Kitchen appliances

[Charlie Arnold]

OMG, I have just had a sort out of my kitchen cupboard and Instruction booklets and have discovered just how many things I have in order to give Megs a varied and safe diet.

Cooker - obviously
Microwave
Food processor
Electric whisk
Liquidiser
Hand blender
Deep fat fryer (I find homemade chicken goujons, chips and fish in batter so much better deep fried)
Bread maker
Mincer and sausage maker
Doughnut maker
Yoghurt maker
Ice cream maker
Lolly kit
Slow cooker

And soon to be added waffle maker.

I think I need a bigger kitchen........

Any other things you use?

[FMmom]

Years ago, before moving to Tokyo, we sold every single appliance we had (different electrical system and all -- didn't seem worth dragging all that halfway around the world). It was positively liberating! We got by quite nicely with a toaster and coffee maker. But then we had kids and we moved back home and, yeah, all my kitchen appliances are back, plus some.

I don't have the donut or lolly makers and don't anticipated doing so. I found a yogurt maker that makes a quart at a time rather than those little cups, which always irritated me for some reason, but I was waiting to talk to gastro doc before ordering it. Kaelin is taking a ton of lactaid and I worry about overloading her on yet more dairy.

I've been wanting a deep fryer, but have resisted because we should be eating less fried foods. But then I fry foods anyway, but make a mess of it... Sigh. So you love it? Yeah, the stovetop just doesn't do a good fried chicken or chips. And homemade potato chips (crisps?) ooooh, to die for! (I also have a mandoline so I can get ultra-thin slices)

I have a slow cooker that I use infrequently -- recipes seem to call for a lot of sauces using ingredients that Kaelin shouldn't have and I haven't been diligent about finding more suitable ones.

I have a pressure cooker that I love -- it makes meats much more tender and juicy than the slow cooker.

And yet, despite an abundance of appliances, I tend to rely on my trusty fry pan almost every night...

[Charlie Arnold]

I use my slow cooker alot as it creates the best stocks for alot of Megs food. I tend to buy good quality meats from our butcher and as much as possible on the bone as that adds flavour. Then put it in the slow cooker in water, a few herbs and slow cook over the day. When it is cooked you have the most delicious tender meat and a beautiful meat stock, just skim any scum that builds up or pass it through a seive or muslin cloth before thickening with cornflour, usually the stock has enough flavour to use as it is. I have gone back to my old casseroles with no veg for Meg for now but you can add FM safe veg if you can tolerate them to add a bit more flavour. For non FM I fry onion, garlic and other veg then at the last stage of cooking scoop out Megs version into a small bowl, add the other stuff to everyone elses and add parsley dumplings on top and cook for the last bit in the oven. The dumplings just add a bit more to it. I'll post a recipe for it. But yes, most recipe books for slow cookers use too much else but once you have the hang of it it makes life so much easier.

Yoghurt, I used to make alot for Meg but I did wonder if it was something that wasn't suiting, but then she was having alot, but it is useful in recipes too. yes, I have a large pot one, can't be doing with the small ones. Mine is an easyo make.

A Lolly kit is really useful in hot weather, I really just make water ones or pour milk into them and Meg loves them to cool down with. All it is is a deep tray with compartments and plastic lolly sticks that go in each section. I have yet to find any safe ready made lollies.

[FMmom]

Okay -- turns out that I don't speak British nearly as well as I thought. You've mentioned that you give Meg a lolly on occasion and I admit I was rather astonished that she could eat that. I thought you were referring to lollipops -- hardened sugar water with food dye, or more than likely, HFCS with food dye. Yikes. I have to peel Kaelin off the ceiling whenever she eats one of those (never, ever with my permission, but a lot of stores that serve kids put out big bowls of lollipops and Kaelin often manages to grab one without me knowing it. Grrrrr.)

However, after reading that Meg likes them to cool down, I am assuming that lollies are ice cream bars or popsicles? I haven't found any liquids that Kaelin can drink other than milk and water (the sugar substitutes are just awful for her, so I can't give her Crystal Light or anything like that) so I can't make popsicles. But she adores them, so I have to find something for her to have over a long hot summer. I did want to try some ice cream treats, I'll have to play with that a bit.

[Charlie Arnold]

Found a new gadget to add to my collection this week. A crisp maker that goes into the microwave. For our American friends thats chips....... And it goes in the microwave.

This means you can make your own crisps / chips and know exactly what is in them and not contaminated. You do need decent potatoes for these and to dry them off well when sliced but apart from that really easy. They took a bit longer than the listed time but I think that depends on the strength of the microwave.

It is made by mastrad and call TopChips www.mastrad.fr

It is a french site, if you click at the bottom of the home screen though you should get english translation if you click on the union jack. Otherwise Lucky has found a US source:
www.mastrad.us/

I found ours in an English store called Robert Dyas

We made salted ones and it makes you realise just how much salt they put in a packet of ready salted ones. I reckon you could probably marinate potato slices in things too, dry them out then crisp them. Will have to get experimenting.

[Charlie Arnold]

Next one to add to the list now:

waffle maker

New shelf needed in cupboard......

[Charlie Arnold]

Another few new gadgets are filling our kitchen even more this summer, but they all serve to make food a bit more fun. Now we are cutting back on foods again I need to start getting more inventive again. Why shouldn't food still be fun even if it is limited.

New gadget 1 - milk frother. This has been really successful and is used several times a day since my mother introduced Megs to this. It is made by AEG and is called a Dolce Crema. Basically you just put milk in it and it heats and froths it, perfect for a quick fun drink, or mix up a safe chocolate drink and put that in it. and it gets the milk in her to keep her blood sugar levels up.

New gadget 2 - my neighbour found. Its a slushy maker. Made by Chill Factor its basically a rubbery cup you put in the freezer that once frozen you add chilled liquid to and squeeze and in minutes you have a slush puppy. You can use any chilled liquid, so far Meg used chocolate milk and we also made a peppermint tea and chilled that. Again, it just means they can have something everyone else can enjoy.