Almost more than cooking and baking I love finding some kitchen tools, gadgets, pans, and bakeware to use or not use if it’s too pretty. I decided that there is more to tasty recipes than just the recipes and pictures of the delicious food.

You see without some of the tools & cookware I wouldn’t be able to make stuff… right? So, I thought that I’d share a few of my favorite things with all of you. The options out there are endless really and you can get any number of gadgets and cookware from really rock bottom cheap stuff  (like what we all got when we first were out on our own) all the way up to elite lines of products that we all drool over and dream of one day owning.

One of the gadgets that I absolutely love and can not live without anymore is the mix & chop tool from The Pampered Chef. This thing is awesome! Seriously, I have no idea how I ever managed breaking up ground beef as it cooked or stirring up frozen orange juice before!

It can be used in so many ways, but honestly I use it mostly when I’m cooking ground beef or ground turkey for spaghetti sauce or something like that. It breaks the meat up perfectly every time and I love that because I hate huge chunks in my sauce. Funny thing… I only got this because a friend of mine was having a Pampered Chef party and I always feel obligated to buy something at those home parties. I thought that it was kinda cool and that it might be useful… oh, little did I know how I’d love it.

When I first started blogging I entered a giveaway and won it! It was the first giveaway that I had ever won and was so excited because it was a $150 gift card… I can’t remember to where but I used it for some Rachael Ray cookware. I got a few things because 1) I needed the pan and 2) because the others looked really cool.

Okay, so on the left we have the the bubble and brown stoneware bake set and over there on the right we have 6qt non-stick saute pan. Of course, I have them both in the blue but I couldn’t find a picture of the pan in blue. That pan is a staple and I use it almost every single time I cook. It’s perfect when you have a large family like I do and you’re cooking dinner… I can fit 5 -6 small chicken breasts in there and still have room leftover.

The stoneware baking pans are great for casseroles or using them as serving dishes. Those two I rarely use for some reason… maybe because  I’m lazy and don’t want to wash another dish. The only thing that I don’t like about them is the handles and that’s because I tend to overfill them and the food oozes out over the edge when I bake it.

What are some of your favorite gadgets or cookware?

Is there something that is your go to kitchen accessory that you can’t live without?