I recently acquired a new love in my kitchen, the TofuXpress. If you’re vegetarian, vegan, or someone who enjoys tofu (but doesn’t enjoy pressing it between two plates and beneath a tower of heavy objects), go check it out. Right now. I’ll wait.
Per my own minimalist rules… if it doesn’t get used regularly (once weekly), it is a candidate for expulsion. Also, a popular minimalist policy is the one-in-one-out rule. I got a new TofuXpress, so I had to rifle through my kitchen to find something to boot out in its place.
I purged:
- 2 carving knives (I’m an almost-vegan, and have only been using a couple knives regularly, and they will do!)
- 7 large spoons
- 4 forks
- 9 small spoons (I kept four small spoons, four forks, and four butter knives — do the math if you dare – who needs 20 spoons?!)
- 1 meat thermometer (which is very handy and lovely and not in any way unusable… but I no longer cook meat, so I have no more use for it!
- 1 pastry cutter (I have lived here a month and did not know I had it)
- 1 can strainer (a lovely invention, but I have a colander)
- 4 cups and threaded lip-cover-things to the Magic Bullet blender (keeping the blender and two blender cups but these were superfluous)
- 2 heart-shaped pancake molds that I used on Valentine’s Day and never again
- 1 cutting board (I have another, why have two?)
- 1 spatula (I have another one I like better)
- 1 plastic spoon (haven’t used it yet, and I have others)
- 1 cake pan (I am giving up my dream of being a confectionary goddess)
- 1 plastic pitcher (I have one that goes with my iced tea maker)
- 1 rice cooker/crock pot (It was a gift that I asked for so this one was sort of hard, but I have only used it once in three years!
- Rice scoop (with cooker)
- 1 brand new, in box Martha Stewart enamel fancy schmancy casserole dish (a gift, but in my defense, not one I asked for)
- 2 potholders (I have another two and who really has more than two hands for hot stuff anyway?)
I have a 9×13 baking dish, a smaller baking dish, three mixing bowls, a square baking dish, and two circular bowls I use for storing leftovers or packing for lunch. As an added bonus, check out my nifty knife rack! I used 3M Command velcro strips (for picture hanging, if you listen to the packaging) and put up a magnetic knife rack beneath the cabinet.
What’s in your minimalist kitchen?
Caitlin Liz Fisher 
My amazing planning skills resulted in a double post today. Enjoy!
I honestly don’t think that’s too many dishes or see the need to break up the set if you use it all. There’s not that much space in my cabinets for sure so I admire what you’ve done so far. If you truly want to get rid of some, the way I let go of some of my casserole pans was realizing I can always buy disposable foil pans at holidays when I cook more. And clean up is a breeze cause I can throw the pan away!
Oh and I LOVE the knife rack!!!
Thanks for your comments! I’m pretty satisfied with the Pyrex for now, I think. I’m not using some of it but I am avoiding the oven in the summer. There’s a good chance the rest of it will get some use later!
I adore my Pyrex, and for me it totally fits in my minimalist kitchen. I no longer have fruit bowls, serving dishes, casserole dishes, pudding dishes, or….well…anything that isn’t able to go in the oven and the the table. Because it’s see through Pyrex doesn’t distract you from the prettiness of what you’re about to eat. So, just my thoughts. Keep all the Pyrex, get rid of anything else that it could be used for.
Good purging work, and I’m enjoying your blog.
Thanks for your comment! I am glad you’re enjoying the blog 🙂 I actually did what you recommended without realizing it… tossed metal baking pans because I figured the Pyrex could do the job just fine, AND they’re storage and serving dishes. Truly a multipurpose kitchen item 🙂