My Kitchen.. Tuesday 4

I need renovations throughout my home and that includes the kitchen. So, I've been collecting pictures with ideas on painting my cabinets, replacing my 1957 kitchen window, my cracked tile floors and my rusty sink and damaged counter tops.   Could be talk about kitchens for a bit?

1.  Is this kitchen in the photo one that you would enjoy working in?  Did you have one of those step stools in your kitchen growing up?

 

Yes, I like this kind of kitchen very much and I would love being in it.  My mother had that step stool  and I think it was blue

My current kitchen is pale yellow walls, natural cherry hardwood cabinets.  The counter top behind the sink caved in and the sink is rusting through on the edges and bottom.  The tile floors are badly cracked and dangerous for me in walking since I am disabled. My oven has not worked in a decade. My window is milky not clear, does not open and is from the 1950s. Needs replacing too. A picture of my kitchen is in the article below. See how some decent photography can cover over a multitude of sins?   And, even if the damage is pretty significant, you can hide it a bit by keeping things neat and clean.  I cover over the deeply rusted sides of the sink with shelf liner etc.    I put rugs on the floor to cover over missing and badly broken tile.

2. What appliances are absolute necessities in your kitchen and what can you do without.

My oven is broken and has been for years so I have a huge convection/toaster oven that substitutes for it.  I got it at Target for $99. and it has done a good job.

A kettle and coffee pot are needed as well as a large well laid out refrigerator.     Other than that I can make do.

3. What items are always in your pantry?  This is what is in there now and regularly. I cook everything from scratch.

• Pasta... always imported from Italy as it has no GMOs and real flour without the 10X more gluten that American flour has.
• Rice both white (contrary to belief brown rice is not good for you) and Wild Rice but only the kind owned by Native Americans.
• several kinds of dried beans, lentils, barley etc.
• canned tuna
• canned salt free veggies
• Campbell's no salt soups
• No salt beef , chicken and bone broth
• imported canned Italian crushed tomatoes and whole canned Italian tomatoes for making sauce.   (I buy only the Cento or Rienzi since they have 20 mg or less  of sodium while American brands have hundreds more!)
• Rienzi imported cooked red kidney beans (again.. no added salt like American canned beans)
• Rienzi black beans and cannelloni
• ketchup, mustard (Kosciusko, Guldens, and plain yellow), salt, pepper, Coleman's English dry mustard and tons of spices  
• Almond butter, peanut butter
• no salt Saltine crackers
• flour, yeast, sugar, for  making breads, pizza, pastry  etc., baking powder (aluminum free), baking soda
• Ceylon cinnamon... big bag of it
• cake mix and ready made pie filling in apple, peach. Boxed pudding for chocolate cream pies for the kids.
• Confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
• Matza meal, potato starch

• 

  When its nice, clean and organized

  Italian bread crumbs
• Olive oil
• Malt vinegar, dark Balsamic, white balsamic, white vinegar and vinegar with the 'mother'.
• kosher salt for cleaning my cast iron, Crisco for seasoning it.

4. How about your counter tops... filled with things or empty?    

Right now filled to the brim which I just hate.   If my back and legs would settle down I  would organize things better.