Healthy Living: Kitchen gadgets to make cooking healthy quick and easy

KITCHEN GADGETS FOR THE WIN!

Meal prep is becoming increasingly popular, and when it comes to working in the kitchen, it's 'work smarter not harder' with these kitchen tools! Nutritionist Deborah Enos shares some of her favorite things in this Healthy Living!

FROM THE SEGMENT:

Ali's super simple apple sauce:
 

Ingredients

Instructions

**You can also keep the peels and use a food mill to break it down in the apple sauce!



Gadget: Johnny Apple Peeler with Suction Base, Stainless Steel Blades, Red Cast Iron ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DLTD1C/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_XKXgEbC19RZS7 via Amazon.

From Nutritionist Deborah Enos:

I’m a big time food prepper, but I also have a small kitchen and I need to make every item count. I can’t afford to store gadgets that don’t have multiple purposes. Here’s my list of my top gadgets that I use on a weekly basis, including my favorite food prep recipes.

INSTANT POT: What’s not to love? It’s a crock pot, pressure cooker and you can even use it to make yogurt! I use my IP for soups, stews and beans. I’m not using all of the bells and whistles but I know they are there for me when I decide to branch out someday-meanwhile, I will admit there’s learning curve on the pressure cooker setting so I’ve included my recipe for black bean chili. It took me three attempts to get the recipe down and now I have to say I get a lot of compliments on it.

SOUPER CUBES: This is a new product for me and it’s a terrific way to store cooked soup, stew or sauces in your freezer especially when you have limited freezer space. You can pop the frozen cubes into another container or Ziploc and really max out your freezer storage space, win-win! https://www.soupercubes.com/collections/all

CONTAINERS: I’m a big fan of using glass containers instead of hard plastic. I usually use Snapware brand and I have way more than I need, so I always have enough for big prep days.

TAPE & A SHARPIE: Okay, might seem odd but how many times have you grabbed something frozen out of your freezer and you have no idea what it is? I just end up waiting for it to defrost with my fingers crossed that it will work for my dinner. I’ve been saying for a year, “I just need some tape and a sharpie” okay, New Year and new habit! I now keep masking tape and a sharpie in my kitchen-no more guessing!

My favorite Sunday food prep recipes:

Black Bean Chili:

• Soak black beans for a few hours then drain and set aside.

• In your IP, on sauté setting, cook two big handfuls of chopped onion & 2-3 chopped garlic cloves in a Tbsp. of avocado oil.

• Add a pound a ground beef or bison and cook until no longer pink. At the end of cooking add ½ packet of Trader Joe’s taco mix seasoning (or less if you don’t like a little heat).

• Move the meat/onion mixture to a bowl and set aside.

• Add your beans to your IP (I didn’t even clean it out) and add water so it covers the beans by about ½ inch. I also added a bay leaf.

• Set your IP to pressure and once it gets to pressure, let it cook for 5 minutes. Yes, you read that right, FIVE minutes! I’ve found that if it cooks longer it mush-city in there and kind of yucky.

• I took my IP outside (my kitchen fan is awful) and set it in my carport and did the fast manual release (stay out of the way of the steam, obviously).

I then put the IP back on sauté and added in the meat mixture, a 28 ounce can of chopped tomatoes, a large jar of TJ’s no sodium salsa and a can of refried beans (I find the addition of the refried beans adds a little body to the chili). Remove the bay leaf and let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes. Add more seasoning as needed.

I add a drizzle (about a Tbsp.) of apple cider vinegar to soften the tartness of the tomatoes).

Ready to eat!

P.S. Freeze it so you always have chili on a cold night

Rice or whole-grain: I cook up rice or quinoa every week and just keep it in the fridge for easy lunch/dinner side dishes. I use a Zojirushi rick cooker to cook my rice and it’s perfect every time.

Beets or hearty veggie salad:

My favorite Beet Salad

• 1 pound beets (about 2 bunches greens removed, and trimmed)

• 1 clove garlic (crushed and peeled)

• 3 tablespoons virgin olive oil (extra-)

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place beets in a 3-quart saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the beets are tender and a fork inserted into the beets comes out easily, 40 to 55 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Drain and cool beets until cool enough to handle.

2. Whisk garlic, oil, vinegar and salt in a medium bowl. Peel and slice beets. Add to the dressing, and toss to coat. Cool beets completely in the dressing. Refrigerate or serve immediately.

Recipe from @yummly