Healthy eating with Vitamix

It’s almost summer and that means out with the casseroles and in with the healthy eating. As a self-confessed salad-phobe, I’m always looking for a way to make getting five-a-day more interesting and easy.

Here is your must-have companion in the kitchen this summer – the new Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre.

Note – this isn’t a fancy blender. This is a serious bit of kit. Not only can it whiz together a smoothie that’s so smooth, all traces of leafy vegetables disappear, it can even make frozen yogurt (yogurt plus frozen fruit) in under a minute.

Vitamix’s Total Nutrition Centre

It can even warm soup simply from the heat generated by the blades. All you have to do is cook the ingredients, pop them in and run the machine til it’s steaming. Other tricks include recipes for bread, peanut butter and chutney.

So you can make healthy meals quickly, no excuses. Not even the cleaning – this fab machine will clean itself with water and detergent on one of its programmes. Not a scrubbing brush in sight.

It costs £459, comes in red, white, black and stainless steel, and is available from John Lewis, Whole Foods, Harrods and Fenwicks.

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Rachel

Painted kitchen colours

Cabinetry in Mid Lead from Little Green

I’m a big fan of painted kitchens. They can be dressed simply to look ultra modern or prettified for a more country look. They’re versatile too. Getting bored with your scheme? Simply change the colour and you’ve got a whole new kitchen for the price of a few cans of paint (and a professional decorator if your edging’s anything like mine!).

Of course, there are so many fantastic shades out there at the moment that you might be hard pressed to settle on a colour. I think when I get bored of my elegant steel grey kitchen, I’ll go for something lighter. A cream or soft taupe will change the whole feel of the room, giving it a more traditional look, meaning I’ll probably have to buy a whole new set of accessories to go with it! Oh well, needs must. My current favourite paint colour is Oak Apple from Fired Earth. I recently painted my bathroom with it and it’s very calming.

Oak Apple tongue and groove with Alabaster walls

Below are some other schemes I’m loving at the moment. Although I don’t think I’d be brave enough to go for red, in the big space below it works really well.

Bright red island. Try Toffee Apple at Crown for a similar vibrant look

This Plain English kitchen is painted in Lead III from paint and Paper Library

For a similar fresh green try Marram from Fired Earth

This soft stone colour is Mouse’s Back from Farrow & Ball

For a creamy white try Wood Smoke by Earthborne

This soft blue colour is Sunday Sonata by Dulux

Ysanne

Table matters

I may not have the cooking skills but never let it be said I don’t know how to set a table. I like to layer crockery and get creative with place cards and an eye-catching centrepiece, whether it’s a large jug of pretty flowers for a summer country spread, or a more sophisticated candelabra for the evening. I like to think I’m a perfectionist (my other half would be more inclined to use the word ‘obsessive’), which is why when I found a few chips on my tableware of late I knew it was time to be replaced. Don’t get me wrong, my trusty set has stood up well over the years, but it’s proved the perfect opportunity to indulge in another set. On the lookout, I found these lovely new collections that are all due  out this year – so now it’s just time to choose one…

The Flamingo set from Fenella Smith starts at £14.95 for a mini mug – pretty and pink, it’s a winner with me.

This new ceramic Belgian tableware from Kindle House offers a simplistic rustic design, and is priced from £4.95 for a breakfast bowl.

This 16-piece Gingham dinner set is out later this year at Very.co.uk and costs £32

Laurie

Colourful kitchen accessories

This colourful kitchen, with its sunshine yellow hi-gloss cabinetry, is certainly eye-catching. To take a tour of the whole kitchen, click here.

Hi-gloss yellow kitchen

If you want to bring the feeling of summer into your kitchen, without a complete re-fit, a few well-chosen accessories, will do the trick.

The 2 slot NewGen Dualit toaster. Delivers everything you’d expect from Dualit, in a colour guaranteed to make you smile.

The 2 slot NewGen Dualit toaster

This yellow stoneware Le Creuset mug is far too nice to share, or hide in a cupboard.

Le Creuset Mug, in Dijon Yellow

These colourful tea towels, from John Lewis have a bold pepper print.

Set of two cotton tea towels, from John Lewis

The Daytona cordless kettle from Prestige has a rapid boil function and a removable water filter for easy cleaning. The water gauge is hidden behind the handle.

The Prestige Daytona Yellow Kettle

So go on, bring a bit of summer into your kitchen.

Sally

Range cooking at Nick Nairn’s new cookery school

Possibly to prove how far I’ll actually go for a good meal, last week I travelled the 640-odd km to Aberdeen and in particular, the new Nick Nairn Cook School.

It wasn’t just the prospect of delicious food that tempted me there, but the gorgeous Falcon 900 Deluxe induction range cookers in China Blue that the school’s been fitted out with, too.

Nick Nairn in the new cookery school in Aberdeen

Not only are they easy on the eye, these smart cookers are also incredibly functional, as I found out when we were let loose on them.

The pinpoint-accurate temperature on the induction tops made cooking everything so easy, as we whizzed our way through everything from a fluffy potato pancake with a poached egg to a juicy steak and raspberry crème brûlée.

Here’s one of my efforts…

Pesto-drizzled potato pancake

and here’s Nick perfecting his starter:

Nick Nairn seasoning his potato pancake with poached egg, grilled veg and micro-greens

The cookers aren’t just great on the surface – they also boast a handy roll-out grill (genius, no?) and a good-sized multifunction oven alongside a tall fan oven.

At around £3,838 each, the 900 Deluxe induction ranges are a wishlist buy but having seen the professional-looking results at first hand from a group of non-pros, I’m convinced it’s a sound investment.

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Rachel

Rainbow bright extractor

I listen to music when I cook. In fact, I might even be known to dance at the same time (please be warned, this isn’t advised while chopping). So the rather glam new chimney hood from Baumatic was bound to appeal to me, bringing me that step closer to full kitchen disco effect.

Spectrum cooker hood will cost around £549

Called Spectrum, it changes hue at the touch of button to suit your whim, or can be set to cycle through a range of shades while in use for a colourful culinary experience. The 68cm hood looks good when it’s not in action, too – its simple white glass and stainless steel design should suit most modern schemes. And it won’t drown out your music – it works through perimeter extraction, with a noise level of just 49dB at low speed.

Would it work in your scheme?

Becky

Dotty new homewares collection

My dream kitchen would have a large wooden dresser, packed with colourful china, so the Bon Bon Collection by Sabichi, really caught my eye.

The mix and match collection, with its vintage polka dot design, includes tableware, storage jars and textiles.

The Bon Bon Collection, by Sabichi

The 12-piece porcelain dinnerware set is a very affordable £20.

The porcelain dotty china will brighten up your breakfast table

The set of porcelain mugs cost £5 for four.

The set of four dotty mugs

The Bon Bon Collection also includes these pretty floral tea towels, single oven glove, double oven glove and apron. Prices start at £4 for the single oven glove.

The new textiles range is both pretty and practical

Now I just need to find the perfect dresser to display it all on.

Sally