Deena’s Amazon Favorites
Here’s a rundown of things we use all the time in our home. I hope they bring you as much joy and ease as they do for us! This post includes affiliate links, which means that if you click through and purchase anything, I might get a small commission at no cost to you.
Food-Related Favorites
— kitchen tools
I believe in basic kitchen tools, keeping it simple, and making sure you have the things on hand that make the whole experience more inviting for everyone in your home. These are some of my must-haves.
Sharp Kids knife that helps create solid knife skills and includes a finger guard.
Plastic serrated knife set for the younger ones.
A mortar and pestle is not a tool most people think of as a must-have, but the sensory experience and watching something transform this way make it a great way to connect with food.
Electric Kettle for coffee, tea, boiling water for broth, neti pot… it’s used multiple times per day in our house. I haven’t had a tea kettle on the stove in years!
I love this kitchen scale for measuring coffee beans, but my kid loves it for measuring anything, learning unit conversions, and helping Mama make coffee.
We use these 4oz silicone molds to freeze homemade broth to use later as a tea, in a recipe, or to deglaze a pan of carmelized onions. Such a great way to save that goodness!
— Small Appliances
This banana ice cream maker gets so much more use than I thought it would! We get creative with our fixins each time or keep it totally simple with bananas and other fruits. It is a perfect addition to the summer and safe for all family members!
Still my favorite blender (going on 10 years!)
And my favorite immersion blender with a strong motor, so easy to clean, and there are no plastic parts touching hot food.
— Cookbooks
I absolutely prefer cookbooks to online recipes. Cookbooks come in and out of my home often via the library (a favorite way to reignite excitement and food inspiration!), but the ones I list here are well-loved staples and the pages stained.
Sababa by Adeena Sussman is a go-to for Israeli inspired/Middle Eastern Cooking. I love the stories she shares throughout and how personal it all feels.
Healthy in a Hurry (or anything by Danielle Walker) is a go-to in our home for how simple the recipes are and as someone with Celiac, I love knowing the whole thing is gluten-free.
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters is that quintessential cookbook for all homes, IMO. The recipes really are simple and it’s all about the quality of ingredients. This book was a primary tool in connecting me more deeply to food and finding such joy in cooking!
The Herbalists Kitchen by Brittany Wood Nickerson is fantastic cookbook meets food education meets herbalism meets self love. I’ll often sit with this book and feel inspired to make delicious food whether I cook something from it or not.
— On-the-Go
We are on the move and out of the house a lot, whether a picnic at a park or the beach, packing food for the day, or longer trips. Since I try to reduce packaging and prefer cooked food, finding the best containers and utensils was important to me.
For hot food on the go (with a spoon), this one by Thermos is our favorite. We each have our own color and my kid loves the spoon! The lid doubles as a bowl and it stays hot for hours.
And for beverages, this Yeti Tumbler size and shape is my favorite. And did you know the closure is magnetic and you can easily remove it to clean? No mold!
These bamboo travel utensils/picnic sets are a family favorite for us. We have the “natural style” set and it’s fun choosing a different pattern each time.
Stasher bags are still (going on 5 years) my go-to for most food on the go. They are light, washable, and extremely durable. I keep the minis in my fanny pack with snacks, the stand-up for food storage in the fridge, and the half-gallon for veggie scraps in the freezer for broth.
PackIt freezable lunch bags! No icey needed— just store the bag, itself, in the freezer and pack your stasher bags inside for your day. The food stays cold for hours and they are super easy to clean.
Non-Food Recommendations
— Kids
This dry-erase wall calendar is amazing for all of us, but a perfect way for our son to stay on top of plans and add his events. It’s right in our kitchen and we use it all the time.
The Little Luminaries affirmation cards is our favorite card deck geared towards kids. We have so much fun with this ritual!
Spot It game fits in any bag and is such a fun road trip, restaurant, or anytime game with several variations.
ThinkFun Rush Hour Traffic Jam is an amazing game for the whole family if logic games are your thing. Great for travel too!
This Himalayan Salt Lamp is the night light in my son’s room. Red/orange light is ideal for sleep and relaxation and the look of this is so soothing. The dimmer is great as well.
— Books/Journals
My Body, My Home: A Radical Guide to Resilience and Belonging
Eating in the Light of the Moon: How women can transform their relationship with food through myths, metaphors, and storytelling. The book that catapulted my healing.
Women, Food & God: The unexpected path to almost anything (quintessential book on relationship with food).
Do Less: A revolutionary approach to time and energy management
— Card Decks
The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck (the circle cards you see me share on Instagram) is still my favorite for its beautiful images and simple, yet incredibly supportive descriptions. This set makes an amazing gift!
Other decks I use often and love are The Sacred Rebels Oracle and The Gaia Oracle.
The Practice You Daily Awakening Deck by Elena Brower provides beautiful journal prompts for your morning (or anytime).
— Misc favorites
Wildcraft, An Herbal Adventure Game, is a family favorite! It’s a collaborative game where you learn all about different herbs and how you can use them as remedies. Learn it in the game, see it in nature or at a farm-stand, and then use it at home as a remedy or in the kitchen! It’s such a beautiful way to create a joyful relationship with plants, food, and the body.
The Squatty Potty helps you get in the correct ergonomic position to have a healthy and complete bowel movement. Pooping is really important! This is the one we have at home and this is the one we use for travel.
If, like me, you get all your creative ideas and to-do reminders in the shower, the Aqua Notes Waterproof Note Pad is a must! It’s waterproof paper and you can use any pencil. Tip: the suction cups on the pad of paper aren’t the strongest, so I stick an individual sheet on the shower wall. My husband and I also leave each other sweet notes and recently started playing hangman, so each time one of us comes in the shower, there’s a game ready! The possibilities are endless.
We use red light as much as possible once the sun goes down. Red/orange light is best for avoiding cortisol spikes in the evening and keeping that melatonin flowing. These rechargeable book lights are our favorites for evening and double as perfect night lights when we travel. Fun fact: My husband used to call our son “Goober” when he was a baby, so we especially love these!
These bandaids are my absolute favorites for the whole family. I love the different patterns, how soft they are, that they are easy to remove, and that they come in a reusable tin! It makes a great little first aid kit on-the-go.
I use these hot water bottles for menstrual cramps, bloating, castor oil packs, to keep warm during camping, or just to heat up my bed on a cold night.
Babo Botanicals is our go-to sunscreen in spray, cream, and stick. Best ingredients and works great!
Banyan Botanicals makes incredibly high-quality, Ayurvedic herbs blends, oils, and supplements. I’m a big fan of Ayurveda as a way to support my overall health and unique constitution. A few of my favorite products are The Daily Swish oil pulling blend (I have the mint), CCF Tea for digestion, and this beauty balm (I use it everywhere).
