If your apartment has a small space with an even smaller kitchen, the odds are you won’t even consider using your stovetop and fridge. The kitchen, as it is usually thought, is a messy place to have and to maintain. There’s the possibility of encountering cockroaches, molds, etc.
But take all these with a grain of salt, since it’s inevitable that you’ll use your kitchen even if you’re not a fan of cooking. Aside from heating up water in a kettle or frying eggs for breakfast, should you feel hungry at an unusual time of the day, your kitchen serves you 24/7. To whip up food on a whim, better be prepared by having these utensils in stock:
1. A non-stick frying pan and something to flip your pancakes over. It’s true: the frying pan is every workaholic’s best friend. Even if you don’t have much time to cook, the frying pan is one of the most versatile utensils there is: from making omelettes to stir-frying vegetables to pan-frying some chicken.
2. A good knife and a chopping board. Though for the inexperienced, a good knife can stain every dish with blood, it still is a good investment. Most often than not knives are least prioritized, until you realize it couldn’t even cut through the head of a cabbage. Make sure it can cut through vegetables and herbs to make your dishes evenly cut. If you have extra budget, buy yourself two knives: a knife for chopping and a bread knife! Even if you don’t have the best-looking kitchen in the block, a set of sharp blades will serve you well and make up for the lack of décor.
3. A can opener. It’s the ten-minute express dinner secret! From asparagus to mushrooms to corned beef to anchovies, all made possible by canning when stored in a cool, dry place. There are inexpensive can openers out there, but unless you’re a very patient person, it will take you ten minutes to open up a single can of tuna. Or at least open up the can halfway, and then you get to shake the tuna out of the can. In either case your life is losing precious time without a functional can opener. Make sure that you have both the battery-operated and manual can opener so you’ll always be prepared.
4. A bowl—and not those huge bowls for baking! Even a little plastic bowl will do you good. It’s for beating those eggs for your omelets, or for marinating your chicken, or for making meatballs out of ground turkey. A really good looking glass or plastic bowl can even double up as décor!
5. Storage bags. From resalable bags to reusable containers, to plastic wraps and foils, these are inexpensive but efficient ways to wrap and store food. They’re also good for marinating and coating meat, or storing batters if you (and your friends) like baking cookies every weekend.
6. Paper plates and utensils. Maybe you do have a dining set on your cupboard, but if you were working the nine-to-five, you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time washing the dishes. (Even if you have a dishwasher, try not to use them too much as it consumes a lot of electricity.) Paper plates and utensils will become your staple for those five-minute breakfasts or for welcoming friends who want to crash at your place.
With these six tools, you’ll realize how easy it is to cook food and save money in the long run. As a final tip: remember to maximize your storage options. Even people who aren’t fans of cooking tend to accumulate a lot of kitchen-related items in the long run!
