34 35 The kitc essenti that WI change your life

Chopping with a blunt knife means food prep takes longer – and if you don’t like cooking or are short of time, those extra minutes may mean you end up with a ready meal rather than cooking from scratch. Added to this, blunt knives are harder to control. You need to apply more pressure to food to slice through it, which means the knife is more likely to slip, cutting you in the process.

Hand-held sharpeners are a good choice for beginners as they’re usually small and often come with safety devices. Try Anysharp Knife Sharpener (from £10, anysharp.com) – it sticks to a smooth surface allowing you to sharpen any knife hands-free!

Garlic adds flavour to food so you don’t need to add salt – good news as too much sodium (one of the components in salt) is linked to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Garlic has many health benefits too, including lowering cholesterol, acting as an antibacterial and aiding circulation.

The characteristic aroma, taste and wellbeing gains are all down to a substance called allicin, which is formed when garlic is sliced or crushed (it takes a while to develop so wait 10-15 minutes after preparing before adding it to cooking).

You can buy garlic presses inexpensively in supermarkets. Or try the Jamie Oliver Garlic Slice ’n’ Press (£19.99, shop.jamieoliver.com ) – there’s no need peel cloves, and the press comes with a choice of blades to either slice or crush. Knowing how much spaghetti to cook is often guesswork, with the result that we often cook far more than we need. This either means we throw away the excess

– or we eat a bigger portion!

Popping just an extra 25g pasta into the pan means an extra 86 calories. If you eat pasta twice a week, in five years that is enough to gain almost a stone!

Try Harbour Housewares Stainless Steel Spaghetti Measurer (£1.09, rinkit.com) – it has holes allowing you to measure out enough spaghetti for one, two, three or four adult portions.

Like microwaving, numerous studies show that steaming helps to preserve water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C and most B vitamins, especially when compared with boiling.

A study from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland found little change in the folate content of spinach and broccoli after it had been steamed.

In contrast, boiling them resulted in a 51% loss of folate in spinach and a 56% loss in broccoli.

You can also steam chicken, fish, shellfish, rice, pasta and couscous. Pan steamers tend to be less expensive and