4 Appliances That Make It Easier, Cheaper To Eat Healthy

Want to eat healthier, but totally pressed for time? Simply don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen prepping? Then, be sure to take a look at these 4 Appliance That Make It Easier and Cheaper to Eat Healthy.

These kitchen stars seriously slice your prep time by doing the hard work for you. They allow you to use fewer pots and pans and help you really stretch your grocery budget. 

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Dehydrator

If you have ever bought dehydrated or freeze-dried food at the grocery store, you know how unbelievably expensive it can be. A dehydrator, which dries food using low heat and fans, is a great alternative for making healthy fruit and veggies snacks at a fraction of the cost. Dehydration helps maintain the nutritional content of the food while extending its shelf life (Livestrong.com)

And using a dehydrator is easy. After simple food safety prep, you place what you want to dehydrate on included trays. Then, let the machine do its work over a period of hours. Examples of foods that dehydrate well include:

Fruits
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blueberries
Cherries
Figs
Grapes
Peaches
Pears
Pineapples
Plums 
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tomatoes

Vegetables
Beets
Butternut Squash
Carrots
Celery 
Corn 
Edamame
Green Beans
Kale
Peas 
Peppers
Zucchini

Herbs
Basil
Chives
Cilantro 
Dill 
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
 

Dehydrators with good rankings from users include the Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator, NutriChef Food Dehydrator Machine, and the Cuisinart DHR-20 Food Dehydrator.

Immersion Blender

This blender on a stick is super handy for quickly mixing up liquids and soft foods. It saves you the time and effort of dragging out a full on blender. I find that using mine has encouraged me to try out more healthy soup recipes and smoothies since it is so easy to use. You simply stick the blender stick part of the way down in a bowl or pan (one not prone to scratching) and go.   

Clean up is a snap, as housing with blade separates easily from rest of immersion blender stick. Just remember to keep your fingers well away from the sharp blades at all times. 

Mom tip: I also find that the immersion blender makes it easy to incorporate veggies into soups and others dishes in such as way that the kiddos don’t even know they are there.  

Food that is easily made with an Immersion/Hand Blender includes:

Guacamole
Hummus
Latte
Pancake Batter
Pesto
Salad Dressing
Salsa Verde
Smoothies
Soup
Tomato Sauce
Whipped Cream

I have a Cuisinart CSB-75BC Smart Stick 200 Watt 2 Speed Hand Blender which I thoroughly enjoy using. Another good option is the KitchenAid KHB1231WH 2-Speed Hand Blender. 

Crock Pot

Slow cooking can have its financial and healthy living perks. Crockpot cooking offers a great way to prep meals that require little time investment. Once you become familiar with your slow cooker’s operation by trying out some dishes, you will gain the freedom to go about your day while the crock pot does the work. 

Some awesome wallet and health conscious benefits of a crock pot include:

Tenderizing cheaper, tougher cuts of meat beautifully
Infusing flavor into food using smaller amounts of marinades and sauces
Accommodating a variety of one pot meals 
Allowing for batch cooking for multiple servings
Avoiding the temptation to eat out by cooking dish for you while you do other things

My crockpot is by far my favorite kitchen appliance because it fits my family’s lifestyle so well. Check out the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker With Temperature Probe or the Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook & Carry Oval Slow Cooker for good version to add to your kitchen. 

Instant Pot 

The newest of these 4 appliances that make it easier and cheaper to eat healthier will round out your kitchen arsenal in a big way. The Instant Pot offers seven different ways to prepare food. It can serve as a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute/browner, yogurt maker, slow cooker, and food warmer. It is designed to speed up cooking time. 

The Instant Pot does require a bit of learning curve to get started as it has programming and cooking time tables all of its own. Don’t let the word pressure cooker scare you though. The Instant Pot comes with helpful built in safety features. 

When you need to put the petal to the metal and accelerate your meal prep, the following is a sample of foods that the Instant Pot preps best.

Beans 
Hard-boiled eggs
Rice
Soups 
Stews
Variety of cuts of meat 

Thinking of hopping on the Instant Pot train? Check out the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable for lots of features at a reasonable price. And because the Instant Pot is the newest of the appliances that I recommend to make it easier, cheaper to eat healthier, I have put together a clickable cheat sheet .pdf full of helpful Instant Pot resource and recipes links. Grab yours below.