Some big appliances are needed, this is true. You won’t get very far without a fridge or an oven. Those are standard kitchen staples. But when it comes to most cooking, you can actually avoid using too much of the oven and having to deal with the process of cleaning such a large appliance, if you have the right small appliances to compensate.

Toaster ovens are a great choice because instead of being limited by typical toasters, that only allow breads to be placed in the slots, you can actually heat up larger items with more ingredients in a toaster oven. Like for example, home made bagel pizzas.  They will also come out a lot better in a toaster oven than the microwave.

Convection ovens are another choice, which have far more settings and work closer to a regular oven but are a lot smaller. They are easier to clean and easier to use, especially if you have kids in the house who may be afraid of the oven (I know I was as a child).

Small appliances make clean up just a bit easier. So reserve the oven for larger meals or dishes that take bigger preparation and invest in smaller ones that will be easier to take care of.