Author Topic: whats in your kitchen?  (Read 1514 times)

Offline 3bears

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whats in your kitchen?
« on: December 28, 2011, 01:30:31 AM »
I'm not sure this is the right place to put this..newbie..anyway.

I've been using coconut flour, almond meal and hazlenut meal for a few recipes, but its a real pain to get the flour where I live. We are selling our home and thus I've sold/moved on alot of kitchen equiptment. Quite a few friends have recommended that I get a thermomix, but I'm yet to be convinced that I should spend that much money...as the foods they eat are nothing like what we eat...so I'm not sure it would be that great.

I'd really like a great foodprocessor I think, something that I could make my own nut flours in, but also for green smoothies.  We use the electric frypan alot for cooking our meats in winter, but often we just cook on a fire out the back ( fun for the kid).

What has everyone else got in their kitchen?


Offline Jean

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2011, 06:31:32 AM »
I don't use any nut flours. My cooking is mostly old-fashioned meat and veg like Grandma used to make, so I don't need modern kitchen gadgets. I have good-quality old-fashioned tools, like ceramic cast-iron casseroles, frypans, good knives, chopping blocks. I do keep an extra fridge now, as the standard one wasn't big enough once we started eating all fresh produce. I have an extra small fridge just for meat and fats, which runs a bit colder than the one the veges live in.

I must admit to one very expensive gadget I'm lusting after - a pyrolytic oven!

Offline Paleo Curmudgeon

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2011, 07:51:05 AM »
I have never used nut flours. I don't know why anyone would be obsessed about finding them or making them. 

I don't use electric frying pans because they are usually teflon coated.  I use stainless steel and cast iron frying pans.

 I have a large counter top toaster/convection oven and a gas stove with oven. It is too hot in summer to use the gas oven.

I have a mini prep chopper and a larger food processor.  The time it takes to clean up the food processor usually equals the time your save if you are cooking for one or two people. If you have a large family there maybe a time savings using a food processor.  I don't use the mini prep chopper much but it was a gift.

Keep it simple. You really don't need fancy expensive kitchen gadgets.

I have a microwave but don't use it much.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2011, 07:54:15 AM by Paleo Dude »

Offline Bearso

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2011, 08:29:46 AM »
Dump the nut flour.  You are not Paleo if you are using them.  You are a nut flour SAD eater.  Nut flour will keep you fat and you will not lose weight eating that many nuts.  KISS!  Keep It Simple Silly!  Meat, veggies and some fruit on occasion.
No expectations, no disappointments!

Offline celticcavegirl

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2011, 01:28:26 PM »
I don't use nut flour either.  "Paleo" baked goods made with nut flours and sugar substitutes aren't paleo.  I will occasionally make sugar-free coconut macaroons from dessicated coconut, but only once every couple of months.

I use a gas hob and gas oven.  I have a smoothie maker that I use to make soups and smoothies on occasion.  No toaster, no microwave.  I have an electric slow-cooker that I hardly ever use!

I use non-stick pans because I don't like cleaning cast iron...
I have ceramic and cast iron casseroles
I have several big, sharp knives and a big block :)

I'd quite like a sous vide or a steamer or a dehydrator but I live in central London and my kitchen is too small for more gadgets!

Sugar addiction kills more people than all other kinds of drugs combined

If your food needs a prefix, it's not paleo!

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Offline 3bears

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2011, 03:49:46 PM »
I said a few recipes (namely the coconut flour/almond flour pancakes that my family enjoy on the weekend, and I also use the nut meal as a base instead of pastry for a fruit thing I make for parties), I don't really consider myself obsessed about them but will reconsider that as it seems to be so concerning lol - or quite possibly I have joined the wrong forum :/

I was just curious to know what was in everyone elses kitchen and as most of my friends have been raving about their thermomixes I wondered if anyone had one or something similar. Thanks for the replies anyway.

Offline Paleo Curmudgeon

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2011, 04:58:07 PM »
You could try making nut flour in a blade type coffee grinder. I don't know if it works because I've never tried it (I read about it somewhere else). But you can get a blade type coffee grinder for about $20.00.

http://www.target.com/p/Espressione-Black-and-Silver-Rapid-Touch-Coffee-Grinder-12-Cups/-/A-13763881

Offline 3bears

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2011, 07:39:16 PM »
thanks paleo dude, thats alot cheaper then a thermomix   :)

Offline Paleo Curmudgeon

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2011, 09:28:33 PM »
You can get food processors for about $60.00 if you find one on sale. I don't know where you are but Macy's and Kohls sometimes have small electric appliances on sale at deep discounts. 

Offline 3bears

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2011, 01:20:20 AM »
thanks, I'm in Western Australia and trying to avoid driving too much so I will see what I can get online :)

Offline Kimbits

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2011, 03:43:02 PM »
Those coffee grinders do great for making home-made nut flour. A processor is always better, but a grinder will do in a pinch. Just don't bother trying to use it for anything other than nuts, as cleaning them out is a pain in the butt. I ground up some coconut flakes once, keep getting it my coffee grounds for the next month lol.

Offline Warren Dew

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2011, 10:31:20 PM »
I have to admit, I have a food processor and have never used it.  It was bought to make baby food, but the babies started eating ribs and whole fruit pretty fast, so I never got around to assembling it.

For paleo, I think a good chef's knife, kept sharp with a steel, beats a food processor for convenience, especially when you consider the cleaning time.  With a proper rocking cut, it only takes about 40 seconds to slice up vegetables for dinner - it takes longer to get them out of the refrigerator and to peel the onions.

And hey, if you want to participate in the conversation, splurge on a Wusthof Culinar chef's knife, and when they start talking food processors you can go on and on about your knife!

Offline Jean

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2011, 11:18:18 PM »
If you grind a bit of white rice in the coffee grinder (not too fine) it helps clean it out. But I keep separate ones for coffee and spices - they're not expensive or big to store and it's easier.

Offline Kimbits

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #13 on: December 30, 2011, 06:26:40 PM »
I have to admit, I have a food processor and have never used it.  It was bought to make baby food, but the babies started eating ribs and whole fruit pretty fast, so I never got around to assembling it.

For paleo, I think a good chef's knife, kept sharp with a steel, beats a food processor for convenience, especially when you consider the cleaning time.  With a proper rocking cut, it only takes about 40 seconds to slice up vegetables for dinner - it takes longer to get them out of the refrigerator and to peel the onions.

And hey, if you want to participate in the conversation, splurge on a Wusthof Culinar chef's knife, and when they start talking food processors you can go on and on about your knife!

I keep meaning to pick up a good cleaver, for when I have some big squash or whole chickens I need to cut up. Plus, it would look awesome dangling from the hooks above the stove :D

Offline PaleoRedHead

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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2012, 12:24:04 PM »
I keep a stick blender for soups and homemade sauces. I LOVE IT. So easy to put together and clean up. It works so quickly, too.

I have a standard blender I use mostly for making green smoothies. (Kale FTW!)

I have a food mandolin, but it's pretty heavy duty. I got it free by hosting a Salad Master event. It works great for cutting large amounts of veggies for slaws and salad or meatballs/loaf. I also, from time to time, use it for cutting "noodles" out of squash, etc. (Spaghetti squash is really sufficient for mock-noodles, though!!)

You could get by with just a food processor for most of these purposes, but I've gone through 2-3 different processors, and always find them annoying to store, assemble, use, and clean. Over time, each one broke in some way.

I do have a coffee grinder I use for spices and the occasional nut grind. I've used "nut flour" to make dips and such. For fake flours, I like coconut the most. A simple "pancake" I've made was coconut flour, banana, and egg. If you can just eat that with fruit instead of adding anything sugary and refined, it's not a bad weekend treat!

But, as always, meat, veg and fruit are the way to go! :D
« Last Edit: January 03, 2012, 12:26:05 PM by PaleoRedHead »
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Re: whats in your kitchen?
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2012, 12:24:04 PM »