Practical Healthy Eating Tips - Kitchen Gadget Edition

First things first: you do not need a ton of kitchen gadgets to eat healthy. This isn’t meant to be a shopping list or a sales pitch. But over the years, we’ve found a few tools that make it much easier—and more enjoyable—to fuel our bodies with real, nourishing food.

These are our MVPs:

Instant Pot

This is by far the most-used appliance in our kitchen and one of my favorite purchases ever. Even better, it’s relatively affordable, with solid versions ranging from $50–$100.

What does it do? A lot. We mostly use ours as a pressure cooker and rice cooker, but it’s also a slow cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, and sauté pan in one. Some of the fancier models even have sous vide, dehydrator, and air fryer functions.

How we use it most often:

• Rice & grains: quinoa, farro, barley, wheat berries, you name it.

• Beans: cook from dried with no soaking required.

• Stocks: chicken, veggie, beef—batch cooking makes life so much easier.

• Pulled meats: pork, chicken, beef, all turn out tender.

• Soups & stews: hands-off, cozy meals.

• Hominy: perfect for homemade pozole.

Vitamix (or your blender of choice)

Ok, this one’s a splurge, but for us, it’s worth it. You don’t need a Vitamix—there are plenty of great blenders—but smoothies are a staple in our house and a high-powered blender makes them effortless.

Our go-to smoothie:

• Full-fat Greek yogurt (local if we can get it)

• Almond butter (just almonds, no sugar or oils)

• Mixed berries (Wyman’s are our favorite)

• A splash of orange juice, milk, and water

Sometimes we throw in greens, cocoa nibs, or flax for variety. It’s quick, portable, and keeps us fueled on busy mornings.

Stovetop Popcorn Popper

This one’s pure nostalgia. My grandma always made popcorn on the stove, and it was the best. She bought me a popper years ago, and I’ve been hooked since.

We buy local popcorn, pop it with a little butter, then toss with nutritional yeast and ground Sichuan peppercorns (blitzed together in a spice grinder). The flavor is next-level.

It takes just a few extra minutes compared to microwave popcorn—and the payoff is huge. A cozy, high-fiber, real-food snack that tastes amazing.

SodaStream

Since we all know soda isn’t doing us any favors (yes, even diet soda), sparkling water has become our go-to. But buying bottles of Pellegrino adds up fast—and creates a lot of waste.

Enter the SodaStream. It makes endless bubbly water at home, and we fancy it up with lemon, lime, or even a splash of grapefruit or pomegranate juice. It feels like having a cocktail, minus the alcohol and calories.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need gadgets to eat well. But the right ones can make healthy cooking feel less like a chore and more like second nature. For us, the Instant Pot, Vitamix, stovetop popcorn popper, and SodaStream have been game-changers—tools that make real food more convenient, satisfying, and fun.