Tricia, the founder of Once A Month Meals and the queen of freezer cooking, shares her top 10 must-have kitchen items in this gift guide for freezer cooks.
I thought this season would be a good season to shower you with ideas for your own wish list or for those on your gift list. This isn’t an official gift guide where I have received all of these items to review. These are items that I find myself using on a regular basis or discovered through a review and haven’t let go of. They are items you would find me using if you walked into my home on a freezer cooking day. (These are affiliate links.)
1. Hamilton Beach 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
Whether it is a once a month cooking day or simply an evening meal I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this slow cooker. It has some great settings that allow me to program it and walk away for the day or go to sleep at night. The latched lid makes it easy to transport to events or to a friend’s house for cooking as well!
2. Cuisinart Food Processor
My slow cooker, my food processor and I, are all BFF’s. We have to be! Have you seen the chopping lists for a cooking day? I love the time this saves me!
3. 12-Quart Stock Pot
A freezer cook needs some large pans and stockpots for cooking those big double batches!
4. Measuring Devices
It really doesn’t matter which brands you use but you need several sets of measuring devices. My husband doesn’t agree, but it is true! These are the ones I use on a regular basis:
- 8-Cup Large Glass Measuring Cup
- Oxo Good Grips Angled Liquid Measuring Cups
- Oxo Measuring Cups Set
- Oxo Measuring Spoons
5. Large Mixing Bowls
Really, there isn’t such a thing as “too large” when it comes to freezer cooking. We are mixing massive amounts of items for any one recipe so the bigger the bowl, the better!
6. Chop Keeper
I originally reviewed this product as part of the Mother’s Day Gift Guide and it is constantly being used as a portable work surface on my cooking days. It seems so simple. I thought originally I would have no use for it but I was wrong.
7. A Good Can Opener
On any given cooking day there a million and one canned goods to open and frankly my hands get worn out with a manual can opener. If you are going to go handheld, then definitely go high quality.
8. CUTCO Knives (not an affiliate link)
When you aren’t using the food processor you are most certainly in need of some good knives. My family swears by CUTCO, and it is easy to see why. These knives have been VERY GOOD to me over the last year we have had them. I do adore them. They are expensive, so if a set is beyond your budget, perhaps start with just one. I know one family who gives a kitchen knife a year to their growing children in much the same way they give a tool a year to their sons for their toolbox. A great way to invest in needed items for their future!
9. Imprint Anti-Fatigue Mat
Any cook that is on their feet for more than 8 hours at a time, has back issues, or wants to not feel as worn out at the end of the day, NEEDS one of these. It may seem like a simple mat wouldn’t help that much, but let me tell you IT DOES! I reviewed these earlier in the year and haven’t looked back since. I have also gotten them for cooks I love as well.
10. Ziploc Containers & Freezer Bags
When you are on a budget or want to put together a gift basket for the once a month cook you CAN NOT go wrong with either of these items. I go through these faster than I go through flour or sugar!