I am becoming a Gadget Queen! :)

[c'estlaviebelle]

I have managed to amass lots of cool gadgets in a relatively short period of time. Maybe it is my obsessive compulsive and detail oriented nature (a natural byproduct of being an engineer for a living), or maybe just my enthusiasm, but I just ordered an Omega 8003 juicer, and a Blendtec (I know, I know, vitamix rules etc, but I love the digital display of the HP3A, plus I really want to be able to blend an Iphone!). I purchased the 9-tray Excalibur and a food processor a few months back, and have also gotten the saldacco, a small food chopper, a mandolin, and a few other little gadgets.

I'm not trying to gloat or anything, although I am excited, but I just find that having all the nifty tools keeps me on track. I've been getting disappointed lately since even though I have a decent Oster blender, it is starting to get dull what with all the GS I make, and I'd like to be able to make nutmylks, which I currently cannot in the Oster. Plus a lot of cool recipes call for the high powered blender (this is my justification for all the $$ I just spent- I'm also a typical frugal engineer too lol).

I am turning into a raw techie geek! I guess it was just a matter of time before I started collecting raw technology too. :p

Do *you* find having the gadgets makes raw life easier? My bf thinks my raw technology obsession is just a phase, although he is looking forward to blending cell phones as well. teehee

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Wonder if it could blend my Blackjack...

[Eva]

They sure take up space -- but do make life easier.

I use almost all of mine every week if not every day. I'm right there with you on the juicer, dehydrator, citrus juicer, mandoline, vitamix, travel blender, nut bag, food processor... and surely I'm missing something!

But the most use and necessity? Knife, cutting board, vitamix. :)

[Frugal Raw]

I like keeping it juicy - although I do dehydrate things from time to time;) I love my vitamix, my kitchen aid food processor, and my good knives/bamboo cutting board! Salad spinners are WONDERFUL!!! - I hate a soggy salad.

I don't have a juicer, and I haven't ever bought a nut milk bag. I'm leery of juicing because in the past I have had problems with being hypoglycemic. I figure I'm better off keeping the fiber in my drinks. My most recent kitchen toy was a hand-held citrus reamer, which I can attest does wonders for juicing lemons and limes! I bought it at Target for less than $4, and saw a few other toys I wouldn't mind picking up!

[shine72]

I LOVE having my kitchen gadgets! I also used to be a Pampered Chef consultant, and it kinda tumbled from there!

And although I have quite a bit in my kitchen, I'm about to be adding more! (Need it for what I do! - Honest!;) )

So enjoy your new toys. Use them often and in GREAT health!:D

[c'estlaviebelle]

Thanks for the answers everyone! :) I'm still really stoked about my new toys. I would love a salad spinner too, although the only place I saw them they were a little pricey, so I think I need to find one online.

What is Pampered Chef? Is it like Avon for cooking? Sounds neat! I still buy a lot of the "cooking" type things like springform pans and pastry bags for raw. I'm just getting into that stuff now actually!

:)

[gingincal]

I, too, am a gadget queen! :D I have always loved kitchen gadgets and had a Kitchenaid blender and Cuisinart 7-cup food processor. Since becoming interested in rawness, I've added a 5-tray Excaliber, Salad Shooter, sprouting jar, nut bag, Breville juicer, and a spiralizer. Not to mention the MANY uncookbooks I've amassed. It's a passion. :)

My latest acquisition...a salad spinner. Love it, love it, love it! There's nothing worse than wet lettuce. The dressing just slides right off. What a waste! :( The spinner really takes a lot of the moisture out of freshly washed greens and is much easier than drying individual leaves (like I was doing).

My favorite knife is called Forever Sharp (I think). My mom gave me one a couple of years ago and it will cut anything beautifully and effortlessly. It's seriously serrated and will cut your finger off, so be careful! ;)

[shine72]

Thanks for the answers everyone! :) I'm still really stoked about my new toys. I would love a salad spinner too, although the only place I saw them they were a little pricey, so I think I need to find one online.

What is Pampered Chef? Is it like Avon for cooking? Sounds neat! I still buy a lot of the "cooking" type things like springform pans and pastry bags for raw. I'm just getting into that stuff now actually!

:)

I like you're analogy, yep, it's like Avon for cooking. I don't really use the stoneware anymore, but I still do use my veggie peeler (I swear, there's is THE BEST, I've had mine since 1997 and it's still going strong and effortlessly!) I love all my little gadgets from them!:D

[NuttyRawMom]

I, too, am a gadget-a-holic, but am not planning on getting help! :p

The non-electric little things I can't live without are my salad spinner, nut milk bag (I used to use a strainer before and it took forever!! We drink a lot more nut milk now that I have the bag.), apple slicer, apple corer, and my collection of 5 peelers. Yep, the kids love to help and they all get used.

My latest star in the kitchen is my mango slicer. We love mangos and this little gem has become my all-time favorite. I never could slice a mango and get the core out right. It works like an apple slicer, cutting the mango in half, but with an oval hole in the middle for the core. I love it!

Sunshine, I had a Pampered Chef bridal shower back in 98 when I got married. (Wow, it will be 10 years this Dec!!) Between the gifts people got for me and the stuff they bought for Christmas gifts for others, I got so much free stuff that I got everything plus more from the list of what I wanted. My favorite from them are the stone pans (still use them even if just for serving and the baking bowl makes a wonderful fruit bowl for the counter), the glass bowls with lids, and the measuring cup and spoons that slide to the right measurement. Still have all my stuff!

That's my gadget building story!

[jacsam]

I too love my gadgets that make raw food prep easier. The next one I'm getting is a peeler that actually juillenes while you peel/slice. It's inexpensive and the long noodles it makes from squash look better than the thing ones you get from the spiralizer.

[crawmommy]

What the name of your new gadget jacsam?

[NuttyRawMom]

That's too funny. Just last night at the grocery store I saw a gadget display in the produce section. Of course, I had to see what they had...and I picked up a julienne peeler/slicer.

It looks like a veggie peeler, the kind where the peeler is perpedicular to the handle and not parallel with it at the end. The peeler part looks like a normal kind, but on one side it has 'teeth' that cut the wide slice into small julienne sized strips.

Best part is that it only cost 1.50€! (At the current exchange rate, that is about $2.40.)

I don't have the spiralizer (...yet...) and I am sure to have great fun with this.

Plus, I love little handy tools that make it easy to be away from home or while travelling to have creative food.

[shine72]

Stephani - Man, that was one year after I started selling it!:D Hey, have you tried using the stoneware in the dehydrator at all? I haven't...yet... but was wondering if you had, how it turned out?

Love your blog, btw!:D

[rawererin]

he he he me too! I just got some more magnetic measuring spoons, and a fondant smoother for smoothing out cracker dough, plus a cookie scoop for making perfectly sized macaroons.... ah I love gadgets.

[rawererin]

oooh my presto eversharp electric knife sharpener is coming in soon too... go to love sharp knives!

[NuttyRawMom]

Stephani - Man, that was one year after I started selling it!:D Hey, have you tried using the stoneware in the dehydrator at all? I haven't...yet... but was wondering if you had, how it turned out?

Love your blog, btw!:D

I have a round dehydrator, Stockli, from Switzerland. It isn't the kind from the US with the hole in the middle, but it has round trays that stack on top of each other and I can't make a wider adjustment for a large pan like taking a tray out of the excalibur. Here in Austria, I ordered from an online company in Germany and this brand was all they had. Should have had some patience because 4 months later, guess what they started carrying?? :rolleyes: Yep, the Excalibur...oh well, I am happy with mine and it works well.

To the question, because of the shape and size, I haven't used my stone pans, but I do have some ceramic pie/cake pans that fit perfectly and use them all the time (like making marinated mushrooms or chili...). I bet the stoneware would work great. If you try it out, let me know the results!

Thanks for your comment on the blog, it has been fun getting it going. I would like to email you and 'talk' about stuff on the side. ;)

[shine72]

Stephani - I'll definitely let you know after I do it (probably won't be until after I move though).

Feel free to email me, you can send one through here, or send it to sunshine@rawtism.com. Have a GREAT day!:D