Marvelously Useful Kitchen Gadgets (Guaranteed to Make Your Life Easier)

When you are chronically ill, you have to be creative and strategic with your time and energy. You should stock your home with these super-helpful kitchen gadgets that will make your life easier. They make the most of your effort and are effective in making cooking simpler and quicker.

Saving time cooking when you have a chronic illness can mean the difference between a home-cooked meal and a fast food meal. 

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1. Food Huggers Kitchen Gadget

I am truly amazed by some of the kitchen gadgets and tools I find to make life easier while cooking. These food huggers are genius and really work. Who wouldn’t benefit from having these around? They sure save a lot of food that would often get thrown away. 

2. Clip-On Silicone Colander, Fits all Pots and Bowls

Before I came across this nifty kitchen tool, I was a big risk taker :0 I would use the lid of the pot to drain water out of cooked noodles or grease out of cooked meat. That doesn’t always work very well and many times I have lost a good portion of my food down the drain. This clip-on colander fits all of my pots and is easy to throw in the dishwasher when I am done.

3. Stainless Steel Herb Scissors

If first saw this cool kitchen gadget in one of those school fundraiser catalogs. Usually, those items aren’t very purposeful or high-quality, but finding these herb scissors was a treasure for sure. Using scissors can be hard when you have chronic pain and arthritis. This amazing kitchen tool has five blades so it makes things way easier. It’s easy to clean too. I just run it under water when I am done and let it dry.

4. Quesadilla Maker

Our favorite grocery store makes fresh tortillas daily. Add some Mexican blend cheese in between two tortillas and you have got a delicious variation of the classic grilled cheese sandwich.

My husband and I prefer to throw in some grilled chicken or shrimp and add some guacamole and salsa on the side. Super easy dinner for me to make that the whole family eats. This quesadilla maker is one of my go-to kitchen gadgets that make life with a chronic illness so much easier.

5. Multi-Use Tomato Slicer/Holder

Tomatoes are such slippery suckers that mush easily and I have cut my finger more than once trying to cut tomato slices. This tomato slicer holder is a must-have kitchen tool especially if your arthritis greatly affects your hands which can lose strength and flexibility over time.

6. Baggy Rack Food Storage Bags Holder

Born and raised a Cajun, we cook a lot of gumbo around here. And when you cook Gumbo, you always cook in a BIG pot. So this baggy rack makes life so much easier when it comes time to put leftovers in a Ziploc bag to freeze for later. By the way, Gumbo tastes even better after it’s been frozen 🙂

7. Pizza Wheel

Traditional pizza cutters leave the blade exposed, so it’s really dangerous around kids. But this pizza wheel cuts down on the potential for cutting little fingers and its ergonomic grip makes it easier if you experience pain or arthritis in your hands.

8. Watermelon Slicer

One of my favorite watermelon cutting hacks is exactly the way this slicer works. This watermelon slicer tool  makes life much easier because you slice in one stroke. It works like an apple slicer. If you love watermelon like we do, then this kitchen gadget is a must.

9. Pineapple Tool – Peeler/Slicer/Corer/Cutter

I love pineapple but it is one of the hardest, messiest, and most time-consuming fruit to cut and slice. I remember going to Hawaii on our honeymoon and being so excited that there was cut up pineapple everywhere we went. So when I found this all in one pineapple tool, I was in love at first sight (or bite).

10. Greens and Herb Stripper

The herb scissors mentioned above are great for some types of herbs like chives. But for things like spinach, collard greens, kale, and parsley, this herb stripper tool is the bomb. This kitchen gadget definitely makes my life easier and saves a ton of time.

11. Corn Cob Stripper

Four kids and someone will be in braces for the next 15 or so years. LOL But even adults and kids who can eat corn off the cobb like this kitchen tool because we all know the uncomfortable feeling of corn in between our teeth. This is corn cob stripper is easy enough that my young kids can use it by themselves.

12. Divided Skillet

This divided skillet is so purposeful I can’t believe someone didn’t invent it sooner! This skillet makes life easier especially if you are cooking for one or two people. But I use it with my picky kids who often like their meat plain and not with gravy or sauce. I can easily keep the foods separated without having to use a whole other pot.

13. Cutting Board with Drawers/Containers

I love this cutting board with containers and it is a kitchen gadget I use often. Usually, I am chopping more than one ingredient and the drawers keep me from having to dump the first ingredient into a separate bowl to go on to the next thing I need to chop. Here I can keep them separated until I am done and pour them into the recipe at once.

15. Can Strainer

I first found this awesome kitchen tool at Walmart. When my mother-in-law saw me using it, she was amazed. I got this can strainer for her as a stocking stuffer and I think that it is one of her favorite gifts she has received from us. All because it’s a kitchen tool that makes your life easier-simple yet effective.

16. Slow Cooker Liners

I have a love/hate relationship with my slow cooker. Crockpots are wonderful, but the messy cooked on food residue cleanup almost makes me want to avoid my slow cooker. These slow cooker liners are definitely a kitchen tool everyone should have. It makes clean up super easy and I use my crockpot a lot more.

17. The Famous Instant Pot

If you want to make cooking easier for yourself and your family, the Instant Pot is worth its weight in gold. There is a slight learning curve, but once you see how much it can do you’ll think it is well worth learning something new. Read more about using an Instant Pot as well at 50+ recipes that will amaze you. 

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If you asked me which of these kitchen tools is my favorite, I don’t know how I would pick. All of these kitchen gadgets make my life easier, especially since I live with a chronic illness.

It’s hard to get up and cook as much as I used to, so I rely on these cooking tools to make my life easier. That way my family gets fed more often by home-cooked meals. 

Read About More Chronic Illness Life Hacks . . .

• How to Make Grocery Shopping Easier When You Have a Chronic Illness (and Even If You Don’t)
• Grocery Delivery Versus Grocery Pickup (What’s Best for You?)
• 15 Seriously Genius Chronic Illness Cleaning Hacks
• 30 Mind-Blowing Kitchen Hacks that Make Cooking Easier (with a Chronic Illness)
• How the Instant Pot Can Make Cooking Easier with a Chronic Illness (Plus 55 Noteworthy Instant Pot Recipes)

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