Don’t let summertime give you the cooking blahs. Instead, get inspired by investing a few dollars in these great kitchen gadgets. They’ll help you tweak your mealtime routine for under $5.

Here are three of our favorites.

1)         Salad spinner - These colorful plastic bowls come in two parts - a solid plastic outer bowl and a colander insert that are snapped together with a lid that has a handle to spin the produce dry. They are a lifesaver for prepping fresh greens as well as vegetables and fruit. Big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target sell them for about $5 and they’re virtually indestructible, easy to clean and use. Try experimenting with different salad greens when they’re on sale at your local grocery store or farmers’ market. Chicory, endive, mustard greens or kale are all excellent additions to a salad or stir-fry. You can also slice fresh zucchini or yellow squash, green beans or cucumbers and toss them in for a quick rinse and spin-dry. After washing, store veggies and salad fixins in the fridge right in the bowl until ready to prep and serve.

2)         Zester - Look for these handy little tools at discount or dollar stores.  Zesters are small tools about the size of a paring knife designed to extract the essence from lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit. Citrus zest is a wonderful, no-calorie addition to sauces used for veggies, meat or poultry, or salad dressings. Wash fruit, and scrape zester across the top. Use about ½ to 1 teaspoon of fresh zest to add a bright and sassy taste to your summer fare.

3)         Disposable plastic cutting boards - These handy sheets of plastic come in various sizes and are found in the aisle with plastic storage bags. Although they are meant to be disposable, you can re-use them. Just pop them in the bottom rack of the dishwasher to be cleaned and sanitized. It’s best to have at least two; one for veggies and another for meat, poultry and fish. Use different sizes so you’ll remember which is which, or dab a dot of fingernail polish on one.

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