Intro
Intro

Equipment Needed

The Right Tools

Learning to cook in an entirely new way requires a bit of an investment in some new tools for the kitchen. There can be a wide range of prices for appliances, so we will link to the exact items we use in our own kitchen and also try to list a few options that we know will work well on tighter budgets. All items can be scaled up in quality over time as budgets allow. Items marked as ESSENTIAL are items we consider to be must haves to successfully live a plant-based lifestyle because you will be cooking a lot more of your own food and the tools that make the cooking process faster and more enjoyable are key to sticking with the plan.

We try to list a range of options where possible for special ingredients and tools to help stay within a budget, but we do view investment in these base items as an investment directly into our health and wellbeing, so we have learned to take them seriously and buy the best we can afford, both for quality of ingredients and tools. We have burned out more than our fair share of blenders, dehydrators, and toaster ovens over the years.

ESSENTIAL: 3-Ring Binder and Plastic Page Protectors
Each week on the course we will have printable recipes that use the format of our popular cookbooks that are designed to be easily printed and added to a 3-Ring Binder to build your very own cookbook for your kitchen. We highly recommend taking this step so you have quick and easy access to the recipes in your kitchen on a daily basis. 

ESSENTIAL: High Powered Blender
A high powered blender is a central tool for a plant-based diet, and these are not the typical appliances most people have in their kitchens as blenders. We have owned and extensively used high-powered blenders from Vitamix, Blendtec, and Nutribullet. These blenders can easily liquify fresh and frozen produce and make the most wonderfully creamy sauces and soups. You will do well with one of the following:

ESSENTIAL: Food Processor
The food processor is one of those appliances you don’t need until you need it, but for the jobs it does, nothing else works quite as well. There are going to be great recipes in the course that need a food processor instead of a high-powered blender to make it properly. Many of our dessert recipes, like our various cookies and pie crusts, need the food processor touch. 

ESSENTIAL: Sharp Knives
A set of sharp knives with a sharpener, along with some light cutting boards, can make all the difference in the kitchen. I recommend:

ESSENTIAL: Salad Spinner

I marked this as essential because you will be eating more and more fresh salad greens as you work through the course. It is possible to buy pre-washed so you won’t need the spinner, but if you plan to buy bunched kale greens or even grow your own greens, it is an essential tool for quickly cleaning greens.

ESSENTIAL: Pressure Cooker, Crock Pot, InstantPot
There is a bit of a toss up here about which one (or all) of these cookers is essential. I have ended up purchasing one of each over the years and using them depending on the recipe I am making, but you could get by with one of them and just adjust the recipes accordingly. The InstantPot is the most versatile, since it is really a pressure cooker and a slow cooker combined and can be left alone with the auto timer while at work. So, if we were going to only get one, it should be the InstantPot.

ESSENTIAL: Water Distiller
One of the most important elements in this protocol is pure clean healthy water. The only way to get pure clean healthy water is to make it yourself. The most cost effective way to make your own healthy water is by distilling tap water and then add Ionic Coral Calcium to the water.