Daily essentials: Kitchen

I love lists, I always have. So, it seems fitting to make another list, and post it here. This is my list of can't-live-without-it and I-use-it-every-day in our kitchen. We habitually assess what we own to avoid excess accumulation, so it only makes sense to do this in our kitchen. And honestly, our kitchen is one of the areas of our home where generally speaking, we have what we need and no more. This keeps our kitchen cabinets uncluttered and makes the kitchen a pleasant work area, since I do spend quite a bit of time there. A list of essentials is entirely subjective, but these are my personal favorites and what I consider indispensable:

Tools

• Wooden spoons: the striped one is our "coffee spoon" and it's dedicated use is for stirring the grounds as we make French press coffee every day. The larger spoon is our pancake-batter, brownie-batter, all-purpose spoon.
• Kitchen shears: I cut everything with these, from food packaging, to trimming meat, to trimming the ends of a bouquet.
• Peeler: I've mentioned before that I prefer slow living, and methodical processes in general. One of those tasks is peeling and cutting up carrots by hand. I also use this peeler for sweet potatoes, which I make as a side multiple times a week.
• Chef's knife: Before I had a good knife (and before I learned good knife technique), I loathed the idea of cutting up vegetables. Now, it's one of my favorite parts of meal preparation. You don't need a full knife set—all I ever use is a Chef's knife, serrated knife for bread, and a paring knife for fruit.
• Mini rubber scrapers: This was a surprise! I received this set of two as a gift and never considered just how much I would use them. They are fantastic for scraping out peanut butter, coconut oil, or maple syrup from a measuring cup. Plus, could they be any cuter??
• Wooden pizza cutter (bonus): Nicholas got this for me for Christmas. While it's not exactly a daily essential, we make pizza at home a lot, and this one operates with a simple rocking motion and doesn't damage our pizza pan.

Storage

• Salt pig*: another gift, that I'm surprised at how useful it is! I keep it filled with coarse sea salt, and it's always handy near the stove for when I need to add a little salt to my eggs, or a soup. *If you haven't seen one before (I hadn't), it's the small white ceramic piece in the photo above.
• Glass jars: useful for storing everything from oats, to flours, to chocolate chips, to chicken stock, to homemade sauerkraut.
• Garlic keeper: well-ventilated and also keeps an essential ingredient close-by to improve my kitchen work flow.
• Clear glass storage containers: We have a set from Pyrex and a set from Anchor, and like both equally. These are in endless rotating, and they are perfect for reheating leftovers/hot lunches at work. Plus, since they're clear, you can see the contents with just a glance.
• Glass carafe/swing top bottle (bonus): We have a few of these. Generally, we fill them with ice water. They're the perfect thing to have at the table for drink refills when we have guests over, or if we stay in for a date-night.

Small appliances

• Hand-held mixer: I use this nearly every other day for countless recipes: baked oatmeal, fritattas, cookies, etc. I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer for larger projects, but for quick use, the handheld mixer is indispensable.
• Toaster oven: Used all day every day. It toasts everything, leftovers heat wonderfully in it, and it doesn't heat up the whole kitchen. I've baked cookies in it, too.
• Electric water kettle: used every day to heart water for coffee or tea. We have stovetop kettle too, but we prefer to use that on slow mornings at home.
• Coffee grinder: we grind our coffee fresh from whole beans each morning
• Waffle maker (bonus): It's no secret that we love breakfast food, waffles included. This is certainly not an absolute essential, though for us, it might be. I'm partial to the heart-shaped waffles mine makes, too!

What's on your kitchen essentials list?