Gadgets to help with Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating Kitchen Tools

Let's face it: All those diet plans and recipes mean squat if your kitchen cupboards are lacking the tools that make cooking healthy meals no-excuses easy. Luckily, you don't have to be Jamie Oliver in order to whip up something that's healthy but still satisfying. So here are my top tips for essential kitchen tools:

1. Measuring Spoon & Cups Set If you thought these were only good for measuring liquids, think again. stop guessing, that's about a teaspoon or a tablespoon, every little helps!

2. Digital Kitchen Scales Double-check the weights of whole fruits and vegetables and visually compare different portion sizes to avoid calorie creep. For example, a small potato has 130 calories and a medium potato has 160 calories. and even though we don't count calories you can see how little bits all add up

3. Vegetable Peeler Use it to slice cheese or chocolate into ultra thin curls, or make courgette or aubergine ribbons

4. Cheese Grater Use the extra-fine grate for 1-tablespoon dusting of cheese on steamed vegetables, or shave medium ribbons of dark chocolate to liven up a bowl of berries.

5. A good quality Bake ware set 12 hole muffin pan, and a heavy baking sheet at the very least You need a heavy baking sheet the thin ones just warp with the heat and a muffin pan is not just for cup cakes! In addition to your favourite breakfast, you can also use these pans to bake quiche, cake, quick bread, and hors d’oeuvres in right-size portions.

6.Glass Liquid Measuring Jug For melting and warming: Measure soft butter or margarine, chocolate chips, milk, and so on directly in the cup then microwave. For salad dressing: Layer oil, vinegar, and other ingredients using the measurement markings, and combine with a small whisk or immersion blender.

7. Metal Tea Ball Normally used to brew tea, which you can drink to lower blood pressure, this appliance also promises calorie-free flavour. Just fill it with herbs or spices and add to the pot when cooking soups and desserts.

8. Metal Vegetable Steamer You can steam much more than broccoli! Cook Asian dumplings without adding calories or prepare cubs of delicate silken tofu that still hold their shape.

9. Paper coffee filters pop a paper or filter into a sieve or colander over a bowl, fill with plain yoghurt, and place in the fridge; as the whey drains off, you get Greek-style yoghurt. Because it's thicker than regular yoghurt, some people find it more of an indulgence.

10. Baking Parchment Paper Typically used to line your baking sheets, you can now use it to wrap fish or chicken fillets, or thinly sliced meat, along with vegetables in a parchment packet and bake for a flavourful, healthy  meals

11.A Spiralizer Have you seen all the courgetti  in the shops, with one of these make your own try carrots, butternut squash, or cucumber for alternatives to pasta

12.Small Plates and Bowls Point blank: big plates equal bigger portions. With smaller dishes, your meals will look larger, and you'll feel like you're eating a larger portion.

Gadgets  that are more of an investment but worth having

1.Food Processor The food processor is already pretty handy, invest in one with all the gadgets, blenders and attachments. Make bread and cracker crumbs for a quick crunchy topping. use grating and slicing blades for a more even cut, make dough's and batter,

2. Slow Cooker Soak dry beans for a couple hours and then cook overnight; they hold their shape and are cooked just right. Then, you can toss them into a heart-healthy meal that's full of fibre, cook porridge  over night, soups stews joints, a hot healthy meal ready for the minute you get in.

3 Soup Maker For me the best gadget in my kitchen make sure you buy a heating one, some even have a keep warm facility,  I come in chop a few ingredients throw in switch on, hot satisfying soup ready in 20 mins - I even make my Christmas gravy in mine!

4 A really good pan set Sounds obvious but it is odd how so many of us mess around with cheap ones, a good pan set will cook more evenly due the thickness of the base, have better fitting lids, and will last a lifetime if cared for properly, I wouldn't buy a non stick however I would invest in a good non stick frying pan and Wok