10 Christmas Gift Ideas For The Low Carb Cook

Whether you're a pro or a beginner, these baking tools will have a noticeable impact on the outcome of your final product and ease of prep work.

I, myself, am all for old-school baking and cooking with minimal tools ( ie. using one bowl for everything – I'm not a fan of dishes!).

But when it comes to baking or cooking up the best, most delicious and visually appealing desserts and entrees, these tools really do come in handy.

I can't deny, I did throw in a few “fun items“,  not essential, but a necessity if you're looking to create some epic, tasty low-carb treats. 😉

Add these items to your own wishlist or gift them to a fellow low-carber, either way, they are bound to bring a smile to someone's face this holiday season.

10 Christmas Gift Ideas For The Low Carb Cook

1. Food Scale

Food scales are the key to learning portion size.

They are a great starting point. Once you get familiar with portion and serving sizes, you can slowly decrease your dependence on the scale and focus more on the intuitive aspect of eating (being that, you've now trained your eyes and your brain to see foods in a different light).

But don't go tossing aside your food scale too quickly! Food scales are also ESSENTIAL when it comes to baking with consistency and accuracy. Ever wonder why a dessert doesn't turn-out, even though you followed the recipe to a T?

Well, for one it might just be a bad recipe..BUT more likely, it was a difference in weight created by the slight packing of flour or sugar. Even amounts like “1 cup of chopped fruit” can vary greatly depending on how the food is cut, sliced or placed in the measuring cup.

As noted above I like baking with minimal bowls and utensils.

You know the best way to achieve this? A FOOD SCALE. You can easily measure all of your ingredients in one bowl without all the fuss of measuring spoons and cups.

If that doesn't convince you to use a food scale in your baking and cooking then I'm not sure what will!

My scale of 4 years of which I refer to as my “bestfriend” or “side-kick” in  the kitchen, is this beautiful one:

Perfect Portions Digital Scale + Nutrition Facts Display

It rarely ever needs battery replacements, its extremely accurate with measuring, durable and easy to clean (I can honestly say this after witnessing the many extreme kitchen disasters it has endured). It also measures more than just weight, it has a full nutritional display with the ability to manually input nutrition info for a specific item to recall later. And last but not least, it's nice to look at and has never failed me once.

        2. Spiralizer

If you are a low-carb eater and you still haven't heard of a spiralizer, then you've been missing out!

I'm here to inform you that this simple tool designed to “spiralize” zucchini and other vegetables into noodles will basically change your life (OK, maybe that's a little extreme, but if you're an ex-carb lover looking for a pasta replacement, this thing is pretty dang awesome).

It might not create magical low-carb pasta but it creates a pretty close alternative. And with the right toppings and sauce, you will be AMAZED by how little you miss the typical carb-laden noodles of the past.

Take this recipe for example..

The spiralizer I use is this one:

Kuuk-2 in 1 Vegetable Spiralizer

It has an end for both thicker and thinner noodles and is super easy to clean!

Bonus Tip: The key to perfect “zucchini noodles” is to first press them in paper towel to drain some of the excess liquid. Then heat a pan with oil (can be sprayed lightly with oil) over high heat. Toss the noodles in when the pan is hot and stir-fry them for 2-3min or until the noodles just start to wilt. You want to partially cook them but still leave them with some crunch. This helps to prevent excess water being released and diluting into your sauces. Remove the noodles when done and add to whatever sauce or dish you'd like, or just serve with some butter and parmesan. Alternatively you can add the noodles directly to the same pan at the end of any stir-fry, just before serving.

3. Food Processor

From grinding nuts and seeds to butter or flour, cottage cheese to a smooth puree for use in cheesecakes, sweetener to a fine powder (powdered sugar replacement!), to beautiful silky smooth avocado-chocolate pudding, ..a food processor can do it all.

Blenders are a great option for many recipes like smoothies, “protein ice-cream“, pancakes etc. But if you are looking for the finest texture, the ability to breakdown tougher foods, and an easier clean up, a food processor is likely a more appropriate option.

I use this one:

Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Processor

..and have become obsessed with creating new and interesting sauce combinations along with grinding my different flours to result in lighter and fluffier baked goods!

Plus,this processor is adorable (I don't describe many kitchen products this way). But it's small, compact and pretty to look at.

4. Slow Cooker

Most of us live a fast-paced life. One where you are either working hard, on the go or busy attending social and life events. When we return home, cooking is the LAST thing on our minds (if it isn't then props, that's dedication!) and as such, we reach for the quickest food options available.

*ENTER, Slow Cooker*

Counter to it's name, it will have a meal prepped and ready for you the moment you sit down.

All you have to do is throw in a piece of meat or a few basic stew/soup ingredients in the morning and you're good to go! Fresh, hot, steaming, delicious food ready when you are.

The one I recommend is this one:

Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker With Temperature Probe

5 .Hand-Held Blender

Hand-held blenders are my preference to regular stand blenders. Why?

They offer flexibility and create less mess!

I personally use hand-held blenders more in savoury dishes than I do sweet. Majority of the time it's soups (okay let's be honest, I'm obsessed, it's always soup).

But have you ever tried pouring boiling hot soup into a stand blender, blending it then returning it to the pot?

Messy, messy, messssy is all I can say. (More dishes too! ..and as you are progressively learning, I hate dishes). Not to mention, trying to transfer boiling hot liquid from one container to the other. Especially when you're me or you're equally un-coordinated, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Thus, hand-held blenders are my first choice.

No need to remove your soup from the pot, quick clean up and a much lower risk of clumsily burning yourself.

This one is my favourite!

KitchenAid 2-Speed Hand Blender

..It makes me the perfect bowl of broccoli and/or cauliflower soup every time, plus in comes in a large range of attractive colours (which is obviously the most important aspect). 😉

6. George Forman Grill

Specifically the..

George Foreman GR20B 4 Serving Classic Plate Grill

I feel like this grill is legendary..and for good reason.

It's been around for a long time but that's because it does what it's supposed to (grilling, obviously!) and it does it well.

Now, I feel like this is more of an option for those living in colder climates.

As in, going outside means putting on your over-sized , slightly resemblant of the”abominable snow-man” coat, grabbing a hat, grabbing some gloves, putting on your heavy-duty snow boots, then remembering you forgot to put leggings on under-neath your already thick sweatpants and continuing to further wrap yourself in endless layers of clothing. That kind of cold. (Really Sam?..again with the exaggerations?)

I might be slightly ranting about my current weather situation and that probably shouldn't be the reason you choose to purchase this item or not so let me continue with the actual constructive information.

The grill is meant to enable you to do all of your BBQ-ing indoors. Assuming you don't have to feed 20 people at once, this grill is probably perfect for you. It's small, compact and requires little technical skills to use (trust me, if I can figure it out on my own, so can you).

You can grill vegetables, meat, or you can even get REALLY creative and grill a low-carb panini using low-carb bread.

7. Ice Cream Maker  

Cuisinart ICE-30BCC Pure IndulgenceTM Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker

Basically self-explanatory. 

Who doesn't want homemade, creamy, dreamy full-fat ice cream conveniently prepared and always at their disposal?

Low-carb eaters are known for eating high-fat, so why not indulge? Take full advantage of the ability to eat rich, decadent ice cream. None of that low-fat, icey so-called “healthy ice cream” over here.

But I'll stop talking. Just look at this recipe by Carolyn over at “All Day I dream About Food” and tell me you don't want to steal a scoop:

8. Donut Pan

Wilton Nonstick 6-Cavity Donut Pan

Another one of those “non-essential” but fun items to gift to someone (*cough, cough* me..)

Yup, that's right I don't own a donut pan. I'm obsessed with donuts, I created delicious low-carb keto donuts, yet I still don't own a pan. There's something wrong with this situation.

Thus, I added it to this list, just in-case you know someone else suffering from donut addiction and in-need of an alternative while following this lifestyle. ;P

9. Hand Held Frother or Self-Stirring Mug

This is another one on my personal wish list! (At least the mug still is).

I already have the hand-held frother and it's really amazing! I use this one:

Aerolatte Deluxe Edition Milk Frother

It does a wonderful job at blending together the perfect (and ever-famous) bullet-proof coffee. (BPC)

But something it's not as well known for is blending egg whites! If you need to fluff a few egg whites for some waffles (or my 1 min keto english muffin recipe), use this thing! It will do a crazy-good job!

As for the Self-Stirring Mug, I think anyone would like it just because it's awesome, OK.

(I just want it for the sake of showing other people. LOL. But I'm sure it's also convenient  when you need that perfect BPC on the go).

10. Cakewich Bread Mold

Fred & Friends CAKEWICH Bread-Shaped Cake Mold

This one was just too fun not to share.

A mold that shapes any ingredients into a “bread slice” shape (dishwasher, oven and microwave safe!)

It's simple but creates endless opportunities for creativity.

Again, my english muffin recipe doubled would work amazing for this, I'm sure! You could even toast the bread, use it for french toast, make bread pudding out of it, sandwiches, ETC!

Plus, everything tastes better when it looks cool. Right? That's how it works.

…Andddd with that, this ends my “10 Low-Carb Christmas Gift Ideas for the Low-Carb Baker“.

If I forgot to mention any other cool, neat or useful kitchen gadgets, please leave a comment below! I am interested to see if anyone has anymore creative items I can casually spend all of my money on (kidding!-sort of).

I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this post! Please share it if you found it helpful.

I look forward to seeing you all in my next posts! I have many new ideas (including the low-carb baking substitution guide, it's coming, I promise!)  but I am open to writing suggestions in relation to any of the following; low-carb dieting, keto, macro-counting, fitness or nutrition in general!

Anyways, thanks again and happy Christmas/Holiday shopping!! 🙂

~Sam~

Follow me at: @sammysamgirl for more!