[renaemrgn]

I am expecting my second child and I have been buying appliances to make cooking from scratch less time consuming. So far I have invested in a rice cooker, waffle iron, slow cooker, and a kitchen aid mixer, blender, ice cream maker. Are there any other appliances that I should consider getting? Also I am looking into a bread machine but not sure if it is really worth it? Any advice for that? And are the kitchenaid attachments worth it? And if they are which ones should I buy besides what already come with it? Thank you!

[motherofmolly]

i do alot of cooking. i have a bread machine (used it once). the bread machine is nice because you can toss the ingredients in and let it do it. i really should use it more.

i have a kitchenaid. i have the meat grinder attachment. we use this alot during hunting season for grinding our deer meat into hamburger. well worth the money. they have another attachement that i just saw for making juice out of fruit. will look into this.

are you going to make homemade baby food. a blender is good for this.

i have one of those vidalia onion choppers (one of those sold on tv ones). this is by far the best veggie chopper i have ever had. better than my mandolin. i get a bag of onions and chop them thru this and then freeze it. then when i need chopped onions for a recipe, i just pull out a bag and put in what i need, and then back to the freezer. i do this with carrots and green peppers too. saves lots of time. i by when i find them on sale or clearanced and then chopp and freeze.

[brieclark]

We have SO many kitchen gadgets. Some we use a lot, some barely get touched. The dehydrator, the juicer, and the deep fryer only get used a few times a year.

We love our Kitchen Aid! We use it mostly for baking bread and treats, but it can also mix mashed potatoes and shred cooked chicken. We also have the meat grinder attachment. Especially handy for hunters, but I can sometimes find better prices on whole roasts than ground meat. So we grind it ourselves (without the infamous pink slime). We have the ice cream maker attachment, and it produces the best consistency.

Personally, I have never used a rice cooker. It's just too easy to cook rice in a pan, so I never saw the point.

Great tip above about chopping and freezing onions & peppers--that helps me save a lot of time and dirty dishes. Instead of the onion chopper, I use a french fry cutter. Works the same way, but I can also use it for french fries, veggies sticks, etc.

I use our George Foreman grill to make grilled cheeses & paninis and such. It easy to wipe clean and cooks them perfectly.

[Kayline]

I believe a rice cooker is really only worthwhile if you eat a LOT of rice and like to have it always available. Other than that, it seems it would be just another appliance to find a storage space for.

I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and a bread machine. I used the KitchenAid primarily for kneading bread dough so the bread machine kind of took its place. It's really not that great for mixing regular sized cakes and such; a nice hand mixer does just as well. I do like it for whipping the potatoes when I'm feeding a crowd. I have the meat grinder which I use mostly for when I need a finer ground meat than is available in the supermarket. I bought the pasta attachment 3 years ago and have never used it.

I highly recommend the Zojirushi bread machine, if you can afford it. It is completely and totally awesome!

[mystigal]

A few months ago I got a Convection Toaster Oven free with some points I had on one of my credit cards. It doesn't use a lot of electricity like my regular oven and it doesn't heat up the kitchen during the summer months.
I love my bread machine (been using it for about 10 years). I also have a mini food processor (great for making salsa, chicken salad spread, etc.). One of my favorites is my Panini machine - it makes great panini sandwiches and small steaks.

[littleprincess]

I must admit I am a kitchen appliance junkie. But my absolute favs are of course my kitchen aid ( I also have the grinder attachment and the pasta roller) My food processor (also a kitchenaid), my foodsaver, my dehydrator. ( All of these appliances get used a lot because I do a lot of home canning and buying in bulk.)

I love my breadmaker (it's a Cuisinart Convection breadmaker) I also think that toaster ovens are a must have for when you don't want to heat up your big oven. The toaster oven I have is a convection toaster oven with a rotisserie so I can really do a lot with it.

[6LazyCatsMama]

A Kitchen Aid is an investment well worth making. The one my father bought me is going strong 20 years later. I miss it; it's in storage in Indiana for now.

I was recently given an older Zojirushi breadmaker. Haven't tried it out yet. The other breadmaker I had (think it was a Sunbeam) baked a crust I did not care for. Hope this is better as I like to make the "healthy" type breads.

[rebecca6311]

A big heavy cast iron pot. Like le creuset. Great for going from stovetop to oven. Great for soups and you can bake bread in them. So good and easy. http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/201...bread.html?m=1