I Use This $9 Tool Every Time I Cook—And I Think Every Kitchen Could Use One
Meal prepping is tons of fun for me, especially after browsing recipes on Pinterest and excitedly adding new ingredients to my grocery list. But there are some things about meal prep that feel arduous (especially when I’m balancing work and other extracurriculars), like recipes that require more than five simple tasks. Cutting up vegetables and sautéing them? There goes another hour before dinner!
Cutting especially has always been a challenge for me, whether it be trimming paper or chopping strawberries for my favorite fruit salad. I was born with cerebral palsy, which comes with a number of motor delays and struggles, so I often have a buffer in my meal prepping time for extra precaution to safely prepare my food without nicking my hands. Obviously, with the hustle and bustle of life, I am sometimes in a rush, and forget to slow down.
After a million small cuts from years of cooking, I thought getting cuts on my hands was just going to be an inevitable part of my life that I would have to manage. But moving in with my partner a few years ago felt like walking into Narnia: I was so used to doing things a particular way, but thanks to seeing things through another person’s eyes and his clever ideas, I learned so many little life hacks that I didn’t think of before.
One day I had the ultimate “ah ha!” moment: I cut myself preparing dinner, and as we stopped mid way to tend to the wound, my partner said: “We’re going to get you some cutting gloves, you need those hands to paint!” Surprised, I replied, “Cutting gloves!?” He went on Amazon and showed me a pair of gloves that people can use to protect their hands when cutting with sharp objects.
Two days later, when the cutting gloves arrived, I tried them on, tested them out, and of course ran a knife over them to see if they worked. “Game changer!,” I squealed.
All this time, I had no idea these cutting gloves were even a thing, and now there is seldom a time when I’m cutting vegetables or fruit where I don’t have them on. This cutting glove is the life hack I never knew I needed, and has made my meal preparation a lot safer.
They look a bit peculiar, sure, but low-key anyone who is remotely clumsy (or even those who aren’t) might need this. Not only do they come in multiple sizes, they are also ambidextrous and less than $10! Say goodbye to your small cuts from cutting veggies in the kitchen.