Here’s a simple look at the kitchen tools I use often for our Big Family Meals.
These will give you a look at many of the items that help me be much more efficient in our kitchen.
Who are we feeding?
Seven kids every meal. Three to six adults almost every meal. And lots of family and company whenever we can make it happen!
Kitchen Tools I Use Often for Our Big Family Meals
People often ask “how I do it.” These are the tools that make my cooking less tedious and much more efficient.
Blendtec
I use this multiple times every day – for smoothies, cupcakes, pancakes, muffins, cheesecake bites, and much more. I love my Blendtec.
Bosch Mixer
This frees my hands so that the kids can help measure and dump in the ingredients and the mixer stirs it together perfectly!
Double Basket Air Fryer
We make chicken nuggets, fries, and hashbrown in this. But even better – we warm up leftovers like pizza. Not only that, we use our Air Fryer as a toaster. It’s perfect for bagels, toast, and to crisp up a sandwich/melt cheese onto a sandwich. We use our Air Fryer multiple times every day!
5.5 Quart Ceramic Skillet
I’ve been needing a huge skillet and this was well worth the investment! I can easily make 18 eggs in the mornings for our breakfast and a huge batch of stir fry for our dinner.
Bunn Coffee Maker
We make one pot every day, but when we have company we make two or three or four. This coffee maker is great because it can brew an amazing pot of coffee in about four minutes!
Hamilton Beach 7-Quart Programable Crock Pot
I actually have two 7-quart crock pots and use them both multiple times each week. They make meal prep easy. Or if I need to make food ahead, I put it into a crock pot to keep it warm until meal time.
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
This gem makes amazing homemade ice cream in about 20 minutes with NO MESS. I love it so much and I’ll be sharing my recipes soon!
$0.50 Plastic Plates
Have you seen these at Walmart? They have all different sizes and varieties plus bowls too. I “invested” in a big stack so that our kids wouldn’t risk breaking our nice dishes. These are so wonderful because loading them and unloading them from the dishwasher is crazy fast. They are lightweight. They are fun (the kids like to choose their plate color for each meal and that helps me keep track of whose plate is whose). They are silly little fifty cent plates and they are really great to have!
We also were amazed at the 50 cent bowls and plates at Walmart! My daughter likes the jewel-tone colors. Haven’t put them in a dishwasher yet because she uses them in her college dorm room and cleans them in a hall sink. So they hold up well, no melting damage (won’t fit in a top rack) or staining? And I forget if they are safe in the microwave?
We always wash ours in the dishwasher and they are starting to warp but it’s minor and worth it for the ease. Some of our housemates regularly microwave their food on them, again without issue. :)
We have 8 kids, 14 to 5 months. We get these questions too, and it’s a good reminder that God is the one who does it, not me. We have these walmart plates too.
I keep thinking about food consumption at your house! And FINALLY believe you that you guys eat a ton of food. My husband and I never ate that amount of snacks— apple or 2 cookies after school. Maybe a few pretzels or an orange before bed. Our kids ate something after school but not tons. Granddaughter has some yogurt and graham crackers. Sometimes eats a red pepper like an apple. 2 year old grandson eats like a threshing crew.
Do you think some of yours have food anxiety after previous trauma ?
More being written about not using plastic in the dishwasher ever. I fill up one side of kitchen sink with soapy water and throw in plastic items. Load the rest in dishwasher or scrub the pans. Quick swish of plastic and put on drying rack. Some very luck child can dry them all for a nickle. With so much convenience pouches etc it might be worth a thought about not putting plates and cups in dishwasher.
Which 2 kids have had the most improvements so far this summer?
Some of our kids do have food-related trauma, and their eating/snacking is carefully guided by us. It’s good for me to think about which kids have made the most improvements this summer! All of them have shown areas of growth for sure, because God is faithful. Thanks for the encouragement to think about that as I tend to focus more on all the work/healing they all need. :)
Thanks for these helpful tips! I love my Bosch mixer for bread. :)
Ha, I thought you actually didn’t eat that much food! One rotisserie chicken for all those people?! Perspective I guess. And I think we eat more pizza at our small group, proportionally.
As for snacks, if you eliminate hunger, you can eliminate at least one reason for a meltdown! ;)
Trust God with using plastic, the same as you trust Him for EVERYTHING.
You are doing an amazing job. I admire all that you squeeze into your days and still find time to volunteer, be hospitable, serve your older kids, etc etc. I have read your blog a LONG time and to see the changes and the joy along with each season has been such an encouragement!
God bless you and give you REST and peace!
We have 8 kids and people keep recommending an air fryer, but it has to replace my toaster, to deserve counter space. I can’t seem to wrap by arin around how you toast in that kind with the baskets? And can you really fill them with fries like the advertising pictures show? Thanks!
We have a double wide, which you would need for your large family. We take out the center/divider so that it’s one large basket. I can toast six slices of bread in it at once this way, and it takes about two minutes. It’s awesome! We do fill ours with fries, but it’s best not to overfill or it takes way too long to get the fries crispy. So for our size family, it does take 2-3 rounds of making fries to get enough. We eat the fries in shifts while eating the other parts of our meal, so it works!