Buying the right equipment makes it easier to cook healthfully.  You don’t have to spend a fortune on new equipment – I’ve gotten some of my favorite pots, pans, and even electronic equipment at garage sales and Goodwill.

I’ve underlined the basic essentials – the other equipment can be accumulated as you go along.

Plates and Bowls: Bigger is not better

Studies show that the larger the portion, the more you eat, so it stands to reason that smaller dishes makes eating healthfully easier. Avoid buying plates that look like platters – research shows that smaller bowls, plates and cups help people manage their portions – a simple strategy, but it works!

Cookware

Nonstick pans and pots: A smart strategy for weight management is to add less fat to your food. Invest in some good quality (heavy weight) non-stick – they’re great for sautéing, soups, stews and more. A favorite alternative to nonstick is anodized aluminum – conducts heat beautifully but behaves like nonstick…a bit pricy, though.

Don’t pre-heat a nonstick pot or pan without some broth or a little oil in it – read here for more about purchasing. Read more here about recommendations for cookware.

Saucepans – 1 quart and 4 quart

Stock pot – regular or nonstick

9” skillet – great for quick-sautéing onions and garlic, on the way to a tasty sauce.

Baking pans – for fresh bread and loaf cakes.

Pyrex (or glass) mixing bowls with lids – for microwaving, re-heating and cooking; can double as mixing bowls.

Baking sheets

Shallow-sloped sauté pan, or wok – nonstick or anodized aluminum works great here too.

Pizza pan – nonstick is great – but be sure to not use a metal pizza cutter on nonstick.

Tea kettle

Mixing bowls with lids

Electronic Kitchen

Blender: great for smoothies, blending soup, and whipping up eggs.

Optional: Mini-blender (portable, for quick smoothies on-the-go); electric hand blender (great for soups and sauces).

Coffee pot – electric –or a non-electric French press uses boiling water poured over ground coffee.

Microwave oven – for quick-cooking vegetables and re-heating leftovers. A convenience, but not essential.

Slow cooker – can use as a rice cooker too.

Hot air popcorn maker – not essential but an inexpensive way to pop corn healthfully.

Food scale – if it’s in your budget, electronic scales are great especially if you’re a baker.

Standing mixer with attachments, including dough hook – again, not essential but convenient.

Utensils 

Utensils for nonstick or anodized aluminum cookware – plastic and/or wooden: read more here about how to safely use nonstick cookware.

Good chef’s knife – you can spend as little as $20 or as much as $200 – a good knife will save you a lot of time and make cooking more fun. Read more here.

Paring knife

Serrated knife

Kitchen shears

Skewers for kabobs

Garlic press

Lemon/lime press

Miscellaneous

Measuring cups and spoons

Plastic containers – Serving-size (small and medium) plastic containers with lids that go from freezer to microwave: great for storing made-ahead healthy soups and stews – your own healthy “fast food”.

Plastic storage bags – Gallon, quart, and sandwich-sized plastic re-sealable bags.

Marking pens and painter’s tape – write the date on the containers and plastic storage bags

Flexible cutting boards – These inexpensive plastic boards prevent cross-contamination: designate on especially for raw chicken – disinfect with hot water and soap, or in the dishwasher after use.

Ice cube trays (for frozen fruit treats).

Salad spinner – the insert can double as a colander.

Colander

Vegetable steamer – if you have a microwave, you can steam veggies quickly in glass bowls in the microwave.

“Going on a diet” is code for changing what you typically eat and drink, and adopting someone else’s diet. For example, going on a “low carb” diet means ditching bread and pasta, and restricting to only carb-free protein plus fat, usually sourced from animal foods.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum are “low fat” diets – just as stringently staying away from cheese and nuts and other foods that are oh, so satisfying that after a while you’re likely to fall off the bandwagon. Which leads to abandoning “the diet” or “cheating”…all these negative words lead up to diet failure!

So my philosophy is…don’t diet, live it! Make modifications to your usual way of eating, and never go “on a diet” again!

Top 5 Calorie-Cutters

1. Preparation: Instead of making your food fat-sponges, use cooking techniques that minimize fat but keep the flavor. Instead of deep-frying, broil, bake, grill, sauté – in a little oil, but not too much. Cut the Fat: For each tablespoon of fat you don’t add to your food, you save 100 calories.
2. Choose Lean: From hamburger to steak, lamb to pork, red meat can be a dieter’s friend – as long as it’s lean. Lean meats are satiating and provide lots of iron and other important nutrients. Don’t forget poultry – some of the leanest meat is only lean if eaten without the skin – remove the skin from poultry and save hundreds of calories – automatically! Cut the fat: By buying 95% lean hamburger, reduce 100 calories compared to 80% lean.
3. Hold The Sauce – My mantra for keeping the calories in control is “on the side” – each tablespoon of gravy, salad dressing, or oil adds about 100 calories – certain sauces are full of fat and calories – and just making a substitute can cut calories significantly – for example, substitute a tomato-based marinara sauce for creamy Alfredo and reduce at least 100 calories without sacrificing flavor.
4. Keep it Whole – fruit juice can ruin a weight loss diet – a glass a juice shoots your blood sugar up and then down just as fast, leaving you hungry for more. But whole fruit has fiber, and fills you up. Ditch the fruit juice, and eat your fruit whole. Cut hundreds of calories, and feel fuller.
5. Sweet ‘n Smart: There’s no reason that diets should mean deprivation. The quickest way to fail on a “diet” is to make it so Spartan that you quit. Make a sweet treat part of your day – choose a sugar-free hot chocolate instead of regular. When you dine out, share a small dessert, or savor two bites. Cut the portion size and save 100 calories.