adult(ed) EPISODE 3: KITCHEN ESSENTIALS
I remember bits and pieces of decking out my first kitchen. My mom and I went to a Target across the street from my first apartment. I remember getting these cute little red plastic plates and bowls and non stick pans. I don’t think I cooked a single meal that didn’t either come from a box or wasn’t a sandwich prior to that. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was banned from helping to cook Thanksgiving dinner after I managed to ruin a sweet potato casserole and my pie didn’t set. Quite impressive actually how little I knew about navigating myself around a kitchen. After that first big haul, I continued to collect little things along the way that I realized I would use while cooking. Random things like a lemon squeezer and zester (shout out to Rosanna Pansino for giving my first one in a little baking bundle she gave me). Both of which, I use way more often then I would’ve ever thought.. Even 5 years after my first kitchen deck out, I found myself adding items like a Kitchen Aid Mixer and a Crock Pot to my wedding registry! And trading my little red plates and bowls for some porcelain dinnerware from Home Goods. At least from my experience, figuring out what you may want/need in a kitchen can be a process. My goal, is to help take some of that pressure off and let you know what I learned along the way!
Where Do I Begin?
A good place to start is to think about the types of things you may be cooking and how many people you could be cooking for. Cause you might not need a giant pasta pot for two people or a cupcake tin if you don’t plan on baking. Here are a list of items to help get you started!
Cutting Board
Colander
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Mixing Bowls
10 Piece non-stick cookware set
Santoku Knife
Silicone cooking utensils (perfect for non stick cookware!)
Tongs
Baking sheet (great for roasting veggies too!)
Glass baking dish
Oven mits
Kitchen Towels
Dinner Ware
Silverware
Glassware/cups
The Extras
In this episode we spent just under $500 dollars to amp up Madi’s kitchen and that includes some extras like the Keurig (which run’s on the pricier side around $89) and the Lemon Rug. Both very cute, but not essential. Overtime though, you may want to expand your kitchen as your needs change . From the big to the small, the little extra items you may not need at first, but might want to add overtime.
Blender
Kettle
Kitchen Aid mixer
Crock Pot
Toaster
Grater
Zester
Can opener
Lemon Squeezer
Ice cream scooper
Peeler
Whisk
Wine bottle opener
Cupcake tin
Food containers (for leftovers or meal prep)
Spatula Set
Now Where Does it Go?
At the end of the day, there’s no perfect answer as to where everything goes as it’s case by case. I have found keeping utensils as close as you can to the stove top is a great place to start. Either in a nearby drawer or in a cute little container on your countertop. Also, keep in mind where your sink or dishwasher is and the storage close to that. Things like your plates and cups might go near this so it makes for easy clean up. I have found a miscellaneous drawer to be helpful as well for the random items I don’t always use (like our can opener and grater). And when it comes to storing silverware, it’s always nice to have a cutlery tray.
The First Time
Thanks for taking your time to read this post/watch the episode! I hope you found something helpful from it. Before I wrap up, I just wanted to share something about this episode. Even though this is the third adult(ed) release it was our first episode to film! Let me tell you, we had absolutely no clue what we we’re doing , but we had lots of fun making it. I was so thankful to film the first episode with my sister Madison and Brooke who was such a trooper as we figured out what the heck we were doing! It’s crazy to think how far we’ve come since filming this first episode back in November (I know, so long ago!). I really hope you continue to enjoy this series and hopefully learn something new! 7 more episodes to go this season! Any thoughts on what else we might discuss?
We came. We Saw. We Adulted.