I love feeding my little family and hate waste so when I talk about gadgets that will “improve” family food I’m talking about reducing your waste, increasing the amount of good food your family eat and reducing the time it takes you to prepare and clean up after it.

These are gadgets I truly rate for the above reasons. They have changed the way I cook and they have improved the way we approach food and snacks as a family.

Here are my top picks!

Lots of people will tell you to go for the super expensive brand that rotates the chips with a paddle but we have had great success with cheaper brands from Amazon. You’ll also see them as specials in Aldi and Lidl for example. The benefit of an Air Fryer is the fact that you can make delicious chips for the family without adding all the extra oil. You will get that crispy delicious texture in a much healthier way. The Air Fryer is also brilliant for cooking anything that you would cook in the oven such as nuggets, waffles, fish fingers and mini pizzas which makes it brilliant for “quick” dinners and snacks when you are in a rush.

I probably use my slow cooker once a week (more in the winter) but I really rely on it for that one day. It’s usually a day where I’ve lots to do, don’t want to use a million pots and pans (because a million pots and pans then need to be cleaned) but want a healthy dinner on the table at the end of the day.

You can pick them up in Home store And More and these are game-changers. My son eats way more apples when I use this gadget to chop it in to segments and remove the core. It takes two seconds and even as an adult I must admit that it’s way more aesthetically pleasing. We eat with our eyes remember.

Another absolute must in my opinion. We buy a melon every week (a little tip is to leave it for 4-5 days for it to be at optimum ripeness and sweetness) and rather than slicing it we make a big tub of melon balls. They look better, taste better and create much less waste and mess. It’s only a couple of euro in IKEA or the likes.

I’ll admit to thinking that this was a total marketing ploy but it’s become one of my most used appliances these days. I bought the compact version which is not much bigger than a kettle. It’s really easy to use, cleans with ease and makes about 3 bowls of soup in exactly nineteen minutes. By the time I’ve unpacked the dishwasher and sorted out the school bag for the next day we have healthy fresh soup for lunch or snack. We are all eating way more vegetable-packed soup.

6. A Good Non-Stick Pan

This is essential for a family kitchen. It is impossible to make omelettes and pancakes that don’t stick without a proper non-stick pan. It will also help prevent your hot meals from sticking to the pan, burning and being a nightmare to clean as a result.

Fruit and vegetable prep will be half the work (and look/taste twice as nice) if you use a decent knife. Keep an eye on websites like Groupon and Deal Rush for an inexpensive set that has a good review rating.

If you have fussy eaters you can grate ingredients like carrot and courgette into your spaghetti bolognese and casseroles for example. It also makes life easier to buy a big block of cheese for a better price rather than a bag of grated and a pack of sliced separately. You can grate as you need it. Just wash immediately to avoid it being a headache when the food begins to harden and clump.