This past November we moved north. We left a three bedroom, two and a half bath Colonial that was left to my sisters and me when our mom passed. It was a great house. It was admittedly a lot of house for two people. If you’re not familiar with New Jersey real estate, the further north you go the higher the cost of living. So when the greatest daughter in the world and I were moving north, downsizing wasn’t an option, it was a necessity. We live in an adorable 900 square feet 1930’s bungalow. Two bedrooms, one bath. Almost tiny home living. Thankfully we have a basement which now doubles as my daughters playroom/craft room/music room.

Downsizing for space was fine. What I wasn’t prepared for was the lack of central air combined with four 90 degree heat waves we’ve had so far this summer. The house came with a massive window unit but I couldn’t even get it up the stairs. Thankfully I was able to find a portable AC unit. It does a decent job keeping the living room cool, but our tiny kitchen heats up quickly. So this summer I’ve really relied on kitchen countertop appliances.

Now mind you we live in a tiny house. If I kept it, I have to use it. I don’t have the space for an appliance graveyard. These three appliances have made my life easier and MUCH cooler. If you want to avoid the heat, want to change up how you cook or are simply looking at tastier food consider the following:

• The beloved Instant Pot- I purchased this almost two years ago and the price in the last two years has dropped nearly $50. Sure there are others out there, but I have yet to come up with a recipe that I couldn’t do using this Instant Pot. Tonight it was 90 degrees outside. The kid was tired from camp. I was able to cook 2 ears of corn (could fit plenty more, the most I’ve gotten was 6 in this pot) in minutes. No water boiling, no steaming up the kitchen. We make taco pasta in ten minutes. Dried black beans in 45 minutes. This is a work horse that everyone needs.
• Air Fryers replace the oven. Seriously who wants to turn on the oven in August? Initially we used this for heating up frozen food. It does so much more. Tonight I just tossed baby potatoes with olive oil and a little dried onion soup mix, tossed it in the air fryer for twenty to thirty minutes (it all depends on how big your chunks of potatoes are).
• I have to admit my love of my Instant Pot has remained strong, but I have found another love, my Sous Vide by Anova. What is sous vide you ask? It is a precision cooker. You cannot overrcook your food in a sous vide. Today I cooked a London Broil I had marinated for 24 hours. You just pop the meat in the Food Saver bag or a Ziploc bag you’ve removed all air from, throw it in a big pot or a dedicated Sous Vide container . I cooked it for nine hours, removed it from the bag, patted it dry (A MUST WITH SOUS VIDE) and then threw it in a searing cast iron pan with melted butter. You could also throw it on a searing grill. The results? Fork tender steak that hides the fact that it is a relatively cheap cut of meat. The greatest daughter ever moaned throughout dinner. I’ll be sharing recipes in the future! Stay tuned.