{ How I make the most of my Kitchen Appliances }

We've all done it!!!

We see a new kitchen gadget we like and we can't wait to get it.  Maybe it's that George Foreman Grill you've always wanted, or a Rotisserie, or that nifty pasta maker.

I love cooking, I love my kitchen, and over the years either I've bought numerous appliances or I've received them for Christmas or my birthday.  But here's the thing, there is only so much space in our kitchen, so a lot of them end up in the back of cabinets, or tucked away and then unfortunately forgotten.

Out of sight out of mind right?

I'm here to tell you how I keep those appliances in use, without forgetting to use them. 

My cabinets are filled with gadgets and appliances and things I love, but I completely forget about them if I don't have them out on the counters or in plain sight.

So a few years back I decided that I had to come up with some sort of system.  A way to not just let them sit hiding somewhere and never see the light of day, and also to make sure I am getting my money's worth.

Take the George Foreman Grill for example, I love it but I don't have room for it to be out on the counter, and I also don't want my counters looking super cluttered. 

See how it's dirty?  Well that's because I pulled it out earlier to make use of it for the next menu plan and hubby saw it and decided to cook up a steak for his lunch.  He wouldn't have even remembered it existed had he not seen it sitting there on the counter.

So what do I do, what is my trick?

It's very simple.  I menu plan for two weeks at a time, so every two weeks, I look through my cabinets and shelves, pantry etc.....then I pull out one or two appliances for those two weeks.

I try to then plan my menus around them so that I'm getting good use out of them.

As you can see above I have a pasta maker which I haven't used in a while.  I'm going to pull it for next week's rotation so that I can make some homemade Fettucine pasta.

When I'm done, I replace those with something else.  So essentially I'm rotating my kitchen tools every two weeks, using them all and even trying out new recipes because sometimes it makes me go and research something to make.

I keep my breadmaker on top of the fridge, so this week I'm going to pull it down a day or two and make some bread for the freezer.

And I'm not only talking about the big things like the grill, or a breadmaker or crockpots etc.  I'm also referring to the small gadgets that we buy and shove somewhere on a shelf only to be forgotten, until we move.  You know I'm right, I bet you have things hiding in your kitchen you don't even remember buying or receiving as gifts.

The gourmet onion cutter above, right behind the french fry cutter, is something I completely forgot I had until I was looking through the pantry.  The kids and hubby love the blooming onions, so I'm going to pull that one out and use it sometime this week.

This Iced Tea Maker was a gift from my husband many years ago.  I don't use it all the time, but right after I took this picture I thought "what the heck am I thinking?  I've been making iced tea in a pitcher for the past few weeks when I could be using this". 

And that ceramic wok?  Perfect for a nice stir fry or even some yummy sesame noodles.

The hamburger press down below, and the french fry cutter are both coming out for the next two weeks.  And when I took this picture, I saw my breakfast sandwich maker in the background and remembered that I have some sausage that I need to use up, so going to get some English Muffins and make a ton of freezer breakfast sandwiches.

I'm currently planning my next menu, I even asked hubby for help and the first week are all meals he chose on his own.  I'll finish off the next week using items I'm pulling out.

Oh and don't worry about counter space, because as I rotate them, the ones on the counter go in the cabinets and come out again when it's their turn to be used.

I've found that this seems to work for me.  I'm sure there are other ways people make use of their kitchen tools/gadgets/appliances, but this system has been the best for me.

So as you can see, there's no need for you to feel like all your favorite gadgets are not being used, with a little organization and some planning ahead, you'll be happily using all those tools again, in no time. :)