Having the right arsenal of tools in your kitchen makes all the difference when it comes to successful raw food preparation. In this post, we outline three food preparation tools that will help add variety to your diet, maximize the nutritional value of your food, and make healthy eating easier.

#1 - Blendtec or Vitamix Blender

The blender is arguably one of the most versatile machines in the kitchen, and one of the few tools we use multiple times a day. Smoothies, sauces, soups, nut butters, these machines can liquify just about any type of raw food. Unfortunately a top-of-the-line Osterizer or Cuisinart units aren't going to cut it if you are serious about pulverizing raw solids in to liquids. The two top brands in this field are the Vitamix, and Blendtec - two incredibly powerful machines that mean serious business when it comes to pulverizing foods. Both the Vitamix and Blendtec can liquify just about anything you can imagine. Yes - that's anything, not just any food (watch the video below). We have used both units, and prefer the Blendtec due to it's size, aesthetics, and features. However, Vitamix vs. Blendtec is a debate that has been going on for many years, and ultimately you will have to make the decision as to which brand best suites your specific needs. Use your Blendtec or Vitamix for the following:

• Smoothies
• Nut butters
• Grinding grains in to flour
• Dough
• Soups

The blades on these blenders spin so fast, they can heat soups, and even cook eggs! Although these units typically don't come cheap (around $400-500 new), they are well worth the cost.

#2 - Juicer

When my mother beat cancer by consuming only organic green juice for a year, it really opened my eyes to the power of juicing. There is no better way to provide your body with a potent 'blast' of powerful, concentrated nutrients. Although our blender gets quite a but more use than the juicer, we still consider it an essential small appliance for the kitchen. The feeling you get after drinking a fresh glass of organic green juice is truly incredible! Some of the benefits of juicing include:

• Easy way to increase variety of fruit & vegetable consumption
• Massive doses of phytochemicals and antioxidants
• Supplies body with enzymes to aid digestion
• Easy for body to absorb nutrients

Juicing makes it simple to consume extremely nutrient rich foods that you may not often eat in whole form - foods like parsley, cilantro, kale, and swiss chard for example. Essentially any fruit or vegetable can be juiced, and one of the benefits of juicing is that it's a great way to add a variety of vegetables to your diet that you don't normally consume. But what about all of that wasted pulp? Here are 10 ways to use juice pulp There are plenty of juicers on the market, ranging in price from about $100 - $1000 or more. We purchased middle to high-end Omega juicer, and have not had any regrets. As with most things these days, you get what you pay for, so it's best to stick to one of the pioneers in the industry (Greenstar, Breville, Omega).

#3 - Food Dehydrator

A terrific kitchen tool that makes portable snack preparation a breeze. The dehydrator allows you to dry out ingredients by heating at a very low temperature. Dehydrating helps enhance flavour and preserve most raw foods. We primarily use our dehydrator to dry soaked nuts (enhances flavour and increases digestibility), and for fruits and vegetables (great healthy portable snacks). There are also plenty of other uses for a dehydrator however, including:

• Jerky (beef or tofu)
• Sprouted Flour
• Granola
• Yogurt

Food dehydrators range from $100 up to $400+, depending on their size, and list of features. Excalibur is probably one of the most well know brand names, and they have a wide selection of models to choose from. If you are shopping for your first food dehydrator, you probably don't need the model with all of the bells and whistles. Just a simple unit with a few racks and an on/off switch will do the trick. The blender, juicer, and food dehydrator are three kitchen preparation tools that we consider to be essential for anyone trying to simplify the process of eating a wide variety of healthy whole foods. What food prep tools / small appliances are most used in your kitchen? Let us know by leaving a comment below!