Modern Maidservants™

Resources & Recommendations
for Kitchen Center/Mixer, Alternative-Milk Maker, Misc. Appliances and Tools

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Recommendations You'll Find on This Page

Kitchen Center (Bread Mixer, All-in-One)

Our top recommendation - Bosch Universal Plus

The #1 timesaver in the kitchen, and one we highly recommend. This machine isn't a necessity in order to serve healthy meals. But it sure will enable you to do things you might otherwise not do, like baking nutritious daily bread, and making other things from scratch rather than buying inferior store bought products. This is the top kitchen center available - we've tried several. This machine will pay for itself faster than you think.

One machine does it all (al-most)-blends, mixes, kneads 5-6 loaves of dough, slices, shreds, shapes pasta, grinds meat, and more. (Some attachments are sold separately.) Or you can do all these things by hand and build your muscles. Or buy many separate lower-power machines to clutter your counters. The mixer will do everything from whipping an egg white, to mixing a HUGE batch of cookies, to kneading 6 loaves of bread dough. The Bosch Universal has been THE kitchen center to have for many years. I know several who have had their Universal for 20-30 years and never had a problem with them. This is a much more powerful machine than a KitchenAid, and can do so much more.

In addition to the mixer, with several different whisks, whips, paddles and hooks, and the blender, you can also get a slicer/shredder, food processor, citrus juicer, flake mill, cereal mill, meat grinder, pasta shaper, and more.

Occasionally Special Prices are available for our Flour Mills and Kitchen Centers. Join our email list for Good for You - Naturally!™ updates, check our Blessings! page or email us for current prices and specials.

Bosch Universal Plus - $400

Bosch Universal Plus with Blender - $470

Email us to confirm current pricing if no current sale posted.

Attachments Available -
Slicer/ Shredder - $120
Food Processor - $120
Meat Grinder - $160

Email us for others and shipping prices

Alternative Milk Maker

Our Top Recommendation - SoyaJoy

This handy little machine really gives a boost in eating Good for You - Naturally!™ We avoid commercial cow's milk, but the packaging and price of alternatives isn't best either. We've never found a soy milk that we liked. In fact Rice Dream is the only brand of rice milk that we like. But we were on the look out for a way to make it ourselves so we could have fresh and save money. We had tried a few recipes of making rice and almond milk in the blender. They were so-so. Then the stainless steel Soy-a-Joy came in. Wow! Rice Milk is tricky to make at home (it is "sticky") but we liked what we made with this. Almond milk is super. AND we even like the soy milk this makes. It is super fast and super easy too!

See some of our not-milk recipes on our 'from me' blog.

SoyaJoy - $100
Email us for invoice and/or to confirm current pricing
include your complete address for a shipping quote

Food/Meat/Bread Slicer

What I love about my Bosch Food Slicer: It is so light weight, compact and super handy, yet has the great top-of-the-line Bosch quality and works terrific. I used to have a Rival Stainless Steel slicer, which was great too - but it took up way too much counterspace in my small kitchen. But, a plastic slicer is not built for the same jobs. Many times I wish I had that heavy duty thing back. But the plastic folding slicer is great for light duty jobs like slicing bread, cheese, and deli meats.

100 Watts, Folds for Storage, Pulse Setting, Safety Lock, Rubber Suction Feet for Stability, Stainless Steel Blade, Adjustable Slicing Disk up to 17mm, Carriage with Hand Guard Scrap Holder, Cord Storage Compartment.

Bosch Food Slicer - $60
Currently Unavailable

Rival is in now plastic too, and seems to be very like the Bosch - but I can't vouch for the quality, only the desgn. Here's a couple Stainless Steel ones I found too that seem good.

AeroGarden

Grow organic herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, chili peppers, green beans, etc. in your kitchen, year round - with no dirt, weeds or mess!

One of the few things I recommend without using. I really want to try this. I think it is a super idea. But, small for my family. It's really not practical to get three of these (I figure that's what I'd need) in my very small kitchen or at the price times three. So I'm trying to get one of my relatives with smaller families to give them a try. :-)

Delicious herbs and vegetables homegrown in your own kitchen: always fresh, always available, organic-based, 100% Natural, no dirt, no weeds, no mess, no gardening experience needed.

The Deluxe version has twice the light and height for full size tomatoes and other veggies.

Features of the AeroGarden:

* Grow Lights turn on and off automatically on a daily basis, simulating sunlight
* Plants germinate in just a few days (100% germination is guaranteed)
* Plants grow up to five times faster than similar plants grown in soil
* Dirt-free, pesticide-free, and worry-free for cut 'n cook convenience
* Proven by NASA to have the highest-yielding plant growth technology
* Self-watering and self-feeding
* No natural sunlight needed with built-in lighting system, which automatically turns on and off as needed
* Reminder system signals when water and nutrients need to be added
* Arrives with everything you need to grow and harvest your first garden: AeroGarden Indoor Garden, tending and harvesting guide, seed kit, Grow Light Bulbs, recipes, and time-release nutrient tablets
* Additional seed kits offered separately
* Four-foot-long cord and lithium 3V CR2032 battery

Bread Machine (Kneader/Baker)

We don't use one. It is very impractical for our size family, we can do more in less time with our Bosch. A Bread Baker wouldn't be able to keep up for us. We sell the Zojirushi superior bread machines for any that are interested in them.

Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme - $245
Email us to confirm pricing and ordering instructions

Other Kitchen Tool Recommendations for
Freedom & Simplicity™ in the Good for You-Naturally!™ Kitchen

Even though I don't have links to everything yet, here's the beginning of my list of recommendations for the Good for You-Naturally!™ kitchen. (Click the Amazon graphic near the bottm of the page and do a search for items that don't have a link.) Eventually my entire list will all be recompiled into one of our Freedom & Simplicity™ in the Kitchen books, detailing how to equip a Good for You-Naturally!™ Kitchen. To help you get started in making your own choices, a couple key things are to avoid aluminum completely, and plastic as much as possible, especially the polycarbonates. It is better to buy fewer quality tools than to have a kitchen overflowing with cheap gadgets.

Knives ~ I LOVE finally having really good quality knives, that are drop forged steel, not stamped, full tang, properly balanced. Wustohof Classic Knives Read more about my knife recommendations.

Slicer/Grater ~ A good stainless steel mandoline is a great help in the kitchen. Even a stainless steel box grater will do for grating. I really enjoy slicing on a mandoline/slicer though - nice even slices. I've been through 2 Pampered Chef slicer/graters, and will go for stainless steel professional mandoline next time I buy. The top rated Bron is out of my league for this type of tool. I'm looking at the MIU. Also plan to get a rotary cheese grater in Stainless Steel. We also use the food processor/ slicer-shredder attachment to the Bosch a lot. We do a lot of chopping, slicing, and grating here and even with my great knives I'm not that great at using them well, so appreciate these specialty tools.

Chopper ~ Not a necessity, but a stainless steel push-top food chopper makes short work of chopping onions, nuts, etc.

Salad Spinner ~ 2 choices 1) see Produce Bags below, 2) plastic spinner type. My Tupperware one has held up well - but is plastic, not my preferred choice. Choice 1) works almost as well, and is non-plastic (that's a good thing). I guess there is a 3rd choice, but I always felt it was pretty drastic. Put choice 1) in your empty washing machine and turn on spin cycle. That's a lot of power for a little lettuce. Swinging my arm around gets me much needed exercise and does a good job without wasting electricity.

Mixing Bowls ~ Glass and/or Stainless Steel.

Measuring Cups & Spoons ~ Glass and Stainless Steel cups, Stainless Steel spoons.

Stirring and Serving Spoons, Spatulas, etc. ~ Stainless Steel and Bamboo

Pitchers ~ Glass. I like my quality Frigoverre for airtight seal, but also have Anchor Hocking - made in the USA. I like that.

Funnel, Tea Ball, Pastry Blender, Dough Cutter/Scraper, Apple Corer/Cutter, Peeler ~ Stainless Steel

Produce Storage ~ organic cotton gauze bag with drawstring. For many items you will want to slightly dampen the bag before adding produce, to keep it fresh. To use as a salad spinner: Add washed lettuce to dry bag. Close drawstring. Hold by string and swing the bag around 'n round. :-)

Storage containers ~ glass, stainless steel, cotton cloth, wicker baskets, enamaled steel.

Crock Pot ~ a lifesaver - and energy saver, and stress saver, ...! I have 2 large ones - 5qt. round and 6 qt. oval, because there are times I need both. Even though we do very little meat, there is so much that we cook in these. I'm sorry to see the new CrockPots now have some type of "stickless" coating in the crocks, and higher temps, making them no longer "slow cookers."

Roaster Oven ~ a great oven in the summer without heating the whole house, or extra oven when preparing large holiday dinners. My girls got me this a few years ago. We really use it quite a bit. Great for baking a bunch of potatoes, or loaf of bread, or... If you have a large toaster oven, you may not need this - it depends on family size.

Toaster Oven ~ a big one. I've been looking at what I wanted for 3-5 years. Finally got it. Toaster oven with convection. It toasts up to 6 slices or bakes in up to 6 cup muffin tray or 12" pizza. Not only replaced and does a better job than our toaster, but also provides for quick reheats and small baking jobs.

Bosch Hand Mixer ~ for the times you don't want to use the big Bosch. There are times you are doing a quick job and don't want to dirty up the big Bosch bowl. The powerful, super quality, long lasting hand mixer does the trick. Comes with dough hooks also, for that quick one-pizza crust or such. 300 watt power, 3 speeds plus pulse, turbo stainless steel beaters, stainless steel kneading hooks- [update: This has been discontinued by the manufacturer. On the look out for another high quality hand mixer to recommend. Or you can always check ebay for this Bosch.]

Pasta Maker ~ Do you want to really spoil your family? Start making homemade fresh pasta. Mmm-mmm. It is awesome and a machine makes it so easy. Once you've tasted fresh, you'll believe the difference. The company I bought my electric pasta maker from (Pasta Express from CTC) went out of business, but I love it, especially the old square-ish one - model 2000. Very solid, heavy metal construction, except for gears which are plastic and have had to be replaced from strain of improper dough. :-( But all in all a great machine. It mixes the dough and extrudes it. Dummy proof, if you follow measurements and directions.

The best pasta makers are said to be the roller/cutter type - Atlas Pasta Machine by Marcato, or Imperia brand has high ratings too (both from Italy). It is said, by the true Italian chefs, that these types make better pasta. The newly designed Atlas 150 and Heavy Duty are polished Stainless Steel rather than chrome plated steel (which could chip off.)

But - we do what we can in the home. And those roller/cutter types require you make the dough by hand, which I never could get to turn out the right consistancy, even with the attachments for my Bosch. Besides you need the electric (or a separate handcranked) extruder if you want to make the hollow pastas like Penne, macaroni, etc. So back to my type of machine. The electric Pasta mixers/extruders I've found that appear to be high quality are Lello PastaMaster 2200 (2 # dough-6 disks) or 3000 (3# dough-8 disks.) (DeLonghi owns this, and it is same machine as Simac - I believe). I would NOT recommend the Popeili. Oh, don't forget to get a wooden pasta drying rack if you're going to make more than you're eating immediately.

Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

Core, slice, and peel apples or potatoes in one easy operation. This versatile kitchen classic is a great addition to the Good for You-Naturally!™ kitchen, especially when it's time to dry cases of apples, or you're peeling potatoes for a crowd. Simply attach the powerful suction base to any smooth surface and “peel away.” Made of enamel-coated cast iron with stainless steel blades and a chrome shaft, the Peel Away™ Apple Peeler comes with a 5-year warranty.

(This picture is actually the one below from Amazon - the Peel Away by Back to Basics. It appears that my supplier currently has the Norpro with cast aluminum body, which I don't recommend as highly. So I'll change my normal procedure and prefer the one from Amazon below with the cast iron, such as described above.)

Norpro Apple Peeler - $30

Several items we sell, including this one, can be ordered either from Amazon or directly from us. Ordering from Amazon puts more of the profit in someone else's pocket and less in ours. (We still make a small referral fee from your use of our links though.) Of course, the choice is yours. We just wanted to let you know. This is one time we recommend the brand from our Amazon link over the one you can order directly from us. But the difference is in the aluminum body of the peeler, not the part that actually touches the food. This one's made by Back to Basics, a company from which I have many kitchen tools that I love.

Deluxe Pizza Roller

In addition to your large wooden rolling pin, you'll love having this smaller wooden roller for pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls, etc. Quick and handy to use. I love it and use it much more than my big roller!

Deluxe Pizza Roller - $9

Several items we sell, including this one, can be ordered either from Amazon or directly from us. Ordering from Amazon puts more of the profit in someone else's pocket and less in ours. (We still make a small referral fee from your use of our links though.) Of course, the choice is yours. We just wanted to let you know.

Stainless Steel Stove-top Popcorn Popper

Forget the microwave. (Do you still have one of those?) This is a much better option for much better popcorn. (We also still have an air popper - still working from the days before microwaves.)

The ad copy says, "Get theater-quality popcorn at home," but I'd say we're shooting for much better than that. Theater popcorn is not Good for You-Naturally!™. What we want is great tasting, Good for You popcorn. The secret to perfect, light, fluffy popcorn is the higher temperature achieved only with stove-top poppers. The Stove-Top Popcorn Popper has the durability, strength and elegance of stainless steel. Large six-quart popper and sturdy metal gears. To maintain exceptional heat dispersion, the bottom of the pan includes an aluminum plate clad in stainless steel. 6-quart capacity.

This one is made by Back to Basics, a company from which I have many kitchen tools that I love.

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We are not doctors and neither diagnose nor prescribe. All information contained here is strictly our opinion based on much research and experience. If you choose to use it, you take all responsibility for your health upon yourself.