My 5 Fav Kitchen Gadgets

I'm linking up to share 5 things on this fabulous Friday!

Today I'm sharing 5 of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  Now that we're getting ready to move, I'm really excited to get some of my things out of "storage" since we don't have to have totally bare counters for showings!  We packed a lot away when we put our house on the market.  A lot of times when I want to use something I'll realize it's packed away or I have to get it back out from a hiding spot (like a shelf in our laundry room)!

Here are 5 things that I couldn't live without in my kitchen.  (Click the links or photos to get more info!)

{one} My stand mixer!  I don't have a fancy Kitchenaid like most of you, but I LOVE my Hamilton Beach!  I asked for a Kitchenaid and my wonderfully frugal husband did a lot of research and found that this mixer had great reviews and was very similar.  I love using it for all of my baking and I've also used it for cooking.  Did you know you can shred chicken in about 2 seconds in your stand mixer?!  Also, mine is black.  :)
  

{two} My Keurig.  Can you believe I used to have an old school coffee pot with FILTERS?!  Haha!  Seriously though, I love my Keurig for my hot beverages like coffee, mochas, and hot chocolate.  I even use the hot water to make things like oatmeal for Carson!  I also love using the reusable K-Cup because it saves a little money and if you can't find a certain flavor in k-cups, you can make your own!


{three} In case you haven't noticed, I bake a lot of cookies.  I love using my cookie scoop for this!  It's such a simple little gadget, but it saves so much time and it makes your cookies nice and uniform!

{four} I love my Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat for baking and cooking!  I used to always use parchment paper but now I'm addicted to my Silpat.  I used parchment paper for two reasons: 1.) less cleaning afterwards and 2.) it seemed to help my baked goods from flattening.  I got one Silpat for Christmas from my sister and I am already itching to buy more for my other baking sheets.  Hopefully I can hold off until my birthday!

{five} I really love my silicone steamer for steaming veggies.  I never had a steaming basket before this so I can't compare to metal, but this is so easy to clean and super easy to store!  I went with silicone because I can't stand the sound of metal against metal so I couldn't imagine using a metal steamer basket.  I prefer my veggies steamed and this makes the process quick and easy!



There are other things in my kitchen that I obviously couldn't live without, but these are 5 of my favs.

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?