Versawear Crock-pot

A Crock-pot is a must in the kitchen. It is a wonderful thing to have, especially when you don't have time to cook a meal. Dump all the ingredients into it in the morning and you have a fabulous dinner ready when you get home. I have two different Crock-pots and this one is my favorite. This is a Versawear Crock-pot from Target, again another wedding present. My favorite thing about it is that I can brown a roast on the stove in the pot then place it in the holder to cook. And it's nice enough that I can serve the meal right out of the pot, which means less dishes. This is dishwasher safe though after I accidentally smashed the handle against the counter and broke it I hand wash it to make sure the handle doesn't fall off again.
I highly recommend having some typed of a crock-pot on hand. You can't mess up a dinner in a crock-pot, well unless you just put it to warm (guilty).

Aroma Rice Cooker

My all time favorite kitchen gadget is the Aroma Rice Cooker 5-in-1. I received this three years ago as a wedding present and it is used at least once a week. Not only does it cook rice, it can also steam vegetables. Plus this one is even better than the one I have because it offers TWO steaming trays. I highly recommend a rice cooker if you don't have one already. I prefer this rice to minute rice and it is what I will use repeatedly in recipes. I always use two cups of water to one cup of rice to achieve sticky rice.

If you don't have a rice cooker and don't want to run out and get one (though you should, Target has a great selection) you can boil your water in a saucepan, add rice, reduce to simmer and cover until rice is tender, usually about 20 minutes.