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Society has never produced so much food, yet we live in a world where only the rich get to be healthy | Van Badham

Society has never produced so much food, yet we live in a world where only the rich get to be healthy | Van Badham

Western society bears a weight that it struggles to shift. Two new stories perhaps expose why.

The initial is an investigation by Australia’s drug regulator into on the internet influencers and platforms endorsing a diabetic issues drug for weight-decline. Ozempic is on the pharmaceutical benefits plan for therapy of style 2 diabetic issues but has been approved “off label” by health professionals to people having difficulties to take care of their weight.

TikTok influencers have discovered it and – irrespective of the risk of aspect-results which include pancreatic swelling, diarrhoea and thyroid tumours – there is now a worldwide scarcity of the things. The AMA is demanding the drug be quarantined for diabetics although supplies are restored.

The next story involves Elise Stefanik of New York – one particular of the maximum-rating Republicans in the US Congress – preparing federal laws to drive the provision of significant-calorie flavoured milk to kids in university lunch systems. Her “Save Chocolate Milk!” campaign outcomes from Democratic New York City mayor, Eric Adams, proposing its removing from faculty lunch menus.

Adams’ issue is that supplying sugary beverages to small children leads to diabetes and weight problems soon after his personal diabetes diagnosis, Adams resorted to veganism. Stefanik’s marketing campaign spruiks for the dairy sector, demonising the diabetic mayor as a “health nanny”.

Australia may well appear significantly away from the Republican pressure-feed of chocolate milk and propaganda, but the effective psychological and financial forces that underlie a cynical political calculus churn jointly in this article, way too.

According to the Planet Well being Corporation definition, 1.9 billion adults are thought of over weight. Of these, additional than 650 million people are categorized as overweight.

In Australia, wellness authorities counsel becoming over weight is more hazardous to us than alcoholic beverages, and only next in “preventable well being risk” to cigarette smoking. Ab muscles wellness information claims 67{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} of Australian older people are over weight, an improve on 63.4{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} a decade ago. Final 12 months, Australia’s former conservative authorities launched a “National Being overweight Strategy”, worried Australia was facing health and fitness dangers of cardiovascular ailment, kind 2 diabetic issues, and cancers.

That governing administration did recognise fat is affected by advanced “social, environmental, and financial factors”, but their framework of encouraging “healthy choices” as a treatment unhelpfully individualises a collective trouble. Initially, shaming men and women into weight reduction doesn’t perform: investigation has proven – because 1959 – 95{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} of body weight reduction makes an attempt fail. Two-thirds of dieters get back the fat they reduce.

2nd, the structural giveaway below is an admission that the poorest “experience the biggest burden of condition connected to excessive weight”. Our societies have never ever created so a great deal meals, nevertheless we are living in a capitalist perversion where by fresh new, healthy meals – and the time to prepare it – are priced as a luxurious, while hugely processed things are cheap, easy and aggressively mass-marketed.

The data’s long in that it is not a failure of collective willpower that’s jeopardising our health and fitness, but a diet plan of negative meals that is culturally familiar, minimal in nutrition and tremendous offered.

Australia weekend

It wasn’t ideological conversion that remodeled me from rabid anti-McDonald’s activist at college to sucking down cheeseburgers as a young grownup in London: it was being unhappy, trapped in reduced-income informal jobs and looking at a recognisable very hot meal marketed for only £2 on a chilly day. As the marketing and advertising departments of Massive Junk know: undesirable foods is low-cost ease and comfort with a great earnings margin.

Still whilst westerners have by no means been so massive, societal beauty criteria continue being uncomfortably svelte. The Ozempic scarcity indicates the toughness of “body positivity” campaigns is nonetheless to dint the “thinspiration” supplied by social media influencers, superstars and many years of routine. Immediately after my cheeseburger winter, not even London’s walkability and subsidised fitness centers have been enough to change its final results younger, dating, graphic-aware, I resorted to a excess weight loss drug.

It labored, largely thanks to chemical terrorism the hazard of straying from its encouraged diet program was explosive steatorrhea. If you want to drop your hunger currently, appear that up (or just click on on that hyperlink).

I went off the drug, and the comfort meals and kilos all arrived again. My relationship with body weight, food and my body is as complicated, contextual and contorted as any individual else’s, a multi-vulnerability that will allow capitalism to chunk us at all finishes.

I’m unlikely to resort to a weight loss product or service now. Not just mainly because 10 several years of “you’re a fats bitch”-degree online salutations influenced in me a doughnut-taking in defiance, nor that with the self-assurance of maturity I deserted arbitrary splendor requires. It’s since when my cake-loving mom was diagnosed with most cancers, her type 2 diabetes precluded her from life-extending chemotherapy, possessing compromised her kidney purpose.

I made use of our time-wealthy pandemic lockdown confinement to diligently – expensively – “health nanny” her into the floor. She got additional months, and ultimately even chemo … but too late.

In the procedure, I missing 21kg probably for the reason that of our low-junk diet regime, possibly owing to sleepless terror of diabetes, or my broken coronary heart. It hasn’t arrive back again. I’ve lost my style for sugar. But was it grief or a suddenly even larger mid-lifetime spending budget for food items and of time that confirmed me what empty ease and comfort doughnuts ended up?

If it will take purchasing a drug to cancel out the outcomes of the junk pushed down our throats, it is not our flesh that’s weighing us down. It’s the illusion confected by capitalism’s drive-feeders that what we eat is ever much of a alternative at all.

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Live longer with these dishes from ‘blue zones’ in America

Live longer with these dishes from ‘blue zones’ in America



CNN
 — 

In a few, special communities close to the globe, people today stay extended and heathy lives, up to and past 100. Dubbed “blue zones,” people of these locations share a common atmosphere and life-style that researchers believe that contribute to their longevity.

The Italian island of Sardinia was the place one of the to start with groups of centenarians have been researched — soon, similar long-lived men and women have been found out in Ikaria, Greece Okinawa, Japan Nicoya, Costa Rica and Loma Linda, California.

People today in blue zones walk, garden and bike as part of their everyday lives. They are shut to close friends and spouse and children, have a goal in daily life, manage stress very well, and are frequently associates of a social or religious team. They try to eat a plant-primarily based food plan and end ingesting prior to they are complete.

Dan Buettner, who first brought blue zones into the public consciousness with his Countrywide Geographic content and afterwards books, does not like to simply call the blue zone feeding on sample a “diet.” As a substitute, it is portion of a balanced life-style, Buettner reported, one particular that he believes any one can duplicate, no issue where they stay and try to eat — even in very processed, food-obsessed cultures such as the United States.

“The blue zone consuming pattern is 98{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} plant-dependent meals — total food stuff-centered and substantial carbohydrate. But only advanced carbs, not the uncomplicated carbs like salty snacks and sweet bars and soda pop,” Buettner instructed CNN. “You say carbs and folks are horrified, but the healthiest foods in our meals program are advanced carbs.”

Elaborate carbohydrates, such as beans, peas, veggies and complete grains supply natural vitamins, minerals and fiber that can go missing in processed and refined meals. In addition, they are digested a lot more slowly, and the fiber can help you feel total lengthier, in accordance to the American Coronary heart Association.

With the help of scientists, Buettner spent dozens of several hours searching for a glimmer of blue in standard foods introduced to the United States. He located it, but not in his possess lineage.

“As it turns out, my European ancestors did not carry more than a longevity diet regime,” Buettner reported. Rather, it was the African, Asian, Latino and Native People “who ate a food plan that is virtually a dead ringer for the blue zone fashion.”

Traditional Vietnamese pho is part of the

Buettner has turned his conclusions into a new cookbook, “The Blue Zones American Kitchen area: 100 Recipes to Live to 100.”

“I experimented with to be really specific, on the lookout at the knowledge, to come across precisely what folks in the blue zones ate,” Buettner mentioned. “The five pillars of each individual longevity diet plan, which includes the blue zone, are entire grains, vegetables in year, tubers, nuts and beans. In reality, I argue the cornerstone of a longevity diet is beans.”

Blue zone feeding on is related to that of the Mediterranean design, winner of yearly gold medals as ideal over-all diet regime for health. But there are also discrepancies between a blue zone eating sample and that of the Mediterranean, Buettner said.

“People in blue zones really do not eat nearly as a great deal fish as the Mediterranean diet regime prescribes, only 3 times a week and only 3 ounces,” he claimed. “Meat is eaten only 5 instances a thirty day period. There’s no cow’s milk in any blue zone.”

Instead, individuals eat goat and sheep’s milk cheeses these as feta and pecorino.

Purple sweet potatoes have contributed to the longevity of people in Okinawa, Japan, Dan Buettner says.

A single of the most visually hanging recipes in the reserve is created from purple sweet potatoes, which Buettner considers a key longevity staple for people today in the blue zone of Okinawa.

“The nutritional intake of Okinawans until eventually 1975 came from purple sweet potatoes,” he explained. “I would argue it made the longest-lived populace in the background of humankind.”

Blue zone recipes have been also identified in Gullah Geechee cuisine, a technique of cooking developed by descendants of enslaved Africans who settled in the Sea Islands of Ga, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. Stews and soups could be thickened with benne seeds, an heirloom version of sesame seeds introduced in excess of on slave ships.

A meal of roasted vegetables and seitan, a plant-based meat substitute, is one of the recipes in Buettner's new cookbook.

There is no meat in any recipe in the cookbook, such as a “brisket” made from seitan, a plant-based meat substitute that mimics the flavor and texture of rooster. Seitan and all the other recipes were being style-analyzed by Buettner’s meat- and potato-loving father, Roger, who traveled with him across the region.

In addition to such as recipes with minimal-regarded substances, Buettner filled his cookbook with stories from chefs who make and boost ancestral cooking.

Senegalese chef Serigne Mbaye, who provides a Creole twist to dishes from his household country at his New Orleans restaurant, told Buettner the tale of how slave traders pressured his enslaved ancestors to try to eat black-eyed peas and palm oil.

Senegalese chef Serigne Mbaye created his own version of the

Why? They needed to be at minimum 125 pounds prior to they could be shipped to the Americas. If the slaves didn’t take in and achieve pounds, Mbaye claimed, they were being shot. In their honor, Mbaye created a tastier variation of a “last meal,” applying extra fresh new veggies and spices.

For any person who could come to feel these 100 recipes are much too much problems to make in today’s rapid-paced planet, Buettner pointed out that several can be assembled inside of 20 minutes or in any programmable tension cooker.

“Most of the 1-pot meals I have in the ebook also freeze very very well,” he reported. “And when you want one more rapid meal, you pull it out and throw it in the microwave, and you have a food that’s full of intricate carbohydrates, micronutrients and a total wide range of fiber.

“And it’ll cost you under $2 a serving, leave you emotion much better and, in accordance to my father, style a ton superior than a smaller hamburger,” Buettner added. “What’s to drop?

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Here’s how to eat to live longer, new study says

Here’s how to eat to live longer, new study says



CNN
 — 

You can decrease your chance of an early loss of life for any explanation by approximately 20{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889}, just by taking in more foods from your decision of four wholesome feeding on styles, in accordance to a new research.

People who much more diligently adopted any of the nutritious taking in patterns — which all share a focus on consuming far more total grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes — had been also a lot less likely to die from most cancers, cardiovascular sickness, and respiratory and neurodegenerative sickness.

The success of the examine, posted Monday in the journal JAMA Inside Medication, show “there is additional than 1 way to take in very well and derive the attendant health and fitness positive aspects,” stated Dr. David Katz, a lifestyle medication expert who was not concerned in the research.

Folks often get bored with one way of having, analyze coauthor Dr. Frank Hu reported, “so this is fantastic news. It suggests that we have a lot of overall flexibility in terms of developing our have healthful nutritional styles that can be customized to personal food stuff preferences, health and fitness problems and cultures.

“For illustration, if you are eating nutritious Mediterranean, and just after a several months you want to consider some thing unique, you can change to a Sprint (Dietary Strategies to Prevent Hypertension) diet plan or you can change to a semi-vegetarian diet,” explained Hu, a professor of nourishment and epidemiology and chair of the section of diet at the Harvard T.H. Chan College of Public Wellness. “Or you can adhere to US dietary pointers and build your personal healthy feeding on plate.”

The research adopted the feeding on practices of 75,000 gals participating in the Nurses’ Health Examine and a lot more than 44,000 adult males in the Health and fitness Pros Adhere to-up Review above 36 yrs. None of the men and gals experienced cardiovascular ailment at the start of the research, and several were being smokers. All stuffed out taking in questionnaires each individual 4 many years.

“This is a single of the major and longest-managing cohort experiments to look at encouraged nutritional styles and the long-term threat of untimely deaths and fatalities from main diseases,” Hu mentioned.

Hu and his team scored individuals on how intently they adopted four healthful taking in variations that are in sync with latest US nutritional suggestions.

One is the Mediterranean food plan, which stresses eating fruits, greens, total grains, nuts, legumes, fish and a large total of olive oil, Hu mentioned. “This dietary pattern emphasizes healthful fat, particularly monounsaturated unwanted fat, in addition to plant-based foodstuff and reasonable liquor,” he claimed.

The following is named the healthful plant-primarily based diet program, which also focuses on eating extra plant solutions but presents adverse points for all animal merchandise and any liquor.

“It even discourages rather nutritious solutions, like fish or some dairy products,” Hu mentioned, adding that the taking in system frowns on unhealthy plant-primarily based foodstuff such as potato products and solutions.

“So you can picture that vegetarians are almost certainly on the increased finish of this food plan score,” he reported, “and men and women who eat a great deal of animal solutions or extremely processed carbohydrate foods would be at the lessen stop of this score.”

The Healthy Taking in Index tracks no matter if people stick to primary US dietary recommendations, which tension healthy, plant-based foods, frown on red and processed meat, and discourage eating included sugar, harmful fat and liquor, Hu claimed.

The Alternate Healthy Feeding on Index was created at Harvard, Hu explained, and works by using the “best out there evidence” to consist of food items and vitamins and minerals most strongly connected with a lower danger of persistent disorder.

“We explicitly incorporated nuts, seeds, total grains and lower usage of pink and processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages,” he added. “A average usage of alcohol is authorized.”

After every person’s ingesting sample was scored, the members had been divided into 5 teams, or quintiles, from optimum to least expensive adherence to a person or more of the consuming patterns.

“The greatest quintile of diet high-quality as compared to the cheapest was related with a roughly 20{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} reduction in all-lead to mortality,” mentioned Katz, president and founder of the nonprofit True Wellbeing Initiative, a world coalition of gurus committed to evidence-dependent life-style drugs.

The research also discovered reductions in hazard of death from particular serious illnesses if people enhanced their diet about time, Hu reported.

Participants who improved the wellness of their diet regime by 25{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} could decrease their danger of dying from cardiovascular sickness by a selection of 6{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} to 13{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} and dying from most cancers by 7{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} to 18{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889}, he explained. There was up to a 7{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} reduction in hazard of loss of life by neurodegenerative condition, these kinds of as dementia.

“Respiratory illness mortality reduction was basically a great deal larger, reducing risk by 35{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} to 46{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889},” Hu reported.

The analyze relied on participants’ self-studies of food stuff preferences and hence only confirmed an affiliation, not a immediate induce and outcome, amongst consuming routines and health and fitness results. However, the point that the research asked about diet plans each individual four yrs about these types of a prolonged time frame included weight to the conclusions, Hu reported.

What is the takeaway of this massive, very long-phrase review?

“It’s never as well late to adopt nutritious ingesting styles, and the advantages of taking in a healthful food plan can be significant in conditions of lowering full premature fatalities and distinctive causes of premature death,” Hu stated.

“People also have a great deal of overall flexibility in phrases of building their have healthy dietary sample. But the prevalent rules — ingesting additional-plant primarily based foodstuff and much less servings of purple meat, processed meats, added sugar and sodium — must be there, no make any difference what type of diet program that you want to develop.”

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12 Kitchen Tools Under $25 I Can’t Live Without — and How to Use Them

12 Kitchen Tools Under I Can’t Live Without — and How to Use Them

This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas.

I love to eat, but I also love to cook. What the parade of meals coming out of my kitchen has taught me — most dishes humble but tasty, some of them a little more involved — is that the cooking tools I use matter. 

There are some kitchen tools I really love that are worth investing in, like my Le Creuset lidded baking dish and drop-dead gorgeous knives. But there are also the workhorse tools I use alongside them, like the $5 doohicky that saves me hours of soaking, scrubbing and swearing during dish duty.

I’ve owned and used all these items for years now, and I still love them as much as I did when I first ripped open the package — if not more. I hope you like them, too. (P.S. — I recently updated this story with new favorites and checked for pricing and availability. Note that both price and availability can and do change.) 

Read more: 11 Must-Have Kitchen Buys That are Worth the Extra Dough

Screenshot by CNET

I’ve searched high and low for a spoon rest I don’t hate — and I finally found it. This space-saving Yamazaki Home stand keeps cooking spoons, ladles, tongs and pot lids from clattering to the counter and spraying my cooking surface with goopy sauces and splats. It’s stylish enough to blend into most kitchen environments (it also comes in white/grey and there’s a similar style that’s all-white with a bamboo rest bar). Importantly, the bottom catch tray pops out, so all pieces are easy to clean.

Note that lighter colors may have you more nervously eyeing stains, especially if you cook with lots of red, oily sauces or yellow seasonings like turmeric. I haven’t had a lasting stain yet, but when in doubt, the black color will be more forgiving.

You’re receiving price alerts for Clever spoon and lid rest

Xujia via Amazon

The wide, saucer-shaped bowl, long handle and pleasant weight make these beautiful spoons perfect for almost everything — eating soup, curries, rice dishes, spooning yogurt out of the tub, spooning anything out of any tub, really. In my family, these Korean stew and rice spoons are now the dominant, and most asked-for spoon of choice — to the point they’ve been nicknamed “life-changing spoons.”

You can buy long-handled spoons online or in many Asian markets. My personal preference is to get a set with round handles, not the thin kind with the flat ends. Prices vary, but they’re not expensive either way — say $16 for a pack of five good quality spoons, or even $15 for a pack of eight.

You’re receiving price alerts for Spoons, Korean Soup Spoons,Stainless Steel Spoon with long Handle Set of 8

Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I’m a huge fan of countertop risers and have these shelf organizers from multiple brands in my kitchen, bathroom, shelving and right next to me here on my desk. They not only double your storage and organizational space by creating a second tier but also enhance the environment as an accent piece that happens to be functional. For example, use them to elevate a paper towel holder or smart display while storing spices or other tools below. Or perhaps create a hot drinks center like I did, with sugar and tea canisters on the top deck and flavored syrups below.

Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I’ve owned my fair share of kitchen sink caddies. They’re fine. I like how they corral the sponges and soap, but too often the decorative trays pool water, soap, and grime, while the more utility-focused are either bleh-looking, overwrought, or come equipped with suction cups (always come unstuck, collects mold) and deep grated bottoms (hard to clean, traps gunk). I finally found this Nieifi caddy, which neatly holds my sponge, cleaning wand, pot scraper (see below), dish soap and hand soap. It looks nice and understated, and you can easily pick the whole thing up to tip out water from the collection tray below. You can also pop that into the dishwasher, or soap off when it needs a refresh. So far, so good.

Amazon

I’m sure I could live without a pair of kitchen shears like this one from Henckels (also known for making reliable knives), but I don’t particularly want to. A dedicated pair of shears makes opening food bags, cutting meat and fish and trimming green beans dead easy. Storing them with your knives or utensils keeps them accessible where you need them and eliminates cross-contamination with your other scissors. Sturdy shears can butterfly poultry and this model unhinges for dishwashing — it’s dishwasher safe if in need of thorough sanitizing, but it usually cleans easily with soapy hot water and a sponge. This particular model costs under $15 on sale.

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Tovolo

Bench scrapers, also known as pastry or dough scrapers or cutters, are typically used to pry dough off a work surface, though I use mine multiple times a day for either scraping or lifting items from my cutting board to a pan or bowl. I used to use the side of whichever knife I had in my hand, but this useful kitchen tool shovels more diced onions at a time and is safer anyway. 

I’ve also used straight-sided bench scrapers, but the offset design is much easier for sliding under a pile of chopped food. It’s equally adept at its intended purpose of working with bread and pastry dough. This Tovolo bench scraper is the one I use and costs around $12.

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Lifver Home via Amazon

Small bowls are hardly interesting or new and I have plenty of them, especially fluted and ribbed ramekins. But these wonderful dip bowls have made cooking and serving food more of a delight. I just love them. They’re useful enough for daily prep and pretty enough to serve on. 

You can mound a surprising amount of food in the hollow, like lemon zest, olive oil, wasabi or even grated cheese like fresh parmesan. They cost $18 for a set of eight 3-ounce bowls.

Here’s how I use them:

  • Spoon rest
  • Used tea bag holder
  • Salt piggy
  • Egg holder
  • Prep bowl for ingredients like garlic, shallots, ginger
  • Prep bowl for blending spices (the mix flows into the pan really easily, without getting stuck in creases)
  • Garnish server
  • Server for individual desserts, like squares of chocolate, a brownie or a tiny scoop of ice cream
  • Sugar caddy for after-dinner coffee or tea
  • Ring valet (especially when taking off to work with slimy or sticky food)

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Prep Solutions via Amazon

My dad endearingly referred to these as “rubber fingers.” This set of two — one with a pointy end (pictured) and one that looks more like a paddle — are awesome for scraping, scooping and pushing down all types of food. Think the last little bit of something gooey like peanut butter from the jar, or getting every little bit of beaten egg out of a small bowl. I still use full-size spatulas for large work bowls, pots and pans, but these nonstick minis work better than spoons or my finger and fit really well into drawer dividers. They’re machine washable, too.

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Lodge via Amazon

I had never heard of a pan or pot scraper until my colleague Rich Brown sang its praises. I have an elaborate and finely tuned method for steaming and scraping off stuck-on crud from pots, pans and bakeware, but I started getting a lot of time back once I began using this indispensable tool.

This kitchen gadget fits into your palm and easily scrapes away gunk with its flat and curved edges, which can also better reach into corners. Still expect a little sponge work, but mostly to wipe away loosened and leftover stuff. I was amazed with how my Lodge pot scraper obliterates the scum that builds up in a ring around the pan, say the leftovers of reduced marinara. 

It cuts through residue faster and more efficiently than a hard plastic spatula and it won’t gunk up the scrubby side of a sponge with cheese, egg or starchy buildup. I recommend keeping it visible on your sink, near your sponges and dish soap. I initially put it into a drawer and forgot about it, but now it’s top of mind. 

You’re receiving price alerts for A pan scraper cuts through the crap

Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

My friend bought a fancy new dishwasher with built-in wine holders and gave me three purple silicone tubes that help keep your wine glasses safe in the machine. “Here, you like wine,” she said. “You should use these.”

She was right. They may look derpy, but this perfect gift probably saved my wine glasses more than once. You fit one grippy end around your overturned stemware (as pictured) and slide the other end, a hollow tube, over a peg on the bottom rack of your dishwasher. A wire that runs two-thirds the length of the attachment supplies structure. 

If a glass feels extra wobbly in the center of the bottom rack, I’ve been known to clip on two of these silicone holders for extra stability, one on either side. I used to hand-wash my wine glasses and still managed to break one here or there. Not anymore. It costs between $10 and $15 for a set of eight (depending on discounts and sales). I’ve run them in the dishwasher on a weekly basis for almost two years.

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Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Great for elegantly draining pasta, reaching for items on the top shelf, juicing lemons and even cleaning window blinds. A pair of 9-inch or 12-inch silicone-tipped tongs costs about $17 and has become a trusty kitchen companion that does far more for a chef than just flip browning veggies and meat. Here are seven clever uses for kitchen tongs.

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Endurance via Amazon

I love a small saucepan for so many reasons, including frying perfectly round eggs one at a time and reducing broth and sauces. Melting butter and making modest quantities of caramel or hot milk and cream are also great in an itty-bitty pan, especially if you’re trying to keep a small amount of liquid from evaporating too quickly.

I bought a “cup measuring pan” that’s a lot like this one, with a long handle, and I like it, though it’s not as thick as some of my other kitchen pots. I’d also happily consider a butter melting pot for butter, sauces, warming milk and boiling single eggs, but I currently use a tiny milk frothing jug for that, intended for espresso. Whichever pan you get should cost between $15 and $25, tops. Mine was about $15. 

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More kitchen recommendations

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I Can’t Live Without These 12 Kitchen Tools Under $25

I Can’t Live Without These 12 Kitchen Tools Under

Sure, I love my big ticket kitchen tools, like my Le Creuset lidded baking dish and drop-dead gorgeous knives. But sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference when it comes to cooking, eating and cleaning up after meals. 

These odds and ends have become such a defining part of enjoying my cooking life, I use them nearly every time I wander into the kitchen to whip up a meal. 

After pushing them on my family and friends in the form of gifts and unsolicited opinions, I thought I’d share my cheap, easy-to-clean kitchen favorites with you. They’re all products I actually own and use in real life and that are simple to incorporate into your cooking routine. 

Most of all, they’re versatile tools you can use daily, which means they’re not just inexpensive, but also high-value. Here are the tools I never want to be without and how I use them. (P.S. I recently updated this story with new favorites and checked for pricing and availability. Note that both can change and do change.) 

Read more: 9 Stellar Kitchen Buys That are Worth the Extra Dough

Screenshot by CNET

I’ve searched high and low for a spoon rest I don’t hate — and I finally found it. This space-saving Yamazaki Home stand keeps cooking spoons, ladles, tongs and pot lids from clattering to the counter and spraying my cooking surface with goopy sauces and splats. It’s stylish enough to blend into most kitchen environments (it also comes in white/grey and there’s a similar style that’s all-white with a bamboo rest bar). Importantly, the bottom catch tray pops out, so all pieces are easy to clean.

Note that lighter colors may have you more nervously eyeing stains, especially if you cook with lots of red, oily sauces or yellow seasonings like turmeric. I haven’t had a lasting stain yet, but when in doubt, the black color will be more forgiving.

You’re receiving price alerts for Clever spoon and lid rest

Xujia via Amazon

The wide, saucer-shaped bowl, long handle and pleasant weight make these beautiful spoons perfect for almost everything — eating soup, curries, rice dishes, spooning yogurt out of the tub, spooning anything out of any tub, really. In my family, these Korean stew and rice spoons are now the dominant, and most asked-fo spoon of choice — to the point they’ve been nicknamed “life-changing spoons.”

You can buy long-handled spoons online or in many Asian markets. My personal preference is to get a set with round handles, not the thin kind with the flat ends. Prices vary, but they’re not expensive either way — say $16 for a pack of 5 good quality spoons, or even $15 for a pack of 8.

You’re receiving price alerts for Spoons, Korean Soup Spoons,Stainless Steel Spoon with long Handle Set of 8

Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

I’m a huge fan of countertop risers and have these shelf organizers from multiple brands in my kitchen, bathroom, shelving and right next to me here on my desk. They not only double your storage and organizational space by creating a second tier but also enhance the environment as an accent piece that happens to be functional. For example, use them to elevate a paper towel holder or smart display while storing spices or other tools below. Or perhaps create a hot drinks center like I did, with sugar and tea canisters on the top deck and flavored syrups below.

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I’ve owned my fair share of kitchen sink caddies. They’re fine. I like how they corral the sponges and soap, but too often the decorative trays pool water, soap, and grime, while the more utility-focused are either bleh-looking, overwrought, or come equipped with suction cups (always come unstuck, collects mold) and deep grated bottoms (hard to clean, traps gunk). I finally found this Nieifi caddy, which neatly holds my sponge, cleaning wand, pot scraper (see below), dish soap and hand soap. It looks nice and understated, and you can easily pick the whole thing up to tip out water from the collection tray below. You can also pop that into the dishwasher, or soap off when it needs a refresh. So far, so good.

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I’m sure I could live without a pair of kitchen shears like this one from Henckels (also known for making reliable knives), but I don’t particularly want to. A dedicated pair of shears makes opening food bags, cutting meat and fish and trimming green beans dead-easy. Storing them with your knives or utensils keeps them accessible where you need them and eliminates cross-contamination with your other scissors. Sturdy shears can butterfly poultry and this model unhinges for dishwashing — it’s dishwasher safe if in need of thorough sanitizing, but it usually cleans easily with soapy hot water and a sponge. This particular model costs under $15 on sale.

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Tovolo

Bench scrapers, also known as pastry or dough scrapers or cutters, are typically used to pry dough off a work surface, though I use mine multiple times a day for either scraping or lifting items from my cutting board to a pan or bowl. I used to use the side of whichever knife I had in my hand, but this useful kitchen tool shovels more diced onions at a time and is safer anyway. 

I’ve also used straight-sided bench scrapers, but the offset design is much easier for sliding under a pile of chopped food. It’s equally adept at its intended purpose of working with bread and pastry dough. This Tovolo bench scraper is the one I use and costs around $12.

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Small bowls are hardly interesting or new and I have plenty of them, especially fluted and ribbed ramekins. But these wonderful dip bowls have made cooking and serving food more of a delight. I just love them. They’re useful enough for daily prep and pretty enough to serve on. 

You can mound a surprising amount of food in the hollow, like lemon zest, olive oil, wasabi or even grated cheese like fresh parmesan. They cost $18 for a set of eight 3-ounce bowls.

Here’s how I use them:

  • Spoon rest
  • Used tea bag holder
  • Salt piggy
  • Egg holder
  • Prep bowl for ingredients like garlic, shallots, ginger
  • Prep bowl for blending spices (the mix flows into the pan really easily, without getting stuck in creases)
  • Garnish server
  • Server for individual desserts, like squares of chocolate, a brownie or a tiny scoop of ice cream
  • Sugar caddy for after-dinner coffee or tea
  • Ring valet (especially when taking off to work with slimy or sticky food)

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My dad endearingly referred to these as “rubber fingers.” This set of two — one with a pointy end (pictured) and one that looks more like a paddle — are awesome for scraping, scooping and pushing down all types of food. Think the last little bit of something gooey like peanut butter from the jar, or getting every little bit of beaten egg out of a small bowl. I still use full-size spatulas for large work bowls, pots and pans, but these nonstick minis work better than spoons or my finger and fit really well into drawer dividers. They’re machine washable, too.

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I had never heard of a pan or pot scraper until my colleague Rich Brown sang its praises. I have an elaborate and finely tuned method for steaming and scraping off stuck-on crud from pots, pans and bakeware, but I started getting a lot of time back once I began using this indispensable tool.

This kitchen gadget fits into your palm and easily scrapes away gunk with its flat and curved edges, which can also better reach into corners. Still expect a little sponge work, but mostly to wipe away loosened and leftover stuff. I was amazed with how my Lodge pot scraper obliterates the scum that builds up in a ring around the pan, say the leftovers of reduced marinara. 

It cuts through residue faster and more efficiently than a hard plastic spatula and it won’t gunk up the scrubby side of a sponge with cheese, egg or starchy buildup. I recommend keeping it visible on your sink, near your sponges and dish soap. I initially put it into a drawer and forgot about it, but now it’s top of mind. 

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My friend bought a fancy new dishwasher with built-in wine holders and gave me three purple silicone tubes that help keep your wine glasses safe in the machine. “Here, you like wine,” she said. “You should use these.”

She was right. They may look derpy, but this perfect gift probably saved my wine glasses more than once. You fit one grippy end around your overturned stemware (as pictured) and slide the other end, a hollow tube, over a peg on the bottom rack of your dishwasher. A wire that runs two-thirds the length of the attachment supplies structure. 

If a glass feels extra wobbly in the center of the bottom rack, I’ve been known to clip on two of these silicone holders for extra stability, one on either side. I used to hand-wash my wine glasses and still managed to break one here or there. Not anymore. It costs between $10 and $15 for a set of eight (depending on discounts and sales). I’ve run them in the dishwasher on a weekly basis for almost two years.

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Great for elegantly draining pasta, reaching for items on the top shelf, juicing lemons and even cleaning window blinds. A pair of 9-inch or 12-inch silicone-tipped tongs costs about $17 and has become a trusty kitchen companion that does far more for a chef than just flip browning veggies and meat. Here are seven clever uses for kitchen tongs.

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Endurance via Amazon

I love a small saucepan for so many reasons, including frying perfectly round eggs one at a time and reducing broth and sauces. Melting butter and making modest quantities of caramel or hot milk and cream are also great in an itty-bitty pan, especially if you’re trying to keep a small amount of liquid from evaporating too quickly.

I bought a “cup measuring pan” that’s a lot like this one, with a long handle, and I like it, though it’s not as thick as some of my other kitchen pots. I’d also happily consider a butter melting pot for butter, sauces, warming milk and boiling single eggs, but I currently use a tiny milk frothing jug for that, intended for espresso. Whichever pan you get should cost between $15 and $25, tops. Mine was about $15. 

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