of
homemade bread!
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- Hand
held mixer/beater: for beating
egg whites and cake mixes
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Electric non-stick frypan
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Blender: for making
smoothies, pureeing sauces, soups, making
breadcrumbs
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