Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Favorite new kitchen tools

Last month I co-hosted a Pampered Chef party with Kelly. Before that, I didn't have much knowledge of PC products, but I am now a believer. They have innovative and high quality kitchen/baking tools that make life easier and more fun in the kitchen.

My favorite purchase was the Mix n' Chop, designed to aid the cooking of ground meats. Since our family functions best with delicious, home grown, ground beef for every meal, this tool is a must-have.


The Mix n' Chop has a funny spiral end to it that works at breaking up the meat as it cooks. It's safe for non-stick cookware.



I am really impressed with how fabulous this thing is. My meat is usually always frozen and I defrost it in the microwave. Since I am in a hurry, the meat is cooked a little on the outside and frozen still in the middle. This handy tool didn't care one bit and broke up all the meat with ease.


Now, I was on to make Lasagna. Thank you Mix n' Chop! Because I decided to take pictures of my fabulous new tool and cook at the same time, I have a new respect for the blog cooks who document their recipes all the time. Try taking a picture with your left hand of steaming hot food -- not easy.

My next fun favorite tool is the Pampered Chef chopper. It has a handle to press on the top and spinning blades behind the plastic shield. You simply put the items to chop in the shield and press away on the handle. 

It does amazing things to onions. I really like this product too.

When I was in Africa, I had the opportunity to cook a few different rustic meals with one of the native ladies. There were no counter tops, no fancy cutting boards. She had a knife (not a good one) and a couple of bowls and a pot for cooking, that is it. So, I know that cooking is possible without all our fancy gadgets.

But I must admit I love the gadgets and they tend to make life easier.  A lot easier (thank you Lord for my microwave). I am curious what kitchen tools you wouldn't want to live without. I might learn about something I am missing. 

If I was PW, I would give away a Pampered Chef Mix n' Chop and a Chopped and I would get 4, 500 comments in the next 2 minutes. But I am not PW.

7 comments:

Cooking with Big E said...

That Mix n Chop looks really neat. I almost ordered one at your party but was already at my budget limit. Next time for sure!

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said...

Can you believe that I don't have the Mix n' Chop? Crazy, since I have almost everything else. I love my Pampered Chef stuff!

Sara said...

I have a Pampered Chef pitcher that my mom gave me years ago that has a mixer built-in to mix up frozen juices - we love it! The Mix n' Chop looks very much like a chopper my mom had when I was a kid - she only used it to chop nuts, but I wonder how it would do on onions and such? Hmm, I'll have to ask her if she still has it... I'm still bummed I couldn't make it to your and Kelly's party - a 3 1/2 hour drive is a bit far though even for a Pampered Chef party hosted by my two cousin-in-laws. =)

Sara said...

Oops, I didn't mean Mix n' Chop - I meant the Chopper. =)

Andee said...

I recently aquired the Food Chopper when I upgraded my little food processor to a more enourmous model. I still wanted something for the little jobs, and this seemed the perfect solution. It was even better than I hoped! I use it at least once a day, and I love that I can just throw it in the dishwasher. Another thing I cannot live without in the kitchen is a really good spatula. One that is heats and stain resistant is a must have. I got one a few years ago that I love, but the handle is a little funky. Also it used to be blue and now is sort od grey-ish. It's better that tomato orange or curry yellow like my 59 cent Ikea ones. I got the Pampered Chef as of your party and so far am quite pleased with it. I haven't used it on anything that might stain it yet, so we'll see!!

Lisa said...

I really like the chopper. We had one at Christmas and I was fortunate enough to be able to use it to chop all the mushrooms for the beef wellington. Without it, I think I would never chop anything again!

Alyce said...

Shucks! I was hoping for a giveaway. ;)

The Mix N Chop sounds awesome! We always defrost our meat too and have the same problem.

My mother-in-law very rarely uses a cutting board, and usually only dusts it off when I come over to help cook.