My New Year’s Resolution has been to clean out my cluttered kitchen junk drawers. You know you have one. Well, I have three. So in my attempt to clean house (or just the kitchen), I realized I could not bear to toss some of my beloved kitchen gadgets. And there were a few that made me scratch my head and ask, “What is this thing?”

My most loved gadgets in the kitchen are always the ones that can do more than one job. So here is a list of my hall of fame double (and sometimes triple duty) gadget tools.

One. Egg Slicer: I know many of you are shaking your head. But please hear me out! Not only do I reach for it when I make the best Egg Salad, but I also reach for it when I make the coveted Banana Pudding to slice all six bananas perfectly. It’s much better than slicing all those bananas with a knife! I also use it when I make this delicious Avocado Shrimp Salad to slice my avocados into equal slices. I make sure to push the banana or the avocado through with my hand instead of pushing them down onto the bed of the egg slicer. Just make sure whatever you’re slicing is super soft.

Two. Garlic Press: Some prefer other garlic gadgets, but I prefer the old fashioned garlic press. Where’s the double in this apparatus? I found when I was making this Key Lime Pie, that I could actually use the garlic press to press the juice from those tiny key limes! I was jumping up and down at the joy of this discovery. Seriously, up and down.

Three. Cast Iron Pan, Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven, anything Cast Iron: Other than being able to brown and slow cook things, a cast iron pan (or dutch oven) can defrost that frozen chicken that you need to cook in 10 minutes (without any heat!). Try it if you don’t believe me. I line the pan with plastic wrap so it’ll be easy clean up and I toss the frozen meat on it (again, no heat). It will defrost much faster than just leaving it out on the counter.  If you like half frozen and half cooked meat, then you can always use the defrost button on your microwave… but we don’t recommend it.

Four. Microplane: Need I say more? This one little tool got rid of my nutmeg grinder and my citrus zester. I love this thing! I not only grate cheese and nutmeg, but I also use it to mince my ginger. One tip about ginger: peel the ginger and keep it in the freezer. It’ll zest even faster on the microplane when it’s frozen.

Five. Immersion Blender: Because of this gadget, I have no need of an ungainly, counterspace-hogging blender. Instead I use this to puree baby food, make protein smoothies for my husband (who is currently obsessed with Power 90X, a totally different post), and make a single serving of pesto. With an immersion blender, you don’t need those informercial bullet-shaped appliances with a hundred parts. And when you are done with it, it’s easy to clean and it fits in a kitchen drawer, neatly tucked away. I promise, they don’t pay me to sell these things…

Six. Salad Spinner: We always need more than one colander, especially when we are throwing a dinner party. One time I reached for the inner part of my salad spinner to use as my second colander, and I keep going back to it. I also use the outside part as a plain salad bowl. Why not? It’s a bowl, it’s big, and it’s not too bad to look at.

These are some kitchen tools with which I can’t part. What are some of yours?

(It took me a week or so to pare down my kitchen gadgets, and I’m happy to report that I’m now down to only two kitchen junk drawers.)

Photos by Melissa Devereaux and Paul Jin

One. Banana Blueberry Smoothie
After peeling and cutting them up into chunks, I put them in a freezer safe Ziploc bag. They’re perfect for smoothies.

Two. Banana Coconut Walnut Muffins
These muffins are delicious. I substitute applesauce for butter to make them healthier. Adding walnuts gives them a punch of protein.

Three. Chocolate Covered Bananas
These treats are a fun and healthy snack. If you’re cooking with kids, they’ll love all the toppings (and the dipping).

Four. Grilled Banana and Peanut Butter Sandwich
No offence jelly, but for me peanut butter and bananas are the perfect pair. This sandwich makes a delicious and nutritious breakfast or lunch. And if you want it for dessert, just throw in a few chocolate chips. Use a ripe (not frozen) banana.

Five. Banana Pear Baby Puree
My daughter Olive just turned 6 months old and we’re experimenting with food. But this isn’t just for babies! Try it on yogurt. Shh, we won’t tell.

What do you do with your ripe bananas? We want to know.

Photos by Melissa Devereaux

On the rare morning that I find myself home (preferably alone while the kids are at school) with a little peace and quiet, I find nothing more relaxing than slowly sipping a cup of hot tea. My guilty pleasure is making muffins to accompany my tea. There is something about this combination, best enjoyed around 10 am, that warms me on these cold winter days.

Tea has become almost as fashionable as coffee. While there are more varieties of tea available today than I could possibly count, let alone name, I am a tea traditionalist. I prefer caffeinated black teas, such as earl grey – and especially love the taste of vanilla or almond. Chai spice also passes my test, tasty with a splash of soy milk.

I am generally a healthy eater, and at my strictest I try to reduce or eliminate snacks, especially snacks that are just carbs (but oh, how I love carbs!). So if I am going to make muffins, they have to be reasonably healthy (read: nothing with buttermilk or sour cream, though it helps that I am lactose intolerant).

Fruit-based muffins are a good choice: blueberry, banana, or lemon poppyseed are my personal favorites. They also pack in a serving of well-disguised vitamins.

On a recent below-zero-windchill morning, I made Healthy Blueberry and Banana Muffins to enjoy with my tea. Not only were they simple to make, but they were delicious. The muffin satisfied my desire for that little taste of something sweet with my tea without being overly indulgent. Not only did they pass my test, but my picky five-year-old ate not one but two of them in one sitting, asking while chewing “are these healthy?” I was happy to tell her they are.

Like many of you, one of my New Year’s resolutions includes a renewed commitment to healthy eating. One of my other resolutions is to be more organized about meal planning. If I would just take a few minutes to think more than a day ahead, I would save time in the form at least one trip to the store each week.

This same cold winter morning just after the first of the new year, I sat down with my tea and my warm-from-the-oven banana-blueberry muffin and mapped out the next four days of meals. Now off to the store… much more prepared than usual. What a way to enjoy a cold morning and feel good about my New Year’s resolutions.

Photo by Julie Hallinan