Below are some of my favorite products that I use on a regular basis. I love talking about kitchen equipment and cooking shortcuts and all of these are major time savers for me in the kitchen.
I use my Vitamix Blender on a daily basis for making smoothies, vegan cheeses and sauces. It is absolutely my #1 favorite kitchen appliance, and I don't know that I could cook without it. I purchased a refurbished Vitamix five years ago and it is still working just fine after daily use. A refurbished Vitamix is less than a brand new one and, from my experience, a great way to save money on this great product.
My next favorite kitchen appliance is my Cuisinart Food Processor. Yes, a blender can do many of the same things a food processor does, but not everything. For instance, I can quickly shred or thinly slice vegetables with different blades which is not an option with a blender. You can also roughly chop vegetables and make pie and pasta dough. This is a must for any kitchen. I use my food processor to make Chickpea Salad, a quick and easy staple in my home.
I love my KitchenAid Mixer and use it often for mixing up cookies, whipping coconut cream and kneading dough. They do take up a fair bit of counter space, but the handiness of it makes the real estate it uses worth it.
I won this OXO Cookie Spatula in a drawing 7 years ago and have used it daily ever since. It is called a cookie spatula, but the main thing I use it for is flipping pancakes and fried eggs. It is the perfect size for both of these tasks, since the larger spatulas are often too big and clumsy.
This OXO Bench Scraper is indispensable if you are a baker. This scraper will easily cut and portion dough and quickly scrape all your loose flour into a pile and into the garbage. It also includes quarter-inch marks on it for easy measuring.