- Hey guys.
Today, I'm excited to announce
the start of my Back to School Bonanza.
So what does that mean?
Well, I know that many of you are headed off to college,
and it might even be for the first time.
And I remember when I was headed off to college.
Okay, we gotta cue the college picture.
Here I am, headed off to the University of Arizona
in Tucson in my little Dodge Colt.
It's amazing that that car
even made it out of the driveway.
Those were the days.
Anyway, I remember how hard it was to eat right,
especially when you're on a budget.
So, over the next five weeks,
I'm gonna give you some of my favorite recipes
for easy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners,
and the best part is that, each week,
there will be a fabulous giveaway attached.
You guys have been so supportive of me and this channel
that I wanted to do something nice for you
as you head off to school.
So I approached five of my favorite kitchen companies
to see if they would give away
some of their fabulous products,
and guess what, they all said yes.
How great is that?
So today, we are gonna kick things off with a bang.
Okay, so the secret to cooking well
has to do with having a few essential kitchen items on hand.
Now many of you might be moving into your first kitchens
and wondering how much stuff do you really need.
Well, I am here to tell you
that you can really get by with just 10 essential items.
These are the tools that,
if I had to strip out everything in my kitchen,
I could get by with these 10 items.
And thanks to my generous friends at Williams-Sonoma,
one lucky winner is going to win all 10 of these items.
I know, how great is that?
Thank you, Williams-Sonoma for participating
and offering such a generous prize.
We love you.
Okay, so if you want to win this prize,
all you have to do is leave me a comment below
telling me why you want to win
and I will pick my favorite comment and award the winner.
And the best part is you have about a month to enter
because all of my back-to-school giveaways
will be going through October 7th.
That way, everybody has a chance to participate.
So, if you know somebody who could use this prize as well,
feel free to pass this video along,
post it to your blog or social media accounts
and get the word out.
Okay, so let's count down my top 10 favorite kitchen tools.
First up, let's talk about knives.
You don't need to go out
and buy yourself a big expensive knife block
with 12 different knives in it.
You really can get by with just two knives.
One is an all around essential chef knife.
I love the chef knife
because you really can use it for just about anything.
And I love this design from Wusthof.
Wusthof is a great knife company.
These are quality knives that will really last a lifetime.
The second one is a paring knife.
A paring knife is great for things like peeling or mincing
or any kind of small kitchen tasks.
So between these two knives,
you will basically have everything covered.
Okay, so let's talk pans.
Now this is another thing
that you don't need to go out
and buy yourself a big, expensive 12-piece set.
You can get by with two pans.
And for me, the top two favorites
are a 10-inch saute pan and an omelette pan.
I love the 10-inch stainless steel pan
because it's great for sauteing or searing meat
or making a pan sauce.
Having that stainless steel handle is also great
because, when you're finished cooking or sauteing something
and you want to pop it in the oven just to finish cooking,
you can do that, which you can't do
with a pan that has a plastic handle.
Then the other pan that I love is a small omelette pan.
I love this little non-stick pan by Calphalon
because it makes the perfect omelette.
And if you want to know how to make a perfect omelette,
you can click the thumbnail here
and I'll show you how to do it using this pan.
Omelettes are critical for anybody
who's looking to cook on a budget.
They're inexpensive, they're cheap, delicious,
and they come together in minutes.
So you definitely want to invest in an omelette pan.
Okay, so my next favorite item is a sheet pan.
I love a rimmed sheet pan
because you can do so many things with them.
They're actually better, in my opinion, than a cookie sheet
because, with a cookie sheet, things can roll off them.
You can bake cookies on a rimmed sheet pan,
but you also can do so many more things
like roast potatoes or roast vegetables.
I even made brownies in them and roast chickens.
My next favorite kitchen tool is a microplane rasp grater.
Those of you who know me
know that I can't live without my microplane.
I use it for everything,
from zesting lemons to oranges to limes.
I even use it to zest nutmeg.
They're really fabulous,
and if you want to add great flavor to your dishes
with fresh citrus, they're really essential.
Now for the crowning glory of this list, a Dutch oven.
Now this is on the more pricey end of things,
but I have to say, if you're going to invest in one pot,
make it a Dutch oven
because you can do so many things with them.
And this one from Calphalon, I really love
because it's non-stick, it has heat-resistant handles,
which is key for when you're stirring
and you want to grab onto your pot,
you're not gonna burn yourself,
and it can be put into the oven up to 450 degrees.
I love it also for its popular price.
So, at $79 for a five quart version,
that actually is a good price for a Dutch oven.
As many of you know, some of them can get up to $300, $400,
so for $79 for something that's going to last you for years
and provide hours of enjoyment cooking all kinds of recipes,
it's actually a pretty good deal.
Now, in this pot, you can boil pasta,
you can make soups, you can make stews,
you can do so much with them,
and when you are trying to cook on a budget,
soups, stews, and pastas are your essential mainstays,
so it does help to invest in a pot like this.
The benefit of having a Dutch oven
is that you can make a stew
and then finish it off in the oven with the lid on.
And there's nothing better
than a steaming, warm, bubbly stew
to greet you after a long, hard day.
Next up is a spatula set.
Now, this is the one instance when I would say
it's nice to have a few on hand in different sizes
because you can use them for different tasks.
It's nice to have the large ones
for mixing together dry ingredients or scooping out batter,
and then it's nice to have the littler ones
for those hard-to-reach areas
or if you're getting something out of a jar
or if you're frosting a cupcake.
I love this set because it's heat-resistant,
which is really great for when you're doing things
like melting chocolate or making custards over the stovetop
or if you just wanna pop them in the dishwasher.
So next up, the wooden spoon.
Now, at first glance, it may seem a bit archaic
to have a wooden spoon in a modern kitchen,
but I love my wooden spoons.
I have a whole collection of them
and I use them for anything from browning meat
to mixing up big salads.
They're really terrific.
And I love this version from Williams-Sonoma
because it's made out of Richlite,
which is a wood-fiber composite material,
which means that it's eco-friendly, sustainable,
and it won't harbor bacteria.
And really, you only need one,
so if you're gonna buy one, make it this one.
Next up, the wire whisk.
This is another thing where you don't need to have
10 different wire whisks in varying sizes.
You can get buy with just one for all around whisking.
I love them because there are times
where you really need a wire whisk
where a fork will just not get the job done.
And I love it for things like whisking up pancake batter
or eggs or sauces, and this one is nice
because it has a stainless steel handle,
which means it has a nice, firm grip to it.
It'll also just last you forever.
And lastly, my 10th favorite kitchen tool
is a set of kitchen tongs.
They are really one of the most underrated kitchen tools
in the kitchen, and once you have them,
you'll wonder what you ever did without them.
They are fabulous for things like sauteing meat,
sauteing vegetables, serving pasta.
They're great for handling raw meat.
They're the kind of thing
where you feel like you have an extra set of hands
in the kitchen when you don't want to get your hands dirty.
So there you have it, my top 10 essential kitchen tools.
Now, if you guys want to know
anything more about these products,
in the description below, I've provided links
so that you can head over to the Williams-Sonoma website,
learn more about them,
and if you can't wait for the giveaway
and you want to buy a few of them right now,
you can do that too.
So, please enter the giveaway.
This is an awesome prize.
And if you know anybody who needs all these products,
share the video with them too.
I want to make sure as many people as possible
can enter this awesome giveaway.
And I'll see you guys back here next week
when we're gonna tackle breakfast.
I'm gonna show you some quick and easy ideas
that'll get you out of the door
well-fed and in a flash.
I'll see you then.
(light music)