I am constantly recommending products that I’ve discovered (or have been recommended to me) to other people. I figured it would be easier to just point friends and family to this page and earn a tiny commission on the side. ‘Cause why not? I’ll also do a page with books, homeschool resources and a what-not-to-buy list. I’ve made many purchasing mistakes by trying to get a deal! But for now, here’s the stuff I don’t live without.

InstantPot, affectionally called “Instapot”

The must-have kitchen appliance.

The #1 item I recommend to friends is the InstantPot. My kids have learned to cook with it. I use it at least 4 times a week. In fact, we have two of them. When my rice-cooker died, I replaced it with an IP. You can make rice, delicious stews and soups, chili, potatoes, boiled eggs, mac & cheese, beans, chicken, ground beef (hello, sloppy joes!)…even deliciously perfect cheesecake. Get one or two. (I have 2 6-quarts, but there are smaller ones, larger ones and even one model you can program from your phone.

Drink tea every day

Electric Tea Kettle that I have and recommend but in searching for others, there were cuter ones!

I don’t use microwaves (99% of the time) and haven’t for more than 10 years. But that’s another story for another day. I love tea though and I would rather not burn down my house because I left the water boil to nothing….’cause it took too long on the stove and I got distracted, blah, blah blah. This electric tea kettle is what I use to get the temperature just right (180 degrees) for a perfect brew of loose leaf tea. It’s perfect. It’s fast and has lasted more than 4 years.

Drink your vegetables

Blentec is just as good as a Vitamix.

When my refurbished Vitamix gave up the ghost after 13 years (it had a great run!), it was too expensive to replace. So after getting convinced by various YouTubers that the Blentec was just as good, we bought it and we love it. It is much lighter than the Vitamix—the base isn’t 10 lbs! The Vitamix feels like a machine. The Blentec is more like a kitchen appliance. Both of them do the exact same work, though. The smoothies from the Blendec are a little creamier and smoother for some reason. Maybe because I don’t have to guess when it’s done. The presets are life.

Other things

  • This webcam is wonderful. Clean, crisp image and it has a privacy cover. I couldn’t stand the grainy picture from my laptop anymore.
  • This Wi-Fi card works great for cameras when you’re traveling overseas and don’t have ready wi-fi access to upload and share your photos.